Signal Boost

[laceblade]

I spent all weekend thinking that the Feministing Fail linkspam at access_fandom is only one post, but it is in fact multiple posts. Head there to read posts on this important discussion.

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Unrelated, but related to feminism, is a link I found through were_duck, to an explanation of 'cis,' and why it should be used.

So, here’s the thing, cis people who have a problem with “cis.” I am going to politely request that you get over it.

Because we do need a label to describe people who are cis gendered, and “cis” is a really good label to use because it is value neutral. “Not trans” carries a whiff of a suggestion that there’s something wrong with being trans, just as “not disabled,” again, suggests that there is something wrong with being a person with disabilities. “Normal,” “real,” “regular,” biological,” “natural,” and so on also carry negative connotations, because that means that trans people are “abnormal,” “not real,” “irregular,” “not biological,” and “not natural.” I would hope that people can see that being called “not real” would be offensive to someone who is trans.

Cis is not being used to divide or separate people. It’s being used as an adjective, to distinguish people with a particular type of gender, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. We have a whole family of words to describe people through various characteristics. Just as I have no problem with being called a “white person” because, uhm, I’m racially white and a person, cis folks shouldn’t be upset by being called “cis people.”

Comments

[were-duck.livejournal.com]

This post has been added to a link roundup (http://access-fandom.dreamwidth.org/2434.html)! Thank you.

And yes, we're still working on it! Thanks for the signal boost.

[antarcticlust.livejournal.com]

This is really helpful! I think a lot of the negative reaction to "cis" is that when some people first encounter the term, they think it's being used as a pejorative.

Sometimes I feel that as a white, able-bodied, cis, heterosexual, upper class American woman, I have had a lot to get over. And yet, against all odds, I have survived! Confronting my privilege hasn't killed me! /sarcasm

[nylorac15.livejournal.com]

That Feministing effort is great. I read Feministing pretty regularly, but I'm still too 101 to pick up on problems like those. Finding out that the authors are too is a little disheartening... I really need to dive into the Community diaries more so I can follow along with their criticism.

On a brighter note, I love their newest member, Jos. Other than her blind spot for Glee (that show fills me with sad rage), her posts are extremely well-written and thought out.

[nylorac15.livejournal.com]

Follow-up question: what feminist blogs do you read? I'd gladly give up Feministing if I had other recommended places to visit. Do you just read peeps on LJ?

[mystickeeper.livejournal.com]

I'm actually pretty bad at reading "mainstream" feminist blogs; I mostly rely on my LJ friends who I know through WisCon for updates and/or links to things that are going on.

I also read Bitch and Bust magazines, and "am a fan of" Bitch on Facebook, so I generally read the articles they post there (much more frequently than their magazine).

I'll probably start reading this one (http://disabledfeminists.com), which was made in response to Feministing.