REDLARD (original) (raw)

[	mood	|	confused	]

I just saw THIS ARTICLE recently and thought,

HUH, I'm oppressed by being trans? I didnt know that....

I dont really know if its because of where I live [_Toronto_] or what but I never really thought anything of it. I dont really agree with the author at all but was wondering how others felt about the whole 'cisgender' thing. I dont think putting it like "I'm oppressed by this term so I'm oppressing the oppressors" is a good idea ... or even an educated one. Saying "we are labeled as transgender and therefore you are not allowed to be just male or female you must be CISGENDER" just sounds childish and confrontational. I'm not into all those tiny branches of the gender spectrum [what is a womyn by the way?] so to me its really simple. We are transgender because we are not simply male or female. Complicating it further just seems like a waste of time. No one has to go further into the whole label thing unless they want to anyway. You can just label yourself as much as you're comfortable with, its not like anyone who matters is going to care. I mean, I was asked once, politely, if I were a lesbian at a friends new years party. I could have just said "No" or "No, I just dress like this, dont worry about it ;p" but I didnt, I chose to tell her I was trans. Its not like I HAD TO, I really dont like it when people talk about HAVING to say things about themselves .... its all up to you really.

Though back on topic, cisgender, I think I may have used the term a couple times in the beginning of my whole 'internet self-education' but now I pretty much only use 'trans' and only if the fact I'm talking about transgendered people has not been established, otherwise they're just guys and girls, nothin fancy.

Anyway if Cisgender means "same as gender" then how does it offend people? Being Cis-Female means you are "same as Female" .... To me its just some fancy term made up as an alternative way to talk about trans people and non-trans people. However the article to me seems to suggest that people born mentally aligned with their physical sex should no longer be allowed to simply be male or female and should be described with this much longer term that essentially... means the same thing. Though it sounds like they mean it in a degrading way. Like they feel so oppressed by 'having' to call themselves transgendered they are going to try and 'fight back' by calling non-trans people cisgendered. It just sounds like some big angry train to nowhere.

The only reason people use labels is to describe things, if you dont want to describe yourself that much then dont use that many labels, its not a difficult mind consuming thing really. If you're talking about how one of your male friends is getting his breasts removed in a couple weeks and someone on your friends page doesnt get it - and then you get offended? Come off it. Maybe you should take a brake and wait for a few years so the rest of society can catch up.

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ps. I actually realized recently that I care very little about uuh how the public in general feels towards transgendered people. I feel like maybe I should be interested in the whole Chaz Bono thing but then I glance the article in my moms People magazine and I just dont care. He's living his life, the sun rises the sun sets, I need to buy groceries.

pps. This post may or may-not make sence but I tried.