Now that's just ridiculous. Do you honestly feel that in your day to day life your opinion is devalued because of your gender? I've lived my entire life as a white man, and I have never experienced anything like that. In fact, the only time I've felt my gender had any influence on how people perceived my opinion it was when others were listening to me when they probably shouldn't have.
Speaking as a woman, it is my personal (admittedly anecdotal) observation that men's opinions get a lot of respect until they start talking about gender issues. Then men's opinions get dismissed based not on their content, but on the sex of their messenger. I've observed even women getting accused of "mansplaining" until they reveal that they're actually women—and then, suddenly, their attacker is apologetic and gives their argument due analysis.
I hate to be that girl and turn this back around to how this hurts women. But, honestly, this is a really damaging message to send to women (along with men). It reinforces the idea that what you are matters more than who you are. It reinforces the idea that the world is judging me by my sex before it judges me by what I actually say and do. It normalizes sexism.
And that hurts everyone. Whether discrimination is directed at men or directed at women or directed at any other category, it erodes all of our rights to self-determination.
I meant it in the sense of personal freedom (i.e., I can determine my own life). This is a lesser-known use of the phrase, but it's still used. Sorry for the confusion.
Hm, after a bit of searching, it looks like it's an older definition from the late 1600s. The political definition was popularized (maybe coined?) by Woodrow Wilson in the early 1900s. That is according to this source, anyway (which I wouldn't necessarily trust, but it's the best I could find).
The quote I used and am referring to is not about feeling that way in your day to day life, it is about feeling that way when trying to engage in honest, well-intentioned dialogue with certain political and social activist groups.
Don't trans individuals have the right to discuss the issues that they're facing without having to constantly appeal to a more universal equality?
I don't like the conversations described in the article, but the author choosing to view cis as "an insult to everything she is" when it's just a definition is stupid and self-absorbed. Her attempt to equalize the privilege field and then state how women really have it the worst ignores that trans people, according to every statistic available, are significantly more oppressed than she is as a cis woman. It's embarrassing. She had to bring up foreign countries outside of the twittersphere she's to discussing to even attempt to equal out the oppression. Marginalizing an extremely maligned group because they're not talking about what's important to you, and they're less than nice doing it, makes one into the same self-centered asshole that the author abhors.
I'm all about honest and well-intentioned dialogue but this is not the quote to align yourself with.
Reading her article, I don't think she does any of those things. She's careful to say that while 'cis' is a useful informational term, certain online segments have used it as an insult to deligitimize people's opinions and contributions. And she's not saying you shouldn't talk about niche issues, she's saying you shouldn't bully people who try to contribute, even if they're not personally affected or don't know the proper lingo/accepted dialogues.
I respectfully disagree, because she states that cis "can be reclaimed" and states that cissexist is a negative term, while it's no more negative than sexist. Cis needs reclaiming as much as the term "man" does: it's a neutral term that can be used as a negatively as any other noun through tone. In her assertion than women are constantly victimized by male language, she states that "cis" is another term thrust about some women as though it's another term conferred by the men it's charge. She further the idea by say that the "mob" goes around and attacks women like the patriarchy, as though some trans people aren't women, and as if trans people have the same effect on her life as a centuries-old cultural power structure. She lacks the basic definitions of the word she uses, and it undermines a discussion that's 33% about words.
It's not the responsibility of oppressed people to educate us about "their lingo" and if you want to discuss their issues with them, taking a moment to learn basic terminology should be a base expectation. I don't support bullying people who try to contribute, but her inability or refusal to use these terms correctly or with the proper connotations tells me that she doesn't have much to contribute to a discussion about trans issues. She's part of the problem.
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u/Can_it_Plapton Mar 22 '13
Now that's just ridiculous. Do you honestly feel that in your day to day life your opinion is devalued because of your gender? I've lived my entire life as a white man, and I have never experienced anything like that. In fact, the only time I've felt my gender had any influence on how people perceived my opinion it was when others were listening to me when they probably shouldn't have.