I never did quite wrap my head around why the cis- discussion at Pam’s went as it did, with nobody asking why “cis” was such a nasty word, and what we ought to have replace it. Then I got wind of it not actually being about the particular word, which, yes, makes quite a bit more sense.
The argument seems to be that “cis-gender” has been used in anger, with trans activists who will have a prefix whether they like one or not angrily denouncing a cis-centric LGBT movement. And, since “cis” was originally envisaged as a nice, neutral, polite prefix—drawn from Chemistry, for goodness sakes!—meant to just lightly tag—oops! there you go, darling—cisgender privilege, this new use in anger was a very nasty twisting of the word indeed.
Which does seem a little off from where I’m standing. I mean, you name a privilege, it seems more than a little naïve to figure that nobody will ever get angry about it. Hurl it about a bit. Maybe attach an invective or two? “Fucking white supremacists” surely have feelings too, you know, so if you’re trying to be really polite about it all around, it’s probably best to avoid all that nasty “privilege” and “liberation from oppression” business altogether. Just let it drop, bite your tongue, and sweep it all under the rug like you’re good friends who truly can’t stand each other getting together at the only coffee shoppe you can ever manage to agree on for a nice, steamy cup of fair-trade, organic joe. Skone?
Oh, and if you’re cisgendered and feel a bit glum that I just called you such a nasty thing, DGlenn would like to have a word with you. It’s a very good word. (There are tables.)
I don’t mind being cisLisa.
A job I had some years ago, everybody on the factory floor described me, if someone came around searching for me, as “oh the white chick engineer? She’s over there doing maintenance on the capping machine.” They referred to me as that because I was, indeed, the only white person on the entire manufacturing floor except for the manufacturing director (who was a white dude). Much later, because I’d always thought it was funny and therefore periodically shared it as an anecdote, I was really startled to find myself confronting someone who got very angry about it. “Would you have though it was funny if they’d called you that n—– bitch engineer?” he demanded belligerently.
Well, no, because n—– is an insult and white is simply a descriptor. Same with “chick” and “bitch,” though I guess he had a little more of a leg to stand on with the latter complaint, though I’m still pretty sure that if sexism was coming into play, it was extraordinarily mild. (And he wasn’t complaining about sexism anyway–that did not really compute, I suspect.) All the factory operators liked me, as far as I could ever tell (I kept the machines running!).
The point is that some privileged people can’t tell the difference between being assigned a descriptor that is neutral and signifies whatever trait it is that makes them privileged, and being singled out by a descriptor that is stuck on you to make a usually negative point about what a deviation from the n-o-r-m you are. Because they’ve never experienced prejudice, they think the former is prejudice. It’s always easier to get offended than to think.
Bleh, long-winded comment, sorry.
CisLisa, I think you’ve got a pretty good bead on it there. Or to put it in DGlenn’s terms, the unmarked classes aren’t used to being marked by a label, too.
Hey, it usually works for me! Taking offense is fun. I’m saving up to buy a high horse.
It’s always easier to get offended than to think.
Truer words…
I’m not bothered at all by being called “cis,” though I might object that gender conformity is a difficult thing to pin down. Who gets to decide that I’m not sufficiently trans? But if someone wants to do it, they’re welcome to try. On the other hand, I’m not sure I’ll sit still for being called “regular.”
Another case of the unmarked classes objecting to being marked: “monosexual” (as opposed to “bisexual”). I like the term myself, though I’m monosexual, and I’ve been surprised over the years at how many gay people get really offended by it.