The Good Men Project

Is ‘Cisgender’ a Bad Word??

 

By Sam Switz

.

.

Ok Karen..calm down..lol

Is “cisgender” a bad word? People are wildly upset at it and we discuss it here 💁🏼‍♂️

 

Transcript provided by YouTube:

00:00
let’s talk about cisgender shall we
00:04
[Music]
00:10
what’s up you guys welcome back to my
00:12
channel my name is Sam and I’m
00:13
female-to-male transgender for years on
00:15
testosterone three years post-op top
00:17
surgery and today we’re gonna be talking
00:19
about the term and cisgender I’ve seen
00:21
it flying around the internet I just
00:22
watched a video one of my favorite
00:24
youtubers Sam Collins all linked his
00:25
video down below it was very well done
00:27
it’s called is cisgender a slur Oh check
00:29
it out he’s awesome
00:30
but that’s where this idea kind of
00:32
sparked and from me also just reading
00:34
and hearing about this there has been a
00:36
lot of debate about whether it is
00:38
offensive it should be used how it
00:41
should be used there’s just a lot of
00:43
like uproar which is so strange to me
00:46
before we start I want to remind people
00:48
of what transgender and cisgender really
00:50
mean one of my siblings got me this
00:52
transgender history by Susan Stryker
00:54
it’s a great book very very very well
00:56
worded I think she defined transgender
00:59
cisgender really well so what is
01:01
transgender it’s people who move away
01:02
from the gender they were assigned at
01:04
birth people who cross over trans the
01:07
boundary is constructed by their culture
01:09
to define and contain that gender some
01:11
people move away from their birth assign
01:13
gender because they feel strongly that
01:15
they properly belong to another gender
01:16
through which it would be better for
01:18
them to live others want to strike out
01:21
towards some new locations some space
01:23
not yet hello clearly described or
01:25
concretely occupied still others simply
01:28
feel the need to challenge the
01:30
conventional expectations bound up with
01:32
the gender that was initially put upon
01:33
them in any case it is the movement
01:36
across a socially imposed boundary away
01:38
from an uncertain starting place rather
01:40
than any particular destination or mode
01:43
of transition that best characterizes
01:45
the concept of transgender that spans
01:47
gender right trans means to cross over
01:50
it’s very simple right cisgender is that
01:53
the prefix it means on the same side as
01:56
that is the opposite of trans which
01:58
means across it is meant to mark the
02:00
typically unstated or assumed privilege
02:02
of being non transgender
02:04
idea behind the term is to resist the
02:06
way that woman or man can mean non
02:07
transgender woman or non transgender man
02:09
by default unless the person’s
02:11
transgender or non-binary status is
02:13
explicitly named it is the same logic
02:15
that would lead somebody to prefer seing
02:17
white woman a black woman rather than
02:20
simply using woman to describe a white
02:21
woman thus presenting white as the
02:23
unharmed norm and black woman to
02:25
indicate a departure from the norm when
02:27
it comes down to it they’re just terms
02:29
that mean across or on the same side as
02:32
those prefixes right it’s just a term
02:35
they’re not an identity I think a big
02:37
reason why people are wanting to
02:39
identify what is what is to be more
02:42
inclusive rather than exclusive
02:45
I personally don’t get it but let’s dive
02:46
in okay I get quite a few comments on my
02:48
videos that are really offended by the
02:51
term cisgender this is what one person
02:53
said a woman is a woman not a cisgender
02:55
woman a man is a man not a cisgender man
02:57
a trans man is a trans man not a man
03:00
otherwise there’d be no need for the
03:02
trans qualifier someone else commented
03:04
underneath that’s like saying that a
03:06
human is a human not a homo sapien
03:09
brilliant it’s like the perfect response
03:11
because it’s true cisgender is just what
03:14
a person is I’ve seen a lot of
03:15
transphobic people say that they’re
03:17
really accepting of trans people but
03:19
they just don’t want to be called
03:20
cisgender or like a trans man isn’t a
03:22
man and you can’t say that sentence and
03:25
not be transphobic because what you’re
03:27
saying is a trans man isn’t a man which
03:30
is how they identify that’s like
03:32
basically saying you don’t exist like
03:34
your definition is wrong and I don’t
03:37
accept you so that’s not being accepting
03:39
of transgender people meaning you’re
03:40
transphobic it’s very simple in my head
03:43
at least and I think a big reason for a
03:45
lot of these conversations is to be more
03:49
inclusive and rework these definition of
03:51
what does it mean to be a man what does
03:53
it mean to be a woman we are evolving so
03:56
of course it’s gonna be backlash because
03:57
that’s what always happens a lot of
03:58
closed-minded people just go straight to
04:00
like science and biology I will do a
04:04
whole other video on this but that’s not
04:06
even true they’re trying to use it as a
04:08
way to like disguise their
04:09
yeah but it just doesn’t work because
04:11
it’s very blatant moving on to this
04:13
video this video was insane calling this
04:15
video that I said I would link down
04:17
below after watching it I was like oh
04:19
man I have to respond to this as well so
04:20
this woman Julia who she started
04:23
something fierce
04:24
up in me the contact for what they’re
04:25
talking about is just trans people in
04:27
prisons right
04:29
she basically calls herself accepting
04:31
like she’s not transphobic but then says
04:34
these things well so if you are a woman
04:36
in a woman’s prison you should be safe
04:38
from being attacked by a sis or a trans
04:41
woman
04:41
so actually everyone should be safe to
04:43
say you’re not allowed to come on my
04:44
show and say a sis or a trans woman a
04:46
woman it just is trans poor guy in the
04:51
background this is like the opposite of
04:53
change which is so true that’s literally
04:55
all it is but people get so worked up
04:58
she almost made him leave like she’s
05:00
threatening him to stop using the term
05:02
or else she’s going to make him leave he
05:04
wasn’t even using it maliciously like
05:06
I’ve seen people use the word cisgender
05:08
like in a derogatory way but he wasn’t
05:11
he was just like defining what people
05:14
are no a there’s a you don’t you I’m not
05:16
to assist woman vanessa is not to assist
05:18
woman we are we’re not assist woman
05:20
however I was born a woman and identify
05:23
as a woman so you’re cisgender sorry sis
05:26
it’s not a bad thing it’s just what you
05:28
are like it’s no big deal however
05:30
cisgender our people are going to get
05:32
upset about it if they are having to
05:35
then share a space share the word with
05:38
trans people that they don’t like that
05:41
they don’t accept that they hate
05:44
that’s transphobia at its finest my
05:47
friends women we all biologically women
05:50
are biologically women yes you are get
05:54
over it what is the big deal Jesus not
05:56
gonna have that BBC claptrap on my show
05:59
I’m just using a bit just to
06:00
differentiate this poor guy
06:05
I’m young too sis woman woman I was born
06:08
of woman she just defined cisgender
06:11
woman after saying I’m not a cisgender
06:13
woman
06:14
we’re not sis with me we don’t have to
06:16
it just what we call for a tiny minority
06:19
of this is disgusting I’m sorry I guess
06:21
I wanted to respond to this because I
06:23
wanted people to really really at least
06:25
my followers really realize that this is
06:27
hateful and it is transphobic and it’s
06:30
really rude and to not like listen to
06:32
this at all because she’s being
06:34
kind of sly about it to where I could
06:37
see a lot of people maybe understanding
06:39
like oh she’s not that hateful and what
06:42
she is saying very clearly behind some
06:45
weird I don’t know like subtle thing to
06:48
hide it is trans women aren’t women
06:50
trans men or ins men or else there
06:52
wouldn’t be an issue and you could just
06:54
say men but she doesn’t want to share
06:55
the space or the word with transgender
06:57
people or else there wouldn’t be an
06:59
issue and she says she’s not transphobic
07:01
I’m quite happy for someone to be a
07:03
trans woman or transmat but you don’t
07:05
take away what I am being cisgender and
07:08
being called cisgender literally does
07:11
you no harm I don’t understand what the
07:14
big issue is they’re like you’re forcing
07:16
this identity on me that I don’t agree
07:18
with and it’s like first off you
07:20
identify as a man or a woman or a
07:21
non-binary person whatever that’s the
07:23
identity right transgender is a term
07:25
cisgender is just a term it’s just what
07:27
you are so people just need to stop
07:29
using that I find it so funny too
07:31
because the trans people obviously our
07:34
big issue why we have a hard time in
07:35
society is because people are constantly
07:37
calling us something that we don’t
07:39
identify with so they’re really relating
07:42
to our situation without connecting the
07:45
dots the thing with the cisgender that
07:47
infuriates me a little bit about people
07:49
even like being upset about it is it’s
07:50
not bad being mad at being called
07:53
cisgender like there’s so many other
07:54
things to be mad about in this world you
07:57
don’t lose jobs over it you don’t get
08:00
killed for being just cisgender you
08:02
don’t have laws change that like strip
08:04
you of just human rights anything when
08:07
you’re called cisgendered it will only
08:08
make you be treated better seem better
08:11
viewed as like a superior person your
08:15
experience in this world is just
08:16
elevated you are privileged and so
08:19
privileged people complaining about a
08:21
term that is accurate and not derogatory
08:24
blows my mind and makes me so angry
08:27
because it’s so stupid it kind of
08:30
reminds me while we’re going through
08:31
this like worldwide pandemic how people
08:34
don’t want to hear about privileged
08:36
people complaining about staying in
08:38
their house when they have pools their
08:40
own gyms while there’s so many things
08:42
going on in this world people are dying
08:44
some people can’t even make rents
08:46
they’re being kicked out you don’t want
08:47
to hear privileged people complaining
08:49
because they’re privileged so it kind of
08:52
goes for the same thing of this it’s
08:54
like nothing bad is going on with this
08:57
gender however I do understand if people
09:00
are saying in a derogatory way I get it
09:02
because speaking to anyone in a
09:04
derogatory way is just rude I want
09:06
people to remember like you can make any
09:08
word derogatory I could call you a frog
09:11
and your freakin frog and even though it
09:13
sounds like really stupid and silly
09:14
right now it’s not a word itself that is
09:17
bad it’s what’s behind it I don’t know
09:19
how else to describe this you guys
09:20
that’s my thoughts I just get so
09:22
overwhelmed by like the ignorance
09:24
there’s not many things that like really
09:26
light a fire underneath me to where I
09:28
like me to just rant and get angry but
09:31
this whole conversation and people
09:33
complaining about the word cisgender is
09:35
just freakin stupid to me either explain
09:37
to me in the comments why it’s so bad
09:39
other than if they’re being rude because
09:41
I get that in my eyes it really is just
09:43
a term that defines who you are and as
09:46
being therefore more inclusive so that
09:48
we are just assuming every single person
09:51
is born the gender that they are which
09:53
totally on the other hand excludes
09:55
non-binary people anyways I’m sorry this
09:57
is a more serious video but I really
09:59
have to get this off my chest I hope you
10:01
guys are staying safe and having a good
10:02
week let me know your guys thoughts in
10:04
the comments down below I’d love to I
10:06
guess get your opinion on this thank you
10:08
so much for watching and I will talk to
10:09
you guys later
10:10
do you love you bye
10:20
[Music]

This post was previously published on YouTube and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

***

If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project and want to join our calls on a regular basis, please join us as a Premium Member, today.

All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS.

Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here.

Talk to you soon.


Photo credit: Screenshot from video

Exit mobile version