For what it's worth and anyone who is interested...
I am happily, proudly, comfortably, cisgender.
When I found out I had a label besides "default" I honestly did a happy dance inside.
Let me reiterate that...
I am not "normal" versus "deviant." I am not "default" versus "other."
THAT nonsense is the stuff of privilege, and I will not leave mine unexamined, unacknowledged, and in the face of The Others.
Whether I match the box I was given at birth on any particular day, at any particular time, is irrelevant. This is dealing with identity folks, that's a different (though, yes, related) ball game from "how well do I fit societies expectations of a woman".
And if we truly are working towards destroying those boxes they want to put us in, we're going to have to start being more open minded when someone who doesn't fit in OUR box is TELLING US how THEY IDENTIFY.
I'd never actually heard of 'cisgendered' until last week. That's terrible, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI don't think that's terrible Lina, I only know it thanks to Essin'Em.
ReplyDeleteOh, really? Has she got a post up? I'll have a look, the wiki article just made me zzzzz.
ReplyDeleteOh I haven't seen her post about the current "controversy." I've just seen the term used before on her blog.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know there was a controversy! LOL. The only context in which I've ever even heard the term cisgendered is as a crack at transgendered people. But anyway. I guess I need to do some more reading!
ReplyDelete