What is 'Cis Privilege'?

[CaitJ]

First we need to understand what 'privilege' is when specking in the context of minorities.
Let's start with the most obvious of privileges: Male Privilege.

Male Privilege is the direct effect of living in a patriarchal (male dominated) society. If we rewind time one century, we still see women in many countries fighting for what seems a basic and universal right - the right to vote. If we shift the time forwards to NOW and move our focus overseas, we see women who are not STILL allowed to vote and who are not allowed out in public without a male relative escort.

Shift our focus back to our wonderful Western nations and scratch the rosy surface away and we still find women woefully under-represented in positions of political and financial power. Go a little deeper and we find out that women have a one in four chance of being sexually assaulted by men. We also find that women are paid less in comparative jobs to men and female children are paid less attention in the class room.
I could go on and on, but instead I'll link you this list of male privileges.

So now that we have a basic idea of what 'privilege' is.
Basically it's a set of rights and special treatments that belong to the privileged group which cannot be accessed by the oppressed/non-privileged group. To the privileged group (men) these privileges seen 'normal' - something that they have always had and always will have, so they don't seem like 'privileges' or 'special treatment'.
But to the people who don't have these privileges and don't get this 'special treatment', they seem like pretty amazing things to have!
Or, in simpler terms, imagine we live on a cold, icy continent. By default, all men are given big warm windbreaker jackets lined with warm women's hair. Whereas the women are forced to have their heads shaved to make the jackets and are not given jackets of their own.
Not only is privilege something extra that one group possesses over another, it's something that comes at the expense of the oppressed group (i.e. men's institutionalised power comes from denying women power).

So how does cis privilege fit into this?
Well, the main perpetrators of trans oppression are cisgender people. Thankfully we're pretty bad at oppressing our own kind, so the sole source of oppression faced by trans people if from cis people.
For example, if I'm kicked out of my job after they find out I'm trans, it won't be a trans person making the decision, it will be a cis person. When I'm stabbed or bashed on the street, it won't be trans people doing it, it will be cis people. When I'm turned away from a nightclub because they don't want any 'trannies' confusing their male patrons, it won't be a trans bouncer denying me entry, it will be a cis bouncer.

So it's pretty safe to say that 99.9% of the oppression we face comes from cis people. Oppressors have a position of privilege because their power allows them to deny us basic things that cis people have, like being able to use the changing rooms or toilets in a department store, or gaining employment without being discriminated against. Cis privilege is invisible to most cis people, because these things are NORMAL to them - things that they have never questioned their right to have - like the right to piss and poop in the toilet that fits your gender expressions, or the right to not be fired for wearing clothes appropriate to your gender identity.
Here's a list of cis privileges that cis people take completely for granted, as they never have to fight for these things and have never been denied these things due to being trans.

And if your cis, you have these privileges whether you like them or not, just as men have male privilege whether they like it or not, white people have white privilege whether they like it or not, upper-class people have class privilege whether they like it or not, able-bodied people have able-bodied privilege whether they like it or not, etc, etc.

So if you're cis and speaking in a trans space, please, remember that you speak from a position of privilege and try not to shout down the trans people when they are pointing out your oppressive behaviour.
Because when you do this you are asserting your cis privilege and it is oppressing trans people further.

[Sean]

Sweet! I pretty much agree with Cait and the list.

To give a shorter version (totally consistent with what is written above):
My definition is that cis-privilege is when you take something for granted or think that something is "no big deal" because it is not the kind of thing that ever affects or hurts people who are not trans.

Here is a longer illustration of the bathroom example:

Many cis people don't realize that having shared stall (and urinal) bathrooms that are labeled/designated Men's and Women's rather than having single-stall rooms that are unisex is a problem for trans people, because they have "cis privilege" in not needing a bathroom arrangement that is different from the usual. Not all cis people are in this group. People with disabilities, people who dress in gender non-conforming ways, single parents raising opposite sex children - they are all aware that sex binary group bathrooms can be a problem. Not all cis people are oblivious to the privilege of bathroom access, because some cis people are ALSO denied access to bathrooms that match their needs. Those who are disabled would claim that people who are able-bodied and do not rely on the assistance of others or devices are blind to the problems they have in bathrooms. Because there is such a thing as able-bodied privilege. And so on.

But most people who don't have a reason to care don't really think about this from the perspective of someone who doesn't have an appropriate bathroom to use - or who is made uncomfortable or even threatened with violence or arrest - from using the "right" bathroom. An example of cis privilege is when co-workers expect trans people to use the wrong restroom after they are full-time or expecting trans people to use an inconvenient/out of the way bathroom, because what's the big deal anyway? Of course, it's not a big deal to them, because they don't know how it feels to be presented with the dilemma of not having ANY safe bathroom to use! They view needing access to restrooms as trans people asking for special treatment, when they are clearly asking for the same "normal" as everyone else - to be able to use appropriate toilets conveniently.

The only big issue on which I think I disagree with Cait is that I don't view every offensive, insulting, rude or ignorant comment coming from a cis person as 'cis privilege.' I think cis privilege is when you turn a blind eye to some specific right or opportunity or experience that is challenging or oppressive for trans people. There are a whole bunch of ways in which cis people can insult trans people - whether through malicious intent OR mere ignorance - that I don't think constitutes an exercise of cis privilege. Trans people ALSO can oppress one another, act in offensive, insulting, rude or ignorant ways. So I would call out these statements for what they are without assuming that it is because of cis privilege or an exercise of such.

[CaitJ]

The only big issue on which I think I disagree with Cait is that I don't view every offensive, insulting, rude or ignorant comment coming from a cis person as 'cis privilege.'

Yeah, that's partially a personal demon I have from violence at the hands of cis people.
I recognise this and I'm working to remedy it, but it's going to take a lot of positive experiences at the hands of cis people to undo that damage - and such positive experiences seem to be bypassing me.

[Izumi]

Never had problems with cis people.  Maybe its where i transitioned and live, people just dont seem to walk around with sticks up their butts and chips on their shoulders here, unlike other places i have been.  I also havent heard of any TS related violence here on the news or papers for since i have been here 10+ yrs. 

[CaitJ]

Never had problems with cis people.  Maybe its where i transitioned and live, people just dont seem to walk around with sticks up their butts and chips on their shoulders here, unlike other places i have been.  I also havent heard of any TS related violence here on the news or papers for since i have been here 10+ yrs.

Or luck. Let's hope you're not the first statistic in your area.
The cynic in me says that it's more likely that trans related violence isn't reported by your local media, as it's swept under the carpet and ignored.

[Janet_Girl]

I agree with a lot of what you have said Vexing.  While I have never been a victim of any violence or even confronted.  I can understand that some have, and some will continue to be victims.

Cis-privilege is the main driving force that is behind any legislation or speech that is directly or indirectly at the LGBT community.  I grew up during the civil rights era.  I remember Selma or the day the governor of Alabama sent troops to a high school to keep blacks from going to a white school.  That was white-privilege.  Eventually it was struck down.  But now there cis-privilege.  And even our LGB brothers and sisters have it.  Sure they may not show it, but they have it.

So what to do?  Many are or want to be stealth.  That is totally up to you.  But we will not ever be considered normal without our own civil rights marches.  The only way our Black brothers and sisters got to have that cis-privilege was they stood up and said "Here I am and I am just as human as you.".  Until we do that we will never really be equal.  You can live your life in total stealth and never would any one guess you were not really cis.  But in the back of your mind is that worry that someone will find out.

Stand and be counted.  Step out of the shadows and let the world see our numbers.

[CaitJ]

So what to do?  Many are or want to be stealth.  That is totally up to you.  But we will not ever be considered normal without our own civil rights marches. 

One of the problems with being trans is that we are such an utterly tiny minority. Something like 0.2 to 0.4 percent of the population. This makes it hard for us to stage civil rights marches in significant numbers, even if all the stealthies step out of the shadows. The Gs and the Ls make up something like 11-13 percent of their respective genders, so it was easier for them to congregate, march and be taken seriously.
We're crippled by our small numbers as well as those of us who vanish sometime after transition.

[Flan]

cis privilege has not as much to do with gender as it is power over others.

privilege by definition is a form of power or ability, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. hence those who claim cis privilege are merely abusing power to control others, which is one of the primary causes of violation against the rights of others.

[Sean]

I don't think there is a magical civil rights utopia to be gained by all the 'stealthies' coming out of the closet. I do think that advances in technology and globalization can help make up for the lack of a critical mass of trans people in any one specific location.

I also think things are shifting. There will be ups and downs as trans becomes more known. On the whole, though, I think it's moving in the right direction, albeit VERY slowly and incrementally.

I hang with a fairly "privileged" crowd, if you'll excuse the term. People with all the advantages when it comes to socio-economics. Also, there are a disproportionate amount of blue staters, as we call it in the States. And when I tell people that it is perfectly legal in most places to fire someone for being transsexual or that many transsexuals can not work because they do not have proper legal ID to do so (and can't obtain it), they are SHOCKED and HORRIFIED.

These are not people who don't look outside the four corners of their own world. These are fairly educated people who often volunteer not just their money, but also their time, to all sorts of causes. These are not people who ignore the news (well, if you count Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, at least) or are not well-read.

These are cis people who have cis privilege, and they haven't had any special reason to *think* about trans people or trans issues. It isn't something they have routinely seen in the media they consume or in the people they know, at least not until more recently.

I think we are only beginning to see who the trans allies are, because we have many natural allies who simply have not even been aware of our existence and what our main problems are. And I think we are heading into a time when we can have "stealthies" (ha! love the term!) advocating for trans rights too, because guess what? You don't have to care about trans stuff to want equal opportunities for people with differences. Not everyone is cut out to be an activist nor is everyone cut out to be a role model. There should be a path for those whose only interest is in living an out trans life, and there should be a path for those whose interest is in advocating or working for trans rights, even if they themselves do not identify as trans. And all sorts of other paths in between or on the sides.

I know I sound like a broken record, but I do believe it gets better...

[Stephanie]

Cis-gendered people believe that they have a right to question your gender identity, and they get all huffy if you refuse to answer their long list of questions.   Their attitude is often 'so you say that your are a man/woman?   Prove it to MY satisfaction'.    Over at that infamous womens' forum I frequented they they felt that they had a right to grant or revoke female status from me at will.  If I pleased them I got the occasional 'she' and 'her', but if they disagreed with me out came 'him' and 'his'.  I was so desperate for the approval of these genetic women that I was prepared to put up with any abuse from them.  I was accused of 'having a split personality' and 'being passive-aggressive', I was also subject to ad-hominum attacks - 'oh I can't take anything you say seriously'.
Julia Serano writes that cis-gendered psychiatrists formulate theories about transsexuality while ignoring the views and experience of transsexuals themselves.   They prefer to cling to their beautiful theories then to listen to potentially ugly facts.  Serano also writes that it wasn't that long ago that therapists etc expected their mtf clients to turn up in a dress wearing make-up and saying that they were attracted to men.   Those who didn't comply to cisgendered male stereotypes of women often found themselves labelled 'fetishistic', and 'perverts', by the patriarchal medical community.   It is this profound belief that a cis-gendered 'expert' knows more about transsexuality than an actual transsexual that we find so naturally offensive.

[CaitJ]

Cis-gendered people believe that they have a right to question your gender identity, and they get all huffy if you refuse to answer their long list of questions.   Their attitude is often 'so you say that your are a man/woman?   Prove it to MY satisfaction'.

Not only that, if you tell them their behaviour is wrong and harming you as a trans person, they will then demand to be educated as to WHY it is wrong before they will stop doing it (or argue that it ISN'T wrong and that their cis perspective is more relevant than yours).
It's like screaming at someone to stop punching you in the face and the person punching you demands an explanation as to WHY they should stop punching you in the face - while they continue to punch you in the face.

If I pleased them I got the occasional 'she' and 'her', but if they disagreed with me out came 'him' and 'his'.

And on top of that, they expect a Gold Star every time they DO use the correct pronoun, as though they have been a Good and Decent Person™ by giving you the rights that you ALREADY DESERVE as a human being.
I'm tempted to go over to this >-bleeped-<hole of a forum and rark them up good and proper.
PM the address if you like.

It is this profound belief that a cis-gendered 'expert' knows more about transsexuality than an actual transsexual that we find so naturally offensive.

Amen.
The people who claim "My perspective on trans issues - as a cis person - is MORE relevant than your perspective on trans issues as a trans person." need to die in a fire.

[rejennyrated]

My only problem with the Cis privilege list is that it effectively means that, despite a brief anomalous period of a few years in my late teens and early twenties, I am, and always have been Cis (by those definitions at least) because I would absolutely claim all of those privileges for myself.

I even skipped all the medical obstacles by finding a doctor willing to somewhat disregard normal procedures.

I know I had an exceptionally easy time of it compared to 99% of others, but I still maintain that I have a perfectly legitimate ability to be supportive and indeed to understand the plight of people whose lives have followed the more traditional path. I don't think you always have to suffer a thing fully to understand what it must be like.

[AlexCallende]

These are cis people who have cis privilege, and they haven't had any special reason to *think* about trans people or trans issues. It isn't something they have routinely seen in the media they consume or in the people they know, at least not until more recently.

EDUCATION.  This is the reason why we should educate them.  I shouldn't be expected to know the details of what is going on in every single relevant political issue taking place in the different parts of the world. 

I agree that cis privilege exists.  But I am not completely sold to the idea as to when we can just invoke it.

Here is one example:  my friend who went to Bangkok with me was a cisfemale friend.  She volunteered do be there for me and basically offer her support.  I didn't ask my trans support group sisters because a lot of them were not supportive of my SRS ("you don't need a vagina to validate your womanhood" from a sister who had massive FFS procedures and BA).

Isn't it unfair that because my friend was born with a vagina and identifies as a woman would be several times more likely to offend us simply because of her cis privilege?  Even though she means well?  While my trans sister is *gasp* less likely to commit a faux-pas simply because she is a transgender person?  An example:  one member b*tched at a late transitioner member because she thinks that is a form of deception (you shouldn't be allowed to have a family then transition later on in your life).  While still a transgender person, isn't that also offensive?

And the more important question is, if I was born with a vagina in this life, would I even care about the transsexual cause as much as I care about it now?  Honestly, maybe not.

So when some cisgender people are embracing our cause and make a few stumbles here and there, do we just attack them?  I don't think so. 

In the same way that when a transperson here seeks some answers to some "stupid questions", no one should be allowed to speak down to them.

[CaitJ]

My only problem with the Cis privilege list is that it effectively means that, despite a brief anomalous period of a few years in my late teens and early twenties, I am, and always have been Cis (by those definitions at least) because I would absolutely claim all of those privileges for myself.

I even skipped all the medical obstacles by finding a doctor willing to somewhat disregard normal procedures.

I know I had an exceptionally easy time of it compared to 99% of others, but I still maintain that I have a perfectly legitimate ability to be supportive and indeed to understand the plight of people whose lives have followed the more traditional path. I don't think you always have to suffer a thing fully to understand what it must be like.

Privilege, or lack of privilege, isn't distributed evenly - and there are 'intersections' of privilege which complicate issues (like being a white trans woman as opposed to being a black trans woman). Intersectionality is important to remember and it applies even within the trans community - passing privilege being one example.
However, there are still plenty of variables that apply to you, Jenny. It is still on record that you were born male, for example. Being Outed will instantly lose you most of your passing privileges.
The privileges you enjoy as an early-transitioning, passing trans woman can be snatched away in an instant.
The same cannot happen to a cis person.

[CaitJ]

EDUCATION.  This is the reason why we should educate them.  I shouldn't be expected to know the details of what is going on in every single relevant political issue taking place in the different parts of the world.

While education is great, cis people cannot DEMAND that we educate them.
Especially if we turn around and say "Sorry, I don't feel like educating you today, I'm out of spoons."
If they continue to pester you after the fact, you have every right to tell them to eff off.

So when some cisgender people are embracing our cause and make a few stumbles here and there, do we just attack them?  I don't think so.

The things that cis people do and say can HURT.
REALLY REALLY hurt.
That they do it from ignorance doesn't make it hurt any less, and when people have been horribly hurt, they don't always react logically or reasonably.
If a cis person tells me that I'm just a effing ugly mutilated man with a scrotum-sock sex-hole and unnatural hormone-grown breasts, then I can't guarantee that I'm going to give them a calm and reasoned rebuttal.
I might get irrationally angry and try to verbally tear them a new one.
I have every right to do that, no matter what their intention was or how ignorant they are.

However, the real issue is when they argue that they didn't do anything wrong and that I have NO RIGHT to be angry.
THAT is compounding their mistake.
The correct thing to do, in my opinion, if you are a cis person who is confronted by an angry trans person who feels hurt is to apologise and back off.

In the same way that when a transperson here seeks some answers to some "stupid questions", no one should be allowed to speak down to them.

Oh no. I hold trans people to a MUCH higher standard than cis people. They get away with even less by virtue of having the same experiences as me.

[Sean]

So when some cisgender people are embracing our cause and make a few stumbles here and there, do we just attack them?  I don't think so. 

This.

Not only that, if you tell them their behaviour is wrong and harming you as a trans person, they will then demand to be educated as to WHY it is wrong before they will stop doing it (or argue that it ISN'T wrong and that their cis perspective is more relevant than yours).
It's like screaming at someone to stop punching you in the face and the person punching you demands an explanation as to WHY they should stop punching you in the face - while they continue to punch you in the face.

And this.

Both are right. And there is a tension here. I'm a fairly diplomatic guy, and I find navigating this tension frustrating.

I think a big part of the problem here is simply pride and ego. All too often, it seems like when a faux-pas, insult, or otherwise troublesome statment or attitude is explained to a cis person, their response is to demand that trans people PROVE it is offensive, insulting, a faux-pas or otherwise an extension of cis privilege. And then even when a fair number of people all chime in to identify the problem and act as trans 101 educators, so to speak, the cis person decides to continue to defend their use of something problematic, because they didn't know better, still don't view it as problematic, blah blah....refuse to cave to pressure or accept that words have meaning/effect, etc.

Honestly, I think it is about being defensive and feeling too prideful to want to admit that they made a mistake, for whatever reason. It is hard to say, "You're right. I shouldn't have said that." Or "I didn't know this X was offensive. I will rephrase my thoughts." People feel personally attacked - whether they have been or not - and get entrenched in defending a 'bad' position. No one is mad at a cis person who stumbles. I hope people aren't. But if a cis person is going to view any correction as an "attack" - or focus on the most 'argumentative' response among a LITANY of more polite responses & corrections to show that they were being attacked - then we have a compounding problem. You are taking a problematic viewpoint or statement and then rather than retreating from it, you are defending it, because of ego, pride, and sometimes, because the rebuke was just too strong. And then, it is not uncommon for the cis person to insist that they were correct in using a bad phrase or term or saying something inappropriate or transphobic or whatever, because THEY don't have a problem with it, and clearly, trans people are just defensive, argumentative, blah, blah.

It detracts from the original point, which may have really just been about education and igorance and it turns into a referenderum of the PROOF or the quality of the response of the trans person, simply because of defensiveness and a failure to admit that someone was wrong.

[CaitJ]

This cis privilege if it really exist

Of course it exists. If you want to deny that it exists, you might as well deny deny that white privilege exists.

then it would disappear when you are no longer "read," right? How can anybody discriminate if they cannot identify as trans?

Read my response to Jenny, above.

[ToriJo]

As a "cis" person, but a member of another minority community who deals with the issue of privilege in a different context, I absolutely think that the minute one of us ("cis" people) decides that we have the right to direct, lead, dictate, preach, etc, the non-cis world, we have absolutely crossed into the territory of oppressor.

That doesn't mean we have to agree with every non-cis (sorry, I don't know a good term here, hopefully people know what I mean - and educate me on the right term) person.  We won't because there isn't agreement among non-cis people about things.  But it's not our place to direct or pursuade even in these things.  To be frank: our opinion doesn't matter.

What I can do is to try to support the people I love and care about, and to try to figure out what areas have general agreement among people directly involved.  (a spouse is not directly involved - we're involved, but one removed from the person actually directly involved)  And I can support those things.

Too often, when people are told they are ignorant or prejudiced or bigoted or whatever, they hear instead, "You are a horrible, awful person."  That's not what is said (and when it *is* said that way, we would be best to realize that the person is likely looking at one part of our life which *is* ugly -and- likely has been very hurt by a group we're part of).  Having privilege or even doing things that harm a minority is *not* the same as being an awful person.  Many very wonderful and nice people have racial prejudices, for instance.  The prejudices of course are ugly and horrible, but that doesn't define a whole person.  So if someone points out to me that I've said or done something hurtful, ugly, or prejudiced, particularly someone who is in the minority that my statements or acts were directed at, *I* need to realize that good people can do wrong things and not feel that my whole identity is being challenged.  I can continue to be a good person by recognizing my mistake and taking the appropriate action for the future.  Or I can be an awful person by denying, defending, and fighting.

Certainly reverse discrimination and reverse prejudice is always possible.  Not everyone who is not in my minority a person who hates me, oppresses me, or is horrible.  But because the minority has little power to actually cause harm as a result of this reverse discrimination, it is NOT the same as discrimination directed at my minority.  A trans person who tells me that "cis people are horrible" can't hurt in the same way that a cis person who says "trans people are attacking the order of things and are part of the enemy's war against God."  People aren't dieing because some trans people say cis people are horrible.  Yes, I personally, in my minority community, try to be fair and just towards everyone.  And all prejudice - even reverse prejudice - is ugly.  I've seen plenty of people in my minority community blame every bad thing that happens to them on majority privilege ("I got fired because I'm disabled and those non-disabled people are..." when really they were fired because they stole from the company or some other legitimate, non-prejudiced reason).  But most of the time when people talk about reverse prejudice or reverse discrimination, they are actually saying, through code words such as reverse discrimination, "Because you do something ugly that doesn't really affect the non-minority, I can do something ugly that does hurt the minority."  That's not cool, even if you thought two equal wrongs made a right.  The minority simply doesn't have the power to make the majority's life hell.  But the majority does have the power to ruin the minority's life.  The same type of action taken by the minority, because of lack of privilege, has less impact as that taken by the majority.  It's not "fair" - which is why discrimination is so much worse than reverse discrimination, even if both are ugly.

Finally, it's possible to lack privilege and hold privilege at the same time.  I have cis privilege.  I do not have the privilege of non-disabled people.  Some people who lack cis privilege have the privilege of non-disabled people.  It's all dependent on circumstance as to which privilege(s) are relevant.  But just because I'm a member of one minority doesn't mean I can't be prejudiced or harm another minority (witness what physically disabled people do to mentally disabled people - statements like "I don't have a normal body, but I have a normal mind" to validate their existence while minimizing the value of someone else; or how too often T is discriminated against by LGB groups).

So, I'd say to other cis people here: don't take things too personally, but learn from criticism.  It's the mark of a good person.  You want to support people?  Well, let them tell you how to support them.

[xxUltraModLadyxx]

i completely agree. why don't we make the bigots write this list and sign at the bottom as punishment?

[rejennyrated]

Privilege, or lack of privilege, isn't distributed evenly - and there are 'intersections' of privilege which complicate issues (like being a white trans woman as opposed to being a black trans woman). Intersectionality is important to remember and it applies even within the trans community - passing privilege being one example.
However, there are still plenty of variables that apply to you, Jenny. It is still on record that you were born male, for example. Being Outed will instantly lose you most of your passing privileges.
The privileges you enjoy as an early-transitioning, passing trans woman can be snatched away in an instant.
The same cannot happen to a cis person.

Thanks to some friends in "useful" places in the UK establishment you would actually have to work quite hard to uncover either my birth record, or indeed my early medical records or school records. They ahem...  all seem to have suffered damage or "partial loss," in some cases even before the digital age had begun, and the replacement ones that you can now find strangely seem to make no mention of me as anything other than female. So yes I can certainly be outed, but finding any solid legal proof would actually take a fair bit more work than you might think. Sometimes in life it's not what you know, but WHO you know that makes a difference...

There are certainly simple medical procedures that would out me very quickly I know that.

Thing is, at the moment, I don't care, because it has always been my experience that when I out myself or indeed someone that knows about me outs me it changes nothing. Now, ok, that is my good luck. I've no doubt that there are places I could go where that luck might run out if I were outed. I have the fortune to exist in the upper(ish) social echelons of a fairly liberal and accepting country. If I moved, or my social status collapsed, I might have to be a deal more careful.

So yeah overall I accept that cis privilege exists. I just don't see it as such a big deal, I guess because I have honestly never really experienced what that lack of it might feel like.