Why I'm Not Saying "Tr*anny" And I'd Like It if You Guys Didn't either, Please

[SandraJane]

ORIGINAL PLUMBING


Why I'm Not Saying "Tr*anny" And I'd Like It if You Guys Didn't either, Please

by Stephen Ira on January 23, 2012

http://www.originalplumbing.com/2012/01/23/why-im-not-saying-trnny-and-id-like-it-if-you-guys-didnt-either-please/

Trans brothers, dear dear dear men, whom I respect and look up to and adore, allow me to quote noted gender theorist Inigo Montoya:

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

[Felix]

I agree that I'm a "female-assigned male in a patriarchal world," and that's a heavy and complicated situation, but can I still say ->-bleeped-<- and cracker? What about ->-bleeped-<-? Mine is beautiful, graced with at least an inch of weirdness that I don't know how to categorize. What can I call myself? Are we going to continue to be invisible? I don't want to hurt the feelings of any transwoman, but if I'm not a ->-bleeped-<- because that's a derogatory term for transfemales, then what am I? There are no derogatory terms for transmales because we don't exist.

It's really hard to deal with being trans without having some way to joke about it, and to turn people's meanness around and make it our own. If we declare that word off-limits I'll go with it. I don't like the idea of people being hurt. But still.

Maybe we'll get to the point where it's a common enough slur against trans men that we can start to have the reclamation conversation. But man, I hope we don't. It's depressing and comical, us wanting our very own slur.

I want my own slur because I already get the hate. Having no way to talk about it and no way to take away the sting is unfair.

[Felix]

Thanks Beverly. I was angry, maybe spoke a little harshly. I don't actually use the word "->-bleeped-<-" irl, but I do like it. I don't use "->-bleeped-<-," either, so I'm probably just channeling Vagina Monologues studies from college.

I've gotten called "->-bleeped-<-" a lot, and it's a funny word, so I do use that one. People don't often call me ->-bleeped-<-, I'll admit. Usually when strangers don't like that I'm trans they call me some variation of liar or wannabe, or...well etc. Stupid thing to start listing.

I don't necessarily disagree with the article, it just rubs me the wrong way. ->-bleeped-<- is a word already in common parlance, and whether it applies to me or not, I do think we could take it back. We got "queer" back. ->-bleeped-<- could be useful.