Dr. StrangeTrans or how I learned to stop worrying and embrace being cis-sexually gendered.
http://radicalbitch.wordpress.com/2008/11/01/dr-strangetrans-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-embrace-being-cis-sexually-gendered/ (http://radicalbitch.wordpress.com/2008/11/01/dr-strangetrans-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-embrace-being-cis-sexually-gendered/)
11/1/2008
Here's my guide for cisgendered and cissexual people on how to not be defensive when accused of transphobia:
1) "Cisgender" and "cissexual" are not slurs. Many people who are known for expressing the most transphobic views in public, react very badly to the term "cisgender," claim that it is a slur, that it is imposing gender on them. It's none of these things - it simply means "someone who is not a transgender person." However, saying that it is a slur is transphobic, because if "cisgender" is a slur, then how can you justify "transgender" as anything else? Imagine if "heterosexual" or "white" were considered slurs. This is an othering tactic - by claiming that "cisgender", "cissexual", or "cis" is an offensive slur, you're saying outright that you're unwilling to allow trans people to stand on equal footing with you. That you're normal and they're deviant. That you require the right to name trans people as other, but that trans people have no right to name you as privileged and oppressor. That it is normal to assume that not being transgender is the natural way to be, in the same way that not being gay or lesbian is assumed in straight society.