the term cis; and maybe we need three or more terms

[sophiaserpentia]

There's been a lot of discussion in the blogosphere lately around the word "cis." It was coined 15 years ago so that there would be a word that means, basically, "someone who lives as a member of the sex they were assigned at birth." Why do we need such a word? Because those who are not cis are discriminated against horribly in this society (by families, friends, strangers, the law, schools, employers, social clubs, and religious institutions) and we deserve to not be the only people whose gender identity is given a name: trans.

wildeabandon posted a poll yesterday, the results of which match what I have seen in other discussions about "cis" in recent weeks: many or most of those who recognize that the term is meant to refer to them do not really object to it, though they often find it odd or awkward. But the objections are interesting, and it is those to which I wish to respond today.


A. General linguistic objections.
1. "Cis" sounds like you are calling me a sissy.

I've seen this objection cited several times in the last few weeks, entirely (as you might imagine) by men.

2. "Cis" is too clever.

"Cis" as opposed to "trans" is a terminology arising out of chemistry (or Classical studies, take your pick), a sort of accidental tribute to the general geekiness of the average trans person. So, 9 out of 10 times it's used, it has to be explained; it is only intuitive to those who are familiar with chemistry or Latin.

1 & 2 are not really objections to the assertion that there is a need for this term, merely objections to the actual morpheme in use. What term might we use instead, and in what way would it be an improvement?


B. Philosophical objections.
3. You're imposing an identity on me and I don't consent.

"Gentile" is a word that means "someone who is not a Jew," and it describes most of the human race. The term does accurately represent me, but it is not a part of my identity. I don't identify as a gentile, but I don't deny that I am one.

There are other terms that describe people which we do not incorporate into our identity and worldview. For example, I do not identify as "a person of medium height." But I chose "gentile" here because of what I see as an obvious parallel to the term "cis:" they are both terms that describe most of the human race which have been introduced by the minority for whom the term does not apply.

I'm not sure why those who are described by the term cis would assume the term's existence means they have to incorporate it into their identity. Is it because society sees "trans" as an identity? Is it because of political parallels to "gay," "straight," "white," "black"?


4. If you call me "cis," that implies that I am comfortable with the sex/gender I have been assigned by society. I've always felt uncomfortable with the gender role imposed on me, so it is not fair or accurate to associate it with me.

Being trans has very little to do with being uncomfortable with sex or gender roles. To put it bluntly, I am not trans because I am uncomfortable with the male gender role, I am trans because I am a woman. I am a woman whom most of the world insists is a man.

Everyone chafes against gender roles. Some people respond by acting or dressing in unconventional ways: a man might wear eyeliner; a woman might shave her head and refuse to wear skirts. Transition is fundamentally different from this. It's not simply gender-bending taken to a higher degree. Someone gender-bends because it's interesting or exciting or sexy; someone transitions because they are looking for relief.

I didn't petition the court to change my name because I am a nonconformist, I changed my name because my parents gave me a man's name by mistake. I needed to have a name that didn't increase my stress every time I had to answer to it.

I had my facial hair lasered off because afterward I could finally recognize the person I see when I look in the mirror. After puberty I had very excessive facial hair that made it likely that people would mistake me for a man. Getting rid of it has been a tremendous relief.


5. If you call me "cis," that implies that I identify strongly with the way my body is shaped and/or the politics that go with having a particular body shape.

This is an objection I've only seen from women. I suppose it's not impossible that a man might feel the same way, but I've yet to see it.

The women I've talked to who feel this way describe having lived their lives with a sense that womanhood is an artificial construct that people around them expect them to identify with and act like. Womanhood is imposed on them because of the shape of their body, even though their body is itself alien and disconnected.

The sense that one's body is not who one is, is far more profound than basic chafing at gender roles. On the face of it, this is rather like what it feels like to be trans, with an important distinction. Relief for this dissociative dysphoria would not come from transition, because manhood is just as alien and artificial to them as womanhood.

Labeling those who have this experience as "cis" is probably inaccurate, though they are not trans either. We might need a new term altogether. "Iso" perhaps?


A final point: we might be well served by defining a spectrum of terms that range from "cis" to "trans" rather than having an either/or distinction. For example, quite a few people identify as genderqueer and this seems to be a relationship to sex and gender that falls between cis and trans.

Comments

[legolastn.livejournal.com]

My own personal bias is that I love the term "cis" and find it very useful, but then I'm a genderqueerish geek with a bio/chem background, so I would.

1. "Cis" sounds like you are calling me a sissy.
This makes me want to throw up a little bit.

5. If you call me "cis," that implies that I identify strongly with the way my body is shaped and/or the politics that go with having a particular body shape.
I don't object to be being labeled "cis" for the reasons you mention in response to #3 & #4, but I do identify with this statement. However, being gay, genderqueerish, and arguably intersexed, perhaps I don't count for the purposes of your prediction.

...

I have wrestled a bit with the limits of the cis/trans distinction in a theoretical paper on high femme. I think genderqueer is probably a good and already fairly distributed/understood term for this sort of phenomenon. However, I agree that "iso" seems like a good parallel term with reference to cis/trans.

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

Is some sort of group identification really significant?

[sable-twilight.livejournal.com]

I often feel much of the problem is there is not enough distinction between cisgender and cissexual.

Argument number five might be lessened if the differences between the two were more clearly pointed out. Such women might well fall under the category of transgender, but cissexual.

[nationelectric.livejournal.com]

I wasn't aware that trans (for the transgendered) originated as a chemical term. I always thought it was just a straightforward use of a common latin prefix. I mean, everybody knows what the prefix trans- means.

[alobar.livejournal.com]

I thought this might interest you.
http://monja-alferez.livejournal.com/32571.html

[queenofhalves]

i dislike the prefix because it doesn't immediately convey any meaning to me, as it's not similar to other words in common use. when i first encountered it -- unlike trans -- i had *no* idea what it meant, even in context. to me, that's an immediate fail for a neologism -- neologisms should always suggest at least part of their meaning on first sight, even if they still need to be specifically defined.

[drooling-ferret.livejournal.com]

I have not a lot to add to this discussion, but I wanted to point out that the "too clever" bit is one of the things I like most about the use of the cis prefix.

[stacymckenna.livejournal.com]

accidental tribute to the general geekiness of the average trans person
Huh, I didn't realize the demographics overlapped so predominantly. I mean, I know the trans folk I know are largely geeks, but that's because MOST people I know are geeks, and some of them happen to be trans.

The explanation about #4 was very useful for my furthered understanding. Thank you!

#5 I have at least one male friend that I think would almost certainly raise his hand as identifying with this objection, possibly two.

queenofhalves point about the general unfamiliarity with the definition of "cis" holds true for me as well. My brain keeps trying to subsititue "gendernormative" as a replacement, but that's obviously not useful. Perhaps leaning more toward something that represents "starting" or "initial" as opposed to the trans/changed... but that still feels awkward because it implies trans people didn't start out the gender they are comfortable with, which is often not true. I know you've said you've always felt/been female.