I can't help you too much, but I'll be interested to see the responses. I understand some of it, especially when it comes to trans issues. I'll confess I don't understand genderqueer at all. I'm not saying it doesn't exist- I just don't understand and no amount of explaining gets me to. It reminds me of when they tried to explain my son's body awareness issues- I certainly believe they exist- I can see the evidence- but I don't get it. I understand the concept of body dimorphism more, so in general trans makes more sense to me, but I'm lost on genderqueer.
I think part of it for me is that the way I learned feminism, it was the only differences between the sexes/genders was biological. So, men can't have babies and women can't use urinals easily, essentially. When I was growing up it was the "anything boys can do girls can do better" mindset, but now as I've gotten thinking about it more, it's also "anything girls can do, boys can do too" :) Just the idea that men can take on more traditionally feminine roles or like feminine things. I cannot get my mind to separate gender and sex at all. So if it helps, I'm right there with you.
The tranny thing I do absolutely get- even though you're not describing people and have absolutely no ill intent, the word tranny has taken on terrible meanings outside the automotive mechanic world. It would be like if a car part was called a n-word in slang, I think. Even though you're talking about the car, the word can be so terrible in other contexts that just hearing it bothers people. I don't think there are many words that fall into that category, but I think because of the violence that has been perpetuated against people who are trans, it is making that transition. (To give you an idea, I had the n-word typed out and had to change it because I was uncomfortable. It's starting to get to that level for a lot of people.)
As far as cis- and trans- terminology, I find it easier to understand if you look at chemistry and how the words are used there. When you have a carbon-carbon double bond, you have four positions open:
|.....| C = C |.....|
(ignore the periods- they're there as place holders)
When you have your major groups on the same side, it's called cis. When the major groups are on the opposite sides, it's trans. If you think of the two major groups as "identity" (I) and "assigned" (A), you get:
Cis:
I.....A |......| C = C
Trans:
I | C = C .......| ......A
So for cis, the sex you feel and the sex you're assigned are on the same side, and for trans, they're on the opposite side. (Side of what, I have no idea. This is just my analogy that makes sense to me.) That said, while I recognize that I'm cis, I also don't particularly call myself cis. To be honest, until Tumblr came along, I just didn't think of it much.
Hope that helps a little, or even just the knowledge that on a lot of it, we can be confused together :)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2014-02-24 12:28 pm (UTC)I think part of it for me is that the way I learned feminism, it was the only differences between the sexes/genders was biological. So, men can't have babies and women can't use urinals easily, essentially. When I was growing up it was the "anything boys can do girls can do better" mindset, but now as I've gotten thinking about it more, it's also "anything girls can do, boys can do too" :) Just the idea that men can take on more traditionally feminine roles or like feminine things. I cannot get my mind to separate gender and sex at all. So if it helps, I'm right there with you.
The tranny thing I do absolutely get- even though you're not describing people and have absolutely no ill intent, the word tranny has taken on terrible meanings outside the automotive mechanic world. It would be like if a car part was called a n-word in slang, I think. Even though you're talking about the car, the word can be so terrible in other contexts that just hearing it bothers people. I don't think there are many words that fall into that category, but I think because of the violence that has been perpetuated against people who are trans, it is making that transition. (To give you an idea, I had the n-word typed out and had to change it because I was uncomfortable. It's starting to get to that level for a lot of people.)
As far as cis- and trans- terminology, I find it easier to understand if you look at chemistry and how the words are used there. When you have a carbon-carbon double bond, you have four positions open:
|.....|
C = C
|.....|
(ignore the periods- they're there as place holders)
When you have your major groups on the same side, it's called cis. When the major groups are on the opposite sides, it's trans. If you think of the two major groups as "identity" (I) and "assigned" (A), you get:
Cis:
I.....A
|......|
C = C
Trans:
I
|
C = C
.......|
......A
So for cis, the sex you feel and the sex you're assigned are on the same side, and for trans, they're on the opposite side. (Side of what, I have no idea. This is just my analogy that makes sense to me.) That said, while I recognize that I'm cis, I also don't particularly call myself cis. To be honest, until Tumblr came along, I just didn't think of it much.
Hope that helps a little, or even just the knowledge that on a lot of it, we can be confused together :)