posts tagged "socialization"

Why “Transgender” is Better Than “Transgendered”

kiriamaya:

stfuconservatives:

epochryphal:

It’s largely linguistic in reasoning!

The -ed removes agency and passivizes the modified subject.  That morpheme suggests that the subject is operated upon, transgender-ed, by something (presumably society), and is thus altered from an original (“normal” - cisgender) state.
As evidence: there is a fairly common faulty back-formation, the verb “to transgender,” from “to be transgendered.”  This is sometimes used to mean “to transition,” which is a mistaken meaning of what transgender means anyway.

This phrasing basically posits nurture over nature (regardless of the individual’s personal feelings on their identity’s source), suggests being transgender is a result of brainwashing/group-think or faulty raising or some sort of change, and leads to a pathologizing and “cure”-based approach.

Of course any individual may prefer transgendered to transgender!  I have heard some folks speak up and say that they do indeed feel society made them this way.  Completely valid.
But as a universal application, it is far less neutral and leaves trans folks less room to position themselves, and honestly gives people the wrong overall impression and gives media pundits a subtle way to continue painting trans people as passive victims and objects.

It may not be a big issue, but it definitely does influence how people think, however subtly.  Language is tricky that way!

A few of you sent me this link — thank you! Googling “transgender versus transgendered” didn’t bring it up. I knew it was “transgender” but I couldn’t figure out how to explain it. Many thanks to all the folks who helped me out :)

Oooh, this is a really good explanation.

(via reticent-romantic)

“

Women are socialized to make men feel good. We’re socialized to “let you down easy.” We’re not socialized to say a clear and direct “no.” We’re socialized to speak in hints and boost egos and let people save face. People who don’t respect the social contract (rapists, predators, assholes, pickup artists) are good at taking advantage of this. “No” is something we have to learn. “No” is something we have to earn. In fact, I’d argue that the ability to just say “no” to something, without further comment, apology, explanation, guilt, or thinking about it is one of the great rites of passage in growing up, and when you start saying it and saying it regularly the world often pushes back. And calls you names.

The art of “no.” « CaptainAwkward.com (via waschbar)

(via tumblinfeminist)