Language politics

Criticism of dominant terminology, alternate terms and definitions, and trans 301

This page will always be a work in progress. There’s just too much fucked up about trans terminology for this page not to exist, or to ever be covered by one person. It should also be a conversation, so criticize my language politics, too. This list assumes you already know most of the terms being discussed, so if you’re looking for trans terminology 101, go do a search for that.

Table of Contents:

1. Put the goddamn space in: transfeminism, trans(wo)man, transmasculine/transfeminine spectrum
2. What are you really: trans (wo)man, trans feminine/masculine spectrum, MAAB/FAAB, trans (fe)male spectrum, vectored, spectrum, genderqueer, gender fluid
3. Rejecting trans misogyny: tranny, trans feminine/masculine spectrum, genderqueer, ffm/mff, mtf & “male to female” [and, I shouldn't have to mention it, but apparently I do, chicks-with-dicks]
4. “Biological”: science and cissexual supremacy
5. Pointing the finger at transphobia: A different take on “transsexual” (& “cissexual”)
6. Whose queer gender? genderqueer, crossdresser, bigenderist, drag queen; re-binarizing otherwise gendered people
7. Genderqueer politics gone wrong: The Gender Binary^TM, gender coercion, (fe)male bodied, they
8. Transsexual politics gone wrong: detransition, trans (wo)man, (wo)man of transsexual experience
9. Feminist politics gone wrong: sex v. gender, (fe)male bodied,
10. Reclaiming our bodies: sex/gender self-determination, body sovereignty
11. Get your hands off my oppression: tranny(fag, boi), chicks with dicks
12. No, you don’t own that word: “appropriation” & genderqueer, ze/hir
13. Privilege/Oppression: external / internal, dominance / support, accountability / subordination, insubordination a note on privilege checklists
14. The oppressiveness of ‘ally’ (see also Michelle O’Brien’s essay, “Whose Ally?“.)
15. Trans women, women’s space: allowing, trans inclusion/exclusion, trans woman ejection
16. What about other intersections: is “trans misogyny” racist?
17. Assorted obscure but useful words: Kyriarchy, FFM/MFF, Crowdagger, CLGB, Misogyny Not-Otherwise-Specified (NOS), trans woman ejection

99. Accepting Imperfection & Accountability

Content at links.