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Cisgender

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Cisgender (IPA: [sɪs dʒɛn dɝ]) is an adjective that means non-transgender. In other words, a cisgender woman is someone who was female at birth, raised as a girl, and who identifies as a woman. In contrast, a transgender woman is someone who was male at birth, was most likely but not necessarily raised as a boy, and who identifies as a woman. That is, it provides a name for a gender identity that society considers to match or be appropriate for one's sex.[1] The word is used in many transgender-inclusive and aware communities that want to challenge the notion that transgender is "abnormal," and instead reflects the view that there is a broad range of gender experience, rather than one "normal" one.

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[edit] History

The first recorded Usenet post of cisgender was in the alt.transgendered usenet group in May of 1994 by Dana Leland Defosse. In April of 1996, Carl Buijs, a transsexual man from the Netherlands said in a usenet posting "As for the origin; I just made it up".

The origin of the term is logically based on the Latin prefixes, in which "cis" ("on the same side") is the opposite of "trans" ("on the opposite side"). These terms find use in a range of subjects, including Geometric isomerism in chemistry.

Along with the less commonly used term cissexual, the idea of cisgender originated as a way to shift the focus off of a marginalized group, by defining not only the minority group but also the majority.[citation needed] This is based upon the hypothesis that categorizing everyone will illustrate a difference between equal alternatives, whereas singling out the minority group implies some deviance, immorality, or defect on the part of the labeled group. Some transgender people hope that the use of the word cisgender will increase mainstream acceptance and eventually remove the taboos.[citation needed] Others point out that the term heterosexual is very widely used but seems to have done little for the gay rights movement.[citation needed] However, prior to "cisgender", there was no standard word used to describe non-transgender people without the use of negative prefixes while still avoiding terms like "normal", "born" or "genetic" (women or men).

[edit] Current usage

Many (particularly transsexual-inclusive) communities use the term non-transsexual or non-trans, perhaps because the more scientific-sounding term "cisgendered" has not gained popularity or widespread usage in everyday English. Other groups consider it inappropriate to define any group by what they are not.[citation needed]

Some people may prefer "cisgender" to "biological", "genetic", or "real" male or female because of the implications of those words. Using the term "biological female" or "genetic female" to describe cisgender women implies that transgender women are also not biologically female; since there is debate over whether transsexuality has a genetic or biological cause, some people may believe that transgender women are also biologically female. Transgender women also may find it offensive to describe cisgender women as "real women," since they consider themselves to be real women. In addition, the terms "biological" and "genetic" leave ambiguity about how to describe people with androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS). The word cisgender is rarely used outside transsexual-inclusive communities and thus, it is not often used to self-identify.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

de:Cisgender eo:Cisgenrulo ro:Cisgen

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