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Video: Stuff Cis People Say to Trans People January 10, 2012
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The Bay Area group TransFix came out with this video of stuff cis people say to trans people – another one of the few progressive responses to the Shit Girls Say meme. Enjoy!
-Jarrah
This was a cute video, but it also had a lot of important messages. Perhaps the most important (if it’s possible to choose) being the, “I don’t identify as cis.” Queer and genderqueer theory bring to us the message that all labels are irrelevant, and that anyone can be queer or genderqueer. Straight people can still be queer; cis people can still be genderqueer. While I am not going to get into queer or genderqueer theory, one of the outcomes of that is something analogous to “I’m not racist; I don’t see race.” It can be used as an excuse not to acknowledge privilege, or to claim equal oppression. There are merits to both of these theories, but these are obscured whenever straight queers and cis genderqueers fail to acknowledge that adopting these theories and identities does not in any way take away from their straight or cis privilege. It’s a useful way to think about gender and sexuality, but can be used, in practice, to render oppression invisible.
[...] the meme has also sparked some more subversive responses, such as Stuff Cis People Say to Trans People and Sh*t Girls Say to Gay Guys. As Renee at Womanist Musings points out: “They are all about [...]