request regarding cissexist language

[hedgehoggle]

I am nervous that this is going to come off as being overly nitpicky or language policing, but I would like to ask that the board formally adopts a policy of using "trans" and "cis" as separate words rather than making compounds with "female/male/man/woman". I.e., using "trans woman" instead of "transwoman" and "cis male" instead of "cis-male", and for there to be an announcement about this as well as correcting of individual users who err, as happens with ableist, sexist, racist language now.

Many trans people have been requesting that people "put the space in" for a while now, for reasons ably outlined by Cedar here: https://takesupspace.wordpress.com/2008 ... olitics-1/

Excerpt:

Combining “trans”/”cis” and “(wo)man” into one word create a 4-gender system: ‘transmen’/[cis]’men’/’transwomen’/[cis]’women’–as opposed to the two binaries of gender “man”/”woman” and gender status “cis”/”trans”.

(The author acknowledges the binarist framing is itself problematic, but the main point is that one's gender is not the same as one's cis/trans status.)

In short, the implication is that "ciswomen" have a different gender from "transwomen" and that they do not have overlapping experiences or commonalities in their womanhood (and manhood etc. for trans men). And, because we live in a cissexist and transphobic world, this also carries the implication that the gendered experiences of cis people are more traditional, real, and valid than those of trans people. This is why I am requesting that this be made a formal rule of non-oppressive language on this forum, with an exception made only for trans people whose best self-description requires leaving the space out when referring to themselves specifically. Thank you.

[boutet]

Thank you for bringing this to our attention hedgehoggle. We won't have an answer for you immediately (these discussions take time) but this is to acknowledge that we have seen your post.

[hedgehoggle]

Thank you.

[boutet]

Thank you again for bringing this to our attention. We have decided that we will make a change to our rules requiring users to use the space and we will enforce it. However we have also decided that it would be very easy for a user to omit the space as a typo rather than as a deliberate choice. As such we will not be issuing formal warnings for it, but will correct users and then proceed depending on their responses. We are still working out where and how to fit this into the rules and it may take a bit more time, but when it is added to the rules we will make an announcement so that all users will be aware of it.