No need to discuss this, since this is the memeosphere or whatevs, but the term “transphobia” is headed towards the same fate that “antisemetism” is facing.

Saying genocide is bad has been getting labeled as antisemetic, which is not good, obviously. It muddies the waters, and makes discussion virtually impossible. It’s a distraction from hate against Jewish people, which is definitely real, and a problem.

Transphobia is something I would not wish upon anyone, just like any form of bigotry. It exists in multiple forms, including internalized ones. It doesn’t manifest magically when it’s internal either… It takes hearing a lot of transphobic shit for a long time for it to stick with someone in this way.

Internalized transphobia is not easy to get past for some people, and usually is only negativity towards the person feeling it, not other trans people. Most people who experience it don’t talk openly about it, and that is understandable.

I only mention this kind of transphobia to point out that it is a multi-facetted issue. Casual transphobia and outright transphobia are the usual causes for trans people to not feel accepted as they are, and can lead to people not accepting themselves. The outwardly expressed kinds are the problem, and part of the result of that problem can become an internal struggle that makes people miserable.

Re-defining “transphobia” is not a good idea, and when the definition becomes “whatever I don’t want to hear,” it resembles the current direction the word “antisemetism” is going.

Tap for spoiler

Genderqueer/trans folks are awesome. Groups are not monoliths though, and disagreements can be fine, when the goal is to help each other, or learn about experiences outside of one’s own.

  • corecoreOPEnglish
    1·
    3 days ago

    “Reciepts” is plural, implying you need a list, but I’m not here for pedantry. Sorry for misquoting you.

    I think my ability to do so prevents me from believing in ridiculous notions such as the term transphobia being meaningless.

    I didn’t say that at all, and the entire OP is about trying to avoid that happening.

    I don’t know how this isn’t contradicted by your following statements about the white moderate, centrism and upholding the status quo.

    It isn’t? I didn’t say “yay centrists are so good.” I was pointing out that most people aren’t chronically online leftists defending human rights for all, or bigotted right-wingers that want to remove them. The centrists aren’t the entire problem, they just perpetuate it by reenforcing the status quo.

    I kind of doubt you could convince anyone near the overton window of anything though, judging by how you respond with combative bullshit, before even attempting to understand where the other person is coming from.

    It’s fine though… I just wish the norm was listening/reading with intent of understanding, then forming a response, rather than spinning up 40 counter-arguments in the midst of taking in what someone is saying. It’s even worse in real conversation, when someone shuts off their ability to hear words, becuase some scary word (like “socialism”) was used.

    There’s no middle ground in human rights. If you’re not an ally you’re upholding the oppression.

    Definitely agree there. Human rights aren’t optional or negotiable. I feel like we probably share very similar, if not the same viewpoints on most important topics.