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Words, yes.
The use of perfectly good, usable words has become verboten because some people used them in a derogatory manner.
Therefore, the rest of us no longer can, either by virtue of *****ing or refusal of the offended to read them in context.
That is a subject for this forum.
Context is a subject for this forum.
I wish I'd never started it. I had no idea my question would be offensive. How could I possibly not know it wouldn't be acceptable? It's even wrong to mention this is an age of super-sensitivity, which in an of itself, should have told me not to ask questions.
However, the writing forum includes the subject of words and it didn't occur to me that asking my question here would also be a mistake.
No. It's good you asked. You got some good answers. As for super-sensitivity...well it implies that people are being unreasonable with what word they prefer to be called. Perhaps if you had used the phrase " an age of awareness" or something similar.
In another area of C-D someone posted the slang word tranny is a slur to a transgender person. It seems to me it is a logical way of being informal. Supposedly, using trans is acceptable, but not tranny which seems to be splitting hairs. I try to be sensitive to such things, but sometimes it gets to be too much. I learned to say Asian rather than Oriental and certain other words which were deemed unacceptable. I realize this is the age of super-sensitivity, but, does anyone know why tranny is a slur?
For a while, it seemed as if some younger trans men were going to successfully reclaim 'tranny', at least as a 'smile when you say that' epithet, or a 'we can say that about ourselves; you can't' in-group word like '*****'. It didn't take, though, partly because it had never stopped being used by would-be hip lad journalists to abuse not only actual trans people, but a list of 'weird' people seen as non-gender-conforming.
Defamatory: "tranny," "she-male," "he/she," "it," "shim"
These words dehumanize transgender people and should not be used in mainstream media. The criteria for using these derogatory terms should be the same as those applied to vulgar epithets used to target other groups: they should not be used except in a direct quote that reveals the bias of the person quoted. So that such words are not given credibility in the media, it is preferred that reporters say, "The person used a derogatory word for a transgender person." Please note that while some transgender people may use "tranny" to describe themselves, others find it profoundly offensive.
Let me share what I have learned in the last 24 hours. I have learned, thanks to Glaad.org's website, that the term "tranny" is used as a dehumanizing slur to describe transgender individuals and is oftentimes the last word someone hears before they are brutally attacked. Similar to the anti-gay F-word, the term "tranny" is commonly used to humiliate and degrade transgender individuals.
I can tell you with all sincerity that I had no idea.
I often hear the term used on Logo's RuPaul's Drag Race and spent an entire summer listening to Christian Siriano use the phrase "hot tranny mess" on Lifetime's Project Runway. In my definition, I was referring to the flamboyant and hilarious drag queens and transvestites who play on Christopher Street in New York City, some of whom I even call friends. When I use the word "tranny," I am picturing Tim Curry's Frank-N-Furter character in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, or the wildly hilarious Eddie Izzard. I certainly don't think of Chaz Bono or someone questioning the body they were born into.
It is a word that I have always associated with overly made-up men in garish costumes and dramatic makeup and have always considered it a term of endearment. It had never crossed my mind that it was a slur against those who are transgender and fighting for their identity.
The term itself was first popularized within the porn industry. And while I'll be the last one to denigrate sexuality and pornography, the fact is that "tranny porn" is about as representative of trans people's sexuality as "girl-on-girl porn" is representative of lesbian sexuality. The usual context that it has been used in porn is to highlight how trans women are not really women, while also painting us as more exotic and sexually available.
So when the term became linked to the porn industry and popularized, it became a useful way to get a sense of someone's background with the community. If a cisgender person used the term "tranny" it probably meant that they got most of their knowledge of (or at least intro to) the trans community from the porn and sex industries, and perhaps didn't have your best interests at heart. This is also probably related to the creation of the term "tranny-chaser" as a way for the trans community to identify people who might take advantage of a trans person's relative vulnerability or see trans people only as a sexual commodity.
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I'm not going to lay down any rules for how you might use it though, especially if you've been the target of its derogatory use yourself. All I ask is that you think about how you use it. And be able to explain yourself if someone wants to question you about it.
So in summary:
This is a word that was developed outside the trans community. It's been used as a slur for several decades, and appears prominently in porn which almost universally dehumanizes the people it labels. Not all trans people are offended by it, and some choose to reclaim it in the same way some in the African-American community choose to reclaim the n-word. However, it does offend a significant number of trans people. It's not a useful label. There are better terms to use.
And, in general, when a person says "hey, I find that word offensive and I'd appreciate it if you used this word instead", the appropriate response is "Oh, I wasn't aware, sorry", not "it's a fine word to use and I'm going to keep using it and you shouldn't be offended by it"...which is a response I personally got from a few folks right here on C-D.
I understand language is confusing, and I mean that without any sarcasm. There's a lot of politics and hurt wrapped up in some words, but I hope some of this information is helpful to you. If I can clarify anything for you, let me know.
If people would quit using the slang or abbreviated words and just take the time to spell out the entire word there would be much less confusion and less offending anyone. Abbreviated words or text speak or any slang is not appropriate at times, no matter how many times you have to type the entire word.
Tranny was always meant to mean transvestite in literature up until very recently when the word began to be used interchangeably with she-male, which is something that is completely separate from being a transvestite. It is now considered to be an outdated term, and as such, derogatory.
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Originally Posted by old_cold
Absolutely!
In another forum, in a very long thread, while defending the rights of gays and after typing out homosexual about a dozen times, I started abbreviating it.
Why is it the short version, "hetero" is not taken as derogatory?
So yeah, it is the context that matters, not the abbreviation.
Brevity is probably why the word 'gay' was adopted.
However, the word hetero is never used as a derogatory term. Sometimes gays and lesbians will use the word breeder which is meant to be derogatory in the sense that it is used to describe one of those.
Any word, including abbreviated ones, like hetero, will become known as derogatory if people use them in a nasty context or with a sarcastic tone of voice.
Enough people use it that way and the word becomes insensitive.
Maybe the onus should be on the listener NOT to be 'offended' when it's not being used as a slur.
Maybe we could save a lot more words from being eliminated .
Think about it. I bet you can come up with a whole list if words that have been usurped just because people don't want to be reminded of a truth, as if not hearing it will change the fact.
Does mentally deficient really mean something different than retarded?
Differently abled??? Come on!
What with all the jokes, I'm surprised 'blonde' hasn't become verboten.
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