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Please, stop using "transwoman"

I keep seeing this, especially in the crossdressing community, and it's wrong. Trans, and transgender, in the context of our gender is an adjective and, as such, compounding this with woman is othering.

Words are important. When we use something like "transwoman" what is being said is that we're not women, we're something else. No. I will be crystal clear: I am a woman. I happen to be trans and I am also tall, slender, red-headed, older, etc. These are terms that might describe me in context of my womanhood. I don't compound them.

This is just a short gripe, but an important one. It's critical that our trans umbrella not participate in creating the conditions of othering that gets wielded as a weapon by those seeking our harm. The world is already really, really, hard for those of us in transition. Don't make it harder.

Comments

  1. Absolutely! I am a woman who happens to be trans, the trans bit does not define me, it does help describe me.

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