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COMMENTARY: Why language matters in the context of the heated debate over ‘transgender’ issues.
Editor's Note: This is the first installment of a two part series on the issues surrounding gender identity.
Watch your language... You should not say “transgender.”
I can hear the howls already: You are erasing trans people!
I’m not trying to “erase” anyone.
My point is that the words “trans” or “transgender” are used to mean so many different things, that these terms create more confusion than clarity. Let’s make sure we understand each other, that’s all. Let’s get started.
The American Psychological Association offers the following definition of transgender:
Transgender is an umbrella term for persons whose gender identity, gender expression or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with their biological sex.
Notice that this definition contains other words that need to be defined. The APA defines the terms “gender identity” and “gender expression” this way:
Feelings aren’t static. They can even be volatile. A person’s “internal sense” of self, including the parts relating to gender, can change over time. In fact, peoples’ mature sense of themselves should be different from their younger sense of self.
Continued below.
www.ncregister.com
Editor's Note: This is the first installment of a two part series on the issues surrounding gender identity.
Watch your language... You should not say “transgender.”
I can hear the howls already: You are erasing trans people!
I’m not trying to “erase” anyone.
My point is that the words “trans” or “transgender” are used to mean so many different things, that these terms create more confusion than clarity. Let’s make sure we understand each other, that’s all. Let’s get started.
The American Psychological Association offers the following definition of transgender:
Transgender is an umbrella term for persons whose gender identity, gender expression or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with their biological sex.
Notice that this definition contains other words that need to be defined. The APA defines the terms “gender identity” and “gender expression” this way:
Notice that “gender identity” appears in both definitions. In that sense, “gender identity” is the core concept. And “gender identity” is entirely subjective, by definition. There can be no objective, measurable definition of “gender identity,” since it is based entirely on the individual’s feelings.
Feelings aren’t static. They can even be volatile. A person’s “internal sense” of self, including the parts relating to gender, can change over time. In fact, peoples’ mature sense of themselves should be different from their younger sense of self.
Continued below.
Gender Ideology’s Verbal Engineering
COMMENTARY: Why language matters in the context of the heated debate over ‘transgender’ issues.
