I recently learned the term "deadnaming. " Which means referring to a trans person by their former (i. e. birth name). So, yes, there are a few people out there who will righteously shit themselves if I mention Bruce Jenner. And yes, there are whole segments of society who now comb over every single thing a person says in their quest for the passive-aggressive thrill of taking offense when none was intended. Bruce Jenner Bruce Jenner Bruce Jenner. Never mind that he was Bruce Jenner for what, 58.years, and entertained millions of people in decathlons and such with his robustly male physique* and masculine identity. No one must use his deadname as a shorthand for Jenner back when she was a guy, doing guy stuff in a big splashy way. My point is the most of the human race couldn't give one tiny shit about this deadnaming thing, and can only be whipped into righteous political correctness by constantly be subjected to media and social media Offense Takings.
And, as a side note, what if we applied this "erase a person's past" ethos to everything?
He ran a concentration camp? Nope, can't refer to his name back then, he was another person then, etc. No deadnaming! He's clearly not a Nazi anymore! Model citizen!
* not minor surgery, IOW
Hey, Barton, "most of the human race couldn't give one tiny shit about" slavery at one point. Or women's rights.
So fucking what?!
Most of us don't "take "offense when none was intended." But with your red outburst, you sure seem to have intended offense.
Your struggles with the concept of deadnames is reminiscent of Uno's fight with Larry and Bambu's difficulties with women and women's rights.
Transkids are 4-10 times more likely to be suicidal when the people around them insist on deadnaming them and misgendering them. Is Caitlyn Jenner going to be affected by your choices?! Seems unlikely.
But to take your inclination to extend things the discussion, does that mean you think it's fine to use "nigger" to refer to Blacks or "kike" to refer to Jews just because you don't think any of them are near you??
It sure sounds like those are your implications.
Wow. None of those things were implied.
If you read my post, you'll maybe discern that I wasn't criticizing trans people, but rather the notion that we can't reference someone's prior identity. Going from male to female is a unique sort of transformation. Pretending it didn't happen doesn't honor that bold transformation. And suggesting that using a prior name to refer to that person WHEN THEY DID HAVE THAT NAME is demeaning is just false. Caitlyn didn't win a male decathlon. Bruce did.
Suggesting that calling him Bruce when he was Bruce is the same as a slur like kike or nigger is a false equivalence. Taking one aspect of correctness which is valid, like avoiding ethnic slurs, and using that to enforce any and all restrictions on naming strikes me as a sort of rigid dogma. No one's going to bloody kill themselves because I noted that Bruce won a decathlon. Obviously, I meet a trans person, I ask them how they want to be called, and how I should reference their past identity if it's something relevant to the conversation.
My larger point, about needless taking of offense, clearly went unnoticed. Oh well.
Your "larger point" was acknowledged (
Most of us don't "take "offense when none was intended."), Barton, but you embedded it in a piece in which you made a gratuitous use of her deadname.
It served NO purpose that furthered your argument.
And you are mistaken. If you
intentionally use somebody's deadname,
as opposed to accidentally using it then it is deliberately offensive. YOU know better, but are declaring you don't care.
You wrote what you wrote. consciously and knowledgeably. Nobody else is responsible for it.
Caitlyn won those awards before she transitioned. I'm sorry that that is so hard for you to grasp, Barton, but it is a lot simpler than you are making it out to be.
Back when Caitlyn came out, as the link below suggests, keeping her deadname out of an article might have served to be confusing, but I doubt that's much of an issue any more.
"
And suggesting that using a prior name to refer to that person WHEN THEY DID HAVE THAT NAME is demeaning is just false."
Not your call to make. You can decide if YOU are offended by something we say about YOU. You don't have that right for another. And, again, done out of ignorance, it is an act of ignorance. Done by you? It is deliberately offensive, to fly in the face of their preference.
Is that really so difficult to grasp?
https://www.vox.com/2015/6/2/8706745/transgender-issues-mistakes
