It's progress, I guess.
Following an American Psychiatric Association report on transgender health, the APA has issued an "official position statements on the care and civil rights of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals."
Some good news: they acknowledge that we're not "disordered." Gender Identity Disorder is a thing of the past.
We're now have (suffer from?) "gender dysphoria," which means we're "unhappy with our birth gender." I can agree with that.
Zack Ford summarised the statement for the HuffPost:
'The APA explained the importance of standing up for the trans community, citing the “significant discrimination, prejudice, and the potential for victimization from violent hate crimes, as well as denial of many basic civil rights, protections, and access to health care, to the severe detriment of their mental health.'
The entire article is here. I've communicated with Mr Ford (and mentioned him before) a couple of times about issues I raised yesterday, about us being added on to the LGB ship as ballast, much as social conservatives are ballast for the Republican Party ~ not needed, except to add to the weight of the ship so it sails better (or the number of the cause so they can increase their strength). I don't know if I made a difference, but Mr Ford's been much more attentive to T issues, and I salute him.
Showing posts with label gender linguistics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gender linguistics. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Monday, September 26, 2011
Gender Linguistics
I went into a restroom that had one stall. On the door, it said "men." Wouldn't it have made more sense to say "man?" I mean, at that point, it's not a men's room, it's a man's room.
That got me thinking.... One = man. Many = men. So why isn't it "meny?" It sounds that way. It should be spelled that way.
Off on a slight tangent, I think I know why there's such a blowback against the idea of gay marriage. I think the average civilian is OK with two women together, except for the idea that two women are now out of circulation. But two men.... That sounds too gay, and gay has an anti-macho connotation.
My solution? Change one letter. Call it "guy marriage." Now it sounds like the kind of thing where the ceremony would be held in a mancave, and they'd go out camping instead of having a honeymoon.
And on another tangent... can women be testy? Or sent to a penal colony, or a penitentiary? Can men get hysterical?
I bet if I took the time to look it up, I'd find out that the word roots aren't what I think they are, but it's more fun not to.
Many years ago, I was a docent at the Bronx zoo. During training, the difference between altricial (animals that are born needing a parent's care) and precocial (animals that are ready to run from birth) was explained. One of the other trainees said "that makes sense. 'Altricial' is from 'altruistic' where someone would need to care for another. And 'precocial' is from 'precocious', so they'd be ahead of the other animals and ready to run or feed themselves." I thought that made sense. So I went home and pulled out the dictionary (no internet yet) and... she was completely wrong. I considered straightening her out the next week, but I wouldn't remember who she was (I've explained this before). Besides, I've never forgotten when altricial and precocial mean. I haven't needed it much, but still.
That got me thinking.... One = man. Many = men. So why isn't it "meny?" It sounds that way. It should be spelled that way.
Off on a slight tangent, I think I know why there's such a blowback against the idea of gay marriage. I think the average civilian is OK with two women together, except for the idea that two women are now out of circulation. But two men.... That sounds too gay, and gay has an anti-macho connotation.
My solution? Change one letter. Call it "guy marriage." Now it sounds like the kind of thing where the ceremony would be held in a mancave, and they'd go out camping instead of having a honeymoon.
And on another tangent... can women be testy? Or sent to a penal colony, or a penitentiary? Can men get hysterical?
I bet if I took the time to look it up, I'd find out that the word roots aren't what I think they are, but it's more fun not to.
Many years ago, I was a docent at the Bronx zoo. During training, the difference between altricial (animals that are born needing a parent's care) and precocial (animals that are ready to run from birth) was explained. One of the other trainees said "that makes sense. 'Altricial' is from 'altruistic' where someone would need to care for another. And 'precocial' is from 'precocious', so they'd be ahead of the other animals and ready to run or feed themselves." I thought that made sense. So I went home and pulled out the dictionary (no internet yet) and... she was completely wrong. I considered straightening her out the next week, but I wouldn't remember who she was (I've explained this before). Besides, I've never forgotten when altricial and precocial mean. I haven't needed it much, but still.
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