Elon Musk this week said that he considers the word “cisgender” as a slur. I too have many problems with this word.
“Cisgender” refers to someone whose identity corresponds to their biological sex. So a biological man who identifies as a man. It is the antonym to the word “transgender,” which is a person whose identity is not their biological sex.
Okay, so add “cissexual” to that lexicon. This word refers to people who have opposite sex sex. Man-woman sex. The opposite would be anything…else? Including “pedophilia and pedosexuality.”?
Cisgender is usually used as a word of exclusion and denigration. Like, “Oh you’re cisgendered, your sexuality is so basic.” It was used like that in the Sex and the City reboot and beyond. So what is the implication of using “cissexual”? We already see movements towards pedophilia as a protected sexual orientation in state laws.
If you are “cisgender,” you do not have to consent to being called that. We don’t need an opposite identity of every dysphoria.
