Tranny

Many minority communities go through periods where words are acceptable in some form and not acceptable in others. In some cases, there is a definite acceptance of the term in an attempt to reclaim it in a positive way. In the gay community, the term “queer” was originally used as an insult. However, the gays (as well as other sexual minorities) began reclaiming this term and turning it into a positive identity – today, one can use “queer” whether they exist within or outside of the LGBTQ community and it is not seen as offensive as it once was.

The term “tranny” is going through a similar process except that it is not at the point of being a positive for people to use outside of the community. While trans* people might refer to other trans* people as “trannies”, the perception is one of camaraderie instead of insult as is the perception when a cisperson (or someone who is not trans*) uses the term “tranny.” This is because the word has a negative history. The term came about because of the porn industry when trans* people were used for “girl-on-girl” sex and so transwomen weren’t seen as “real” women.

Trap

In this video, a transwomen talks about her perceptions of the word “trap”. It comes from the idea that those who are transgender or transsexual simply try to deceive people because they are not “really” the gender they are trying to be. Interestingly enough, looking at this person’s comments below the video, they actually go on to explain they use the term “tranny” with trans* people who are also okay with this term … in fact, she uses the term “tranny” with her husband who is also trans*. Therefore, one might see that the term “trap” is much less accepted than “tranny” because it is based on the belief that trans* people deceive or purposely hurt people by “pretending” to be “something they’re not”.

“It”

In the interviews I conducted this particular phrase was one that all my participants would find offensive. This is because it is the dehumanization and decharacterization of trans* people – since their gender identity doesn’t match how others view them, trans* people are often seen as confused and subhuman. In all cases, participants agreed that being “mispronouned” was better than being referred to as “it”.

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