AFAB / AMAB

tal9000:

freedominwickedness:

My current understanding is that the term “Coercively Assigned X At Birth” refers to intersex children who were subjected to surgical “correction” at birth and should not be used by intersex persons who were not surgically altered at birth, including (but not limited to) trans* people. The less specific term “Assigned X At Birth” does not refer to surgical intervention but simply to birth assignment, and thus is entirely appropriate for more general use by intersex (including trans*) people who were not subjected to surgery at birth.

Given the general history of people pulling faux-history from thin air anytime trans women have words for ourselves and the specific history of intersex advocates being overly broad in pushing back against colonization by HBS advocates, I am not willing to accept without receipts that A[X]AB is appropriative.

Is it necessarily appropriative? No. Is the “designated” language just as good, possibly more specific, and 100% ours? Yes.

I’m not going to police anyone else’s use of “assigned” language (“coercively assigned” I’ll mention the history of), but I will go on using “designated” terms, and if anyone asks I’ll say why.

Until the next time someone decides to take another word away from an oppressed people, because the best way to erase oppression is to take away all the words to describe it.

The well-documented history of misusing anti-oppressive language to oppress trans people should give trans people - especially trans women - great pause before surrendering any word.

Source: freedominwickedness

36 Notes/ Hide

  1. queerasgoat reblogged this from fuckyeahsexeducation
  2. thatfeministdyke reblogged this from fuckyeahsexeducation
  3. fuckyeahsexeducation reblogged this from transgenderstudentlife and added:
    this is the most info I could get on the difference of FAAB/MAAB DMAB/DFAB. Of course I think CAMAB/CAFAB should only be...
  4. postapocalypticjelly reblogged this from thethirddecade1121
  5. hummingbirdprince reblogged this from ladofthewildeknight and added:
    I agree with Gilligan on this one..
  6. ladofthewildeknight reblogged this from transgenderstudentlife and added:
    Designated implies sectioned off, less changeable, and has a sort of fatalistic sense to it. Like, it was some higher...
  7. thethirddecade1121 reblogged this from southcarolinaboy
  8. transgenderstudentlife reblogged this from genderbitch
  9. kittensandscience reblogged this from widdershinsgirl and added:
    I encountered the “assigned” language first in relation to intersex people myself. I’m not going to attack people who...
  10. tuuli reblogged this from widdershinsgirl and added:
    I would like to hear some intersex people’s thoughts on this, but I haven’t heard anything negative from anyone so far....
  11. tal9000 reblogged this from widdershinsgirl and added:
    This isn’t a battle I’m willing to fight. I’m not going to fight to keep this word when an equally-good alternative...
  12. widdershinsgirl reblogged this from tal9000 and added:
    Until the next time someone decides to take another word away from an oppressed people, because the best way to erase...
  13. freedominwickedness posted this