The Warp and Weft of Progressive Labels

Seen at a recent ‘pride’ event

This isn’t going to go down well.

On second thoughts, perhaps I ought to re-phrase that.

What on earth is the message they are trying to convey with this creepy and somewhat rapey sign here? And how the hell is this benefitting the image and perception of trans people?

But wait. What is a ‘trans’ person?

I have recently become aware of something called the Transgender Umbrella. It’s best understood as a visual

Hot on the heels of the re-definition of what it means to be a woman, we now have a wholesale re-definition of what it means to be trans.

Here’s just one example of a new term I hadn’t seen before

Transneutral: a transgender person who identifies with, is transitioning towards, or has transitioned to a neutral gender identity or gender expression.

The definition here is couched in the language of transition. It’s not clear whether to be transneutral one first has to identify as trans although one definition implies that this is not necessary

Transneutral is a term used to describe transgender people who were assigned male or female at birth, but identify with neutral gendered feelings to a greater extent than with femininity or masculinity. They usually are nonbinary but could be trans men or trans women.

You may be interested to know that this latter definition is dated from 2017. I confess my own ignorance here. Clearly this gender-label fetish has been around for much longer than I supposed.

We hear a lot about how TERFs and other gender-critical folk are “erasing” trans people. I think the GIMPs (Gender Ideology Madness Promoters) are doing a fine job of that all by themselves.

When I use the word ‘trans’ I’m referring to those people who have what we used to term gender dysphoria. I’m not exactly all that qualified to speak on behalf of trans people, but it seems to me that people in this category are, initially, in a really awful place that is genuinely distressing and traumatic. Their own biology has betrayed them, they feel, and they’re prepared to undergo very significant hardship (not to mention expense) to do their best to fix that. It’s nowhere near as simple as “deciding” to be a different gender.

The problem is, however, that when GIMPs talk about ‘trans’ they mean this whole new world of wonderful transy goodness of which those old-fashioned ‘original’ trans people are just a tiny component part. They’re a very useful component because the GIMPs get to talk about ‘suicide rates’ for trans people (meaning ‘original’ trans people) as a way of promoting their new all-improved version of trans.

I really do want to draw a distinction between categories by using the terms cistrans and costrans. I know the term ‘cistrans’ will probably be offensive to some as a way of doing that, but the term costrans emphasizes the cosplay-like appearance of modern gender ideology. I’m sorry, but I hope you can get the spirit of what I’m trying to say with this shorthand.

Here’s the way I see things at the moment - and please feel free to wade in with a counter view (although please do try to be respectful - I think it must be really difficult these days if you’re cistrans to be the focus of so very much unwanted attention).

And there’s the rub. The last thing, as I see it, that most cistrans people actually want is attention. Drawing attention to their ‘status’ as a trans person is really not at all what it’s about. Transitioning is not an ‘identity’ for them, it’s a method to get where they need to be to have a chance of living a half-decent fulfilled life.

A cistrans person, by and large, is not posting their ‘trans’ identity all over social media - although some do, obviously. Those that have done so is partly, I think, because of the unholy and intense spotlight that has been brought to bear on the whole trans issue over the last few years.

Cistrans people are caught in the middle of this hellish mess. They’re being used as pawns in some GIMPy game on the one hand, and are facing some very serious backlash from ‘normal’ people on the other. A backlash almost entirely caused by the obsessive focus on the issue.

And here’s the problem in a nutshell.

By including all the GIMPy weird shit under the ‘trans’ umbrella what do you think the reaction of your ‘average’ person is going to be? They’re going to see things like demigirlflux and think the whole lot is ridiculous - and cistrans people will get lumped in with that dismissal.

I have no idea what these ‘progressive’ lunatics think they’re doing, but things aren’t getting better at all with their endless label-generation and sanctimonious drivel. They’re just creating a seething, roiling mass of resentment everywhere - and my fear is this is going to explode.

The sad thing is that none of this was necessary.

If you take a step back and try to go all ‘meta’, then one possible hypothesis is that there are a group of people pushing division (and not just on gender ideologies) and exploiting the rest of us in order to create chaos. The compassionate nature of most people is being weaponized by stoking their very good and decent desire to stand up for ‘marginalized’ people.

But by going to excess, this hypothesised group is also acutely aware of the effect this will have on others who will push back against that excess.

If you’re anything like me, you will be instinctively suspicious of overdone messaging. When I hear covid, covid, covid, or climate change, climate change, climate change, or trans, trans, trans, my bullshit meters start twitching. I wonder what the agenda is and why I’m being manipulated to think and feel in a certain way.

Now, climate change might be something to really worry about. But when heart attacks, domestic violence, every single latest flood or high wind, all get blamed on ‘climate change’ you have to wonder who’s yanking the chain.

Same with ‘trans’. We’re talking, in the case of cistrans, about a very small percentage of people who find themselves in a truly terrible and terrifying situation. We don’t have a full understanding of why it happens, we might never do so, but we can, as a society, adopt a sensible and compassionate approach that wouldn’t ruffle too many feathers. That’s what we used to do. Today’s GIMPs are all about ruffling feathers.

The new GIMP tapestry is being created from the warp and weft of an ideologically-driven set of labels that is doing a disservice to the very people they purport to be helping.

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