Being Socially Conscious vs Being a Pussy

[Jay]

uhh i think you mean the definition looks pretty close to what I fuckin said

sex tends to refer to biological differences, while gender refers to cultural or social ones.

QED clown

I feel like you're being incredibly overaggressive about this.

[10sun]

Seriously, it isn't a big deal.
In most settings they are used interchangeably.
I just thought it was important that we use the correct words when talking about gender issues.
Just like this entire conversation is about using the correct words.

[Jay]

Seriously, it isn't a big deal.
In most settings they are used interchangeably.
I just thought it was important that we use the correct words when talking about gender issues.
Just like this entire conversation is about using the correct words.

I just feel like there's 0 room for any form of understanding or "reading between the lines" in these types of conversations. I'm 34 years old. I grew up saying stuff I didn't like was gay and people who were whiners were called fags. I've since changed that, but it wasn't automatic. Transgenders and trans topics are real. The suicide rate is real. Gimme a second to react to something totally foreign to me and be accepting of it before you tell me I'm a transphobe because I reacted to something I've seen in less than 1% of my entire life.

[10sun]

Don't be so nervous. It is fucking weird. Foreign. Alien. Whatever.
Don't expect me to be 100% comfortable.
I'm just observing it, not living with it.
I can deal with it and I respect those who are living with it.

With all of that being said, a few coworkers are getting together to watch Blazing Saddles in the theater on Sunday.
One is 25 years old. Inner city born and raised. He has no idea what the movie is.
I can't wait to see what his reaction is.

[Lyion]

Seriously, it isn't a big deal.
In most settings they are used interchangeably.
I just thought it was important that we use the correct words when talking about gender issues.
Just like this entire conversation is about using the correct words.

I just feel like there's 0 room for any form of understanding or "reading between the lines" in these types of conversations. I'm 34 years old. I grew up saying stuff I didn't like was gay and people who were whiners were called fags. I've since changed that, but it wasn't automatic. Transgenders and trans topics are real. The suicide rate is real. Gimme a second to react to something totally foreign to me and be accepting of it before you tell me I'm a transphobe because I reacted to something I've seen in less than 1% of my entire life.

Stop being so gay, dude.

[Tossica]

Seriously, it isn't a big deal.
In most settings they are used interchangeably.
I just thought it was important that we use the correct words when talking about gender issues.
Just like this entire conversation is about using the correct words.

I just feel like there's 0 room for any form of understanding or "reading between the lines" in these types of conversations. I'm 34 years old. I grew up saying stuff I didn't like was gay and people who were whiners were called fags. I've since changed that, but it wasn't automatic. Transgenders and trans topics are real. The suicide rate is real. Gimme a second to react to something totally foreign to me and be accepting of it before you tell me I'm a transphobe because I reacted to something I've seen in less than 1% of my entire life.

Stop being so gay, dude.

Whatever, fag.

[Jay]

I just feel like there's 0 room for any form of understanding or "reading between the lines" in these types of conversations. I'm 34 years old. I grew up saying stuff I didn't like was gay and people who were whiners were called fags. I've since changed that, but it wasn't automatic. Transgenders and trans topics are real. The suicide rate is real. Gimme a second to react to something totally foreign to me and be accepting of it before you tell me I'm a transphobe because I reacted to something I've seen in less than 1% of my entire life.

Stop being so gay, dude.

Whatever, fag.

Stop bullying me.

[brinstar]

I feel like you're being incredibly overaggressive about this.

yeah maybe

not about the topic itself, i think. i just thought it was annoying that i say X thing and lyion says uhh no it's actually Y and then posts a definition that confirms X and uses it to tell me i'm wrong while being smug as fuck about it lmao get that shit out

I just feel like there's 0 room for any form of understanding or "reading between the lines" in these types of conversations. I'm 34 years old. I grew up saying stuff I didn't like was gay and people who were whiners were called fags. I've since changed that, but it wasn't automatic. Transgenders and trans topics are real. The suicide rate is real. Gimme a second to react to something totally foreign to me and be accepting of it before you tell me I'm a transphobe because I reacted to something I've seen in less than 1% of my entire life.

realtalk tho this paragraph is actually pretty legit. part of the issue is that the people who fit within these demographics (trans people, in this instance) are utterly sick and tired of being marginalized and ignored and bullied and shat on by pretty much every other demographic you can think of (lots of gays look down on trans people, just like white feminists have a habit of not listening to black feminists), and now that the huge wall of oppression they've lived in the shadow of for virtually all their lives is showing signs of cracking they want to bring the whole thing down as quickly as possible.

because for the first time in a long time they see they have more than a few allies, and they see that other similarly long-suffering groups are finally getting somewhere, and they don't want to get left behind - so they're rallying as much support as they can in hopes of further pushing the sea change that's already in the process of happening. meanwhile, the people sitting on top of that wall and the people who helped build it are getting very nervous and very angry, because for the first time their supremacy is being challenged and even ridiculed so they are getting even uglier than usual about it. case in point, this morning i read an article about an oklahoma lawmaker who wants to make it illegal for LGBT youth struggling with suicidal ideation to seek counseling from LGBT-friendly therapists. like wtf? you'd rather just let them kill themselves? fuck's sake, those are living breathing humans with families who love them and you think nah hell with that let's just let 'em murk themselves? the only thing oppressive systems hate more than those they oppress is sunlight

but it's absolutely key that we continue talking about these things with each other, and it's only through talking right through the middle of our initial discomfort can we move forward and have a chance at embracing harmony and acceptance of all peoples. i know what's been said in this thread but in all honesty it's a process and it doesn't always move as fast as we would hope it to. i too grew up calling people fag and slut and ugly crap like that but when i started learning about what systematic oppression does to people without power (especially over time) i began to disarm myself from all those hateful weapons. and i'm still doing it. and it doesn't happen overnight: it takes time, it takes conscious effort, it takes self-reflection. it can be tough to keep at it sometimes and the temptation to just be like "ahhh that's good enough" can come on pretty strong if you're not paying attention. what's important is that you're consciously engaging yourself about it and you're broaching the topic with others, even if it's just other washed-up MMO goons on a dead-ass corner of the internets, and for that i applaud you