Originally Posted by katlyne /img/forum/go_quote.gif
noone is comparing anyone to a transmission......
this is the same thing as people getting up in arms over target naming the color of a dress manatee grey, its not like theyre calling the person who wears it a manatee....
people are far too sensitive.
but anyway, I thought the naming was funny on all of them, and I'd be really interested to hear more about people's thoughts.
Well, you asked why it was offensive, and you mentioned transmissions, so I figured I might as well address that -- in addition to everything else -- since you brought it up. Overall, I was just trying to explain what has been explained to me, and at least once at great length by someone whose girlfriend had just left a party because *as a trans woman*, she was so uncomfortable due to the use of that word that she couldn't stick around any longer. I don't use ethnic or anti-gay slurs (except in illustrative examples, like I did in the below paragraph), so I figure I might as well not insult trans people while I'm at it, especially since I was specifically asked not to use that particular word, and further research into the matter indicated that it wasn't just her that was offended. It's a community-wide issue.
One of the biggest problems here is that the use has become so normalized that people don't even realize it's one of the most hurtful things a trans person hears, much like my grandfather was so casually and ingrained racist that it didn't even *occur* to him that perhaps "wetback" was an inappropriate word to use in reference to Mexican people, to name just one example that has resurfaced in the news this week, and continued use and refusal to stop using it just tells that person that "I don't care enough about you as a human being to stop using this word that tears at your soul every single time I make you see or hear it. Hell, I don't even think of you as a person. You're an other and a *thing*." Even if *you* don't mean that, it's what that person hears and feels. Yes, people are sensitive -- because these words have been used to hurt for far too long.
And I was raised to never, *ever* use ethnic slurs. It pains me to even use them to explain something or illustrate a point. My mother was so adamant about this that she told my grandfather (yes, the casual racist) that if he *ever* used one of those words in front of my brother or me, he would never see us again. If I find out a word is considered to be derogatory, I remember my mother, realize how horrified she would be, and *stop using that word*. I put this word on par with ethnic slurs, so it's on the banned list.
Apparently, I have stumbled into the role of trans activist today. I have *no clue* how this happened.