# The Rise of Labels and "Privilege" **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 29, 2013, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-labels-and-privilege/672560 "2013-10-29T16:00:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![thisishowwepray](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@thisishowwepray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thisishowwepray)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-labels-and-privilege/672560/61 "2013-10-31T17:41:45Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > A lot of new labels comes out of academic writing. Someone is studying a subset of people, and if there isn’t already a label for the subset, they either make one up or are forced to use some long string of modifiers, limiters, qualifiers, etc. every time they refer to the subset. > > And the author gets extra credit if other people pick up and use their term. Exactly. Just like in any field of study. Mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers do the same thing when they explain something new. Using these examples, the word “trigonometry” didn’t exist until we needed to talk about/teach it but the principles were still real; there were atoms (though unnamed) before we called them “atoms.” Really, we have to come up with words for everything because we make language. So trans\* people existed before they were called trans\*, just as cats existed before we called them cats. The phrases the OP and others mention that relate to gender and sexuality come, in part, from queer and women’s studies departments. Dismissing this terminology as tumblrcore is as absurd. Privilege simply means “statistically more likely to…” (be elected to a certain office, get a certain job, etc. White people in America are statistically more likely to be wealthy than POC, for example. Men are more likely to be CEOs. This is because these groups if people are born, respectively, white and male. Neither is an insult! I benefit from white privilege and I neither feel insulted by that concept in any way nor does it make me feel guilty. I didn’t choose my race. I do get I choose how I vote and behave, and I need to consider the needs of others. That is just empathy, and it’s what separates the rest of us from psychopaths. “Check your privilege” means “try to be aware of the fact that you are at an advantage in certain ways and others are disadvantaged.” I don’t find that offensive. I actively try to check my privilege. One common response to this stuff is “well I’m a SWM and I have a hard life.” It’s certainly possible for a wealthy SWP to have a harder life than a gay woman of color with a disability born to a poor family. Maybe he has crippling depression and cannot function, so is unable to enjoy his wealth or even leave his bed before he overdoses intentionally at age 25, while she excels in school, earns a scholarship to college, lands a good enough job that she can comfortably support herself, falls in love, finds her life fulfilling, and lives to be 100. There are so many kinds of suffering and difficulty, and everyone has their own story. However, statistically real privilege is still real. To anyone who feels upset about being privileged: no, you are not supposed to intentionally make things harder for yourself. No, it is not impossible for you to suffer. But being called white isn’t any more of an insult then being told you’re (your height here). How to help level the playing field: BE A DECENT HUMAN BEING. Do not be hateful, be kind, and take personal responsibility for your actions. That’s all. If you’re being told to check your privilege regularly, it probably means you are regularly being an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![LonghornDave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@LonghornDave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonghornDave)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-labels-and-privilege/672560/62 "2013-10-31T22:09:48Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > Transsexual refers to a person who is “actively trying to change their physical, legal, and/or social gender on a continuous, permanent basis.” You are an authority and I am the furthest thing, but I really don’t understand this. I thought a transsexual would be trying to change their sex in order to match their gender. I would think that trying to change your gender is sort of what this community feels like they shouldn’t have to do. Basically, this would be (apologize for using what I am generally aware are insulting terms but am using due to my limitations in language and the very descriptive nature of them) your classic male-to-female sex change involves a person born as a male (sex) and a girl/woman (gender). They would have issues living life as a man just because they are male. They would want to “correct” components of their sex (specifically outward appearance, possibly sex organs, and secondary sexual characteristics) in order to have their sex line up as closely as possible to their gender. This would be because generally speaking they would feel like it is more correct to make the body match to the brain rather than to try to make the brain match to the body. Therefore, altering your definition a transsexual is “actively trying to change their physical and legal sex on a continuous, permanent basis.” Now, I look forward to you correcting where I am wrong. ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2013, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-labels-and-privilege/672560/63 "2013-10-31T22:30:32Z")
To go along with what **Jragon** and **Karrius** are saying, I assume that anyone who tells me to “check my privilege” is just trolling me. Eh. Not worth getting upset over. Upon refresh: > [@Jragon](#): > > I specifically referred to Tumblr Social Justice Warriors, which is a very, very narrow subgroup that is legitimately crazy. These people are trolls. They are not insane people. You and the writer of Questionable Content need to take a break from the internet. It’s a dirty place. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-labels-and-privilege/672560/64 "2013-11-01T00:16:22Z")
> [@LonghornDave](#): > > You are an authority and I am the furthest thing, but I really don’t understand this. I thought a transsexual would be trying to change their sex in order to match their gender. I would think that trying to change your gender is sort of what this community feels like they shouldn’t have to do. Yargh, I mistyped. Yes, a transsexual like me is trying to change their physical sex to match their mental gender, but also their social and legal aspects. > [@](#): > > Therefore, altering your definition a transsexual is “actively trying to change their physical and legal sex on a continuous, permanent basis.” > > Now, I look forward to you correcting where I am wrong. Nope, you’re right. I obviously know what to say but mangled the sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2013, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-labels-and-privilege/672560/65 "2013-11-01T05:16:03Z")
> [@Rysler](#): > > To go along with what **Jragon** and **Karrius** are saying, I assume that anyone who tells me to “check my privilege” is just trolling me. Eh. Not worth getting upset over. > > Upon refresh: > > These people are trolls. They are not insane people. You and the writer of Questionable Content need to take a break from the internet. It’s a dirty place. Why are you guys so convinced that they’re trolls? Some, certainly and obviously, but definitely not all. A lot of these blogs are quite a bit of effort for trolling. But then, my first assumption in any conversation, on the internet or not, is that they’re a good person trying to argue in good faith. If that means I’m trolled, so be it, I refuse to lose faith in people. Edit: Not to mention I’ve met some of these people (e.g. adamant otherkin) in real life. If the people I know are pulling a con, they’re in it for the long haul. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2013, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-labels-and-privilege/672560/66 "2013-11-01T12:43:06Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > But then, my first assumption in any conversation, on the internet or not, is that they’re a good person trying to argue in good faith. If that means I’m trolled, so be it, I refuse to lose faith in people. Well, yes, as an opening attitude to any exchange. But after a while one can usually detect the trolls and/or the spitting fanatical zealots and/or the raving nuts, and try to set them apart from the good people who are merely sincerely committed to a particular viewpoint we find odd. ---
**Author:** ![AnthonyElite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@AnthonyElite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnthonyElite)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-labels-and-privilege/672560/67 "2013-11-01T13:08:51Z")
> [@Karrius](#): > > As for why use the term… well, what else do you use to refer to not-trans people? “Not-trans” is othering, and “normal” is pretty damn offensive. I really don’t see anything wrong with the term, myself. I strongly disagree with this. I don’t see the problem in describing my sexuality and gender as normal. When that is the only way to procreate and a overwhelming percentage of the population is oriented and engendered that way. Everything outside of that is derivative, and while I am all for everyone having rights, I personally draw the line at not being able to describe myself as normal without getting flack for it. When someone is under/overweight there are a lot of pretty words we can use, but when they are a normal weight, they are a **normal** weight. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2013, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-labels-and-privilege/672560/68 "2013-11-01T13:56:02Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > I don’t follow your thoughts on it being hurtful, either. If the peers of a parent of an autistic child refer to their own children as being “neurotypical” instead of “normal” around that person, you think that would lead the parent to believe their child wasn’t autistic? I can’t see that happening. My point is that if you redefine “normal” to be meaningless, based on the general stupidity of people, you’ll almost certainly have parents who take it literally and don’t do right by their children because you know, they’re normal, just not typical. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-labels-and-privilege/672560/69 "2013-11-01T14:07:01Z")
> [@bump](#): > > My point is that if you redefine “normal” to be meaningless, based on the general stupidity of people, you’ll almost certainly have parents who take it literally and don’t do right by their children because you know, they’re normal, just not typical. Hey, stranger things have happened, I guess. We’re not talking about a redefinition, though, but rather what labels are appropriate to apply to human beings. If the label of “normal” falls out of favor to apply to people to distinguish them from the “abnormal” gay/trans/autistic folks, then the parent isn’t going to label their autistic child as normal. They won’t label anyone as “normal” in that context. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-labels-and-privilege/672560/70 "2013-11-01T15:05:35Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > Why do you feel like you have to “draw the line?” Are you meeting or working with transpeople IRL such that you’re getting this directed at you every day? Is it causing you hardship and grief in your life? > > Cisgender or cissexual are useful shorthands for discussion. IME, and I have quite a bit, they are uncommonly used IRL conversation, and mainly appear in writing. I use it in conversation because I am a transgender researcher (in addition to being a transsexual). But I think I’ve heard only a couple of friends ever use it. > > New terms arise continuously through eras. “Negro” to “black” to “African-American” to “people of color.” None is really accurate for the person being described, but there you are. Cis and transgender are at least more accurate descriptors. > > There are innumerable labels in my community. > > Crossdresser. > > - Drag king/queen. > - Transvestite. > Genderqueer > Questioning > Transsexual > Transgender > Intersex > Transwoman/transman/transgirl/transboy/transkid/transsenior > G-girl, T-girl, I-girl > Cisgender > Pre-op, Post-op, Non-op > M2F, F2M, MTF, FTM > Two-spirit, berdache, third sex, hijra > > And the offensive/sometimes offensive ones > TERF (trans-exclusionist radical feminist) > Tranny > Ladyboy/ladyboi > Hermaphrodite > She-male > > Keeping them all straight takes some practice. And still leads to problems - for example, I’m helping organize a weekly “power lunch” for other transsexual women in the business world who are fully out. The problem is we have crossdressers trying to show up, thinking that they are “trans(sexuals)” because Virginia Prince and others pushed so hard to include them under the “transgender” umbrella. This has caused problems, as there is a rapidly growing “gender war” forming in my community between transsexual women and crossdressers. got most of them or could google them, but what doesG, T or I-girls mean? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-labels-and-privilege/672560/71 "2013-11-01T16:20:32Z")
“Genetic,” “Trans,” and “Intersexed.” ---
**Author:** ![Karrius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71c47a/32.png) [@Karrius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karrius)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-labels-and-privilege/672560/72 "2013-11-04T19:27:07Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Why are you guys so convinced that they’re trolls? Some, certainly and obviously, but definitely not all. A lot of these blogs are quite a bit of effort for trolling. Because there have been people who outright confessed to it, and some of it is really, blatantly obvious. I mean, “anon message claiming to be a black person” is basically a meme on tumblr, idiot trolling white people do it so much. They’ve even pretended to be celebrities defending their racist fans before. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-labels-and-privilege/672560/73 "2013-11-05T07:07:04Z")
> [@Karrius](#): > > Because there have been people who outright confessed to it, and some of it is really, blatantly obvious. I mean, “anon message claiming to be a black person” is basically a meme on tumblr, idiot trolling white people do it so much. They’ve even pretended to be celebrities defending their racist fans before. So because some have been trolls, most/all are trolls? I find it much much easier to believe that, by and large, they’re stupid teenagers who are desperately trying to find and cling to a reason why they’re special snowflakes, all the while misinterpreting and misapplying the rhetoric and logic of legitimate social justice movements (because they’re dumb teenagers), than it is to believe that this many people are putting that much continuous, long-term effort into getting a rise out of people, or attempting to parody people they disagree with. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-labels-and-privilege/672560.md?page=3)