It used to be that the triumvirate of the let was "racism, sexism, and classism." The list is getting longer:
Be aware of racism, classism, sexism, heterosexism, cissexism, ableism, and other issues of privilege and oppression.
What in the heck is "cissexism"?
Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/04/14/oberlin-backs-down-trigger-warnings-professors-who-teach-sensitive-material#ixzz2yzNryei1 Inside Higher Ed
Another part of the proposed (but thankfully, not implemented) "trigger" policy at Oberlin College includes this amazing statement:
Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is a triumph of literature that everyone in the world should read. However, it may trigger readers who have experienced racism, colonialism, religious persecution, violence, suicide, and more.
Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/04/14/oberlin-backs-down-trigger-warnings-professors-who-teach-sensitive-material#ixzz2yzO8i4bI Inside Higher EdUnless you have a parasite, I find it most unlikely that anyone at Oberlin College today has experienced "colonialism."
UPDATE: I am so glad that I have such educated readers to explain things like "cissexism" to me:
Trans-gender refers to people who do not identify with their bodies -- an apparent male who identifies as female, for example.
The problem is that the opposite phenomenon -- the person who identifies with the outward appearance of his body -- never had a word, which made it unjustifiably "normal". Thus, the word cis-gender.
You're cis-gender, Clayton. We have to fight against you, because you are privileged and you oppress others.
Cis means non-transexual. Presumably cissexism means prejudice against transexuals.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea why identifying as the gender one is born as is called cis.
Trans-gender refers to people who do not identify with their bodies -- an apparent male who identifies as female, for example.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that the opposite phenomenon -- the person who identifies with the outward appearance of his body -- never had a word, which made it unjustifiably "normal". Thus, the word cis-gender.
You're cis-gender, Clayton. We have to fight against you, because you are privileged and you oppress others.
I'd just carrying my Hunting Crop at all times; that should be an adequate warning.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Unknown, it's because cis means "same" and trans means "across." For example "transoceanic voyage." These are standard Latin prefixes.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, cissexism is used as a dirty word here, indicating prejudice or at least "privilege."
I know what they mean, but I can't help but imagine the difficulty an Oberlin student who has "experienced suicide" will have to complete the reading.
ReplyDelete