Etymology and Understanding Modern Concepts
I read something today in which someone clearly didn't understand the etymology of the term "cisgender." The person in question was a chauvinist on some part of the internet I generally try to avoid, but the comment made me realize that there are probably a lot of people who don't fully understand the term and where it comes from, including the person who'd posed a question to which the chauvinistic comment was in response. Whoever posed the question didn't include any sort of offensive or insensitive remarks, and probably was just confused and curious and trying to gain a better understanding.
"Cisgender" is a term that means the opposite of "transgender." "Trans" is a Latin root that roughly means "across," and "cis" means roughly "staying on this side." Hence, people who are transgender are those who cross into the gender that does not correspond to their body type, and people who are cisgender are those who stay in the gender that corresponds to their body type.
When I first heard the term "cisgender," it automatically made sense to me and seemed like the obvious corollary to the term "transgender." This is because I took Latin in high school, and I knew about the dichotomy between the roots "cis" and "trans" because I'd learned about Transalpine Gaul and Cisalpine Gaul.
In Ancient Rome, the area now known as France was called Gaul. A natural barrier exists between the area that was Gaul and the area that was Rome in the form of the mountain range known as the Alps, but the political barriers didn't quite follow the geographic barriers. So Romans sometimes referred to the part of Gaul that was on their side of the Alpines as "Cisalpine Gaul" and the part of Gaul that was across the Alpines as "Transalpine Gaul."
Please note that this is stuff I remember from high school, which was years ago, and I may be getting some details wrong. I am really bad at history, and was not particularly great at Latin. But the particulars are not as important here as the illustration of the concept of the "trans" and "cis" prefixes.
Etymology is important, because if you can understand where words come from, you can have a better idea of what they mean. "Cisgender" sounds like a weird term if you don't know where it comes from. But I think it's a useful word because it illustrates a useful concept, without having to say things like "people who are not transgender." If you use the term "cisgender" often, it may be a good idea to occasionally provide a reminder of where the term comes from, in case there are people in your audience who aren't familiar with the term and/or its history. Ensuring that people understand the words you use is necessary to ensuring that people understand your ideas.
"Cisgender" is a term that means the opposite of "transgender." "Trans" is a Latin root that roughly means "across," and "cis" means roughly "staying on this side." Hence, people who are transgender are those who cross into the gender that does not correspond to their body type, and people who are cisgender are those who stay in the gender that corresponds to their body type.
When I first heard the term "cisgender," it automatically made sense to me and seemed like the obvious corollary to the term "transgender." This is because I took Latin in high school, and I knew about the dichotomy between the roots "cis" and "trans" because I'd learned about Transalpine Gaul and Cisalpine Gaul.
In Ancient Rome, the area now known as France was called Gaul. A natural barrier exists between the area that was Gaul and the area that was Rome in the form of the mountain range known as the Alps, but the political barriers didn't quite follow the geographic barriers. So Romans sometimes referred to the part of Gaul that was on their side of the Alpines as "Cisalpine Gaul" and the part of Gaul that was across the Alpines as "Transalpine Gaul."
Please note that this is stuff I remember from high school, which was years ago, and I may be getting some details wrong. I am really bad at history, and was not particularly great at Latin. But the particulars are not as important here as the illustration of the concept of the "trans" and "cis" prefixes.
Etymology is important, because if you can understand where words come from, you can have a better idea of what they mean. "Cisgender" sounds like a weird term if you don't know where it comes from. But I think it's a useful word because it illustrates a useful concept, without having to say things like "people who are not transgender." If you use the term "cisgender" often, it may be a good idea to occasionally provide a reminder of where the term comes from, in case there are people in your audience who aren't familiar with the term and/or its history. Ensuring that people understand the words you use is necessary to ensuring that people understand your ideas.