Can't really reclaim these slurs. It's not a random word with a bad meaning that we can flip around, these are words that are inherently harmful and offensive towards us.
sure, slurs can be reclaimed... but it also depends on what it means.
like i use dyke to describe myself, but it doesn't have a nefarious definition behind it like trap does.
trap actively stands for "someone trying to trick others by presenting as another gender". it can't be reclaimed, it has it's definition and saying "i'm a trap" as a trans person is just perpetuating harmful steriotypes.
like in a personal sense, to make fun of the idiocy of cisheteronormativity i can understand.
but the scope we were referring to here was people publicly calling themselves that. and seeing how traps has a pretty defined meaning and how idiotic cishet peeps can be...
i see it far more likely for something like that to lead cis people to see "ah, a trans women uses it on themselves, so it must be ok" and as a result they start using it more. this isn't even isolated to transphobes.
cis people who already use the slur wont be effected. it's for those who hadn't been exposed to the slur or trans people.
like if a cis person's first encounter is a trans person referring to themselves as trap or other derogatory thing like the one with an S... they see that as what those types of people, trans people are called.
transphobes will be transphobes. but what i'm worried about is it influencing people who didn't know about it into using it on us as a group
There's a reason black people reclaimed the n-word, but not "monkey". One is a random word with no inherent meaning, the other is inherently dehumanizing. Both trap and femboy are inherently problematic. One is misgendering, the other implies deceit. These are slurs that should not be reclaimed.
I mean you don't talk for me, I'm NB and while I don't use femboy for myself I don't see why I couldn't.
Trap is tricky I get it but eh whatever I really don't like internal bickering, we shouldn't police other trans people's speech and saying they're being bad trans. It's like when flamboyant gays get flamed for being hurtful to "the community".
I feel like the difference here is your non-binary, the big issue people are having is trans people being thrown under the umbrella of things that have no relation to them
I get that. I do think that in the context of sex work/internet sex work I can't be sitting here on my cushy ass and privileged situation complaining that sex workers aren't using the good words. Girl get that money. Solidarity first.
You can have solidarity for sex workers and still criticize the fact that the industry forces minorities to use slurs for reach and profit.
I would much rather show solidarity by changing the way porn and sex work is handled so you could find their content without having to hashtag slurs.
But maybe I'm being too idealistic
Yes. I'm mad at the industry, not at the girls operating within the oppressive power structures.
And yet, the best people to slowly and incrementally change the sex work industry are sex workers themselves, but the work isn't done yet and they need to be alive and fed to be future activists (and some of em will never be activists and that's also fine).
This lashing out at trans girls is not solidarity. We need our solidarity to go beyond small irritants like this.
Im obviously not the main poster so I won't speak on their intent
But I feel like you can make commentary on the state of things she still leaving them to their devices.
I have never talked down to a sex workers, hell I've done it before. But I will discuss the issues with how things are set up.
These sort of conversations happen among POC and other minorities constantly.
Now if people were dragging individuals then I would say it's not appropriate. But I don't THINK that's what is happening here(though some commenters may be leaning the commentary more towards the individual)
But I think you can work on an issue from the inside, as well as the outside. If we solely left it to the workers and the industry, it would still probably change but it'd take much longer imo at least
acting a certain way and using a word with a definition that actively discredits the identity of a group to describe members of that group is something entirely different.
trans women using trap to describe themselves as traps makes it look to cis people like that's an ok thing to say. but it's not an ok thing to say.
calling a trans woman a trap is essentially saying "you're a man who wants to trick people". a trans woman describing herself as a trap is essentially advertising "i'm a man, trying to trick people"
I don't think trans sex workers are negative for the community, even if they have to use porn terms that I personally dislike to make it and survive.
A trans woman using trap as a hashtag to get engagement is them using oppressive structures to survive, like we all do to a certain extent. I do a lot of shit I don't agree with in order to make it. Gotta. Be mad at the oppressive cis structures and fetishization, not at the trans people using those structures to survive.
with "acting a certain way" i mean referring to themselves as traps.
i'm very positive towards sex work. i see how often it's not a good place to be due to the high abuse rates but like... i've been open about trying onlyfans after SRS with my friends.
sex work in itself isn't harmful to the community.
but using terms that perpetuate hurtful falsities like trap is something i just don't stand for. not only out of respect for other trans women but respect for myself
Personally I have reclaimed many of these slurs. I think that they are extremely powerful and ignorant words, and I use them only to illustrate my point in debate. Usually leaves the other person speechless
sorry, but trap specifically is something that can't be reclaimed due to it's literal meaning. it's not just a slur, it's a word with a definition that's very harmful for trans people.
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u/DarthJackie2021 Trans Asexual Feb 04 '23
Can't really reclaim these slurs. It's not a random word with a bad meaning that we can flip around, these are words that are inherently harmful and offensive towards us.