If Some of the ‘Vanderpump Rules’ Cast Seemed Confused About ‘Cis Privilege,’ They Likely Won’t Understand These Terms Either
During an episode of Vanderpump Rules, cast member and transgender advocate, Bille Lee had an altercation with a number of women on the show. Lee felt left out from an event the SUR women sponsored at the restaurant.
She confronted cast members about being excluded, blaming the women for forgetting her because she is transgender. Lee spouted off at the group even though they tried to tell her nothing was intentional. But before she stormed away during the verbal smackdown, she yelled at them, “Cis privilege!” The women seemed stunned and upset she clapped back saying they were a cis privilege.
Most of the women seem to understand the slam. But Lala Kent was candid about it during her confessional interview. “I don’t exactly what it means, but if it came out of Billie’s mouth, I know its f**ked up,” Kent says. While some cast members may have understood what cis privilege meant, there are other terms they may not know about. What are some transgender terms everyone should know? Cornell University provided a list for reference.
Cisgender privilege
When Lee said to the women “cis [gender] privilege” she was telling the ladies they had a “set of conscious and unconscious advantages and/or immunities that people who are or who are perceived as gender conforming benefit from on a daily basis.” This further punctuates that Lee felt the women didn’t understand her struggle.
Also, a cisgender individual is a person who identifies with a gender assigned to them at birth. And agender individuals are those who don’t identify with any gender or gender-neutral.
FTM individual
An FTM individual includes a variety of male profiles. “Female-to-male transsexual people, transsexual men, transmen, or transguys— individuals assigned female at birth who identify as male.” Some trans men may prefer to identify as MTM instead of FTM. This is because they always identified as male.
Also, conversely, MTF individuals are, “Male-to-female transsexual people, transsexual women, or transwomen— individuals assigned male at birth who identify as female.” Some trans women may also identify as FTF instead too.
Different pronouns
In addition to using she, he or they, some transgender individuals may turn to other pronouns for identification. This may include using hir, which is a non-gender specific pronoun used instead of her and him. Another pronoun that may be used is sie or ze. Use this non-gender specific pronoun in lieu of she and he.
Two spirit people
Two spirit people is a Native American or First Nation term for individuals who see themselves as both male and female. “It is commonly used to describe anatomical women who took on the roles and/or dress of men and anatomical men who took on the roles and/or dress of women in the past (preferred term to “berdache”). The term is also often used by contemporary LGBT Native American and First Nation people to describe themselves.”
Gender-based terms
Trans people may also use many gender-based terms. This may include gender expression. Which is an individual who expresses gender through clothing or hairstyle. And if a person prefers to not identify with a gender, they could be referred to as gender variant, gender diverse, or gender nonconforming.
Also, those who are gender fluid, or those who don’t see themselves as male or female may refer to themselves as genderqueer.
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