Thanks for reading and leaving a comment! But, I have absolutely no idea how you walked away from my piece with these conclusions. No idea.

Although I am aware of the whole “Is cisgender a slur?” discourse, I consider that an ignorant question, which is why I entirely avoid engaging it in my essay or elsewhere. Words are never just one thing. Their meaning derives from a combination of user intent, context, reception, and historical baggage. That’s Semiotics 101. Thus, the answer to the question “Is cisgender a slur?” will vary.

I also don’t understand how you could possibly think my piece “conflates” or “mixes up” the concepts of gender identity, gender expression, and biological sex. Especially since I go to great pains to analyze each of these aspects in separately (and clearly labelled) sections of the piece. If anything, I have worked to pry these three things apart, even though they are routinely conflated in popular usage and common understanding.

Also, no, sexuality is not “who you are attracted to” or, at least, it’s not just that. It’s also about fantasy, desire, behavior, and identity. And, no, gender is not just “who you are.” As I argue in my conclusion, gender is not just a personal trait or characteristic. It’s a social system larger than any one person’s gender identity or gender expression. And, no, “male/female/intersex” are not genders. Those are sexes. The gender analogs would be “man/woman” and “boy/girl.” Here, it’s you who are doing the “conflating”…