Ask the Transperson

[Pamela]

Sundae, I identify as female too.

Trouble is, to most people, I am NOT just a girl because I say so. I'm that (insert derogatory slang term here). We tend to hang out in bunches when we go out for many reasons, protection is one of them. Many times, we are used as a joke or as comic relief. To a lot of men, we're just some kind of exotic treat for their oversexed libido. But we're rarely "just women" unless we have "passed" read: fooled them.

We have insider terms too. Our own language even. "cis" anything is simply a way to refer to anyone or anything that is not part of our world. It is not derogatory at all. I meant no offense.

Labels, however much we hate them, are an inevitable part of the human experience.