TDT 4: What the $#@! is a "womxn", anyways?

[Dumb Ideologies]

In retrospect, I hadn't had my morning coffee when I wrote my first post and missed off several layers of complexity around how the term "trender" is used and the ideological work that is put towards. So I'm going to have another go so I don't leave the question half-answered.

There's a pervasive phenomenon whereby the actions and questionable behaviour of a controversial minority within a group is taken by opponents of the wider group as standing for the group as a whole. And then gradually the term used to describe the wonkiest minority within the group gains a slippery meaning whereby it's simultaneously used as a fairly-reasonable specific way to criticise a very specific group and also a memey stick to falsely hit a whole group with.

See "social justice warriors" for the fullest realisation of this. Has a valid meaning referring to some people thinking they can be super arseholes to everyone who doesn't agree with them because they're on the "right side", but so widely misused to generically denigrate everyone on one side of the spectrum as a hypersensitive special snowflake that any usage which doesn't clearly and explicitly define the term is now a nonsense.

I see the same thing to a lesser extent with "transtrender". Some people are no doubt using it to attack all non-binary identities, all non-transitioners and so on, or to make implications that people are en masse being "infected" by transness and turned trans through hearing about it (though perhaps education about it may sometimes be happening a little early and some liberal parents a bit too trigger-happy on enthusiastic affirmation).

If we're talking about a very specific, very small group, my opinion is that criticism is quite justified. But it's best to be a bit skeptical and ask for any person saying it to define their terms, because otherwise you might well be stumbling into being someone else's useful idiot.

[Iciaros]

When you've got the already-in-circulation "they" if you don't want he or she, it takes a certain kind of pretentious vanity and entitlement to believe that everyone you meet should learn a new set of pronouns for you specifically because you're so unique and different.

When your decisions are seemingly calculated to draw as much attention as possible when you don't need to then you're probably being an attention-seeker. Can't think of a nicer way to put it.

I do agree that if you're picking a zany pronoun just to stand out, it's probably attention-seeking, but I think it's possible that some people pick them because they genuinely think it most accurately reflects their identity. Words and labels mean different things to everyone, after all. In those situations I would hesitate to call them attention-seekers.

[Dumb Ideologies]

When you've got the already-in-circulation "they" if you don't want he or she, it takes a certain kind of pretentious vanity and entitlement to believe that everyone you meet should learn a new set of pronouns for you specifically because you're so unique and different.

When your decisions are seemingly calculated to draw as much attention as possible when you don't need to then you're probably being an attention-seeker. Can't think of a nicer way to put it.

I do agree that if you're picking a zany pronoun just to stand out, it's probably attention-seeking, but I think it's possible that some people pick them because they genuinely think it most accurately reflects their identity. Words and labels mean different things to everyone, after all. In those situations I would hesitate to call them attention-seekers.

I'm unsure what xe and others bring to the table descriptively or what extra information they impart identity-wise than "they".

A neopronoun might "feel nicer" but that meaning is entirely personal and digging your heels in for that rather than a term that performs the same or a virtually indistinguishable role and that people will much more easily be able to get their heads around starts setting off a lot of alarm bells about this being a needlessly difficult person who I'd rather dissociate from than stick my neck out for.

[Iciaros]

I'm unsure what xe and others bring to the table descriptively or what extra information they impart identity-wise than "they".

A neopronoun might "feel nicer" but that meaning is entirely personal and digging your heels in for that rather than a term that performs the same or a virtually indistinguishable role and that people will much more easily be able to get their heads around starts setting off a lot of alarm bells about this being a needlessly difficult person who I'd rather dissociate from than stick my neck out for.

I mean, I'm sure what it means to a particular person could vary, and maybe for all we know there are people out there who feel as strongly about it as we do about being addressed by our correct basic pronouns. Nonetheless, yeah, rabidly insisting on everyone taking the time to fully understand and then persistently and unerringly your neopronoun is a bit rude. But if whoever it is keeps it to, like, their small close group of friends who are happy to accommodate them, then who am I to judge?

[Dumb Ideologies]

I'm unsure what xe and others bring to the table descriptively or what extra information they impart identity-wise than "they".

A neopronoun might "feel nicer" but that meaning is entirely personal and digging your heels in for that rather than a term that performs the same or a virtually indistinguishable role and that people will much more easily be able to get their heads around starts setting off a lot of alarm bells about this being a needlessly difficult person who I'd rather dissociate from than stick my neck out for.

I mean, I'm sure what it means to a particular person could vary, and maybe for all we know there are people out there who feel as strongly about it as we do about being addressed by our correct basic pronouns. Nonetheless, yeah, rabidly insisting on everyone taking the time to fully understand and then persistently and unerringly your neopronoun is a bit rude. But if whoever it is keeps it to, like, their small close group of friends who are happy to accommodate them, then who am I to judge?

This is fair.

[Iciaros]

This is fair.

The approval of the always-correct DI is all I could wish for. *initiates reverent worship*

On a side note, I find it interesting that there are more genderfluid people in the thread than trans men. I remember the conversation we had a while back on the prevalence of FtM versus MtF, and how trans women were more likely to use this site compared to trans men, but the number of trans men being smaller than the genderfluid group is a little surprising to me. Is the trans community made up of more genderfluid people than I thought, or is this just a 'representation on Nationstates doesn't properly reflect real-world numbers' thing? (Or both?)

[The Xenopolis Confederation]

This is fair.

The approval of the always-correct DI is all I could wish for. *initiates reverent worship*

On a side note, I find it interesting that there are more genderfluid people in the thread than trans men. I remember the conversation we had a while back on the prevalence of FtM versus MtF, and how trans women were more likely to use this site compared to trans men, but the number of trans men being smaller than the genderfluid group is a little surprising to me. Is the trans community made up of more genderfluid people than I thought, or is this just a 'representation on Nationstates doesn't properly reflect real-world numbers' thing? (Or both?)

Perhaps NSG has a feminizing effect. The opposite of what FTMs want.

[Auzkhia]

Neopronouns are definitely more useful in languages like French and German, since you can't really translate the singular they into those languages, I think the other romance languages like Spanish are like that too, and the slavic languages as well. German is still one of the more complex Germanic tongues. Swedish also has neutral pronouns that don't mean "it" like Hen.

We'll see how languages evolve. Stuff like xe/hir aren't that new, people have proposed neutral pronouns for ages such as thon in 1858. Even older, on was proposed as a neutral pronoun in the 18th century.

---

The approval of the always-correct DI is all I could wish for. *initiates reverent worship*

On a side note, I find it interesting that there are more genderfluid people in the thread than trans men. I remember the conversation we had a while back on the prevalence of FtM versus MtF, and how trans women were more likely to use this site compared to trans men, but the number of trans men being smaller than the genderfluid group is a little surprising to me. Is the trans community made up of more genderfluid people than I thought, or is this just a 'representation on Nationstates doesn't properly reflect real-world numbers' thing? (Or both?)

Perhaps NSG has a feminizing effect. The opposite of what FTMs want.

My take was that AMAB and AFAB people in their youth use the internet differently. Take reddit and tumblr as examples. General trans subreddits have a larger transfeminine population and are mostly trans women and transfemme enby, while tumblr has more trans male blogs. Of course you can find blogs by and for trans women and femmes on tumblr, and there is r/ftm. Every website has users of all genders but in a space that is deemed "male" or "female" you will get people who aren't that because one's assigned sex isn't always their gender.

I established my regular internet usage before I realized I was trans. I've been on here since I was the minimum age for this website.

[Grenartia]

As someone who is nonbinary and over 30 years old, I found this little video 'Not just a phase' about 30+ nonbinary people worth watching.

I don't blame people for questioning "non-binary" and people claiming it, tbh. There's a prevalence of transtrenders these days, not to mention it's a rather nebulous concept.

Ah, yes, so "trendy", I decided to live in fear of getting outted to my family for the last 7 fucking years. All for the...trend...?

Remind me how this stupid bullshit is supposed to work? What's the alleged payoff here?

[Hediacrana]

I don't blame people for questioning "non-binary" and people claiming it, tbh. There's a prevalence of transtrenders these days, not to mention it's a rather nebulous concept.

Ah, yes, so "trendy", I decided to live in fear of getting outted to my family for the last 7 fucking years. All for the...trend...?

Remind me how this stupid bullshit is supposed to work? What's the alleged payoff here?

Precisely this.

I still have to meet a transtrender, but I've met no shortage of people wanting to complain about them whenever actual nonbinary people and their actual concerns come up. What happened when I shared that video, which features seven people talking about their real experiences over the span of decades, was illustrative; before one could have actually had time to watch the whole thing if one had started to watch it as soon as I posted, the talk of transtrenders came in. Complaining about fictional people is just that much more engaging than listening to real ones, I guess.

[Grenartia]

I don't blame people for questioning "non-binary" and people claiming it, tbh. There's a prevalence of transtrenders these days, not to mention it's a rather nebulous concept.

Chances of trending depend on age and the absurdity of the claimed gender.
If they're less than about 25, chances are quite high regardless of the other factor (especially if they're active in an LGBT group, those places are... weird, to put it kindly),

Thank you, for insulting several people here, including myself, with your nonsensical generalizations.

and anywhere above 25, if it's absurd they likely haven't matured past 25, much less 12, so they're either trending or too childish to qualify for "trending".

Though in my experience, most "non-binary" people I've met online fall into the categories best described as "both" or "none", but I've met quite a few who go much beyond this "slightly weird but hey I can work with it" range.

But this is just my tree fiddy.

I can't even comprehend that second to last sentence, and I honestly wouldn't pay $0.35 for that post as a whole, much less $3.50

Wow, now that's a take I've never heard before.

If it was actually that 'trendy', I wouldn't be back in the closet now.

I honestly wouldn't know why, people love that sort of thing now.

Then why peddle the myth? If it makes no sense to you, you shouldn't say its true.

Chances of trending depend on age and the absurdity of the claimed gender.
If they're less than about 25, chances are quite high regardless of the other factor (especially if they're active in an LGBT group, those places are... weird, to put it kindly), and anywhere above 25, if it's absurd they likely haven't matured past 25, much less 12, so they're either trending or too childish to qualify for "trending".

Though in my experience, most "non-binary" people I've met online fall into the categories best described as "both" or "none", but I've met quite a few who go much beyond this "slightly weird but hey I can work with it" range.

But this is just my tree fiddy.

Have you actually spent any amount of time in LGBT groups and spaces? Because I have (nearly 2 years as an active member, including being on the hiring committee for staff), and they're not full of people faking it, nor are they particularly different from any other support organization. See the link in my signature.

This.

> “Tucute”
> Transmedicalists
...My head hurts. Sorry. I’ve never heard either of these terms in my life.

Transmedicalists, or also commonly called truscum, are people claim that being trans is a medical condition that requires gender dysphoria and that you're only valid if you fully medically transition. They call other trans people trenders if they don't have dysphoria or don't want to have SRS. They're gatekeepers. Tucute, I believe is them mocking them as it is short for "too cute to be cis" and thinking that there are people who fake being trans for style points or something.

I believe this is all unnecessary gatekeeping and that there is no one true path of being trans.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

For the record, I can't see transmeds (to use the polite term) as anything other than quislings for TERFs.

Exactly. It's basically a by word for "trans person I don't like".

Literally not.

That is precisely how it is used.

It also validates cis ignorance and gives transphobes more ammunition.

How?

Because as the name fucking implies, it tells the audience that being trans is a "trend", and reduces our existence to little more than a fad like pet rocks. This should be obvious to you.

More gatekeeping hurts the trans community.

Gatekeeping is a necessary action to ensure order, stability, and consistency.

As a self-professed "libertarian", would you say intrusive government spying programs are "necessary actions" to "ensure order, stability, and consistency"? Yes or no only.

Look at what a mess feminism became due to people waiting to gatekeep until it was too late to do anything: they got, among many other things, TERFs from not doing so.

What the fuck are you even on about here?

Even if "trenders" were real, one person getting through and then having to detranisition would be better than people waiting years for HRT or surgeries and needing two letters of recommendation from (usually cis) psychologists to "prove" that they are dysphoric enough to get treatment.

A balanced approach is best in this case.

Call me a "tucute" (something transmedicalists call their detractors),

Actually, it's what anti-transmedicalists (specifically, one clique of them, but the term has since broadened) call themselves.

No, we don't.

"Truscum" comes from the same source, and is a term broadly used by anti-transmedicalists to refer to transmedicalists in a derogatory way.

Finally, you got something right.

Literally not.


How?


Gatekeeping is a necessary action to ensure order, stability, and consistency. Look at what a mess feminism became due to people waiting to gatekeep until it was too late to do anything: they got, among many other things, TERFs from not doing so.


A balanced approach is best in this case.


Actually, it's what anti-transmedicalists (specifically, one clique of them, but the term has since broadened) call themselves. "Truscum" comes from the same source, and is a term broadly used by anti-transmedicalists to refer to transmedicalists in a derogatory way.


Galaxy brain stuff right here. Circular definitions, unlike circular objects, get you nowhere but your starting point, you know.

How? You ask? Because, unless you're all inclusive, you're literally transphobic...gotta validate everything to the point where nothing means anything.

Nice strawman. But none of us believe in attackhelicoptergender.

No one knows more about queer identities than cishet men, we are the clear choice for keepers of this most sacred gate.

Yes, yes you are. Please, oh sacred one, tell us more about our queer identities!

Validate my gender identity, senpai!~~

They indeed are
Though "ill-informed" and "unoriginal" are very open to be contested here, since all my "talking points" are formed from my own experiences.

I think you're upset that I'm not marching in tune more than anything else tbqh

As it happens, I wasn't talking about you or your posts; I was talking about Cappu's. That said, it does appear that Cekoviu's evaluation of your argument is spot on.

Regarding your honest attempt at emotional diagnostics, you'll be happy to know that my well-being is not determined by the marching habits of strangers on the internet.

I saw that video posted on twitter the other day. Jeffrey Marsh is in it and they are one of my favorite nb celebrities.

It has lots of interesting folks who I'd like to learn more about. Kate Bornstein, too.

Say, talking about nb celebrities; maybe favorite trans celebrities and historic figures would be an interesting new poll topic? Grenartia?

Well, I asked for a new poll idea a few days ago, but got no response, so you're the clear winner here.

I don't think I could narrow down the list to 10 options, so everyone feel free to make suggestions.

Gatekeeping is a necessary action to ensure order, stability, and consistency. Look at what a mess feminism became due to people waiting to gatekeep until it was too late to do anything: they got, among many other things, TERFs from not doing so.

Personally, I would disagree at least partially, mainly in terms of the differences between feminism and transgenderism. Gatekeeping could be construed as necessary to prevent a movement from being co-opted by splinter groups advocating for a warped or extreme version of the movement's core goals and ideals. That would make it applicable to feminism. Transgenderism, not so much, because it's not a movement in the same way feminism is. Feminism sought to change the world, whereas transgenderism merely seeks to give a name to an existing state of affairs. Gatekeeping could still be relevant here, in the sense of ensuring that transgenderism is used to describe the correct state of affairs, but the nature of being transgender is that of an individual experience, as opposed to a social movement, and therefore attempting to perfectly define its precise contours is essentially impossible. We may be best served by leaving the gatekeeping to basically the very barebones essence of transgenderism (identifying with something other than one's biological gender) and acknowledging the nature of being transgender as individual and varied, unlike a social movement which must necessarily unite its members behind a commonly defined cause.

That's my opinion, at least. I also concur with the others above me that if anyone ought to be doing gatekeeping in any case, it should be those who are intimately familiar with at least one experience of being transgender. At least that way one could make more informed decisions about said gatekeeping.

I mean, nobody really needs gatekeepers.

Ah, yes, so "trendy", I decided to live in fear of getting outted to my family for the last 7 fucking years. All for the...trend...?

Remind me how this stupid bullshit is supposed to work? What's the alleged payoff here?

Precisely this.

I still have to meet a transtrender, but I've met no shortage of people wanting to complain about them whenever actual nonbinary people and their actual concerns come up. What happened when I shared that video, which features seven people talking about their real experiences over the span of decades, was illustrative; before one could have actually had time to watch the whole thing if one had started to watch it as soon as I posted, the talk of transtrenders came in. Complaining about fictional people is just that much more engaging than listening to real ones, I guess.

Can we just take a while to reflect on the utter stupidity of the underlined? Its like if I decided to talk about one of my friends getting gay married, only for someone overhearing the conversation to bray about "PROTECT THE CHILDREN!"

[Auzkhia]

Saying that inclusionists "gatekeep" terfs and truscum isn't really accurate, they gatekeep gender and removing trans rights and feminism away from them is self-defence. TERFs collaborate with anti-feminists all the time, and truscum don't really help the trans community, but make other trans people feel worse about themselves. They're welcome to stay but they have to know feminism includes trans people, especially trans women, and that being trans is not a medical condition that requires a high standard of dysphoria.

It seems that I am repeating myself with that, because how else can I say it?

But, all of my personal experiences with TERFs and truscum have left me feeling worse about myself and reinforcing any imposter syndrome I might have. It's like how you have to not tolerate intolerance to build an inclusive community.

---

I don't blame people for questioning "non-binary" and people claiming it, tbh. There's a prevalence of transtrenders these days, not to mention it's a rather nebulous concept.

Ah, yes, so "trendy", I decided to live in fear of getting outted to my family for the last 7 fucking years. All for the...trend...?

Remind me how this stupid bullshit is supposed to work? What's the alleged payoff here?

I put off questioning my gender because I was confused and afraid. I felt I wasn't dysphoric enough and got the impression that being trans was a bad thing.

Yes, there is so much transphobia, I still butt heads with my parents over getting misgendered even though they are nominally accepting and learning, it gets a bit tiring to be teaching people who act like little children about gender, and I'm a recent college graduate looking for a full time job, and I am statistically more likely to be unemployed than a cis equivalent.

Also, trans people still get harassed and murdered especially black trans women like Muhlaysia Booker in Texas.

[Cekoviu]

I do agree that if you're picking a zany pronoun just to stand out, it's probably attention-seeking, but I think it's possible that some people pick them because they genuinely think it most accurately reflects their identity. Words and labels mean different things to everyone, after all. In those situations I would hesitate to call them attention-seekers.

I'm unsure what xe and others bring to the table descriptively or what extra information they impart identity-wise than "they".

A neopronoun might "feel nicer" but that meaning is entirely personal and digging your heels in for that rather than a term that performs the same or a virtually indistinguishable role and that people will much more easily be able to get their heads around starts setting off a lot of alarm bells about this being a needlessly difficult person who I'd rather dissociate from than stick my neck out for.

I believe the general reason for neopronoun usage is that "they" is kind of repurposed from its original meaning, so neopronoun users are trying to forge a unique identity rather than leeching off of a plural pronoun. I have mixed feelings on whether this is necessary, but I wouldn't say it's wholly pointless.

[Auzkhia]

I'm unsure what xe and others bring to the table descriptively or what extra information they impart identity-wise than "they".

A neopronoun might "feel nicer" but that meaning is entirely personal and digging your heels in for that rather than a term that performs the same or a virtually indistinguishable role and that people will much more easily be able to get their heads around starts setting off a lot of alarm bells about this being a needlessly difficult person who I'd rather dissociate from than stick my neck out for.

I believe the general reason for neopronoun usage is that "they" is kind of repurposed from its original meaning, so neopronoun users are trying to forge a unique identity rather than leeching off of a plural pronoun. I have mixed feelings on whether this is necessary, but I wouldn't say it's wholly pointless.

Singular they has been around for a while. I'd just let people pick their own pronouns, Xe isn't doing any harm, nor hir, shi, or ze. Like I said, it's more essential to have them in other languages like German or French.

[Cekoviu]

I believe the general reason for neopronoun usage is that "they" is kind of repurposed from its original meaning, so neopronoun users are trying to forge a unique identity rather than leeching off of a plural pronoun. I have mixed feelings on whether this is necessary, but I wouldn't say it's wholly pointless.

Singular they has been around for a while. I'd just let people pick their own pronouns, Xe isn't doing any harm, nor hir, shi, or ze. Like I said, it's more essential to have them in other languages like German or French.

Well yeah, I didn't say it made sense.
The best situations are found in languages where pronouns aren't gendered in the first place. Mainly non-IE, but also some Indo-Iranian languages and eastern branches like Armenian. I imagine that social dysphoria can be less frequent for trans people in areas speaking those languages.

[Hediacrana]

It has lots of interesting folks who I'd like to learn more about. Kate Bornstein, too.

Say, talking about nb celebrities; maybe favorite trans celebrities and historic figures would be an interesting new poll topic? Grenartia?

Well, I asked for a new poll idea a few days ago, but got no response, so you're the clear winner here.

I don't think I could narrow down the list to 10 options, so everyone feel free to make suggestions.

Personally, I am partial to Publick Universal Friend, but if they don't make the cut, as long as you include Sylvia Riviera, I'll be content.

Yes, there is so much transphobia, I still butt heads with my parents over getting misgendered even though they are nominally accepting and learning, it gets a bit tiring to be teaching people who act like little children about gender, and I'm a recent college graduate looking for a full time job, and I am statistically more likely to be unemployed than a cis equivalent.

Also, trans people still get harassed and murdered especially black trans women like Muhlaysia Booker in Texas.

^ This. Also, I can relate to the employment part.

[Proctopeo]

Chances of trending depend on age and the absurdity of the claimed gender.
If they're less than about 25, chances are quite high regardless of the other factor (especially if they're active in an LGBT group, those places are... weird, to put it kindly),

Thank you, for insulting several people here, including myself, with your nonsensical generalizations.

What can I say except, you're welcome!

and anywhere above 25, if it's absurd they likely haven't matured past 25, much less 12, so they're either trending or too childish to qualify for "trending".

Though in my experience, most "non-binary" people I've met online fall into the categories best described as "both" or "none", but I've met quite a few who go much beyond this "slightly weird but hey I can work with it" range.

But this is just my tree fiddy.

I can't even comprehend that second to last sentence, and I honestly wouldn't pay $0.35 for that post as a whole, much less $3.50

You've comprehended sentences much worse than what I wrote.

Transmedicalists, or also commonly called truscum, are people claim that being trans is a medical condition that requires gender dysphoria and that you're only valid if you fully medically transition. They call other trans people trenders if they don't have dysphoria or don't want to have SRS. They're gatekeepers. Tucute, I believe is them mocking them as it is short for "too cute to be cis" and thinking that there are people who fake being trans for style points or something.

I believe this is all unnecessary gatekeeping and that there is no one true path of being trans.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

For the record, I can't see transmeds (to use the polite term) as anything other than quislings for TERFs.

It's almost impossible to be more wrong than you are at this precise moment in time. Legends will be told of this moment thousands of years from now, about the time one single person on one tiny corner of the Internet on one single thread in one post managed to be inhumanly wrong, and the questions of "how" and "why" will be asked by philosophers and scientists alike for eternity.
Feel proud, you just made history with how wrong you are.

...I'm being overly dramatic here, but the point is, you managed to find the polar opposite of the correct answer, which is staggering to say the least.

Literally not.

That is precisely how it is used.

Nope.

How?

Because as the name fucking implies, it tells the audience that being trans is a "trend", and reduces our existence to little more than a fad like pet rocks. This should be obvious to you.

Since it's being used to refer to people who act as if it already is such a thing...

Gatekeeping is a necessary action to ensure order, stability, and consistency.

As a self-professed "libertarian", would you say intrusive government spying programs are "necessary actions" to "ensure order, stability, and consistency"? Yes or no only.

Nice strawman. And I refuse to answer with only either "yes" or "no" just because you demand that I do.

Look at what a mess feminism became due to people waiting to gatekeep until it was too late to do anything: they got, among many other things, TERFs from not doing so.

What the fuck are you even on about here?

It should be obvious to you.

A balanced approach is best in this case.


Actually, it's what anti-transmedicalists (specifically, one clique of them, but the term has since broadened) call themselves.

No, we don't.

Well, see, you're of a different clique. You're not from the original clique (ie basically a cult around this one person) or any of its relative cliques, so it's likely you only see it as a "derogatory" term directed against you.

"Truscum" comes from the same source, and is a term broadly used by anti-transmedicalists to refer to transmedicalists in a derogatory way.

Finally, you got something right.

You say "finally" as if I've been wrong frequently, instead of only partially incorrect sometimes.

Fun fact, the two words were coined as corruptions of "too cute" and "true scum", so it's obvious which one is the worse one to use to refer to someone else.

I believe the general reason for neopronoun usage is that "they" is kind of repurposed from its original meaning, so neopronoun users are trying to forge a unique identity rather than leeching off of a plural pronoun. I have mixed feelings on whether this is necessary, but I wouldn't say it's wholly pointless.

Singular they has been around for a while. I'd just let people pick their own pronouns, Xe isn't doing any harm, nor hir, shi, or ze. Like I said, it's more essential to have them in other languages like German or French.

They can I suppose, I'll just have a shit time remembering them and probably default to singular "they" anyway. Especially if I rarely interact with the person. I barely remember names.

TERFs collaborate with anti-feminists all the time

I've literally never seen this, they tend to be as hostile to antifeminism as any other radical feminist. That is, to say, highly.

[Evil Dictators Happyland]

I believe the general reason for neopronoun usage is that "they" is kind of repurposed from its original meaning, so neopronoun users are trying to forge a unique identity rather than leeching off of a plural pronoun. I have mixed feelings on whether this is necessary, but I wouldn't say it's wholly pointless.

Singular they has been around for a while. I'd just let people pick their own pronouns, Xe isn't doing any harm, nor hir, shi, or ze. Like I said, it's more essential to have them in other languages like German or French.

I think that the issue here comes from the people who insist on "xe" and the like for seemingly no reason other than to annoy those around them.
Granted, I've never met such a person and I'm not entirely convinced that they exist, but at the same time, I don't think that one should declare that absolutely nobody does it, because if there's even a single example of someone who does, then what you said is false. Broad, sweeping generalizations are usually a bad idea, since there's almost certainly going to be some troll who wanders up from under his bridge just to tell you that you're wrong.
That being said, if someone asks you to refer to them using a different word, then you shouldn't deliberately choose not to whether or not you think they're being serious. Accidentally misgendering someone is kind of rude but not necessarily bad (it's naturally going to take time for people to start using a different pronoun, especially if the pronoun wasn't really in your vocabulary before), but deliberately misgendering someone is petty (and also a serious dick move). After all, it costs you exactly $0.00 to have respect for another human being.

[Cappuccina]

Singular they has been around for a while. I'd just let people pick their own pronouns, Xe isn't doing any harm, nor hir, shi, or ze. Like I said, it's more essential to have them in other languages like German or French.

I think that the issue here comes from the people who insist on "xe" and the like for seemingly no reason other than to annoy those around them.
Granted, I've never met such a person and I'm not entirely convinced that they exist, but at the same time, I don't think that one should declare that absolutely nobody does it, because if there's even a single example of someone who does, then what you said is false. Broad, sweeping generalizations are usually a bad idea, since there's almost certainly going to be some troll who wanders up from under his bridge just to tell you that you're wrong.
That being said, if someone asks you to refer to them using a different word, then you shouldn't deliberately choose not to whether or not you think they're being serious. Accidentally misgendering someone is kind of rude but not necessarily bad (it's naturally going to take time for people to start using a different pronoun, especially if the pronoun wasn't really in your vocabulary before), but deliberately misgendering someone is petty (and also a serious dick move). After all, it costs you exactly $0.00 to have respect for another human being.

People that use imaginary pronouns are best ignored, tbh. He, she, and they are plenty.

[Evil Dictators Happyland]

I think that the issue here comes from the people who insist on "xe" and the like for seemingly no reason other than to annoy those around them.
Granted, I've never met such a person and I'm not entirely convinced that they exist, but at the same time, I don't think that one should declare that absolutely nobody does it, because if there's even a single example of someone who does, then what you said is false. Broad, sweeping generalizations are usually a bad idea, since there's almost certainly going to be some troll who wanders up from under his bridge just to tell you that you're wrong.
That being said, if someone asks you to refer to them using a different word, then you shouldn't deliberately choose not to whether or not you think they're being serious. Accidentally misgendering someone is kind of rude but not necessarily bad (it's naturally going to take time for people to start using a different pronoun, especially if the pronoun wasn't really in your vocabulary before), but deliberately misgendering someone is petty (and also a serious dick move). After all, it costs you exactly $0.00 to have respect for another human being.

People that use imaginary pronouns are best ignored, tbh. He, she, and they are plenty.

All pronouns are imaginary.

[Cappuccina]

People that use imaginary pronouns are best ignored, tbh. He, she, and they are plenty.

All pronouns are imaginary.

No, they aren't. That's like saying the word "sky" or "two" is imaginary... they're verbal representions of things in reality.

[Cekoviu]

All pronouns are imaginary.

No, they aren't. That's like saying the word "sky" or "two" is imaginary... they're verbal representions of things in reality.

So in your opinion, words representing abstract or fake concepts are imaginary? "God" isn't a real word?

[Vyluria-Aseko]

I have a question that I would like some insight on, regarding the identity of one of my sister's friends, that we had to take in and help a bit for a period of time.

They are a female-to-male trans, in identity only since they do not take hormones or have received surgery. For sake of anonymity, we'll call him "Alex."

Alex was a good friend of my sister, however, usually more of a third wheel to my sister and her girlfriend (both bi), I've only seen my sister and Alex hang out together on their own only like, once. Since both my sister and her gf were quite pro-lgbt (before they came out as bi), and later came out as Bi when they entered a relationship, I have no doubt they may have had some influence on Alex for their change of identity.

Now, fast forward, sister and her gf go off to college, both to study to become 2D animators in separate cities. Alex, being, persay, dealt a bad hand in life in family income terms, as well as barely passing high school, he's stuck in our town with us. He's only had a few minor jobs, no marketable skills as of that time, and no plan for college or vocational school. (he said once she wanted to study animation too, but me and my mom politely nudged her towards the idea that she'd need to find a way to become financially stable first). Being lonely, and in such a situation, they were diagnosed with depression and put on anxiety medicine and antidepressants. It was during a summer visit from the two after Alex was put on antidepressants where Alex came out, saying that they wanted to be referred to as a male now, as well as taking a masculine name, cutting their hair shorter, and wearing more masculine clothing.

Now, at this time, my young-highschooler mind just shrugged it off because I was drinking the anti-feminist kool-aid to the point where I threw my rationality away so I can fit in with assholes on the internet. So I just shrugged it off and equated it to following "trends" or "dumb feminist shit". I've since then gone past those heinous views, and try to keep a rational and scientific outlook on things I see or experience.

Now, here comes to the thing I'm looking into some insight for. For a while we had to take in Alex since they had a fight with their family and needed a place to stay. Helped them look for jobs and opportunities for vocational training, as well as giving them a bed to sleep in, but me and my mother had an...interesting talk, about their identity. We were thinking, that, since they only used male pronouns, and didn't seek any kind of medical change to their appearance or biology to become a male, that such identity is the result of circumstances around her.

Given that they had a bad hand dealt in life, had some family problems, was a bit of a third wheel to my sister and her gf, as well as depression and nowhere to go in life as of now, would it be reasonable to think that wanting to be called male would be a result of trying to achieve greater sympathy for their conditions (depressed, low income, and trans might evoke a different response than just the former two) and fit in better with those around her? A distraction from her current problems? Actual gender dysphoria? Should I even be questioning it, or just use their preferred pronoun and not question it because it doesn't matter that much? (They're usually cool if you accidently call them the wrong thing, so it's not much a problem to them either)

TLDR: Friend of my sister has depression and a bad position in life. Now refers to themself as male, but does not seek biological change. I'm curious and would like some insight into it from people who understand it better.

[Cekoviu]

-snep-

It could be possible that he's not trans. He also may well be (and probably is, tbh) trans, and the other circumstances are totally unrelated.
My reaction is always to follow what a trans/questioning person tells you their identity is. If they decide that's actually not trans, cool - glad they figured it out. If they really are, then you're already doing what you should be. So whether he is or isn't trans, use the pronouns he tells you to.
Another thought that I had is that he's not transitioning medically because he simply doesn't have the money, and perhaps also due to lack of motivation, which depression causes. So I don't think that's a reliable way to really say "he's not trans," nor does it raise any potential doubts.

[Cappuccina]

No, they aren't. That's like saying the word "sky" or "two" is imaginary... they're verbal representions of things in reality.

So in your opinion, words representing abstract or fake concepts are imaginary? "God" isn't a real word?

Read my post again, "two" is a number, numbers are abstractions.