Sorry, I’m Out-of-Body Right Now

I’ll answer your hate mail in another lifetime

Liberated by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash

I wrote the word “transphobia” in one of my articles, as a stranger complained to me today through my website’s contact form. “Transphobia,” did you know, is a word that “illogically connects phobias (real conditions which are debilitating and wreck lives for sufferers) to people who resist the idea of a physicality-separate identity.” I ought to “have more care for others, please.” It was signed with only a first name and email address.

I am of course aware of such discussions about the words “homophobia” and “transphobia.” These words have etymologies, histories, practical uses, and wide recognition. No word is perfect, and these words have various flaws, including that the primary meaning of “phobia” is already taken. Alternatives are sometimes proposed, and the alternatives aren’t necessarily better.

I’m not going to rehash that debate because that is not what the message I received is really about.

If this person were really upset or curious about the word “transphobia” — never mind the actual oppression of actual trans people, just how this word is made of word-parts — they’d research it to find their own answers. If they really believed they needed to introduce me to a concept — me, a stranger, out of all possible internet…