cislation

2019, Kate Curley, Debunking the false dichotomy: Developing and applying trans quantcrit at the intersection of trans/non-binary identities and religious, secular, and spiritual engagement in college, thesis for Eastern Michigan University What is called the cislation of transness (the perpetuation of cisnormativity in descriptions of trans people) in higher education and RSS research is pervasive (Sumerau, 2017; Sumerau, Cragun, & Mathers, 2016). Historically and contemporarily, cis people have controlled the narrative on trans/NB people’s experiences.

Rather than push for more fluid, dynamic, and intersectional notions of gender expansiveness, the “binary v. nonbinary trans people” fallacy keeps our most simplified and palatable narratives front and center. This is yet another practice of cislation, or the translating of seemingly illegible (i.e., not understandable) genders for cis recognition.