Misgender Meaning and Background
Misgender is a word that is growing in popularity and use. It is generally used to point out that a person has identified another in the wrong manner regarding their gender/sex. In particular, the gender the particular person identifies themselves with. So you can see this is an issue with many transgender people. In some cases the misplaced pronouns are done intentionally to try to hurt the person on the receiving end.
The following are dictionary definitions of misgender:
misgender (Oxford Dictionaries)
verb
Refer to (someone, especially a transgender person) using a word, especially a pronoun or form of address, that does not correctly reflect the gender with which they identify: various media outlets have continued to misgender her
misgender (YourDictionary)
verb
(third-person singular simple present misgenders, present participle misgendering, simple past and past participle misgendered)
To refer to a person using terms (pronouns, nouns, adjectives...) that express the wrong gender, either accidentally or on purpose. For example, calling a woman "son", or a boy "she".
While the meaning of misgender can vary from person to person, the idea behind it is really very simple. Many people get upset if you label their gender in a manner they do not identify themselves with. What can you do to stop misgendering people? It is obviously usually easy if you know the person. If it is an online friend, such as through social media, you might want to take the time to look at their profiles and posts for an explanation or clues. With transgender people being more open it is something that you will likely encounter. If you know there is a transition going on you might be surprised to find out that most will not be upset if you come out and ask them. They are likely to be more upset if you label them by the wrong gender.
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