This is making the rounds on Twitter -- click here to follow the tweetstream -- and GLAAD will be reaching out to the owners of the website, Tranny-Alert.com, but I was curious to know what you guys thought about the website and the ensuing controversy.
"To protect my children I'm not going to sell my story now or in the future. I've gone public with this so people start to see a transsexual pregnancy as normal. But I am thinking of selling the picture everyone's going to want of me looking pregnant. If I don't do it, someone else will and they'll make a fortune."OK -- I'm not sure if anyone asked that question. Well, maybe they did, but *I* certainly didn't.
"I went on Facebook and I was thinking...whenever I hear about our community, it seems to be from Remembrance Day which is always so negative because it's about people who were killed," Crandall, who heads up Transgender Michigan, recalled. "So one night I couldn't sleep and I decided why don't I try to do something about that.It's a beautiful thing. Anyone know of anything else going on in town? In the meantime, it's good to remember that we're all a little trans -- after all, do you conform 100% to the expected norms of your sex? Or, do you fulfill the roles you feel are right for you? Clearly, trans-identity is more than this, but it's a good place to start thinking about how your own gender affects your life and your interactions with the world.
"I thought, 'why doesn't someone do it?' Then I thought, 'why isn't that someone me?'"
...
Unlike Transgender Day of Remembrance, Crandall said, the day of visibility aims to focus on all the good things in the trans community, instead of just remembering those who were lost. "The day of remembrance is exactly what it is. It remembers people who died," she said. "This focuses on the living. People have told me they love Remembrance Day but it really focuses on the negative aspect of it. Isn't there anything that could focus on the positive aspect of being trans?"
Surrounded by notoriously conservative northern Florida, should Gainesville now be considered a "gay-friendly" city -- or was it simply the high turn out of liberal-minded University of Florida students who were responsible for swinging the vote more toward equality?My take? Simple: we didn't really talk about this one much, did we? Even I only posted once on the situation and then only because it looked like Cincinnati, in a way. Have we already moved so far past Prop8, have we already had the necessary country-community-catharsis that we aren't going to fight with each other? Or, are we now so insularized by 1,000,000 little fights that we don't have the time to fight for these little places.
In a couple of months, Jinda, a transgender, hopes to put down her begging bowl for good and pick up a mobile phone not to make a call but to repair and assemble them.It's nice that we're paying "transgenders" for work, isn't it? HA!
The Tamil Nadu Social Welfare Board, along with Madras Christian Council of Social Service (MCCSS) and Manpower Awareness Social Service (MASS) Trust, has collaborated with mobile phone companies Nokia, Motorola and Foxconn to find alternative employment for transgenders. About 100 of them will be trained for a month and will then assemble parts for the phone companies. They will be paid based on their work.
Transexpression (n)
the performance of gender that is outside of the norms and standards of a person's biological sex and the associated expected gender role; "I think the reason I didn't get that job was because of my transexpression; I think I was just too effeminant for them." (possible synonym: "gender expression")transexpressive (adj); transexpressively (adv.)
The funny joke that I think that should be made is something about a train and hopping on the TransExpress...
...but that's probably tasteless.
There is one more piece after this one -- a guest blogger that I am so happy to be writing for QueerCincinnati.com.
Update (8 hours later): Perhaps I am not the most lucid on this subject; perhaps I am not as clear as many of my commentators. In reality, I am still struggling with it. Lately, I've felt someone numb to a lot of the rhetoric around semantics. My good friend called me a pragmatic feminist when I chose to support Hillary Clinton in the primary; this friend, as with others of that group, often comment that my response to most things is: "Yea, it's nice to talk about it, but what are you going to do about it?"
I am, at my heart, a pragmatist, and the ongoing debate even in risk behavior of identification seems a little much. After all, does it matter if someone identifies as gay if they take it up the ass in the bathhouse? No. In the same way, does it matter if someone identifies as transgender or tranny or metrosexual or androgynous if they still lack the same rights as other people, or are treated as less than human based on their gender expression or identity? No.
Like with my feelings on the queer theorists -- there are still very practical things that need to happen within the gender movement (public education, basic rights, insurance coverage of SRS, etc. etc. etc.) before we can really move truly into the semantic debates that this whole issue over tranny can matter, ultimately.
At the same time, there is something to be said for reclamation and power. I have taken on the term "queer," as a way of empowering it on my terms, rather than allowing homophobic individuals to claim it as their word of power.
An anecdote: at Miami, two of my dear male friends were walking down the street, hand in hand, and a car full of boys drove by and started screaming "FAGGOTS." I still remember, in a moment of wonderment, both of them screaming back: "YES WE ARE." And, thus, the potential hurt and shame that word implies is taken away and the two boys were allowed to identify and empower themselves despite the discrimination.
"Tranny." Hrm.
No, you don't have to identify as such, and you don't have to like it. But, I think, if you allow the hate that people can infuse into the word to define it, then you've all ready lost, haven't you?
I think there's a lot that's been said over the last week and a half on this blog and others on the word "tranny," and I'm not quite sure I yet understand what the problem is. You are going to have to walk with me through this, and understand that I am processing the information rather than making a definitive statement.
As always, I'm learning, and I'm not always the best on trans-issues, but I've always been open to learning.
Is there anything wrong with the word "tranny" -- no, I don't think so -- in much the way that the words "fag" or "queer" or "dyke" have absolutely nothing wrong with them, by their very nature. It's all in how they are used. And, though I have a thing against moral relativism, I think it's valid in this situation.
Working in the Emergency Department gives me an interesting perspective: there are people out there that identify, or, at least, refer to themselves as trannies. It's their identity. Unfortunately for the dominant hegemonistic rhetoric that seems to be developing over the terminology, they lack the proper education and access to Judith Butler to truly understand what awfulness their identification enacts upon the movement as a whole. Sure, if pressed, they will tell you that they are one of the "big three T's" -- transvestite, transsexual, or transgender. On a daily basis, though, they are simply tranny.
It's certainly what their john's refer to them as.
In a way I just posited that to rail against the term is both racist and classist. In the porn industry, too, "tranny is used about as much as as "chicks with dicks." So, there's that...
I used to be really, really against the word FAG. In fact, I ran a whole series on it -- well, sort of, it was a brief series. But I use the word too, affectionately. Now, granted, I use FAG as the basest of the queer insults, but it's never actually hateful in its use. It's just the lowest denominator, in a way. I grew out of my displeasure with the term because I was more upset with how it was being used rather than that it was being used at all.
I think tranny is, or should be, much the same way.
If I'm a raging transphobic asshole, I can understand why someone would take great offense to my using 'tranny' to describe anything. But I'm part of the community, and I'm supportive generally of trans-issues, and I have my own trans-expression issues, so is it fair for me to use the term lovingly?
Of course it is, in much the same way Christian Soriano (or whatever) used it. (Guess what? He's sort of a tranny too... go ahead, challenge me that he's never run into discrimination based on his expression.)
This has become a bit on the rambling side, so I'll just close it up by saying this: there's really nothing wrong with the term tranny, IMHO. However, if someone is offended by it, then the appropriate response is to inform me and then I'll stop using it in reference to them. I think, too often, we confuse what is offensive to me personally and what is genuinely offensive to human dignity. If something is offensive, then say so. If something is genuinely hateful and expressed in a hateful way, then it should be stopped.
I think that most people in the community don't use tranny hatefully, or, at least, not with the intent of being hateful.
On the other side, it's not a term that should be used in journalism. It's not even a real word, in this context. "Tranny," then, should be eschewed in favor of the proper terminology. But, as I have said before, I am not a journalist.
Rereading this, I don't know if I like what I wrote... I'm not sure I got my point across. So watch for updates.
"People who have had sex-change operations; people who are cross-dressers," he offers. "Essentially [it means] people who are confused about their gender, their sexual identity, and think they should have been born the opposite sex from the one that God gave them."
The proposal would bar discrimination based on "gender identity" or "gender expression." Similar laws have been enacted in several states, including California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Oregon.
But one critic in the Connecticut House has expressed concern about the effect the measure could have on the state's public schools, saying it would impact the learning environment. For example, a male elementary school teacher could have surgery and return to classes dressed and acting as a female.
"This is something that's still classified in the medical books to this day as a mental illness," Wolfgang reveals. "These folks want to raise their mental illness to the level of a protected class -- like race or sex." And impose acceptance on the rest of society, he adds.
I would like to point out, too, that Cincinnati does protect people based on their gender identity and expression, and "transgenderism" appears in the Ohio Revised Code in such a way as it could be considered as under "sexual orientation."
In short: we're ahead of Massachusetts?
Was anyone else in the world surprised when they found out Minnesota was the first state to pass gender protections? I'm still flabbergasted.
Really? Minnesota? They can't even decide on a Senator.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with referring to your car's transmission by it's shortened and endearing nickname.
It will also earn you the respect of your mechanic, as he'll think you are comfortable with the inner workings of the drivetrain and he'll be less likely to attempt to overcharge you.
Sorry, I couldn't resist the little joke.
But the most interesting response comes from us by Facebook, where Trevor Hoppe (honestly I am always surprised when Trevor references me -- he's SO COOL :-) -- JK) and BadEvan (the celebrity, no less!) went back and forth for a bit on it in my comments section:
TH: Well just like "gay" has become used in pop culture to describe something lame or stupid, "tranny" has popped up (thanks to Christian on PR) as a way to say messy / ugly / sloppy. But that doesn't stop my transgender friends from using it to describe themselves / their friends / others. So as Daniel says, context is crucial.
BE: I don't see a problem with it. I, as a big MO, use the term Faggot all the time. Words only have negative powers if you let them.
I think it's just a bunch of PC BS. I know many transgender folks who use the term. I think the real issue is the tone you use. If you say faggot or tranny but mean freak or disgusting evil sodomite...then well You're a douche bag... and who cares what you say/think?
BE: Really people use tranny to mean sloppy/messy and ugly? I've never heard that anywhere... I would probably have to get in some ones face if I heard them say something like that in that manner...
TH: See Christian Siriano on Project Runway. After he coined "Hot Tranny Mess," that phrase was everywhere (talk shows, magazines, blogs, etc). The tranny in that phrase is key -- it points to a gendered failure.
BE: I've heard the phrase "hot tranny mess" used before... but it's been in ref to a Transgender person who looks like their affirmed sexuality, but has many many issues that are very apparent when you meet.
I don't like the phrase...but I don't think it was/is used to describe trans people as ugly/messy/or sloppy. I think that's how some people may want to spin it.
It to me is the same as saying "he's a flaming fag"...while I don't like it... it's a way for people to say... "he's a very effeminate homosexual male who embodies many of the homosexual stereotypes that society has noticed or relegated to gay men."
TH: Errr... it wasn't used to describe trans people at all. In pop culture, it's typically used to describe women who are messy / sloppy / etc.
BE: Ok...well that's just fraking wrong! I would have to cut a MoFo for saying something like that in ear shot of me.
Then we have the one-line answers:
And then we have an amazing set of responses on this blog from people who had some great things to say about the subject.
From JereKeys:
There is nothing inherently wrong with the word. Just as there is nothing inherently wrong with the words "nigger" "faggot" "cunt" "kike" "jap" "wetback" or "retard."From the editor of the F6 blog, who commentates occasionally on this blog:
Members of the groups for whom these words are directed, however, associate them with oppression (sometimes even violence) and hate. Because of the negative associations, people to whom these words are directed have asked that those of us who do not belong to the group stop using them. Our willingness to consider the feelings of those oppressed groups ultimately says more about us than anything else.
"But when I say @$%&#!, I don't mean it offensively, everyone knows that!" No. They don't. All they know is that you don't appear to be terribly educated on the history of oppression and abuse from people who use that word with genuine hate in their heart.
It doesn't hurt me to remove words like "tranny" and "retard" and "nigger" from my language. I'm not harmed in any way. I don't understand why common courtesy and empathy result in so many anguished cries of "Aarrgh, you're limiting my free speech!! Stop being so sensitive!! Damned political correctness is killing me!! It's kiiiiillllllliiiiinnnnnngggggg mmmmeeeeeeeeeeee!"
My frustration comes into play when you have 20 descriptors for five groups of people, depending on what stage, identity, social role, etc. they are in at the moment. There is no one consistent that even applies to one individual member of the TransGendered and or InterSexed Community.From dear dear friend Jeffery (who tweets at @Jeff_Dalton):
This is why the press and even OUR COMMUNITY's entertainment "elite (such as Johnny McGovern & Co.)" still refer to them as "a hot trannie mess". The Bible just called them all Eunuchs when translated into English.
There is no one label that applies even tranny is a misnomer when you are dealing with straight bois wearing dresses as a prank or to show support for their gay friends, (like being a "bridesmaid" in a gay wedding, and yes we wore dresses) in that case cross dresser doesnt even apply, nor should it.
As someone who prides himself in being crass or lewd in my commentary, and at the same time socially and politically astute, I freely use the word fag, queer, and tranny at will, because sometimes this boi just aint happy or gay about something. But that is because I am a ghetto redneck queen with some pretty large balls so my testosterone levels are still up there with the jocks and frat bois ...having a moment....
This is an issue that will not be settled overnight or without a lot of heartache either way but it is a conversation that OUR COMMUNITY needs to keep having across the board not just on the T/I issues but also race and relationships etc.
Before this week I never gave much thought to the word “tranny.” I know I am showing my small town ignorance, but the images I had to go on were poorly put together drag queens, guys putting on a dress for Halloween, or Dr. Frank-N-Furter. I just didn’t associate the word with the trans-community. I even looked up the word tranny on the web to see what definition was out there. If you Google the word you get a big list of porn sites. The word isn’t even listed any on dictionary.com. Webster listed the word with the definition “an assembly of parts including the speed-changing gears.” I know for a fact that isn’t the topic at hand.And, finally, from David W. who, btw, I met in college and whose gender expression was always a question I had for him. But that's neither here nor there. In short: totally had a crush on him, and then, once I read his writing, was head over heels with him. Duh. This is his response:
This week I have had the opportunity to read post from trans-bloggers and watch youtube videos on the topic. From what little I’ve gathered even the trans-community isn’t agreed on if the word is wrong or not. Hell, I don’t even know if, as a gay man, is it alright to use the phrase “trans.” I believe as several other posters have stated it is a matter of context. Any time a word such as tranny or faggot is used in a hateful manner it’s just wrong. But even when used with love or in a joking manner those words have a slimy feel to them. Of course, this doesn’t mean I won’t ever use those words again just that I may put a little forethought into it.
As an independent entity outside the moral community in this instance, that is to say I have no value in matters pertaining to LGBT issues, perhaps my musings are not worthy of print. However, I find myself inexplicably drawn to the plight of others and the question at hand poses an interesting view of the status quo.
No one has ever called me a tranny. The single most offensive word anyone could call me would be "amateur". My blood pressure would rise, my eyes would fill with rage, and I would most certainly lash out with ill will. I would feel personally attacked. The fundamental of personal defense that I prescribe to reads "He who attacks others without cause deserves no consideration."
If words like "tranny", "fag", "queer", "homo", or "fruit" elicit such a response in a person, then question is no longer "what is wrong with the word tranny?", but rather, "what is wrong with the person from which the word originates?" The words are merely the vehicle of the speaker's intent. The speaker has initiated a personal attack with the aim to degrade the target. The target is now a victim.
To dismiss the intrinsic worth of a person is blatantly unethical, but maybe I'm going overboard. However, the status quo seems to dictate that lesbians are chic, but that men who dress in female clothing are somehow doing something wrong? Assaulting American values?
Gents, do what you want to do. You are still men, and how you dress should not be read as an invitation to deprive you of your dignity or your right to pursue your interests. You have done nothing wrong, you are equal to all other men.
WHEW! That was a lot of responses! This is a really long post! In the future, I will most definitely, definitely keep my questions simple and easy and light hearted. No, seriously, I appreciate all the indepth and intelligent responses you guys have posted. I think it does say something, though, that all of the above responses come from white guys.
Seriously.
And, for the most part, white gay guys. That's probably just my readership base, though.
I think, for now, I'm going to take a little break while I consider everything said and written, and so I can get some work done, and then I'll come back to my thoughts later tonight.
You are invited to participate in a research project regarding transgender and gender non-conforming people in the United States. Your responses will be part of an important report on transgender people’s experiences of discrimination in housing, employment, health care and education.If you fit any of these categories, please take a moment (or, 20 minutes, rather) to take this very important survey.
At their request, I have not linked the blog. But you can back read and figure it out.Who these people truly were or why they were so mad is a based on 1/2 of the participants of the fight.
Isn't it possible that the crew of the McDonald's who hurled hateful epaulets at transgender woman?
That wouldn't be a show for you to laugh at would it? unbelievable. Yeas it is slanderous and highly inconsiderate of the "allied" community to laugh at us and hate us. WHO ARE YOU AND DO YOU CARE ABOUT US or are we just a token for you to get readers?
I would feel better if planetransgender's post's did not appear on this blog.You can acomidate that request by removing planetransgender from your blog list.
Today is International Transgender Day of Remembrance, in honor of all those who have died or injured due to anti-trans bias and hate.
TransOhio is planning a memorial ceremony in Columbus.
We honor you, my brothers and sisters.
Asexual
Someone who has no sexual attraction to any sex. There's a great blog blogrolled here called Asexual Explorations.
Bear
A bear is a stocky, mostly hairy, gay man. Think Al Borland (from Home Improvement) and you have the penultimate bear. There's a whole culture, which is sometimes tied in with leather culture, including magazines, porn labels, contests, "bear runs" (festivals/mini-prides), etc. etc. etc. I once thought I was a bear cub. The reason for the name? Some sort of theoretical similarity in body type -- fat but powerful, and hairy. Yup, that's about it. Oh, and the ideal is the stereotypical, blue-collar American boy. Always a lot of boots, and cowboy hats. A lot of "woof"ing happens at bear events, too, which doesn't make any sense to me because bears don't woof. There's lot of subdivisions too:
Bottom
Receiver in anal intercourse (primarily, though can be used in conjunction with other terms like "WS bottom" or "BDSM" bottom to demarcate the "receiver" or "passive" position). Like the term top, this is listed here because it is often used to elaborate on someone's gender expression in conjunction with other terms -- "femme bottom" or "butch bottom." The bottom is often viewed as the "gay" position, as "receiving" cannot be construed as something a "straight-identified" person would do.
Chicken
Opposite the vulture (or the pederast, or the chicken hawk), a young boy looking to be, looking like he could be, or being "snatched up" by an older gay man.
Drag
Two predominate uses: drag queen (male who dresses as a female) and drag king (female who dresses as a male). Overwhelmingly, the term "drag queen" and "drag king" are used for performance dress in the popular lexicon. A transvestite, then, is not a drag queen, while John Travolta in Hairspray would be considered a man in drag (though not, I might add, a drag queen). There is some that say this term is Shakespearean, others who say that it originates from the 1920s. The term comes from the abbreviation of the phrase "dressed as girl;" there is another phrase, drab from "dressed as boy," but "drab king" doesn't sound all that fun.
Dyke
Very obscure reference, like faggot, but all seem to agree that its a shortened version of bulldyke, which has had a variety of meanings throughout history. It, like the term "queer" is becoming increasing popular.
Ex-Gay/Yestergay
Someone who has gone through the process of "coming out of homosexuality" by various reparative therapies. Mostly debunked in mainstream psychology, though it has grown in terms of numbers and mainstream interest. Generally accepted as false and psychologically damaging. Several prominent political figures think it's nifty though. Just because you suppress something doesn't mean you aren't.
Ex-Ex-Gay
Someone who went through reparative therapy and then realized what a crock of shit it was and came back. There is an excellent blog that I hope will become reactive called Chronicles of an Ex-Ex-Gay. And he's really cute.
Fag Hag
Preferred term: fruit fly. A straight woman who prefers the company of gay men. There's a lot of jokes and psychology that can go into this one, but I'm not going to talk about it too much. The girls in the club are fabulous and keep their boys in line. Though, all too often, they get left when we have our tricks :-).
Fag Stag
A straight man who prefers the company of gay men. Yea, we can all make the jokes.
Faggot
Pejorative for a gay man. There seem to be a few possible sources:
Obscure history, but the first literary documentations go back to 1914.
Friend of Dorothy
Old-ish term that is "code" for gay. Dorothy, as in from the Wizard of Oz, was Judy Garland who was seen as a gay icon. Her death may have been one of the many sparks that began the Stonewall Rebellion. No, really. So, now, thanks to dear Judy, we are all friends of Dorothy.
Gay
Primarily, a male who has sex with other men who identifies with the "gay community." In recent years, it has become more salient to use this describe people who are identifiably gay, that is, they call themselves as such. The separation of terms of "gay as men who have sex with men" and "gay as people who are part of the gay community" is relatively recent and represents a move away from centralized gay community. Sometimes, though far less commonly, used as "gay woman." It is likely the term arises from the word "gay" meaning carefree, which became construed as "without moral constraints" which ultimately was sexualized.
Homophile
The original alternative to homosexual, coined by a German (those Germans and the sex thing!!!!) and chosen, originally, because the -phile ending gives preference of love over sex. A lot of original LGBT organizations referred to themselves as homophiliac throughout the 1950s and 1960s. If someone called you a homophile these days, you're likely to think that you're being called a fag. Wikipedia reports that this is being used by hate and anti-gay groups, these days, to linke homosexuality and pedophilia. Oh, you crazy anti-gay's.
Intersexed
Contemporary term for the medical condition known as hermaphroditism, used in modern rhetoric as an identity that some people take on to represent a new point on the gender/sexuality spectrum.
Lesbian
A woman who has sex with women -- but not necessarily exclusively. In my experience, this is used by women who identify as having a primary attraction to women, or who are in a current relationship with women. In that way, it describes behavior. It also attaches them to their female-centered relationship needs. Originates from the Greek island of Lesbos.
LGBT
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans. Sometimes modified to be GLBT, or LGBTQ (Q=queer or questioning), or LGBTS (S=straight), or LGBTQS, or LGBTTTQS (T=transgendered, transvestite, and transsexual), LGBTTs (Ts=two spirit), LGBTU (U=unsure), or LGBTQI (I=intersex)... then you could sometimes throw an "A" on there for "allies." For simplicity, this blog uses LGBT. Used to replace "gay community" starting in the 1990s because the latter term was not felt to be inclusive enough. Began as "lesbian and gay," then "LGB," became "LGBT," and is starting to become "LGBTQ" as the term "queer" is becoming more acceptable. Yea, I know, there's a lot, but there's two other fun ones as reported by Wikipedia (the source of all information in the known universe):
Queen
An effeminant gay man or a gay man who has a specialized quality (i.e., "rice queen" is a gay man who prefers Asians; "bean queen" is a gay man who prefers Hispanics; "piss queen" is a gay man who prefers WS). Also used in conjunction with "drag."
Queer
You're about to get a whole post on this one, so, just wait...
Same-Sex Loving
This is a relatively new term and one that caught me off guard when I first heard -- also interchangeable with "same-gender loving." I think it's a creation of the black community's unwillingness to accept the term gay which has racial and classist connotations. It's a new take on the idea.
Sapphist
Term originating from the Greek poet Sappho, who wrote beautiful love stories that were sexually explicit towards other women who stayed on her island of ... get this ... Lesbos. Term used to describe lesbians, though rarely. More commonly used as an adjective, "Sapphic."
Transgender
Someone who feels that they are a different gender than their sex represents.
Transsexual
Someone who undergoes the surgery to alter their sex to align with their proper gender.
Transvestite
A person who dresses in the alternate sex for the purpose of personal enjoyment or pleasure. Most of these are straight men -- the stereotypical "husband in the wife's panties" situation. This is not, necessarily, a drag queen.
Tribade
Old, old, old term used for lesbians from the term tribadism, which is the act of female-to-female intercourse where the two women would rub their vulvae together via a scissor position of the legs. I have never heard this used in a modern context.
Twink
Imagine my shock when I found this term actually comes from the junk food twinkie. This is probably the funniest and most enlightening Wikipedia entry I have ever read:
The term's namesake is the "golden-colored phallic-shaped snack cake" Hostess Twinkie, commonly regarded as the quintessential junk food: "little nutritional value, sweet to the taste and creme-filled."[10][11][12] The Twinkie was invented in 1930 and originally contained a banana cream filling, but this was replaced with a vanilla cream filling during a banana shortage caused by World War II.[13][14][12] By the 1950s, "Twinkies had become a school lunchbox staple".[12] The original flavor was re-introduced as an alternative flavor in 2007.[15] A twink is "memorable for his outer packaging", not his "inner depth".[11] The golden-color also referred to those who are tanned from too much time in the sun.[16] The junk food reference has a number of connotations, including a perceived lack of intelligence and being ideal only for a short term, but not having lasting qualities or being very healthy.[16] Most of these concerns no longer apply, as the definition of twink has broadened, and qualifiers (such as muscle or femme) narrow the meaning to a more specific type of twink.[16]
Although the term originated from the American snack food, both the cake and twink have found international use, with Hostess selling "more than half a billion Twinkies" yearly.[10][17][15]
If you ignore that they are talking about the Twinkie, and are talking about a Twink... you understand perfectly what they are talking about. LOL -- "banana cream filling." (also reports that it's a backronym meaning "teenage, white, into no kink.")
Uranian
A German term from the 19th century, originally used to describe the "third sex" of men who have a female psyche (and, thus, have sex with men). Later used to describe women who have sex with women. I have never heard this used in a modern context. HAHA, but I think it's funny that the term, broken down, means "relating to Uranus" (say it outloud).
Other cultural specific terms: poof (British), hijra (Arabic), two-spirit (American Indian). All of them mean gay. :-)
I think I'm mostly done with this. I got most of the big ones out of the way, and some of the little ones. If you need me to tell you what "bi-curious" means (and the crock of shit it may or may not be), well, then, you can always wiki it!
