Words with Friends 11
Words with Friends episodes are bonus episodes where different members of Mama Dragons provide definitions for LGBTQ related topics. This episode includes the following definitions:
Homophobia shared by Clare in England
Transphobia/Transmisia shared by Sarah M. in Fargo, North Dakota
TERF shared by Connie W. in Canberra, Australia
NOT Pedophilia shared by Yani Vega, Puerto Rico
In the Den is made possible by generous donors like you.
Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today at mamadragons.org.
Words with Friends 11
Words with Friends episodes are bonus episodes where different members of Mama Dragons provide definitions for LGBTQ related topics. This episode includes the following definitions:
Homophobia shared by Clare in England
Transphobia/Transmisia shared by Sarah M. in Fargo, North Dakota
TERF shared by Connie W. in Canberra, Australia
NOT Pedophilia shared by Yani Vega, Puerto Rico
In the Den is made possible by generous donors like you.
Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today at mamadragons.org.
Connect with Mama Dragons:
Website
Instagram
Facebook
Donate to this podcast
JEN: Hello and welcome to In The Den with Mama Dragons. I’m your host, Jen. This podcast was created to walk and talk with you through this journey of raising happy, healthy, and productive humans. Thanks for listening. We’re glad you’re here.
For many parents, learning they have an LGBTQ child means they have a whole new vocabulary to learn. So we’re here to give you an introduction to potential new vocabulary a few words at a time. These definitions won’t teach you everything there is to know about these new words. But they will give you a foundation upon which to build your future learning. And, remember, this is an area where vocabulary is changing rapidly. We invite you to enjoy how our language changes as our understanding grows.
HOMOPHOBIA - shared by Clare in England
Homophobia is an irrational dislike, or prejudice against, people who are LGBTQIA+. Homophobic actions can include incidents of harassment, discrimination, and in extreme forms, even violence against people who identify as LGBTQ+. There are many people and institutions in our society that are homophobic, but that doesn't make homophobia an acceptable viewpoint to hold. Homophobia leads to harm against others and is rooted in anger or fear of difference. Being homophobic is similar to the concept of being racist. Perpetuating either bias places you firmly on the wrong side of history and further away from a world in which all humans are equal.
P IS NOT FOR PEDOPHILIA (or “pedosexual”) - shared by Yani Vega, Puerto Rico
As a mother of a trans son, I needed to learn about terms and topics that are often discussed in our society. Because learning about these topics has really helps us better understand the world which they face. For example, P is not for pedophilia or pedosexual. Members of disliked minority groups are often stereotyped as representing a danger to the majority's most vulnerable members. There is a smear campaign to associate LGBTQ people with pedophiles. LGBTQ relationships are about consent, and children cannot give consent, but this tired homophobic trope keeps showing up. Anti-gay activists continue to push the long-disproven idea that homosexuality and pedophilia are somehow connected, despite an utter lack of scientific proof. To be clear, no LGBTQ organization has ever come out in favor of child molestation. Furthermore, this attempt to link homosexuality to pedophilia was rooted in bigotry, not statistics. The empirical research does not show that gay or bisexual men are any more likely than heterosexual men to molest children.
TERF - shared by Connie W. in Canberra, Australia
TERF stands for Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist, and represents a group of feminists that claim that trans women aren’t really women and are therefore hostile to the inclusion of trans people and gender-diverse people in the feminist movement. It should be noted that the term "TERF" is not used by those inside the group, who would probably consider it a slur and a term of abuse. They tend instead to use terms like "gender critical.” While the lifetime of experiences many women have accumulated in being treated as women are incredibly and undoubtedly important, how and why this should translate into opposition for trans rights is unclear and stoked by blatant appeals to transphobia and transmisogyny.
TERFs are a tiny subset of feminism, but an unduly influential one. Their doxxing, trolling, picketing, and generally abusive behavior has earned them the title of "Westboro Baptist Church of Feminism.”
TRANSPHOBIA/TRANSMISIA - shared by Sarah M. in Fargo, North Dakota
Transphobia is when people have deeply rooted negative beliefs about what it means to be transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming. Their beliefs affect the way they, the government, organizations, the media, and society generally treat people whose identities don’t fit into typical gender roles. Transphobia results in policies that take away the rights and safety of trans and nonbinary children, teens, and adults. This results in discrimination, harassment, and sometimes violence against people who are not cisgender. Transphobia is sometimes referred to as transmisia. The “misia” in transmisia means “hatred.” This is a helpful word because it highlights the prejudice at the root of beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and systems that hurt or deny the existence of trans and nonbinary people. I think that transmisia is an important word to add to our vocabulary as it isn’t the fear of someone different, but the prejudiced hatred toward a specific group. That shines a clear light on the person who is the problem rather than having trans people placed as something worth fearing.
JEN: Thanks for joining us In the Den. If you enjoyed this episode, please tell your friends, and take a minute to leave a positive rating or review wherever you listen. Good reviews make us more visible and help us reach more folks who could benefit from listening. And if you’d like to help Mama Dragons in our mission to support, educate, and empower the parents of LGBTQ children, please donate at mamadragons.org or click the donate link in the show notes. For more information on Mama Dragons and the podcast, you can follow us on Instagram or Facebook or visit our website at mamadragons.org.