This is from this week’s coming interesting reading post. I’ve separated it out so I can add this to my glossary - and give it the specific attention it deserves:
the problem of “spontaneous trait transference”: “Here's Why You Get Punished for Trying to Protect Everyone You Care About” https://www.okdoomer.io/shooting-the-doomer/ “It's linking, not thinking” and
“The Way You Describe Others Is the Way People See You” https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/why-bad-looks-good/201805/the-way-you-describe-others-is-the-way-people-see-you “How you acquire the traits you ascribe to others—for better or for worse” and
“Limiting the spread of spontaneous trait transference” https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022103106000710 and
“Spontaneous Trait Transference - The Reason Why Gossip Often Backfires” https://www.roliedema.com/spontaneous-trait-transference.html and
“Spontaneous trait inference” https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spontaneous_trait_inference&oldid=1146022192
I have occasionally thought of doing something like this as a deliberate strategy, knowing that the traits someone is complaining about are NOT necessarily held by those complaining (that is usually bigotry, amathia, and vindictiveness / jealousy / etc), and I had no idea some people did genuinely “thinking” that was the case. Knowing that, I am even less inclined to try this (I haven’t so far - but the thought did at least get me past the irrits stage and on to more ethical responses)
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Remember: we generally need to be more human being rather than human doing, to mind our Mӕgan, and to acknowledge that all misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+ lives at risk.
