cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/22392872
The word futa or futanari is a term I unfortunately see used against trans women and actual intersex people. It is a term which originated in porn and anime to describe someone with both types of genitals, usually though it just refers to someone who looks feminine and has a penis. So it’s no surprise it’s very often used to describe non-op trans women primarily. Because it’s often used in porn it carries strong connotations of sexualization and dehumanization, it reduces the person being called futa to an object of sexual desire and doesn’t respect them as a person.
This term is extremely disrespectful and really has no place being used, especially in reference to trans women. Additionally because of its relation to porn people who use it will almost certainly be seen as chasers.
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As a student of Japanese, most of your post is just flat-out incorrect. Futanari, the Rōmaji or Romanization of “ふたなり” comes from “二形” which I believe is either Chinese or just old Japanese. It means hermaphrodite, literally “two” and “form.” It was later picked up as a common trope name for hermaphroditic characters in erotic manga, typically seen as attractive women who possess both vulvae and penises. Yes, it has become a genre of pornography, but it is false to say it originated there.
However, it is a question of what the word means and how it is used. Most people who speak English know it as a porn category from manga like you said. However, I would like to strongly resist your statement that it describes someone who “looks feminine and has a penis.” The Japanese have a word for this: “トランスジェンダー” which is just “transgender.” It’s a loan word from English describing TRANSGENDER PEOPLE. While ふたなり (futanari) can be used to describe a transgender person, it would likely be seen as either woefully archaic or just incorrect. As in English, hermaphrodite describes someone with both sets of sexual organs. Futanari is the Japanese equivalent, more or less. Is hermaphrodite a slur for trans people? Not really. It’s a medical term, as old as the myth of Hermaphroditus, who is the namesake for the term. I presume futanari is just as old.
I think the rest of your arguments fall apart at this point. It’s not a “porn term,” it’s a term that was appropriated by porn. Claiming an entire word in Japanese is a slur because of its use in porn and it’s loan-word status in English is frankly a bit colonial. Beyond that, as a female-presenting intersex person with a reconstructed penis and a sewn-shut vulva, I have often times thought of myself as futanari. I like the word a lot better than hermaphrodite because of my religion, comparing oneself to a God is pretty fuckin’ disrespectful in my opinion. So, I like futanari.
So, with all that said, I disagree with you. I don’t think it’s a slur, and I use it to describe myself sometimes. I don’t know what other word I would use in Japanese to describe myself in that way. ふたなりです。
Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter what the history of the word is or how it should be used, because it has been popularised as a stand in term for porn involving trans women. And in English at least, that’s how it gets used against us. The vast majority of the time, it’s used in a sexualised and objectifying way that places the value of a trans woman entirely in her sexual characteristics.
The words means what people mean when they use it, not what it used to mean or what it “should” mean.
I have often times thought of myself as futanari.
Gender diverse folk and intersex folk can absolutely use the language that best fits our needs. When it comes to slurs and sexualised terms, reclamation and ownership of terminology is a tool of power. But it needs to be opt in. You don’t use slurs and sexualised terms to describe folk you don’t know, or as a general stand in term for the whole gender diverse community.
I think that’s all reasonable. I should make it clear that I would never use futa or futanari to describe anyone without them telling me it’s okay. Effectively, I think that makes it controlled language, ergo a slur.
I would like to maintain that the people who likely made futa and futanari into a slur are not Japanese themselves. Rather, they are American 4chan incel types, who consume that type of media in the first place and who are also transphobic. Blaming Japanese people for a loaned word becoming a slur is ridiculous.
Also, if you were to try to reclaim futa or futanari, it’s probably best to add the honorific “o-” prefix to it. So, it would be お二形 or お二 or ofutanari or ofuta. Kinda silly and it will probably never take off in English use.
Rather, they are American 4chan incel types, who consume that type of media in the first place and who are also transphobic.
Yep, it’s exactly that context this triggered this discussion.
No one is blaming Japanese folk, nor even the term as used in Japanese. The context here is chasers that exist on lemmy that find and interact with trans communities, using terms like this
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