Your last paragraph is closer to what I wanted to convey, but which I allowed my deep dislike the term ‘cis’ to overwhelm.
Thank you for that understanding.
While I understand respecting people’s identity, I’m not sure how we are supposed to discuss people who are not trans. The reason they are referred to like that in the first place is to differentiate them for the purpose of discussing privilege and inter-community issues. To refer to them as “men and trans men” or something implies that this is the default, and that trans men aren’t entirely real men since they are not being grouped with men.
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I am not saying not to use the word in general, when it’s needed. But if a person asks you not to refer to them as cis, then I fully believe it’s important to do so. Just as you wouldn’t misgender a trans person.
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I don’t have a good answer, ‘continuously gendered’ sounds ridiculous.
‘Cis’ isn’t going to help fix anything and this article is really very good at summing up many of my feelings on it:
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/i-am-not-cisgendered_b_5598113.html
While I understand how for you “cis” brings up negative connotations, and I respect you not wanting to be referred to in that way…
The prefix is derived from the latin and is used in many fields such as medecine and organic chemistry. It is difficult to have any sort of discussion without using words designating clearly what is being talked about. And as @RedRoses pointed out saying “men” and “trans men” would suggest that “cis men” are the “norm” and “real men”.
Some people don’t like the term Person of Color for example. It’s impossible to get everyone to agree on one word but we can certainly try, and do what we can with the vocabulary we currently have when having discussions about those issues.
Of course individually respecting how a person wants to be addressed and referred to is common courtesy.
Edit: seems like the author of that article is confusing gender identity and gender roles…
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I won’t refer to you as cis if it makes you uncomfortable, but I’m not sure what the author of that article is saying. The author refers to cis as meaning that you fit the societal norms for the gender you were assigned at birth, but it doesn’t mean that at all. It simply means that you feel comfortable identifying with the gender that you were assigned regardless of whether or not you fit in the traditional confines and roles of that gender.
Edit: I’m sorry that I’m not entirely understanding here.
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Fascinating, this thread.
I always find discussion of this particular manner to be thoroughly peculiar and filled with delightful intrigue.
And I do mean “peculiar” in the best of ways, mind me.
How strange it is, reading through these comments of varying others.
I gotta say, many of the explainations and terminologies fly right over my pitiful little head, but that doesn’t stop me from havin’ a good read here and there.
What I see here only reaffirms the truths that I’ve come to discover over the course of my own fleeting life -
That the very act of attempting to establish societal norms is the true meaning of insanity, in and out of itself.
And I am personally fine with that.
The world would be a boring place otherwise, I’d wager.
Now, I myself do find the term “cis” to be rather on the odd side.
But, I’m a little odd myself and the thought that “cis” can be correlated to “sissy” tickles my cute 'lil belly pink.
“Cissie,” now there’s a term to think about.
I think I’d enjoy being referred to as such, thank you very much.
But in the end, I think I’d only like to be categorized as being myself.
So all of y’all will have to excuse me and my selfishness; I’m not a fan of being clumped together with people by means of classification.
That is, unless the pronounciation of the term regarding classification sounds truly delightful.
I think honestly that the best solution to everything is to just do what people in this thread is doing, talk things out calmly.
We’re all so different, from varying cultures, countries and ages that of course we can’t agree. And we shouldn’t. There’s not one truth out there that fits everybody, that’s the beauty of the human race. The other way lies extremism…
What we should strive towards is respect and understanding, and I have to say this forum is a little gem when it comes to that.
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In my opinion you Shouldn’t adding anything. However, if all your characters are exactly same, with same ideas, same personality and emotions. Your writing would be plain and boring, even if your technical skills are awesome. In a writing course in the University first lesson was. Here you would learning about how polished your work. However, if your work doesn’t have soul or emotions, no technical knowledge would make your work alive.
People are different, and have different opinions and ways to see the world. Never intended including some gender because being inclusive or cool. Do it because your character as a whole with his her they zis soul is that way.
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Audially, cis sounds too much to me like cyst, and it sometimes gets used in a way to make the receiver of the label feel like a cancer. In fact the first two or three times I heard the word used, it was as a pejorative towards an entire category of people. As a result I dislike the term intensely.
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A few not too serious responses to your points.
I double checked your figure there, since I’m a stickler for data. It checks out. 
Only question then is whether the 1% is correct, but point proven nonetheless.
The fact that these are such integral aspects of a person’s identity is precisely why we should try to avoid tokenism. Throwing in a minor character whose sole purpose is apparently to act as the representative of a given minority in the story is just shallow and most likely offensive to the group they’re purported to represent. If we’re putting their identity under scrutiny it should inform more about the character than just being “I am this” and expecting the audience to like or care.
Shows what you know. I’m a terrible writer. 
I was introduced to the term cis through the hashtag #diecisscum, which as you might imagine doesn’t really endear the idea to me.
If you want more resources, I’d recommend googling (either regular engine or Scholar) “Why representation in media matters”. You’ll find a ton of good stuff and statistics and such.
I personally like the term cis, and I experienced its entry into mainstream vocabulary as a positive development.
However, by sheer coincidence, I recently wondered something similar about the term cis-het. It isn’t meant to be a perjorative term, but might it be starting to function as one? Occasionally I feel like someone says “white cis-het males,” and I’m supposed to hear “white cis-het males—and you now how they are (eye roll).”
I don’t consider my opinion relevant about which term to use for men who are straight and cisgender, but I do get nervous when I start associating invisible eye rolls with whole categories of people (except jocks, of course, because you know how they are).
Your comment makes me curious. It’s probably all in my head, but I might check something and have more to say later.
Yeah, I’m not really feeling cis-het either.
What is the meaning of cis-het? And cis? It’s something about being ok your born gender? Words are tricky business. Sometimes you could offend someone else without desired it. Just because a word you use cause you have an old dictionary wich don’t cover modern meaning of words . That happened me once, I just don’t remember the words exactly, It was something about the old gayed meaning like merry or something like that.
Cis - Cisgender. The gender you identify as matches the sex you were assigned at birth.
Het - Short for heterosexual (Though why we use this one when the LGBT community has a dislike of homo is beyond me).
Cis-Het - Cisgender & Heterosexual, usually used when referring to those who both identify with the sex they were assigned at birth and are heterosexual.
If you have difficulties with being called cis, then please let myself or the community at large know how you would like to be referred, because cis is kinda how we’ve been calling those who aren’t trans for awhile. If you feel like that is offensive to you, then tell me how you’d like me to refer to someone whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth.
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Gimasabi, of course. (Gender Identity MAtches Sex Assigned at BIrth). Can’t possibly offend anyone with that.
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I think of myself first and foremost as a human being. Gender isn’t really a core part of my self-identity. Given that I was born with male parts I’m comfortable being male to the outside world, but I’d be just as comfortable being female if the reverse had been true. I’m not particularly attached to my gender, but I have no major desire to be anything else either. It really is hard for me to fathom the huge importance people attach to gender at times as something separate from physical sex. Call me non-trans if you like, I’m more comfortable with that than cis. Heck, I could even see myself as agendered, but it’s not something I’ve ever been motivated to consider before now.
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Just write the characters as actual people: with their own motivations, with their own conflicts/struggles.
Don’t focus too much on them being gay or transgender. Else you’ll end up with cliches/stereotypes.
They just happen to be gays or transgenders, but that doesn’t completely define them as the person they are.
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