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Culture War Roundup for the week of May 8, 2023

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This Wikipedia article has not only amused me greatly, but provided hope, something that I didn't think a Wikipedia article could ever do. I thought we had reached a point where saying "trans women are men" was socially equivalent to using a racial slur, a signal that you oppose trans rights and/or hate trans people outright. Now, there is a popular meme that plays on the fact that trans women are men, while acknowledging that it's okay for them to live in a way that's consistent with who they want to be.

I think that's what's happening.

See, I mainly know the word "bussy" in the context of discussing hypothetical sex with trans women, but that's because of the kind of people I talk to and the kinds of things I read. Is this use of the word an outlier? Is it mostly used to refer to homosexual cis men (which makes the joke much less funny)? Would a lefty who uses the term to refer to cis mens' anuses be offended if I used it to talk about trans women's anuses?

  • -15

I believe the word signifies a slightly more significant cultural shift than others might suggest. It's a joke, but it's a joke that trans people sometimes use. This indicates that some individuals are becoming more relaxed about the nuances in their sexuality. While this won't necessarily lead to trans people giving up, for instance, the fight to be included in sports, it's likely a sign that language norms are becoming less strict, more playful, and less serious.

Of course, this is downstream of cultural victories on the trans side. They become more secure as queer sexuality becomes more normalized and positively coded.

..If I didn't know better, I'd say this means that to the key to defeating wokeness and returning to the culture of 2003 is actually to let wokeness win.

I'm wouldn't go that far. I mean, it would end this culture war, but the pendulum would end up with leftist censorship for a while before people chilled out. And you'd end up with trans women in sports.

I think this is somewhat cyclical too. The culture war will wind up again eventually, on another topic.

If 2003 culture norms are what you want, then you have to fight for 2003 culture norms.

If you're ok with trans people existing, but want things to be chill again, then you have it a bit easier, because you can compromise on their behavior being ok but wanting your language to be uncensored.

Either way though. Things have gotten very spicy. It's hard to prove that you want peace while holding tools others have used as weapons. That's why it's 'bussy' and not 'manhole' or something. And it's a lot easier to maintain a compromise with a small group of friends who have already chilled out about it a bit than to end the culture war when so many people still feel so much more strongly about it on both sides.