Futa is a slur and shouldn't be used.
Futa is a slur and shouldn't be used.
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.
To repost what I said in c/intersex;
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。
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
It may be both of those things, but in English, it's still used a porn stand in for porn involving trans women
because of its use in porn and it's loan-word status in English is frankly a bit colonial
The conversation here is explicitly about the loan word in english, not about the way it's used in Japanese
Is hermaphrodite a slur for trans people?
Yes
I want to say this and make it clear. I as a person with an intersex condition strongly resent and despise the idea of someone calling me a hermaphrodite, it is a demeaning term to refer to intersex people as, as well as completely inaccurate because we are not hermaphrodites. The English word hermaphrodite should not be used to describe a human person in any capacity, to do so is wrong from a scientific and logical standpoint but is also wrong as this word carries extreme pejorative connotations when used against intersex people, and it is straight up transphobic when used against trans women.
So yes I maintain that in 90% or more of the English use cases of it, it is indeed a slur and shouldn't be used. And to describe hermaphrodites it really shouldn't be used to describe any human person. I know that Japan has had problems with trans understanding and acceptance and frankly I don't care. If your language's terms are perjorative due to lack of understanding then use different terms, which from what you said looks like they're already doing, good on them.
As someone who's studied japanese myself. Please stop romantizising japanese. It's not some sort of fantasy place unconnected to the rest of the world.
You know it's used for porn there too right?
This is the reason weeb is a slur too 😮💨
why are some even arguing against this? it clearly makes people super uncomfortable, are you just gonna tell them it's all in their head?
I truly hope your circles don't run into this often.
Was based on an incident involving a lemmy.world user yesterday but I thought it deserved some attention since there are still people who think that word is okay when it's not.
I had kinda wondered about this.
There was always a chance it would jump from its origin to the real world. Tbh, I'm a little surprised I hadn't found out it had before now. It's depressing, for a number of reasons.
I wanna crack a joke about weebs, but damn, I only wish it was just that segment that would call a human being that. I know damn good and well it isn't some kind of narrow, isolated thing, or it wouldn't have gotten to the point this post was necessary.