Younger people who don't understand what they re talking about.

Turn this around for a moment.

Aside from the questionable use of the word "shemale", how would you feel if somebody told you, that they know you, so much, that they know for sure how cisgender you are?

 

I don't know why you actually bother with what they sprout. The questionable use of 'she-male' (which only gets me porn results during a google search) might already show that she doesn't understand it. Anyway, let them sprout what they want. In the end, what rumours she spreads about herself will only fall back on herself.

 

I had two middle school students who would flip my skirt up in class and say, "We're lez~~" to me... They just thought it was something funny to say and I'm sure they eventually got it out of their system (although a lot of stern talking-to's from the head teachers didn't do much, lolol) Some kids like to get a rise out of people, and some may be really trying to understand their hormones and their feelings... I wouldn't judge them too harshly, personally...

 

I think a lot of people simply don't understand what they're saying, especially if they're quite young. I know for a fact when I was younger I said some fairly ignorant things as well.

The thing is people learn and educate themselves as they grow older. Hopefully this girl might do the same. I suppose it's not fair to excuse everyone under the age of so and so just because they're young and allow them to say anything they want, but then again I think we should give them good opportunity to learn and not continue saying/thinking these things as they grow older.

I get how you might feel though, and it sucks when we hear stuff like that. The first thing that comes to mind is when a while back I saw an infographic that said to stop using homophobic terms eg the word "gay" as an insult, and a group of younger kids who saw it just laughed and chanted "gay" a dozen times in a row at the top of their lungs and ran off. They were probably around 12 years old. And honestly I don't think they even understood what they were doing or what the infographic (which was quite nicely designed and detailed I must say) was even talking about.

Anyhow. I wish people would never say ignorant or hurtful things like that. But it's a learning process for everyone. What's less excusable is if people are taught/reminded several times not to do/say something that's offensive and continue to do so anyways knowing full well they really shouldn't.

 

I don't know whether or not your sister and her friend know what the term 'she-male' is often defined as, but perhaps they define the term with something else? While many associate the word as more of less pleasant word, they may associate it as something else as they may not know what the word is commonly defined as.

A lot of people use words, often without understanding their true meaning. Perhaps your sister and her friend are the same and if this is the case, perhaps you can be the one to educate them.

 

In the grand scheme of life..this is nothing new.

It's annoying but there are so many nasty things going on - so just take a moment and realize they're being brats.

 

I don't like kids from the age of like 7-12 for this exact reason. Older or Younger and they're either teenagers and are suffer-able or are younger and are still pretty funny and generally okay. Those inbetween are hyper, still uneducated and don't shut up. This proves that point. Shemale is a derogatory term, yes? And if she were a transgender person, she would understand that.
Rant over.

 

Maybe she's thinking transgender? You should ask her what she means by "Shemale" and if she's telling people that she's a boy that dresses like a girl or that she's a hermaphrodite, then maybe consider asking her why she's saying these things? I feel there could be some kind of hidden issue that a person (which you) who is involved with the LGBTQ+ community could maybe understand without giving her any form of backlash for how she's wanting to express herself. On the other hand, it could simply be a lie she's telling others for attention purposes but in a situation such as this, it's best to be open to what she may be feeling.

 

Yes, I did. The younger person was usually my sister or myself. I'm not sure about other children, but when I was young and I overheard a word for the first time nobody came running with a dictionary to explain it to me. When I played with my sister with dolls we used the term gay when a male doll wore a pink shirt, we put two naked girls in the same bed and we dressed a guy in a dress and called him a transvestite. Looking back, I am quite surprised I even knew what gay and lesbian meant since nobody actually gave me a definition.

As a kid, words mean what your friends think they mean. Having a sister, we had plenty of made-up words and real words we used with totally different meanings. I remember having an "o,:***:" moment when we found out that one of the two gypsy words we used as "cool" actually meant "it s***s".

I have younger siblings and I think they are more knowledgeable about LGBT than I was at their age, mostly because of facebook, news and internet. However, whilst the LGB part enjoys media exposure, I doubt any non-LGBT people in my country are aware of the T. Even the Bi part might be unknown to most of them. I found out transgender, transsexual and transvestite are not the same thing at 18 adn only because I started googling LGBT stuff.

You might argue that being already 12 and having access to the internet gives no excuse to be misinformed. But let's face it, no kid spends time on the family computer googling "shemale" instead of playing(which is actually good).
One year ago, my sister who was 9 yo asked me and my mom what a pedophile means. Did I know what it meant at her age?
Not really, I had a vague idea it means liking younger people.
Was I using it when playing with the dolls with my sister?
Probably yes.

I did not intend to make the post this long, but I think it's harmful to yourself to be offended by the way a kid uses a word. As a kid, you only have a vague idea of what the word means, and it's usually the stereotype people associate with the word. As you grow up, you start slowly getting a better understanding of the term but I can't really give a fixed point in time when I linked some words to their actual meaning.

If it really bothers you, you could tell them the real meaning of the word and suggest an alternative to what they really mean when they use it, but they will eventually stop using it anyway and cringe at the memory of doing so.

 

In my experience it's not just the young who need educating

 

She's 12...she doesn't know the lingo, nor is there a reason she should.

For all you know, either kid could be a trans male in deep pain, and just happens to have a mistaken notion of what "she-male" means. One could take that word in that way, right? Not unreasonably?

I get it if an expression is a trigger...yeah, tell someone and let them deal with it. But if just "bugs ya", then get over that, and ask her what makes her say that and/or what she thinks that expression means. Actually educate the poor dear, rather than simply rant that she's ignorant. She has every excuse at her age for being ignorant.

 

I guess we just have to accept that young people throw around words that they don't really understand. I know because they're constantly saying someone who has two personalities is a "schizo." They don't even know that schizophrenia isn't a multiple personality disorder.
Young people can be annoying, it's best to just ignore what they say.

 

If you're anything like me, then you spend enough time worrying about yourself without having to waste additional time worrying about other people...

EDIT:
Is what I'd like to say, but I know how it feels.
Sometimes you can't help but be deeply effected by something you heard.
Well, consider for a moment at the very least that person didn't intend to hurt anyone with what they said, and could be doing it for their own self-confidence, even if you think what they said is wrong.
It should be easier to move on from the issue now.