Quite the mistake, aren’t we? @kaisaria - Tumblr Blog

bunny 🐇

Calling "X" Twitter and the "Gulf of America" the "Gulf of Mexico" is NOT deadnaming. These are a social media platform and a body of water. Neither is or was able to choose their own name. We call Twitter that because that was the name it had for almost 20 years since it was created and "X" is a terrible and ridiculous name for a website everyone's used for decades. We call the Gulf of Mexico that because it's been called that since the 1550s and has been the common name since the 1600s because you had to sail across the gulf to reach Mexico.

These things did not name themselves. They have no sensibilities to offend. Their names are not reflective of their genders. Calling them by the same name we always have is not "deadnaming." Deadnaming is when you call a trans person, an actual human being with feelings and identity, by a name they left behind when they chose to change the way they present themselves. I don't feel comfortable with jokes about "deadnaming" things like Twitter and the Gulf of Mexico. I don't like the idea of "deadnaming" for a joke. The term "deadnaming" should not lose its weight. It should not be treated as a joke. It should not be deemed "okay" to deadname as long as we don't like the person behind the name change.

You can, by all means, still refer to "Twitter" and the "Gulf of Mexico" by those names, just don't call it deadnaming. Deadnaming applies to human beings and is super shitty, even when you do it to bad people. Remember: a trans person's gender and identity are not dependent on their good behavior. Let's please keep the seriousness of "deadnaming" lest we inadvertently give people license to deadname the "right" people.