Also I wouldn't label a person who is transitioning or has done as a "trans-man" or "trans-woman" they would simply be a man or a woman.

And it is the opposite of transgender

Some academic decided non-trans people needed a special word to describe them so came up with 'cis'. If ever a word was not needed it was probably 'cisgender'.

Basically it means someone who identifies as the gender they were 'assigned' at birth.

Wikipedia

So if they said 'It's a boy' and you identify as male, that's cisgender. Not a word that would cross my lips voluntarity

?? but still isn't that just being yourself ?
I mean i don't get it . an adult male is a Man , and an adult Girl is a woman , No matter how Butch or Girly they act .

And I believe that transgendered people are the gender they want to be . ftm is a man and mtf is a woman . in my book
So where does cisgender fit in ??

Wikipedia

So if they said 'It's a boy' and you identify as male, that's cisgender. Not a word that would cross my lips voluntarity

I keep hearing cis but what does it mean ???

The term wasn't coined until around 1998…we got along without it quite fine. And I agree with the original post...why? just why? It is an attempt (or at least how it is used) to pigeon hole the majority of human kind. Most don't have trouble with identifying with their birth sex, so it doesn't need a term...the acceptation, that needs a differentiating term...Speaking as a minority gay male. Makes sense to me.

That's foolish. Most people are not attracted exclusively to the same sex, so why do the terms gay and homosexual exist? Why does ambidextrous exist as a term or  paraplegic since most people are neither?

It strikes me as a made-up word (yes, I know they all are) waiting for a quack to use

And I still think it is an ugly word, not in its meaning but just as a word. And a word I have never used. Except in this thread of course

its a Latin-derived prefix cis-, meaning "on this side of", which is an antonym for the Latin-"trans"-, meaning  "on the other side of".  so when Cisgender is mentioned it means on this side of the gender
transgender means on the other side of

to quote Rawson on its usage.

"It’s an incredible and invisible power to not need to name yourself because the norms have already done that for you. You don’t need to come out as heterosexual or cisgender because it is already expected. Since it isn’t a derogatory term, those who take exception to it may be uncomfortable with trans issues or perhaps they are unwilling to confront their own privilege."

Cis-gender is not a slur it just means you identify with the gender and or sex you were born with.
those that see it in the same light as  Breeder or faggot equally horrid terms ,are delusional or intellectually naive, as are those socialist wannabe's  that use the term in that fashion.

I may be wrong but my memory says that 'queer' didn't start as an insult. Check out Ruth Wallis And calling anyone any kind of 'scum' doesn't seem friendly or helpful.

And if you really want to read some psycho-babble about Queerness (their word) try this - the author actually had pieces printed in a national newspaper. The paper is no longer…

Just because something is on the internet doesn't make it legitimate.

The fact that it's use is widespread and recognised is actually what is making it legitimate; whether we like it or not "the internet" is not apart from "real life", but if this was a just a topic about linguistics, then it wouldn't spark this much discussion 

I think it's pointless to make out a word as "bad" when in fact only the intentions behind it are bad. In my eyes cisgender is a useful and descriptive word that comes in handy when discussing gender-related issues; of course it's a limitative label to describe an individual as a whole, but as Mrker1234 pointed out, sometimes labeling is necessary (and inevitable).

I see this issue as an opposite of what happened with the term "queer", that started as an insult and eventually was reclaimed as descriptive: the fact that the use of "cisgender" is still debated shows that it isn't well established yet and that it could go either way, depending on what use will prevail.
Personally I don't feel like we need another way to discriminate on sexuality, so I'm hoping people will realise that calling someone "cis scum" is just pointless riling.