Last week, Twitter suspended Jordan Peterson for calling a woman by her name. Jordan’s observation that “Ellen Page just had her breasts removed” had apparently violated Twitter’s rules against “misgendering” and “deadnaming,” two neologisms that mean the opposite of what they seem. The verb “to misgender” first appeared in 1989. It ostensibly refers to inaccurately identifying someone’s sex, but ironically it has come to mean accurately identifying the sex of people who wish it were not so. In reality, Jordan did not “misgender” Ellen Page; he simply “gendered” her. The only people “misgendering” the actress are the ones who pretend that she is a man.
The term “deadname,” which first appeared sometime in the early 2010s, follows a similar illogic. It describes a person’s name from birth until the moment in which he declared himself to be a member of the opposite sex or no sex at all and assumed a new name. Today Ellen goes by “Elliot” and has even legally changed her name. But “Ellen” isn’t Miss Page’s “deadname.” Even if one were to accept the dubious premise that men have a right to call themselves “Sally” and ladies a right to call themselves “Hank,” Ellen isn’t dead. She is very much alive and has called herself “Ellen” for 33 of her 35 years. “Ellen Page” starred in Jason Reitman’s hit film Juno, for which “Ellen Page” received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Must Reitman recut his movie credits now that Ellen fancies herself “Elliot”? Must the Academy rescind Ellen’s nomination for Best Actress and retroactively nominate her for Best Actor? The Academy continues to list “Ellen Page” among its past nominees. Does Hollywood’s most prestigious body condone “deadnaming”?
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