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nasser

because acronyms are basically impossible in Arabic I was curious what the accepted equivalent of LGBT was. I grew up a clueless straight boy so I didn't know offhand.

turns out it's مجتمع الميم mujtamaa al-meem, literally "meme community" or "meme society"

happy pride everyone

9 Jun 2021 at 13:14 | Open on friend.camp
8 comments
nasser

the Arabic names for the different components of LGBT all start with the letter م meem, the M sound.

lesbian = مثليات mithlayat
gay = مثليون mithlyeen
bisexual = مزدوجي الميول muzdawjay al-muyul
transgender = متحولون/ متحولات الجنس mutahawaleen / mutahawilat al-jins

so the acronym would actually just be مممم MMMM lol. instead, it's the meme society, which is, I think, extremely very good.

9 Jun 2021 at 13:16 | Open on friend.camp
cairn

@nasser is there a word for “queer”?

9 Jun 2021 at 14:11 | Open on friend.camp
nasser

@Moss many of the "correct" arabic words are basically slurs 😬 I've seen كوير kwyr used, though that's just a transliteration and I think people have mixed feelings all about this transliterating western words and by extension western queer culture. أحرار الجنس ahrar al-jins "sexually/gender liberated" also gets used. but I am far from an authority on this stuff.

9 Jun 2021 at 14:18 | Open on friend.camp
Freyasaurus

@nasser @Moss is the use of -Jin related to the supernatural creatures? Curious to know if the lines blur between queer and magical. In india that is certainly the case with trans women (Hijra), but that mythology is fraught in many other ways.

9 Jun 2021 at 14:23 | Open on friend.camp
nasser

@mohini @Moss
jin جن is the root for magical beings and madness
jins جنس is the root for sex and sexuality

arabic etymology is tricky because the language is so dense there are a lot of false positives. things that seem related but have no real historical connection. in this case though... idk! sex, gender, madness, magic... related ideas...

9 Jun 2021 at 14:29 | Open on friend.camp
cairn

@nasser @mohini this is fucking cool.
if i may ask a very ignorant question:
you said -jin is magical, is it like the english fae where anything kinda magical falls into the category? i have heard Jin (Jinn?) used to refer specifically to what we call genies. wondering if that’s a western misunderstanding?

9 Jun 2021 at 14:32 | Open on friend.camp
Darius Kazemi

@Moss @nasser @mohini djinn are sort of all-purpose spirits including aladdin's wish-giving genie. not a bad analogy with "fae" imo. they are not innately good or evil, it just sort of depends.

9 Jun 2021 at 14:39 | Open on friend.camp
nasser

@darius @Moss @mohini importantly, they have free will, so I've always interpreted stories where they are bound to an object, like a lamp, and forced to do magic to "grant their masters wishes" as kind of allegories for the arab slave trade, but maybe that's just me overthinking things

9 Jun 2021 at 14:46 | Open on friend.camp
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