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[meta] Is the Egg Prime Directive being invoked too often? (self.egg_irl)
submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by copygirl to c/egg_irl
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Quoting the rule from the community for reference:

  1. You must follow the Egg Prime Directive. You may not push or coerce people into identifying or not identifying a certain way. You must respect them as the gender they claim to identify as. In addition it is extremely in poor taste to make assumptions about other people’s identities based on external factors, we understand it cannot be helped but it is best not to as it can affect the way you treat others in noticeable ways.

Honestly, I've been anxious about this for a while, not sure if or how to bring this up. I understand the importance of the rule when it involves real people. But I've been seeing comics and memes getting criticized of breaking the Directive a couple of times now. But aren't they just being shared from the creator's perspective? Making fun of their own experience, such as, looking back, pointing out how obvious things seemed? When you see any other comic making fun of some situation, that doesn't mean that applies to everyone. That's not the statement the comic makes. It's just something that may end up being, or having been, true for some people.

Am I wrong in feeling like the Egg Prime Directive is being invoked too easily when it comes to memes and comics?

edit: I hope this is the right place to make this post. (Also, technically, it's breaking the title rule? Are meta posts allowed?) To be fair, I don't recall where this has been happening the most, I've just seen it in my time browsing Lemmy and the many trans memes communities over the last few months. Also, note: The stickied post did not answer my question.

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[-] Catoblepas 2 points 2 weeks ago

I have no idea who most of those characters are or the context of any of that, sorry. I also don’t think that there’s anything wrong with having both cis and trans interpretations of the same character, provided you’re not being gender essentialist about it. Not everyone is going to have the same personal experiences with regards to gender, and that’s fine.

I should note this comment is about discussion among trans people, I basically don’t trust cis people to not stomp on toes while doing this.

Ultimately we need to ask if the egg prime directive is there for us to serve it or it to serve us. If we’re at the point that some trans people feel they can’t talk about trans interpretations of fictional characters without being afraid of getting banned, that’s a messed up application of the rules.

[-] FirstMajesticComet 2 points 2 weeks ago

I should note this comment is about discussion among trans people, I basically don’t trust cis people to not stomp on toes while doing this.

Good, I'm not a cis person (despite the gatekeeping transphobic idiots who say I am).

Ultimately we need to ask if the egg prime directive is there for us to serve it or it to serve us. If we’re at the point that some trans people feel they can’t talk about trans interpretations of fictional characters without being afraid of getting banned, that’s a messed up application of the rules.

The Egg Prime directive is here to serve all queer people, all of LGBTQIA+. It exists because people deserve to be themselves and not have their identity invalidated for it. It is being enforced more strongly here and now because a lot of people unfortunately do not recognize in their hearts how calling someone an egg based on presentation is a bad thing, or just how bad it is. And actually this interpretation about misgendering characters isn't really new. Blahaj has always had rules against misgendering as a whole, even towards fictional characters.

A headcanon is different and people can have headcanons though it must be clear they are headcanons, what people on the old r/egg_irl have done where they try and force it as the only true interpretation and attack people who disagree with them and screech transphobia at them (without any transphobia happening might I add). Absolutely crosses the line.

[-] Catoblepas 3 points 2 weeks ago

Good, I'm not a cis person (despite the gatekeeping transphobic idiots who say I am).

Yeah, I assumed you were trans, sorry if anything I said gave the impression otherwise.

Just laying this out to try to clarify my own thinking:

  • Calling a real person an egg based off your interpretation of their behavior or appearance, over their objection is bad
  • Misgendering is bad, against real or fictional people
  • Attacking people for not sharing your headcanon is bad

^ All of that I agree with. And obviously someone can post about their headcanons in a way that’s meant to cause problems and shit stir, I just don’t see a general problem with people interpreting fictional characters as eggs. Two people can see the exact same presentation of a character and interpret it in two diametrically opposing ways based on their own experiences, and that’s not a problem. Sharing that just expands our understanding of ourselves and each other.

this post was submitted on 16 Mar 2025
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egg_irl — Memes about being trans people in denial and other eggy topics

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