The power of language to shape our perceptions of
other people is immense. Precise use of terms in regards to gender can have a significant impact on
demystifying many of the misperceptions associated with gender.
Given the complexity of gender, it is not surprising that an
increasing number of terms and phrases are developing to describe
it. However, the vocabulary of gender continues to evolve and
there is not universal agreement about the definitions of many
terms. Nonetheless, here are some working definitions and examples
of frequently used (and misused) terms.
It's also important to note the 'problem with
pronouns.' Unfortunately, pronouns, like gender, are based in
two separate categories: male or female, him or her, she or he.
A few prefer the use of 'hir' to express the spectrum of gender that
they feel while others prefer the use of the pronoun of the gender
they feel inside or are outwardly portraying. As a general
rule, it is recommended to use pronouns that reflect the gender the
individual is presenting.
Birth Sex (or Biological
Sex, Anatomical Sex): The
common, but imperfect, sorting of people as “male” or “female.”
Sorting people by sex typically begins at birth, when (usually)
a baby is declared to be either a boy or a girl. The
determination of sex as “male” or “female” is almost always
based on the physical structure of one’s reproductive organs
that is used to assign sex at birth. Biological
sex is determined by chromosomes (XX for females; XY for males);
hormones (estrogen/progesterone for females, testosterone for
males); and internal and external genitalia (vulva, clitoris, vagina
for assigned females, penis and testicles for assigned males). Given
the potential variation in all of these, biological sex must be seen
as a spectrum or range of possibilities rather than a binary set of
two options.
Cross Dresser:
A person who enjoys dressing in clothes of the opposite
sex; this may or may not also include a degree of
exploration into gender identity.
Cross Gender:
Used to describe children who have
adopted attributes that transgress the usual socially assigned gender roles or expectation, or
who do not identify as either of the two sexes as currently defined.
Drag Queens or Drag Kings:
A person who performs femininity or masculinity
theatrically opposite their birth sex. They may or may not be
transgendered.
Female-to-Male (or FTM,
Transman, Transmasculine): A child or adult who was born
anatomically female but has a male gender identity.
Gender:
A socially constructed system of
classification that ascribes qualities of masculinity and
femininity to people. A collection of traits, behaviors, and characteristics that
are culturally associated with maleness or femaleness.
Traits considered masculine or feminine can differ from
culture to culture or in different historical periods.
Examples of feminine and masculine cultural associations
include: the association of “gentleness” or the color pink
with the female sex, or the associations of “strength” or
the color blue with the male sex. Gender is often used
synonymously with sex, but this is inaccurate because sex refers
to physical/biological characteristics and gender refers to
social and emotional attributes.
Gender Expression:
Refers to the ways in which people
externally communicate their gender identity to others through
behavior, clothing, haircut, voice, and other forms of
presentation. Gender expression is how someone presents their
gender to the world. Everyone has a gender identity and a
gender expression. Gender expression should not be
viewed as an indication of sexual orientation.
Gender Fluidity:
Gender fluidity conveys a wider,
more flexible range of gender expression, with interests and
behaviors that may even change from day to day. Gender fluid
children do not feel confined by restrictive boundaries of
stereotypical expectations of girls or boys. In other words, a child
may feel they are a girl some days and a boy on others, or possibly
feel that neither term describes them accurately.
Gender Identity:
A person’s internal self-awareness of being either male or
female, masculine or feminine, or something in-between. Gender
Identity is how individuals perceive themselves and what they
call themselves. Most people experience their gender identity as
conforming to their physical sex. That is, most people who are
born with female bodies also have a female gender identity (i.e., an internal sense that “I am a
woman”), and most people who are born with male
bodies have a male gender identity (i.e., an internal
sense that “I am a man”).
Some individuals experience their gender identity as not
conforming to their physical sex (i.e., a person who is
born female but does not have the internal sense that
they are a woman, or a person who is born male who
does not have the internal sense that they are a man).
These individuals may be described as “transgender.”
Individuals become conscious of this between the ages 18 months and 3 years. Most
people develop a gender identity that matches their biological sex,
but transgendered individuals develop their gender identity
opposite to their birth sex. Some of these individuals choose to
socially, hormonally and/or surgically change their sex to more
fully match their gender identity.
Gender nonconforming/Gender
variant: Refers to individuals whose behaviors
and/or interests fall outside what is considered typical for their
assigned sex at birth. Someone who identifies as “gender nonconforming” is not necessarily
transgender. While their expression of gender may fall outside of those considered typical for their
assigned birth gender, they nonetheless may identify as that gender nonetheless. Some distinguish between
these two terms by how an individual is perceived. That is, a “gender nonconforming”
individual may have their atypical expression experienced by others either neutrally or even
positively. “Gender variant” might be used to identify an individual whose gender expression is viewed
negatively by others.
Gender Normative/Cisgender:
Refers to people whose
sex assignment at birth corresponds to their gender identity and
expression.
Gender Role:
A set of roles, activities,
expectations and behaviors assigned to females and males by society.
Our culture recognizes two basic gender roles: Masculine (having the
qualities attributed to males) and feminine (having the qualities
attributed to females). People who step out of their socially
assigned gender roles are sometimes referred to as transgender.
Some cultures more readily embrace transgenderism and have
incorporated more than two gender roles in their society.
Gender Queer:
A gender-variant person whose gender identity is
neither male nor female, is between or beyond genders,
or is some combination of genders. This term represents a blurring of
the lines around gender identity and sexual orientation. Gender
Queer individuals typically
reject notions of static categories of gender and embrace a fluidity of gender identity and sexual
orientation.
Intersex:
About 1% of children or at least one in every 2,000 children is born with a sexual
anatomy that is difficult to label as male or female (see
www.isna.org for more specific statistics).
They are born with chromosomes, hormones, genitalia and/or other
sex characteristics that are not exclusively male or female as
defined by the medical establishment in our society. They
may be born with genitals that look like most boys’ or girls’
genitals, but have internal reproductive organs usually
associated with the other sex. In most cases, these children are at no
medical risk, but most are assigned a biological sex (male or female) by their doctors and/or
families and are subjected to
numerous genital surgeries and hormone treatments in
order to conform their bodies to the standard of either
“male” or “female.” There is a growing movement to
prevent such surgeries in children.
Male-to-Female (or MTF,
Transwoman, Transgirl): Abbreviation for “male to female”
transgender or transsexual persons. A child or adult who was born
anatomically male but has a female gender identity.
Sexual Orientation:
Term that refers to being romantically
or sexually attracted to people of a specific gender. Our sexual
orientation and our gender identity are separate, distinct parts of
our overall identity. Although a child may not yet be aware of their
sexual orientation, they usually have a strong sense of their gender
identity.
Transgender:
Sometimes used as an umbrella to describe
anyone whose identity or behavior falls outside of stereotypical
gender norms. More narrowly defined, it refers to an individual
whose gender identity does not match their assigned birth gender.
Some Transgender individuals may identify with both sexes
(Gender Fluid). Being transgender does not imply any specific sexual orientation
(attraction to people of a specific gender.) Therefore, transgender
people may additionally identify as straight, gay, lesbian, or
bisexual.
Transition:
The process by which a transgender
individual strives to have physical presentation more closely align with
gender identity. Transition can
occur in three ways: social transition through nonpermanent changes in clothing, hairstyle, name and/or
pronouns; medical
transition through the use of medicines such as hormone “blockers” or cross
hormones to promote gender-based body changes; and/or surgical transition
in which an individual’s body
is modified through the addition or removal of gender-related physical traits.
Transphobia.
Fear or hatred of transgender people;
transphobia is manifested in a number of ways, including violence, harassment, and discrimination.
Transsexuals:
A person whose gender identity does not match
their birth sex and physically alter their bodies surgically and/or hormonally. This
physical transition is a multi-step process that may take years and may include, but is
not limited to, sex reassignment surgery (often referred to as
gender reassignment surgery).
Tranny: A slang
term that refers mainly to MTFs rather than FTMs.
Two-Spirit:
A term that refers to transgender traditions of some
Native American cultures; such traditions varied
among groups.
