Gender 101

When it comes to gender, whatever you say you are, we agree with you. If you're new to the conversation, we get that it can be confusing. No shame there. Here’s a beginner-friendly guide.

Sex

People use the terms ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ interchangeably, but the words have different meanings. Generally, ‘sex’ refers to biological indicators like genitalia, chromosomes, reproductive organs, etc. In general, people are designated as male, female, or intersex.

Gender

Gender is more conceptual than physical. It’s an identity. It’s not determined by how others see you, it’s determined by how you see you.

We all have our own understanding of what masculinity and femininity are. That understanding is what determines gender for each person, and how it does that can be broken down to three parts:

• Gender identity – An individual’s internal sense of being a man, woman, neither, or both.
• Gender expression – How a person expresses masculinity, femininity, both, and neither. That could be through physical appearance, behavior, dress, preferences, speech patterns, etc.< li>
• Physical self-perception – A person’s feelings about their own sexual characteristics. For example, am I comfortable with having breasts? How do I feel about having a penis?

To sum that up, gender is personal – it’s an expression of your sense of self. One aspect of it, anyway.

What is ‘transgender’?

‘Transgender’ is a term used to describe people whose gender identity differs from the characteristics of the sex they were assigned at birth. (What those characteristics are differ from community to community). Trans people may wish to closely align their gender expression with their gender identity, rather than the sex they were assigned at birth. They can do so through transitioning. Transition happens on multiple levels:

Social transition

• Telling one’s family, friends, and co-workers
• Using a different name
• Requesting to be addressed by new pronouns
• Dressing differently

Medical transition

• Hormone therapy
• Sex reassignment surgeries

Legal transition

• Changing one’s name on legal documents
• Changing one’s sex on legal documents

There is no wrong way to transition, and no one right way. Notice that the term 'transgender' doesn’t tell you whether a person is gay, straight, or bi. Gender and sexual orientation are two distinct concepts.

What gender identities are there?

Given that gender is self-determined, it’s choose-your-own-adventure as far as what to call yourself. The list of options is changing and growing as the trans community is becoming more accepted. We recommend being patient with people who aren’t up on the vocabulary--pretty much everyone is just trying their best. Here’s a list of possible gender identities, most of which even we didn’t know before researching this article. Many of these terms have identical definitions.

• Agender: people who do not identify with or conform to any gender.
• Aporagender: a new term that stems from the Greek word 'apor,’ meaning ‘separate.’ Aporagender is an umbrella term meaning a gender that’s separate from male, female, and anything in between while still having a powerful and specific gendered “feeling.” That last part is what makes the concept of aporagender distinct from 'agender.'
• Bigender: someone who tends to move between masculine and feminine gender-typed behavior depending on the context, expressing a distinctly 'male' or 'distinctly female persona.
• Demigender: used to describe someone who only has a partial connection to a specific gender. There are two additional labels attached to this gender identity:
• Demiboy / Demiguy: a person whose gender identity is only partly male, regardless of their assigned gender at birth. They may another gender in addition to feeling partially a boy or man.
• Demigirl: someone whose gender identity is only partly female, regardless of their assigned gender at birth. Demi girls may identify as another gender in addition to feeling partially a girl or woman.
• Genderfluid: a person who identifies as genderfluid may always feel like a mix of the two binary genders, or it may change from day to day.
• Genderqueer: someone who feels that their gender identity does not fit into socially constructed 'norms.'
• Third Gender: a term for a person who does not identify with either male or female, but identifies with another gender. This gender category is used by societies (such as in Thailand) that recognize three or more genders.
• Nonbinary – Any person who doesn't identify as merely female or male, but somewhere in the middle.
• Polygender – Someone who identifies with multiple genders. The genders can either be simultaneously present or fluctuate over the day. A polygender person's genders can include nonbinary as well.
• Pangender –a person who considers themselves a member of all genders.

If you’re not sure what gender a person is, it's generally accepted in the trans community to ask what pronouns the person prefers. No need to be shy.