What is the difference between sex and gender?
Sex is strictly biological – the physical body – while gender encompasses biological, cognitive, and social aspects of a human being, including identity, expression, and the expectations of others. Because gender and sex are not the same thing, it is possible for a person’s sex and gender to disagree. When this happens, it can be extremely problematic for the person dealing with this incongruity, and it can often be life-threatening, due to the potential for suicide. This sex/gender incongruity has been determined by many professional organizations and courts to be a medical condition.
What is gender identity?
Gender identity is a primary aspect of gender. It is how a person sees and feels about him- or herself. For most people, gender identity corresponds with physical sex. For some, the two are not in alignment. People whose gender identity and physical sex do not agree are often called transgender (preferred) or transgendered (preferred by me, but considered offensive by some others), although each person has his or her own way of identifying.
Does this have anything to do with sexual orientation?
Gender identity and sexual orientation are different concepts in Western culture. Sexual orientation refers to a person’s attractions. Gender identity refers to who a person believes him- or herself to be. Transgender and transsexual people can have any sexual orientation. It is also possible for sexual attraction to change after transition. It is better not to put too much importance on labels such as gay, lesbian, and straight. In many ways, trans people confound the “simple” expectations of sexual orientation that go with such labels.
What is the binary gender system?
Western culture, and many other cultures, have a two-gender system that corresponds with two identified sexes – male and female. At birth, a person is identified as either male or female, based on the appearance of the body, and is assigned that sex and the cultural gender roles and expectations that go along with that sex. In a binary gender system, there is not much room for crossover or variation from that assigned sex and gender.
What is the difference between a transgender person and a transsexual person?
The term transgender is often used to refer to anyone who deviates from the very strict gender norms of our binary gender system, either intentionally or unintentionally. Those who transgress gender norms often suffer repercussions, in the form of discrimination or even violence. A more narrow and specific definition of transgender would be a person whose gender identity is not in alignment with his or her physical body, either all or part of the time.
The term transsexual is generally used to refer to a person who has undergone medical treatments, such as hormones and/or surgery, to correct the physical body to match the gender identity. It can also refer to a person who lives full-time in the gender that matches his or her identity, whether or not that person has made any physical changes with hormones and/or surgery. Another definition is a person who is born with a medical condition that causes disagreement between the physical body and the gender identity. Like the term transgender, different people define the term transsexual in different ways.
Some transsexual people see themselves as transgender. Others do not. Many transsexual people, after they have undergone medical treatments to correct the body, do not see themselves as transsexual at all, but as men or women who have remedied a medical condition.
What is transition?
Transition is a process that can involve any or all of the following: medical treatments, including hormones and/or surgery, in order to bring the body into alignment with the gender identity; legal procedures, such as name change and gender marker change on legal documents; and social adjustments, including adjusting to living in the gender that matches one’s identity. There are many terms used to describe this transition, including gender transition, gender reassignment, sex reassignment, and sex correction.
The simplest, and most appropriate, term is “transition,” but the most familiar term to many non-trans people is “sex change.” Most people in the transgender and transsexual communities see this term as derogatory. There are also many who do not like the terms “gender transition” or “gender reassignment,” because they have always been the gender that they are – they have always had the same gender identity – so they have not “reassigned” their gender. They have corrected their sex – their physical body – to match that gender.
What is gender diversity?
Gender diversity encompasses all areas of gender. Gender diverse people are often considered those who do not conform to the specific gender norms set out by the culture. Some would consider all gender diverse people to be transgender. Those who use a narrower definition of transgender would not.
Why is it important to learn about gender identity, gender diversity, and transgender and transsexual people?
Gender diverse people are all around us. More and more transgender and transsexual people are going through transition or are expressing their gender in ways that might be confusing to some or that might not conform to the expectations of the binary gender system. In the past, people who transitioned quit their job and moved away to start over again. Now many are remaining in their neighborhood and in their employment situation. Understanding gender diversity can make it easier to interact with the public, to work with a gender diverse boss, employee, or coworker, or to handle a transition in the workplace.
This post originally appeared on Matt Kailey's award-winning website Tranifesto.com. Republished with permission.
