Queer Gender 101
Based off of GenderQueerism 101
JAC Stringer, Director, GenderQueer Coalition
Gender vs. Sex
• Sex (Sexual Identity) is the objective categorization of a person's physiological status and/or genetic make-up.
– Physical anatomy, genetic status, and biology that determine whether someone is male, female, or intersex.
• Gender is the social construction of masculinity and femininity in a specific culture.
» gender assignment based on physical sex
» gender role
» gender presentation or expression
• Gender Identity is a person's personal, psychological sense of self as being male/masculine, female/feminine, both, or neither.
Gender and Identity
• Gender Non-conforming. Refers to people and/or presentations that do not conform to traditional gender norms. May be used in tandem with other identities.
• Cisgender. A non-transgender person who identifies as their assigned gender which directly correlates to their physical sex. May conform to gender based expectations of society. (Also Non-Trans, Genderstraight or 'Gender Normative')
• Gender Expression. The presentation of one's self through personality and/or body language; how someone is perceived by others.
Transgender
• A person who’s gender differs from the gender assigned to them at birth on the basis of their genetic and/or physical sex.
Transmasculine: A gender-variant gender expression that has a prominent masculine component.
– Transman, Transguy/boy/boi, FTM, F2M
• someone born physically female (female-bodied, natal-female) who identifies as male.
Transfeminine: A gender-variant gender expression that has a prominent feminine component.
– Transwoman, Transgal/girl/grrl, MTF, M2F
• someone born physically male (male-bodied, natal-male) who identifies as female.
Transgendered vs. Transsexual
Transgender & Transsexual are not always the same.
The trick to remembering is in the words.
TransGENDER TransSEXUAL
• Transsexuals are gender non-conforming or transgender people who are changing/have changed their physical anatomy.
– Considered a relative term
– A person can go through any or all stages of physical transition and still identify as transgender
GenderQueer
• Umbrella term used to describe gender non-conforming people who do not fit into the traditional gender binary.
• Labeled as trans but who identify their gender identity, gender, and/or sexual orientation to be outside of the binary gender system or culturally proscribed gender roles.
• May or may not fit on the spectrum of trans
• People who identify as both transgender and queer
• Individuals who see gender identity and sexual orientation as overlapping and interconnected
• Have gender identities, gender expressions or gendered behaviors not traditionally associated with their sex.
• May have more politicized usage
• May prefer non-gendered pronouns
Transgender people can include:
• Transmen (Transguys, FTM): born physically female but identify as partly to fully male.
• Transwomen (Transgirls, MTF): born physically male but identify as partly to fully female.
• Transsexuals (TS): People who have had some sort of physical transition.
• GenderQueers: Identities and presentations outside the gender binary/
• Crossdressers: who dress as the "opposite" sex some or all of the time.
• Androgynous/Androgene: identifying as neither male nor female; OR presenting a gender either mixed or neutral.
• Agender (Also Non-gender): not identifying with any gender, the feeling of having no gender.
• Polygender: Identifying as more than one gender or a spectrum of genders; bi-gender, third-gender, pangender, intergender.
• Drag Kings and Queens: People who dress as the "opposite" sex for performances only.
Examples of Gender Identities
• Single Gender
• GenderQueer
• Agender (AKA Non-Gender)
• Transgender
• Polygender (AKA Multigender)
• Bi-Gender
• Third Gender
For more about gender identity vocabulary visit the GenderQueer and Queer Terms page
Gender and Sexuality
Gender and sexuality are SEPARATE
Sexual Orientation is not necessarily aligned to sex or gender identity
Sexual Orientation
• Physiological and psychological attraction to another person.
• Manifests as sexual and/or romantic attractions.
• Desire (Physical)
• Emotional (Psychological)
• Past partnering experience/interest
• Active partnering experience/interest
• Fantasy
Sexual Orientation Identity
How a person self-identifies in regard to their sexual orientation.
• Sexual Orientation Identity is not necessarily aligned to the sex or gender a person is attracted to or in a relationship with.
• Usually determined by a matching of genders
– Two Transguys may identify as gay or queer
– Transman and Transwoman may identify as straight or as queer
Gender and Soceity
• Gender Role: The behaviors, attitudes, values, beliefs etc. that a cultural group considers appropriate for males and females on the basis of their biological sex.
• Gender Role Stereotype: The socially determined model which contains the cultural beliefs about what the gender roles should be.
• Gender Role Behavior: What people's behaviors actually are.
• Atypical Gender Role: A role that exhibits a gender role at odds with the norm for their gender and class in a society.
• Norms: Behavioral expectations within a society or group enforced by informal rules and societal exclusions.
• Gender Cues: Visual and behavioral traits used to identify gender and gender identity.
• Gender Attribution: Process by which an observer decides which gender (or sex) they believe another person to be.
• Passing Gender: The gender (or sex) a person is being interpreted as or accepted to be by an observer.
<< BACK to Educational Materials
Written by JAC Stringer, GenderQueer Coalition, Last updated 2009. JAC@genderqueercoaliiton.org
Sources
Derby TV/TS Group, 1998 – 2005. Gender Roles - Gender Variance - Gender Identity, Definitions. Retrieved March 1st, 2006 from the World Wide Web: http://www.gender.org.uk/about/00_defin.htm
GenderPsychology.org. 1998 to 2004. Gender identity disorder DSM-IV and ICD-10. Retrieved March 1st, 2006 from the World Wide Web: http://www.genderpsychology.org/transsexual/icd_10.html
Kinsey, et al. (1948). Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/research/ak-hhscale.html
Klein, (1978). The Bisexual Option. http://www.bisexual.org/en/klein/index.php
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Transgender Law and Policy Institute, Non-Discrimination Laws that include gender identity and expression
http://www.transgenderlaw.org/ndlaws/index.htm
Vitale, Anne PhD, January 27, 2003. The Gender Variant Phenomenon--A Developmental Review. Gender and Psychoanalysis, An Interdisciplinary Journal, Vol. 6 No. 2, Spring 2001, pp 121-141.
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