Understanding Gender: A Guide to Identity, Expression & Perception

Let’s talk about gender. Gender differs from biological sex. Biological sex is … well, biological. It contains a variety of components, including but not limited to chromosomes, hormones, and anatomy. Often, biological sex is simplified into male and female, but there are a variety of variations of biological sex that are housed under the umbrella term intersex. Intersex is also not one unified biological identity, but contains a multitude of variations. It is estimated that 1.7% of the population is intersex[1], but the exact number is unknown, as sexual genetic testing is not widely done.

None of that is gender.

Gender is a societal construct that categorizes individuals into roles and behaviors[2]. The expectations of gender vary across cultures and time. When we talk about gender on a wider scale, it is typically a Western-colonized version of gender identity.

Furthermore, gender can be broken down into gender identity and gender expression[3]. Gender identity is how someone identifies, while expression is how they express their gender outwardly. There is also a third aspect: how society perceives your gender.

Gender identity is typically broken down into cis and trans gender. These are Latin prefixes. Cis means on the side of, while trans means across or beyond. Basically, being cis means you identify with the biological sex you were assigned at birth, while trans means that you do not.

If you are trans, you can be binary—identifying as a man or woman—or non-binary. The more common way to write this is nonbinary, but I just prefer the hyphen and will continue to use it throughout. Non-binary is another umbrella term for any gender identity that falls outside the binary man/woman. There are innumerable non-binary identifications, and it would be impossible to list them all here. However, some common ones include:

·      Agender: not having a gender identity, or a neutral gender identity

·      Genderfluid: Having a gender identity that is fluid between gender identities

·      Demigender: Having a gender that more strongly relates to one gender but is not completely one gender. For example, a demiman may more strongly connect with being a man, but is not only a man.

Again, these are only three very broad identities, and the non-binary umbrella is so much more diverse than this.

It is important to note that not everyone who is non-binary identifies as being trans, and not everyone who is agender identifies as being non-binary. Everyone has their own unique experience and way of expressing their gender identity. That should be respected while using the structure as a general baseline.

Gender expression can vary from gender identity. It is physical presentation, including clothing, hairstyle, and even pronouns. For example, a person can be agender but express as feminine or masculine. That does not minimize their gender identity. Someone could also be a trans woman but have a masculine gender expression, either as a preference or because they have not transitioned for any number of reasons. Gender expression and gender identity are separate.

However, there is a third aspect of gender, and that is how society perceives gender. This is a very complicated subject that is not limited to trans identities and is highly based on racism. For example, Black women are often described by society as being more masculine. This further impacts Black trans women in a variety of ways.

So, how does all this connect in one individual? Well it varies for every single individual. I can break it down for myself. My gender identity is agender. I typically use the umbrella term non-binary unless I am interacting with people more knowledgeable about gender identity. I also identify as trans. My gender presentation is trans masculine, meaning, for me, that I purposely choose to express my gender more on the masculine side to help with the gender dysphoria of being perceived as female. I also tend to like things that our society also labels as more masculine. However, I am still perceived in society as female despite my best efforts. I will never pass as male, nor do I want to, but I am often given female pronouns despite also being clocked as not presenting as a cis female. My correct pronouns, they/them or e/em, are seldom used naturally in public. I am also unable to pass as not trans.

As you can see, gender is dynamic. I hope this guide helped to break it apart, whether for writing your characters or interacting with your trans friends.