8.10 Wrapping Up: What is Gender? Beyond the Binary

Gender is a social construct rather than a biological one, and we use the term gender only for humans. According to the American Psychiatric Association, gender has two components ^[1]:

1. Gender identity – a person’s basic internal sense of being a man, woman, and/or another gender (e.g., gender queer, gender fluid).
2. Gender expression – conveyed through appearance (e.g., clothing, body hair, makeup, other physical features), behaviors, and personality styles. These means of expression are often culturally defined as masculine or feminine–remember King Louis XIV’s heels and tights! The ways in which people express their gender identity are both particular to each individual and variable across cultures.

In recent years there has been growing popular awareness in many cultures that not all people identify as the gender commonly associated with the sex they were assigned at birth, or they do not strictly identify as man or woman. Some people are cisgender, meaning that their gender aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth (the prefix “cis” means “on the same side”). Other people are transgender, meaning that their gender does not match the sex they were assigned at birth (the prefix “trans” means “across” or “beyond”). Others are non-binary and do not identify with either male or female categories. These terms are relatively new (it’s thought that the term transgender dates back to the 1960s).

However, historic and linguistic evidence indicates that non-cis and non-binary gender is not a new phenomenon and can be observed across human cultures in both modern and historic times. This interactive map details 36 gender-diverse cultures from across the globe.

It is worth noting that while we learned earlier that there are genetic factors that can cause a person to have intersex characteristics, most people who do not fit in a gender binary or identify as the opposite gender from the sex they were assigned at birth do not have any identifiable genetic condition associated with sex.

If this is new for you, perhaps even if it isn’t, the definitions and concepts can appear confusing. Below is a graphic ^[2] that can (hopefully) help clarify what is meant by two terms or concepts we’ve been discussing: Sex and Identity. Here Identity is referring to gender identity and is what we have been focusing on when we’ve been discussing gender. You’ll also note it adds in concepts about gender expression and attraction. At the bottom you’ll see that all four of these exist on a continuum that combine together into a single, unique, and wonderful person.

As we conclude this chapter and prepare for in-class discussion, be sure to return to the chapter’s goals and objectives.