Basic Gender Terminology Guide

What is Gender?

Gender refers to the characteristics of women, men, girls and boys that are socially constructed. This includes norms, behaviours and roles associated with being a woman, man, girl or boy, as well as relationships with each other. As a social construct, gender varies from society to society and can change over time.

The following segment of this resource is structured based on a resource by Gender Spectrum. The content has been expanded, reinterpreted and elaborated on by Eager. For full resources by Gender Spectrum, check out www.genderspectrum.org

Gender is made of up 3 things:

1. Physiology: Our bodies & biological sex

2. Gender Expression: How we dress and act

3. Gender Identity: How we feel inside

Physiology & Biological Sex:

• At birth, babies are assigned a gender based on their apparent biological sex. Biological sex is determined by the body’s physiology (chromosomes, hormones, genes, sex organs, and secondary sex characteristics).

• It was previously believed that biological sex was fixed, but it’s a little bit more complicated than that… Sex is biologically determined, but scientists are now finding that our psychological experiences are inextricably linked to our biology and can influence things like hormones, neurology, and body mass.

• There are 3 sexes that can be determined at birth: male, female, and intersex. Intersex people have a combination of male and female physiological characteristics (genitals, chromosomes, or any other sex determinants).

• Some intersex people might not have any visible intersex characteristics on the outside, but could have a combination of male and female genes, chromosomes, internal versus external sex organs, or secondary sex characteristics. In these cases, a person might not know they’re intersex until later in life.

• Sex and assigned gender will usually be determined at birth based on external anatomy only.

• The majority of people are not intersex, but everyone has a combination of masculine and feminine elements in their genetic makeup.

• Bodies are only one part of what makes up gender.

• Many people’s real gender will match their assigned gender and their biological sex. But this is not always the case.

Gender Expression:

• Gender expression is the way we express our gender through appearance, dress, and behaviour. It is based on social norms and perceptions about gender.

• We see others’ gender expression when we go about our daily lives. We notice certain characteristics that help us determine if someone is a boy, girl, man, woman, neither or both. (We might not always get it right!)

• Gender expression can be chosen or imposed on us.

• When gender expression is imposed on us it means people think we should look or behave a certain way because of our gender. (For instance, that girls should wear dresses and boys shouldn’t cry.) This can be called gender norms or gender stereotypes.

• Certain kinds of gender expressions might be more common for one gender, but this does not mean it determines gender. There is no ‘right way’ to be a boy or girl. Someone can be gender nonconforming, but still identify as their assigned gender.

• Gender expression is very important for our mental health and wellbeing. Sometimes gender normative expectations from others (or gender stereotypes) prevent people from expressing themselves the way they want to. For example, a boy might start bottling up his emotions at a very young age and fail to develop emotional literacy because of gender stereotypes about what it means to be masculine. This can have serious health consequences for men later on.

• It’s important that everyone is able to express their gender their own way. There is no one single way to be a girl, woman, boy, or man!

Gender Identity:

• Gender identity is the way we feel inside. Someone might feel inherently like they are a gender that is different from their assigned gender.

• Most people have a gender identity that matches their assigned gender. This is called cisgender.

• Some people feel like they are a different gender than their assigned gender. This is called transgender.

• Some people feel like they have a little bit of both genders, or like they are not either gender, or somewhere in between. This is called non-binary.

• When a person whose gender identity matches their assigned gender, but their gender expression does not, they are still cisgender, but sometimes are called, or identify as, gender nonconforming.

• Gender identity is NOT the same as gender expression. Gender expression relates to femininity and masculinity; whereas gender identity relates to woman-ness or man-ness. You can be a boy or a man without being overtly masculine, and you can be a woman or a girl without being overtly feminine.

• Gender identity is also NOT the same as biological sex. Someone can feel like a boy even if their biological sex is female.

• Gender identity is very personal. It can only be determined by you. No one else can determine another person’s gender identity.

(End of segment inspired by Gender Spectrum resource.)

Beyond the Gender Binary

Because gender is based on a combination of physiology, gender expression, and gender identity, there are many combinations of gender that are possible. Gender is not as simple as male/female, because it is a social construct(2).

Socially constructed gender(3) refers to the way people determine as groups what gender means. Because these definitions change over space and time, what it means to be a man or woman, masculine or feminine, could be completely different for different groups of people. For example, in 18th Century England men wore wigs, high heels and a lot of makeup. This was considered masculine at that time. This is called a cultural gender construct(4).

Cultural constructions of gender can also become gender norms or gender stereotypes. This is when it is expected that boys and men will conform to gender expression that is socially considered to be masculine and girls and women are expected to conform to gender expression that is socially considered to be feminine. Gender stereotypes can be extremely harmful to people’s health and wellbeing and society as a whole(5).

Cultural constructions of gender can also be inclusive! Transgender and other gender-nonconforming people have always existed in societies throughout history and across the world. Some cultures have had broader definitions of gender than what is most common today.

Does gender as a social construction mean that gender identity is developed and not fixed or inherent?

Not necessarily. Gender as a social construct means that societies work together to determine what gender means. It refers to the gender expression piece of the gender makeup. There’s also gender identity and physiology to consider.

Each individual person’s gender is unique. Some people feel that their gender identity changes over time (gender fluid)(6), but for others, gender identity (whether cisgender or transgender) is fixed from when they are born. In these cases, gender expression may change, but gender identity will not. So gender is partly socially constructed, but our bodies play a role as well. There’s also growing evidence that experiences and physiology both influence, and are influenced by one another. So the line between ‘nature’ and ‘nurture’ is a bit more blurred than we thought(7).

Gender and Sexual Orientation

Gender is NOT the same thing as sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is about who someone is attracted to. Gender is about who someone is(8).

Key Terms Review

Assigned Gender(9): Babies are usually assigned a gender to match their biological sex at birth. For most people this gender matches gender identity, but in some cases it does not.

Biological Sex (also sex/gender)(10): the categorisation of a species into male, female, or intersex based on biological characteristics. Biological sex in humans is determined by physiology (chromosomes, hormones, genes, sex organs, and secondary sex characteristics). In rare cases a person has a combination of male and female sex characteristics. This is called intersex.

Cisgender(11): Gender identity matches assigned gender/sex

Culturally Constructed Gender(4): Specific gender norms that come about when socially constructed gender changes over time and space (for instance men wearing high heels and makeup in the 18th century) 

Gender Binary(12): The idea that there are only two genders (M/man and F/woman) and is based on physical anatomy at birth. Along with this comes the idea that people must strictly adhere to culturally acceptable behavior for men/boys and women/girls. For example men/boys are to exhibit masculine gender presentation, behaviors, and social roles and women/girls are to exhibit feminine gender presentation, behaviors, and social roles.

Gender dysphoria(13): clinically significant distress caused when a person's assigned birth gender is not the same as the one with which they identify.

Gender Expression(14): the way in which a person expresses their gender identity, typically through their appearance, dress and behaviour.

Gender Fluidity: When a person’s gender expression, gender identity, or both, change over time.

Gender Identity(14): a person’s innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend of both or neither – how individuals perceive themselves and what they call themselves. One's gender identity can be the same or different from their sex/gender assigned at birth.

Gender non-conforming(14): a broad term referring to people who do not behave in a way that conforms to the traditional expectations of their gender, or whose gender expression does not fit neatly into a category. While many also identify as transgender, not all gender non-conforming people do.

Gender Nonbinary(15): includes a spectrum of genders that are outside the gender binary. (Gender non-binary falls within the transgender umbrella.)

Gender Norms(16): socially constructed conceptions of behaviours, attitudes, and appearance that are associated with specific genders.  

Gender Spectrum(17): refers to the many combinations of physiology, gender expression, and gender identity that are possible, leading to a spectrum of genders and gender identities (i.e. man, woman, trans, non-binary, gender fluid, two-spirit, genderqueer, gender nonconforming cis, gender nonconforming trans, feminine gender fluid, masculine gender fluid, etc.)

Gender Stereotypes(5): standardized representations of men and women within a culture, which polarize differences between the sexes, notably in their physical appearance, traits, behaviours, and occupations; or personal beliefs in such gender differences, largely attributed to socialisation.

Gender(1): the characteristics of women, men, girls and boys that are socially constructed.  This includes norms, behaviours and roles associated with being a woman, man, girl or boy, as well as relationships with each other. As a social construct, gender varies from society to society and can change over time.

 Preferred Gender Pronoun (PGP)(18): a preferred gender pronoun, or PGP, is the pronoun(s) that an individual would like others to use when talking to or about that individual.   In English, the singular pronouns that we use most frequently are: I, you, she, her, he, him, and it. “I”, “you” and “it” are what we call “gender neutral” or “all gender”, but “she”, “her”, “he” and “him” are gendered.  This can create an issue for transgender and gender nonconforming people, because others may not use the pronouns they prefer when speaking to them or about them. “They/Them” is a commonly used gender neutral singular pronoun for gender nonbinary people.

Sexual orientation(8): describes whether a person desires for intimate romantic and/or sexual relationships with people of the same gender/sex, another gender/sex, or multiple genders/sexes.

Socially Constructed Gender(3): The phenomenon in which gender expression and the characteristics of women, men, girls and boys are determined by society.

Transgender(19): Gender identity does not match assigned gender/sex