18, Staff Writer
Originally Published: December 12, 2013
Revised: January 13, 2014
Figures on bathroom signs. Aisles at the toy store.
Gender
is represented everywhere. Colors, clothing and careers are even
assigned genders: blue and pink, pants and skirts, doctors and nurses.
Gender is often thought of as an either/or—man or woman—two separate
entities which rarely overlap. But for many, it isn’t as simple as
checking off one of two boxes.
Gender identity
is how a person understands him-or herself as a man, woman, a
combination of both or neither. Gender and gender identity affect
people’s
body image
and how they present themselves to others. It also has an impact on how
people interact in personal and sexual relationships. Gender identity
is an important part of our identity, but are gender and gender identity
being covered thoroughly in
sex ed classes?
Schools may teach about
puberty
and how to prevent pregnancies and STDs, but they often neglect the
topics of gender and gender identity. This results in a lack of
meaningful discussion about the variety of expressions there are when it
comes to gender—expressions that may not fit perfectly in a “man” or
“woman” category. It can be tough for schools to cover this issue
thoroughly, so we’re giving you a crash course.
Gender identity is more than a line with two defined ends or rigid boxes used to categorize people.
Sex Versus Gender
To fully understand the complexity of sex and gender, let’s get clear
about some basic terminology. “Sex” and “gender” are often used
interchangeably, even though they have different meanings.
“Sex” refers to biological and physical characteristics like chromosomes, hormones and sex organs. So a baby born with a
penis and testicles is biologically a boy, while one with a
vagina
and ovaries is biologically a girl. But sex is not always that
straightforward. A baby can be born with a combination of sex
characteristics, such as genitalia that is not clearly a penis or a
vulva,
or chromosomes that are different from XX for biological girls and XY
for biological boys. In that case, the person may be called “
intersex.”
On the other hand, “gender” refers to what society deems and
constructs to be appropriate for people of different sexes, whether it
is through clothing, behavior or gender roles. For example, in our
society, wearing makeup and cleaning are considered more appropriate for
girls, while playing certain sports and videogames are considered more
appropriate for boys. But none of these activities are truly restricted
to a single gender. A person who is biologically male may enjoy doing
activities that might be called “feminine.” This shows how sex—a
person’s biological and physical characteristics—can be different from
gender.
What Is Gender Identity?
Our sense of our gender and the way we feel about it is our gender
identity. The way we communicate our gender identity is called
gender expression.
For some, gender identity is a no-brainer. Making up the majority of
the population are people whose sense of gender matches their sex, like
when someone feels like a girl and is biologically and physically a
girl. That person is considered “
cisgender.”