Gender: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 23:46, 9 August 2017

Gender refers to a social identity that generally corresponds to the binary sexes, male and female, though not always.^[1] Many non-Western cultures have genders besides male and female, and there is a growing number of people even in Western society who identify as nonbinary or genderqueer. People who identify with their assigned gender at birth (AGAB) are referred to as cisgender; those who do not are referred to as transgender. People who identify as the other binary gender than what they were assigned at birth are sometimes called binary transgender; those who identify as something else are called nonbinary or genderqueer.^[2]

Etymology

The word "gender" is derived from the Old French word "gendre", based on the Latin word "genus," meaning birth, family, or nation. Gender is also often used to denote grammatical categories of words.^[1]

Relationship between sex and gender

Gender is generally assigned at birth based on the infant's genitalia. Infants with penises are assigned male and infants with vulvas are assigned female. Intersex infants with ambiguous genitalia are often subjected to surgery meant to give them the appearance of a dyadic (non-intersex) person. Then they are assigned a gender accordingly.^[2]

The majority of people identify with their AGAB, but some do not. In Western society, this makes one transgender. In other cultures, specific gender identities besides male and female are available based on the person's AGAB, their relations to people of other genders, and other factors.[2] Some intersex people identify as intergender, a nonbinary identity that is tied to one's intersex status.

Transgender people often experience dysphoria, a dissatisfaction with or disconnect from things associated with their AGAB. This includes (but is not limited to) desires to have different sex characteristics. It is unclear how much of these desires are due to the conflation of sex and gender in society, and how much is inborn. The treatment for physical dysphoria is physical transition. Transition for trans women often involves hormone therapy with androgen blockers, estrogen, and/or progesterone;^[3] voice training; facial reconstruction surgery; vaginoplasty; and/or hair removal techniques. Transition for trans men often involves hormone therapy with testosterone; top surgery (breast removal); and/or phalloplasty. Transgender children sometimes go on puberty blockers until they decide whether to undergo hormone therapy, to avoid going through undesirable physical changes during puberty.^[4] Not all trans people choose to undergo all or any of these treatments, and nonbinary people may also undergo any number of these treatments. Some trans people choose to physically transition despite having no physical dysphoria in order to be socially recognized as the gender they are. This includes acknowledgement from friends, family, coworkers, and strangers, as well as legal documentation.^[5]

Gender expression

Gender expression refers outwardly visible traits that are related to one's gender identity. This includes pronouns, clothes, hairstyle, movements, inflection, speech patterns, and more. People's gender expression generally functions to communicate that person's gender to others via similarities to other people of the same gender, but there are exceptions.^[6] People whose gender expression differs from what is expected given their gender are called gender nonconforming. Sometimes transgender people have gender expressions similar to people of their AGAB because it is how they grew up presenting, and sometimes transgender people are closeted, and have a gender expression that specifically does not convey their gender to others. Many people simply enjoy playing with gender norms.

References

[:0-1] 1.0 ^1.1 https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/gender

[:1-2] 2.0 ^2.1 https://www.genderspectrum.org/quick-links/understanding-gender/

[:2-3] ttp://transhealth.ucsf.edu/trans?page=guidelines-feminizing-therapy

[:3-4] ttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/when-transgender-kids-transition-medical-risks-are-both-known-and-unknown/

[:4-5] ttp://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/what-does-it-mean-for-transgender-person-to-transition-0629167

[:5-6] ttp://www.lgbtss.dso.iastate.edu/library/education/gi-ge

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-{{Stub}}
+Gender refers to a social identity that generally corresponds to the binary sexes, [[male]] and [[female]], though not always.<ref name=":0">https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/gender</ref> Many non-Western cultures have genders besides male and female, and there is a growing number of people even in Western society who identify as [[nonbinary]] or [[genderqueer]]. People who identify with their assigned gender at birth ([[AGAB]]) are referred to as [[cisgender]]; those who do not are referred to as [[transgender]]. People who identify as the other binary gender than what they were assigned at birth are sometimes called binary transgender; those who identify as something else are called nonbinary or genderqueer.<ref name=":1">https://www.genderspectrum.org/quick-links/understanding-gender/</ref>
-'''Gender''' is the range of mental, behavioral, and sometimes even physical characteristics differentiating between [[female]], [[male]], and others.
-A person's gender has many parts. Some of these parts are:
+== Etymology ==
+The word "gender" is derived from the Old French word "gendre", based on the Latin word "genus," meaning birth, family, or nation. Gender is also often used to denote grammatical categories of words.<ref name=":0"/>
-* [[Gender identity]], which is how one perceives one's own gender. It may or may not include or have much to do with how a person feels about their body.
+== Relationship between sex and gender ==
-* [[Sex#Gender Assigned At Birth|gender assigned at birth]], which is based on how their genitals look at birth, society assigns people the genders of female, male, or sometimes intersex.
+Gender is generally assigned at birth based on the infant's genitalia. Infants with penises are assigned male and infants with vulvas are assigned female. [[Intersex]] infants with ambiguous genitalia are often subjected to surgery meant to give them the appearance of a [[dyadic]] (non-intersex) person. Then they are assigned a gender accordingly.<ref name=":1"/>
-* [[Gender roles]], which is how a society fits people into categories that are based on how they are useful to that society. For example, a hunter-gatherer society often has three gender roles: women gather vegetables and weave baskets, men hunt animals and make stone tools, and [[third gender]] people do some skills from either of those roles, based on their ability. Western society recognizes only two [[binary gender]] roles.
-Some writers differentiate entirely between gender and [[sex]], making a contrast between personality and body. Other writers include sex as a physical part of gender, because society's and science's ideas of sex are no less social constructs than gender.
+The majority of people identify with their AGAB, but some do not. In Western society, this makes one transgender. In other cultures, specific gender identities besides male and female are available based on the person's AGAB, their relations to people of other genders, and other factors.[2] Some intersex people identify as [[intergender]], a nonbinary identity that is tied to one's [[intersex]] status.
-In some groups, people say that "gender is performative," based on what they thought the [[feminism|feminist]] Judith Butler said. However, what people think she said is different from what she meant:
+Transgender people often experience [[dysphoria]], a dissatisfaction with or disconnect from things associated with their AGAB. This includes (but is not limited to) desires to have different sex characteristics. It is unclear how much of these desires are due to the conflation of sex and gender in society, and how much is inborn. The treatment for physical dysphoria is physical [[transition]]. Transition for trans women often involves hormone therapy with androgen blockers, estrogen, and/or progesterone;<ref name=":2">http://transhealth.ucsf.edu/trans?page=guidelines-feminizing-therapy</ref> voice training; facial reconstruction surgery; vaginoplasty; and/or hair removal techniques. Transition for trans men often involves hormone therapy with testosterone; top surgery (breast removal); and/or phalloplasty. Transgender children sometimes go on puberty blockers until they decide whether to undergo hormone therapy, to avoid going through undesirable physical changes during puberty.<ref name=":3">http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/when-transgender-kids-transition-medical-risks-are-both-known-and-unknown/</ref> Not all trans people choose to undergo all or any of these treatments, and nonbinary people may also undergo any number of these treatments. Some trans people choose to physically transition despite having no physical dysphoria in order to be socially recognized as the gender they are. This includes acknowledgement from friends, family, coworkers, and strangers, as well as legal documentation.<ref name=":4">http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/what-does-it-mean-for-transgender-person-to-transition-0629167</ref>
-<blockquote>"A misreading of the 1989 book ''Gender Trouble'' by Judith Butler is responsible for the widespread misconception among academics and activists that all gender is just a performance. As Riki Wilchins points out in the 2004 book Queer Theory, Gender Theory: An Instant Primer (pp. 132-34), what Butler really said was that gender is performatively produced. Performative is defined as an utterance that performs an act or creates a state of affairs, an example being the use of the phrase 'I now pronounce you man and wife' to create a marriage. [http://www.theory.org.uk/but-int1.htm Butler herself refutes the notion of gender being just a performance]."<ref>''Androgyne Online.'' [http://androgyne.0catch.com/ http://androgyne.0catch.com/]</ref></blockquote>
+== Gender expression ==
+Gender expression refers outwardly visible traits that are related to one's gender identity. This includes pronouns, clothes, hairstyle, movements, inflection, speech patterns, and more. People's gender expression generally functions to communicate that person's gender to others via similarities to other people of the same gender, but there are exceptions.<ref name=":5">http://www.lgbtss.dso.iastate.edu/library/education/gi-ge</ref> People whose gender expression differs from what is expected given their gender are called [[gender nonconforming]]. Sometimes transgender people have gender expressions similar to people of their AGAB because it is how they grew up presenting, and sometimes transgender people are closeted, and have a gender expression that specifically does not convey their gender to others. Many people simply enjoy playing with gender norms.
-When Butler said that gender is performative, she meant that it is an action. Many people took her words the wrong way, thinking she meant that gender is fake.
+== References ==
-==See also==
-*[[Gender dysphoria]]
-*[[Gender binary]]
-==References==
 <references/>
 [[Category:Concepts]]
- {{imported from nonbinary.wiki| type = page|It is part of nonbinary.wiki's import of the original Nonbinary Wiki and is licensed under [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ CC BY 3.0].}}