Sexes: Difference between revisions

The sex and gender distinction is not universal. In ordinary English, ''sex'' and ''gender'' are often used interchangeably.<ref name=udry>doi=10.2307/2061790 |first1=J. Richard |last1=Udry |date=November 1994 |title=The Nature of Gender |journal=Demography |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=561–573 |pmid=7890091 |url=https://www.unc.edu/courses/2006fall/econ/586/001/Readings/Udry_Nature_Gender.pdf |jstor=2061790 |deadurl=no |archiveurl=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20161211012757/https://www.unc.edu/courses/2006fall/econ/586/001/Readings/Udry_Nature_Gender.pdf |archivedate=2016-12-11 |df= }}</ref><ref name="haig">first1=David |last1=Haig |authorlink1=David Haig (biologist) |date=April 2004 |title=The Inexorable Rise of Gender and the Decline of Sex: Social Change in Academic Titles, 1945–2001 |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=87–96 |pmid=15146141 |doi=10.1023/B:ASEB.0000014323.56281.0d |url=http://www.oeb.harvard.edu/faculty/haig/publications_files/04inexorablerise.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525090802/http://www.oeb.harvard.edu/faculty/haig/Publications_files/04InexorableRise.pdf |archive-date=25 May 2011 |deadurl=yes |df= |citeseerx=10.1.1.359.9143 }}</ref> Some dictionaries and academic disciplines give them different definitions while others do not. Some languages, such as German or Finnish, have no separate words for sex and gender, and the distinction has to be made through context. On occasion, using the English word ''gender'' is appropriate.<ref name="Bograd-2015">last1=Bograd |first1=Michele |last2=Weingarten |first2=Kaethe |title=Reflections on Feminist Family Therapy Training |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JHlsBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA69 |accessdate=11 February 2018 |series=EBL-Schweitzer |date=28 January 2015 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=978-1-317-72776-7 |page=69 |oclc=906056635 |deadurl=no |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180508090147/https://books.google.com/books?id=JHlsBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA69 |archivedate=8 May 2018 |df= }}</ref><ref>url=http://global.finland.fi/gender/ngo/peruskasitteet.htm|title=Peruskäsitteet|access-date=2018-02-11|deadurl=no|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180508090148/http://global.finland.fi/gender/ngo/peruskasitteet.htm|archivedate=2018-05-08|df= (in Finnish)</ref>

The form of sexism called biological essentialism is the belief that your body is the main thing that makes you who you are. It is supposed to define you forever, no matter what you change about yourself, think about yourself, or anything. It says the gender you were assigned at birth must be your only real gender. Biological essentialism is used to justify most forms of sexism. It is harmful to virtually everyone, of any sex or gender. Some [[transgender exclusionists]] use biological essentialism to discriminate against transgender and nonbinary people.

"Sex identity" can mean either how a person categorizes their own physical sex,<ref>"LGBTQI Terminology." [http://www.lgbt.ucla.edu/documents/LGBTTerminology.pdf]</ref><ref>"LGBT resources: Definition of terms." [http://geneq.berkeley.edu/lgbt_resources_definiton_of_terms]</ref> or it can mean how other people categorize that person's sex.<ref>"Trans, genderqueer, and queer terms glossary." [http://lgbt.wisc.edu/documents/Trans_and_queer_glossary.pdf]</ref>

* '''Natal sex''' (as in '''natal female''' and '''natal male'''). This means the sex that a person supposedly had when they were born.<ref>"Trans, genderqueer, and queer terms glossary." [http://lgbt.wisc.edu/documents/Trans_and_queer_glossary.pdf]</ref> Because of the problems in determining a baby's actual sex, a more accurate phrase is "assigned at birth" or one of its variants.

There is some controversy around the usage of the term "dyadic."<ref>http://fullfrontalactivism.blogspot.com/2012/09/dyadic.html</ref><ref name="tcaa">{{Cite web |title=I'm sorry if this is bad to ask but why is dyadic a bad term to use? |author= |work=To Cultivate an Ally |date=27 October 2014 |access-date=19 June 2020 |url= https://transriley.tumblr.com/post/101068658963/im-sorry-if-this-is-bad-to-ask-but-why-is-dyadic}}</ref> ''Dyad'' means two, so ''dyadic'' promotes the idea of a dualism for sex: male and female. Although well intended, it may fall short of deconstructing binary of sex and acknowledging the complexity of human biology. Other common terms for "not intersex" are ''perisex''<ref name="Lanquist">{{Cite web |title=Definitions |author=Lanquist, L.A. |work=Trans Narrative |date= |access-date=19 June 2020 |url= https://lalanquist.com/definitions/}}</ref><ref name="themeaningofbi">{{Cite web |title=What tf is perisex |author= |work=Correcting Bisexuality Definitions One at a Time |date=17 July 2016 |access-date=19 June 2020 |url= https://themeaningofbisexuality.tumblr.com/post/147553978486/what-tf-is-perisex}}</ref> and ''endosex''<ref name="ihra_What">{{Cite web |title=What is intersex? |work=Intersex Human Rights Australia |date=2 August 2013 |access-date=19 June 2020 |url= https://ihra.org.au/18106/what-is-intersex/ }}</ref><ref name="anun_Biol">{{Cite web |title=Biological and Anatomical Sex: Endosex, Intersex & Altersex |author=Mx. Anunnaki Ray Marquez |work= |date=12 December 2019 |access-date=19 June 2020 |url= https://anunnakiray.com/2019/12/12/biological-and-anatomical-sex-endosex-intersex-altersex/ |quote=I prefer to use the word endosex to describe people who were not born intersex.  In the past 'dyadic' was used for this same purpose. The very word 'dyadic' implies that only two sex exist which is not accurate if we are to respect intersex existence. }}</ref>, which avoid this binary implication. Other proposed terms, which have not gained much use, include ''intrasex'' and ''juxtasex''.<ref name="tcaa" />

Transgender people who were AFAB are usually assumed to be [[transgender men]]. However, some transgender people who were AFAB are nonbinary, not trans men. Transgender people who were AFAB can be said more broadly to be on the trans masculine spectrum, which can include some AFAB nonbinary people, and AFAB [[butch|butches]]. However, the umbrella term of trans masculine doesn't include transgender people who were AFAB who don't think of themselves as masculine.

Intersex people are people born with any variation in [[sex]] characteristics including chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones, or genitals that do not fit the typical definitions of male or female bodies.<ref>[https://unfe.org/system/unfe-65-Intersex_Factsheet_ENGLISH.pdf "Free & Equal Campaign Fact Sheet: Intersex"] (PDF). United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2016.</ref>