Sexism

Sexism is discrimination against people based on their sex, gender, or perceived characteristics thereof. There are more kinds of sexism than misogyny. Several kinds of sexism are obstacles in the way of activism for non-binary recognition in particular, and of transgender rights in general.

Misogyny
Misogyny is sexist discrimination against women. Misogyny takes the form of institutional oppression, meaning that it is part of all the workings of a society. It's built into the culture, and makes trouble for women every day. This happens because a patriarchal society is based on misogyny, by definition. This kind of institutional oppression takes the form of pay inequality, difficulty in legally obtaining certain human rights (such as the ability to vote, own property, or have legal personhood), and widespread belief that sexual assault is normal. Misogyny doesn't affect all women the same, because oppressions are intersectional. Black women experience a mix of misogyny as well as racism, which is called misogynoir. Trans women experience a mixture of transphobia and misogyny, this is called transmisogyny.

Trans-misogyny
See main article about trans-misogyny.

Trans-misogyny is a form of transphobia or cissexism that is specifically directed against transgender women.

Misdirected misogyny
Some misogyny ends up doing harm even to people who don't identify as women, because others see them as being like women in some way. This can happen to non-binary people, transgender men, and gender nonconforming cisgender people. When misogyny is used against someone who doesn't identify as a woman, then that is called misdirected misogyny. For example, if a trans man, cisgender man, or nonbinary person gets mistaken for a woman, then that person may be subjected to harassment as if they were a woman.

If someone identifies as a trans woman, then misogyny directed against her can be considered trans-misogyny, but not misdirected misogyny. Misdirected misogyny is the word for misogyny experienced by people who aren't women, whereas trans women are women.

Biological essentialism
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-exclusionary feminists use this to discriminate against transgender and nonbinary people.

Cissexism and transphobia
See main article: Cissexism.

Cissexism and transphobia are discrimination against transgender people. It has several forms, including binarism, which affects non-binary people. Transgender women are affected by a combination of misogyny and transphobia, called trans-misogyny.

Dyadism
See main article: Dyadism.

Solutions
See also: Activism and Feminism.