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"Gender" is a term that refers to social or cultural distinctions associated with being male or female. Scholars generally regard gender as a social construct—meaning that it does not exist naturally, but is instead a concept that is created by cultural and societal norms. Gender binary is the system of viewing gender as consisting solely of two, opposite categories, termed “male and female”, in which no other possibilities for gender or anatomy are believed to exist. This system is oppressive to anyone who defies their sex assigned at birth, but particularly those who are gender-variant or do not fit neatly into one of the two standard categories. Gender identity, one’s internal sense of being male, female, neither of these, both, or other genders, is something that everyone has, and not everyone identifies their gender as male or female.

It is important to note that sex, gender, and sexuality are not the same, and that one does not dictate the other. "Sex" is what you are assigned at birth, and is typically based on physical anatomy. "Sexuality", or sexual orientation, is a person's enduring physical, romantic, emotional, and/or other form of attraction to others.

Other Genders

There are many different ways to describe one’s gender. Trans Student Educational Resources (TSER) gives a breakdown of gender with defining the following terms;

Bigender: refers to those who identify as two genders.

Cisgender/cis: someone who exclusively identifies as their sex assigned at birth.

Genderqueer: an identity commonly used by people who do not identify within the gender binary. Those who identify as genderqueer may identify as neither male nor female, may see themselves as outside of or in between the binary gender boxes, or may simply feel restricted by gender labels.

Intersex: Describing a person with a less common combination of hormones, chromosomes, and anatomy that are used to assign sex at birth.This term is not interchangeable with or a synonym for transgender, although some intersex people do identify as transgender.

Queer: A term for people of marginalized gender identities and sexual orientations who are not cisgender and/or heterosexual.

Transgender/Trans: term for those who do not identify or exclusively identify with their sex assigned at birth.

Transsexual: term describing someone who undergoes or wants to undergo transition within the gender binary.   

It is crucial to know what individuals choose to identify themselves as, and what pronouns they prefer others to use as well. Several terms, such as queer, are used as slurs and may be offensive to some, while others may not mind it.  

Gender Norms

Gender norms are the socially acceptable ways of acting out gender, and are learned from birth. We learn what is expected of our gender from what our parents teach us, as well as what we pick up at school, through religious or cultural teachings, in the media, and various other social institutions. Many aspects of gender are socially constructed, particularly with regard to gender expression, which is closely monitored and reinforced by society. Many things in society are defined by gender—toys, colors, clothes and behaviors are just some of the more obvious examples. Through a combination of social conditioning and personal preference, by age three most children prefer activities and exhibit behaviors typically associated with their sex.