A Quick Guide to the Gender Spectrum
Lesbian? Transexual? Cisgender? Them? She? He? When it comes to the gender spectrum and sexual orientation many people often get confused. Concepts that aren’t mutually exclusive come up together when they shouldn’t be and are questioned as part of the same thing, and basically, it becomes a huge mess. Well, have no fear friends because I am here to clear it up for you so you don’t feel like so lost.
Let's start with gender identity.
According to Gender Spectrum, Gender Identity is defined as “how individuals perceive themselves and what they call themselves.” Now to get the gist of this, it is important to note that when we are born we’re assigned a gender, male or female, that may not necessarily represent who we are as a person. For example, you might be born female, but identify as being male. Or perhaps you were born male, but don’t associate yourself with either female or male, being non-binary. In all these cases, we can say gender is not a set in stone thing. It's fluid. And it's based more on how we feel about ourselves rather than what people tell us. Here’s a little infographic to help you out.
The difference between sexual orientation & gender.
Now that we’ve discussed the different aspects of the gender spectrum, I think explaining the difference between sexual & gender orientation will be fairly simple. You can say who or what you identify as, but being gay and transgender are two different things. They don’t come hand in hand. Gender orientation is explicitly who you are, whereas sexual orientation is all about who you are attracted to. See? Two different things.
Gender Role vs. Gender Expression.
When we are born we are each assigned gender and partake in a given role. In this case, it is considered a gender role, which are the attributes culturally associated with what it means to be masculine or feminine in our society. We have learned that gender is not just something decided for us, but something we choose on our own. You're not just male or female. You can be transgender, genderfluid, cisgender, it does not relatively come down to being a boy or girl. Therefore, people use gender expression, which is how one expresses their gender identity externally through their clothes and behavior, to show off who they are and what they identify as.
Why this is important to know.
The Supreme Court will hear the case of Gavin Grimm, a trans-man who was born female, against his high school board in Virginia, who is preventing Grimm from using the boys' restroom. In a New York Times article, it states Grimm was able to use the male bathroom until the school board created a policy in which students had to use facilities based on their biological gender. Grimm notes to the Times, "while I’m disappointed that I will have to spend my final school year being singled out and treated differently from every other guy, I will do everything I can to make sure that other transgender students don’t have to go through the same experience." According to ABC News, the hearing will be held on March 28, 2017, where a decision will be made regarding the use of bathrooms by transgender people.
End of session.
Thank you for joining us today and wanting to be informed on the confusing ways of life. Hope you enjoyed and see you next time on the web. Together we can help and find other things that a certain someone in a high standing position should probably learn about before he says the wrong thing. Have a good day.
