According to Merriam Webster, gender is defined as “the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex”. It is typical for our society to combine sex and gender as if it is the same thing, which it is not. Sex is biological, the makeup of your chromosomes. Gender, however, can be relative. A person can be the female sex but identify as the male gender, and vice versa. This topic is where we see individuals identifying as transsexual and transgender. Susan Scutti (2014) explains the difference between the two. Scutti explains that transsexuals are people who transition from one sex to another. An individual can be born as a male and then become recognizably female (and vice versa) through the use of hormones and/or surgical procedures. Scutti also explains that transsexuals are unable to change their genetics and cannot acquire the reproductive abilities of the sex to which they transition.
This is because sex, as I explained, is assigned at birth and refers to a person’s biological status as male or female. Each of us is born as either male or female, with rare exceptions of those born intersex who may display characteristics of both sexes at birth. Scutti explains that transgender, then, unlike transsexual, is like an umbrella term. One example of a transgendered person might be a man who is attracted to women but also identifies as a cross-dresser. Other examples include people who consider themselves gender nonconforming, multigendered,
According to a website titled Transgender Student Guidelines, transgender is a term that represents an individual who identifies differently from what his or her biological gender is. In simpler words if an individual was born with male anatomy, then that individual feels identifies as a female, this clarification also
The term transgender is used to define individuals who do not identify with the sex that they were assigned at birth. For example, if a person who is born female decides later on in her life that she would like to identify as a man, that person would identify as a trans-man, and would most-likely use the pronouns “he” or “him” when describing himself.
Transgender is a metaphorical umbrella term that covers a person whose self-identification, anatomy, appearance, manner, and/or expression is different from the sex assigned to them at birth and does not fit with societies interpretation for the norm of gender roles. Included in the transgender umbrella are transsexual people, non-binary gender identities, and cross-dressing (LGBT Youth, 2017). Transgender individuals are often the target of discrimination, injustice and social stigma that can lead to negative health outcomes.
As i mentioned earlier, gender is something that is given to you when you are born and cannot be changed 100 percent. In source F a feminist was criticized after calling a transgender man a man. In reality he was completely correct because that person was born a man and will always be a man. As a matter of fact, gender is such a big issue now that anyone who is gay or transgender as a part of their own different species. They view themselves differently than everyone else sees
Different people have different ideas about what the term transgender means. Most describe a transgender person as someone who feels strongly that their gender is not the same as the sex they were assigned at birth. Transgender people feel and express their gender in many different
The concept of gender is not as cut and dry as you might think. The term gender is often used incorrectly as a synonym for our biological sex. Gender is more of a predetermined set of ideas and characteristics used in identifying socially acceptable behaviors and appearances for the sexes. It is not determined by the biological sex of the person. From an early age we begin to develop ideas of what it means to be male or female by observing others. Gender falls on a spectrum from masculine to feminine with many combinations in between. Gender expression and gender identity are also not the same thing. Gender expression is not related directly to how a person perceives their gender,
According to the Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences of Monash University, “Gender describes the characteristics that a society or culture delineates as masculine or feminine.” (Nobelius, Ann-Marrie, med.monash.edu.au). Sex, says Ann-Maree,“ refers to biological differences; chromosomes, hormonal profiles, internal and external sex organs” (med.monash.edu.au). Sometimes people use these terms interchangeably. Sex has to do with you being biologically male or female, and gender has to do with being masculine, or feminine and is determined by society depending in the culture. The reason these terms are often mistaken is because, usually, if one is born male they are assigned a masculine role in society, and there is a difference in expectations with the masculine and feminine roles. These genders were created by society. There are cases where neither roles apply for a group of people or individuals. These ideals of gender roles being assigned are being challenged by individuals. For example a family member of mine is one of the individuals whom the
According to Bockting, a Transgender means having a gender identity that differs from the sex assigned at birth. Then continues by stating, gender identity is the basic conviction of being man, woman, or other. He lastly defines sexual orientation as to one’s sexual attraction, behavior, and emotional attachments to men, women, or both. All of these are his psychological definitions, which he mainly uses when discussing the challenges Transgender people face.
Gender is a complex socially constructed idea. Often people interchangeably use gender to refer to someone’s sex. This is not the case. Sex is the biological characteristics that makes someone a male, female or intersex. Gender however is made up of expression, identity, and sexual orientation. Gender identity is how one views themselves such as a woman, man or transgender. Gender identity does not correspond to the sex of that person. Gender expression is how one expresses their gender identity. This could be through a masculine , feminine or androgynous expression. In Western societies, although there has been a push for change in our gender system, the gender system as been a binary system. This binary system only believes that there are
What is gender? According to the American Psychology Association (APA), Gender refers to the attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that a given culture associates with a person’s biological sex (APA.ORG). Unfortunately, many people tend to think that
Many may wonder what being a transgender person really is, a lot of people may see or refer to it as someone who has gone gender transformation, or is confused with who they are. The word transvestite is very much used when referring to a person who identifies with the opposite gender, the word 'Transvestite' itself originated in 1910 by the well known German sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld, who also founded the Berlin institute which was where the first 'sex change' surgeries took place. 'Transsexual' was not used until 1949, the word 'transgender' not until 1971, and 'trans not until 1996, but they all refer to the same thing. The idea of being transgender goes as far back as 1503 BC to the Egyptians. It was believed that their second
According to Hagg and Fellows (2007:4), sex generally refers to anatomy and biology such as male or female, whereas gender refers to the qualities and behaviours society expects from a boy or girl, a man or woman. The definition of transgender refers to a person having no identification with, or no presentation as, the gender one was assigned at birth (Hagg and Fellows 2007:4). The definition of transsexual in Hagg and Fellows (2007:4) refers to a person who had undergone a sex change operation or a person identifying with the opposite sex.
Transgender is a human who does not identify with the sex that they were assigned at birth. Transgender is often shortened to trans to make it easier to say and convey what they mean easier. Transgender is an umbrella term to encompass many identities. There are many other identities that go along with being transgender like trans man or women, trans demiboy or demigirl, trans nonbinary, and many others. The thing that makes you transgender is if you self identify with being transgender than you are transgender. There are many words at this moment that are used against trans people and some of those words are tranny, transgendered, transexual, shemale, and many others. These words are used against trans people to spread hate in this world. Many trans
Gender is not based on physical attributes. Sex is the word that should be used when speaking about biological characteristics. So, based on the definition of gender by LeVay, gender identity is one’s personal attitude towards being more male or female.
There are distinct differences between Sex and Gender. Sex is divided up into two divisions, male or female, based upon their reproductive system. Gender is the notion set by society on what social behaviours are acceptable for males and females, for example the expectation that females are more caring or nurturing than men. Gender can be further divided into two subcategorise: identity and stereotype. Gender identity is the concept that your sex and gender do not have to be the same but can different, i.e. a male at birth can identify as a female. These notions of acceptable behaviour set by society create gender stereotypes for both male and female, which can cause a person to reject their gender identity if they do not conform these gender stereotypes.