Midwest Trans* & Queer Wellness Initiative

Based off of GenderQueerism 101, By JAC Stringer

Exec. Director, Midwest Trans* and Queer Wellness Initiative

 

Gender, Bodies, and Identities

•         Sex (Sexual Identity) is the categorization of a person's physiological status and/or genetic make-up.

–        Physical anatomy, genetic status, and biology that determine whether someone is male, female, or intersex.

–        Sex is socially constructed conceptually as what a “normal” body is assumed to be

•         Gender is the social construction of masculinity and femininity in a specific culture.

•         Gender Identity is a person's personal, psychological sense of self as being male/masculine, female/feminine, both, or neither.

•         Gender Expression. The presentation of one's self through personality and/or body language; how someone is perceived by others.

•         Gender Perception (aka attribution: how a person’s gender is “read” or interpreted by others based on assumptions made from visible gender expectations

•         Gender Non-conforming. Refers to people and/or presentations that do not conform to traditional gender norms. May be used in tandem with other identities.

 •         Cisgender. A non-transgender person who identifies as their assigned gender which directly correlates to their physical sex.  May conform to gender based expectations of society. (Also Non-Trans, Genderstraight or 'Gender Normative')

Transgender

•         An umbrella term referring to a person whose gender differs from the gender they were designated at birth on the basis of their assumed genetic and/or physical sex.

Designated Female at Birth (DFAB): A person who was designated to be the female sex at birth and identifies as male; A person who has a prominent masculine &/or male component.

–        Transmasculine, Transman, Transguy/boy/boi, FTM, F2M

 Designated Male Assigned at Birth (DMAB): A person who was designated to be the male sex at birth and identifies as female; A person who has a prominent feminine &/or female component.

–        Transfeminine,Transwoman, Transgal/girl/grrl, MTF, M2F

GenderQueer

•         Umbrella term to describe gender non-conforming people who do not fit into traditional binary of identity and/or expression.

•         Identify gender identity, gender, and/or sexual orientation to be outside of the binary gender system or culturally proscribed gender roles.

•         May or may not fit on the spectrum of trans

•         May identify as both transgender and queer

•         Have gender identities, gender expressions or gendered behaviors not traditionally associated with their sex. 

•         May have politicized usage, or not

•         May prefer gender neutral/all-gender pronouns

 

Transgender people can and may include:

•         Transmen (Transguys, FTM): designated the female sex at birth, identify as partly to fully male.

•         Transwomen (Transgirls, MTF): designated the male sex at birth, identify as partly to fully female.

•         Transsexuals (TS): (A relative term) People who may have some kind of physical/medical transition.

•         GenderQueers: Identities (and sometimes presentations) outside the gender binary of male and female

•         Crossdressers: who dress as a gender expression aligned to a gender that is not their own gender identity some or all of the time.

•         Androgynous/Androgene: identifying as neither male nor female; OR presenting a gender either mixed, all, or neutral.

•         Agender (Also Non-gender): not identifying with any gender, the feeling of having no gender.

•         Polygender: Identifying as more than one gender or a spectrum of genders; bi-gender, third-gender, pangender, intergender.

•         Drag Kings and Queens: People who dress as a gender expression aligned to a gender that is not their own gender identity for performances only.

 

Gender and Soceity

•         Gender Role: The behaviors, attitudes, values, beliefs etc. that a cultural group considers appropriate for males and females on the basis of their biological sex.

•         Gender Role Stereotype: The socially determined model which contains the cultural beliefs about what the gender roles should be.

•         Gender Role Behavior: What people's behaviors actually are.

•         Atypical Gender Role: A role that exhibits a gender role at odds with the norm for their gender and class in a society.

•         Norms: Behavioral expectations within a society or group enforced by informal rules and societal exclusions.

•         Gender Cues: Visual and behavioral traits used to identify gender and gender identity.

•         Gender Attribution/Perception: Process by which an observer decides which gender (or sex) they believe another person to be.

•         Passing Gender: The gender (or sex) a person is being interpreted as or accepted to be by an observer.

 

Heteronormativity

•         Binary gender systems where there are two gender identities, two presentations, and two sexes

•         Relies on societal gender constructs

•         All aspects align to either all-male or all-female norms.

•         States a person's gender identity and gender role should be congruent with a person's external genitalia

•         Binary coupling of a "male" (active) with a "female" (passive) partner.

•         Behavior which could destabilize this assumption are strongly disapproved of or even

 

Allyship Tools

l      Educate yourself

l      Educate others when you have the opportunity

l      Be aware of accessibility

l      Recognize and respect identities

l      Know that there is more than one way to experience an identity

l      Allow people to disclose their own information to you, instead of asking possibly intrusive questions

l      Keep information private

l      Be there: be an understanding ear

  

Publication of JAC Stringer, Midwest Trans* and Queer Wellness Initiative, based off of the presentation Trans* and GenderQueer 101

For Other Awesome Trans* 101s check out: