Help:Terminology

From TransGeorgia

Below are groups of terms that will help understand some of the resources found on TransGeorgia, with definitions to help clarify what is intended when they are used on this site.

These are still in the process of being added and expanded and will become more refined with time.

[edit] Gender and Gendering

The terms in this section describe gender and sex.

gender

A concept that represents maleness/masculinity and femaleness/femininity, as categories for describing people and traits about those people. In many contexts, it's contrasted with "sex," (see biological sex below), which is taken to be a biological expression of maleness or femaleness, where "gender" is a social concept. However, "sex" and "gender" are often conflated to mean one or the other. The traits that are male/masculine or female/feminine vary from speaker to speaker, and many speakers acknowledge more possibilities than these. Gender identity, expression, and so on, are subordinate applications of this concept by various people in different ways (see below).

gender identity

Someone's inner sense of belonging to a gender. Their gender identity may be male, female, or something else. It may or may not necessarily align with their gender expression and/or their assigned gender (for example, a person with a female gender identity who was assigned female at birth might have a masculine gender expression).

gender presentation

A person's outward expression of gender, using traits that a given person in a cultural context regards as masculine or feminine. Also sometimes called gender expression. Such traits include can include, among others, clothes, accessories, grooming, speech patterns, and mannerisms.

assigned gender/sex

The sex a person is designated at birth, usually decided by an examination of external genitalia, which becomes a person's legal sex/gender and usually determines whether a child is socialized as male or female.

legal gender/sex

The sex (male or female) listed on a person's official, government-issued documents.

biological sex

One of either a male or female category assigned to an individual based on some physiological or genetic trait, or some combination of traits. The chosen traits and criteria for those traits vary according to context, speaker, and purpose. Often conflated with the concept of a legal sex (i.e., what an individual "really is").

gender norm

An implicit social contract in a given culture governing who can express which gender, and in what ways, and what those genders themselves consist of. Usually, this social contract relates someone's assigned sex to their gender, and in turn, governs what gendered traits are appropriate for that person to express. Most cultures have gender norms, though they vary wildly across culture, time, and location.

gender variant

Violating a gender norm in some way. Also can be referred to as gender non-conforming, or having a non-binary gender.

gender normative

Falling within acceptable gender norms.

gendering

The act of assigning a gender to another person based on observed traits. Usually an automatic, subconscious process.

misgendering

Assigning a gender that does not match with a person's gender identity, whether accidentally or intentionally.

• A cashier might initially misgender a woman with short hair, saying "Good afternoon, sir!" When they realize the mistake, the cashier apologizes and begins gendering the customer correctly.
• An non-supportive parent might misgender their trans daughter by refusing to use the female name and pronouns that she prefers.

[edit] Sources referenced

This section will become a more specific and precise list of works cited for which definitions, to help give attribution where content is not original work by ATAC or TransGeorgia contributors. For more information about this, see the talk page for this help article.