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| A socially constructed system of classification that ascribes qualities of masculinity and femininity to people. |
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| It refers to an individual’s self-awareness or fundamental sense of themselves as being masculine or feminine, and male or female. |
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| How “masculine” or “feminine” an individual acts. Societies commonly have norms regarding how males and females should behave, expecting people to have personality characteristics and/or act a certain way based on their biological sex. |
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| They are the patterns or mental templates for what we expect members of each sex to be. For instance, the stereotype for males frequently includes being tall, muscular, solitary, and impassive. For females it might include being small, weak, social, sensitive, and emotional. |
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| Refers to a person based on their anatomy (external genitalia, chromosomes, and internal reproductive system). Sex is biological, although social views and experiences of sex are cultural. |
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| The sex that a person sees themselves as. This can include refusing to label oneself with a sex. |
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| The deep-seated direction of one’s sexual (erotic) attraction. It is on a continuum and not a set of absolute categories. Sometimes referred to as affection, orientation, or sexuality. |
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| A general term for the feelings and behaviors of human beings concerning sex. |
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| Sexual, emotional, and/or romantic attraction to the same sex. |
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| Sexual, emotional, and/or romantic attraction to a sex other than your own. Commonly thought of as “attraction to the opposite sex” but since there are not only two sexes, this definition is not accurate. |
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| Qualities, conditions or characteristics considered typical of or appropriate to a man. |
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| Qualities, conditions or characteristics considered typical of or appropriate to a woman. |
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| Having no evident sex or sex organs. In usage, may refer to a person who is not sexually active, or not sexually attracted to other people. |
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| A man attracted to men. Colloquially used as an umbrella term to include all LGBTIQ people. |
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| A woman attracted to women. |
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| Person who is attracted to a gender other than their own. Commonly thought of as “attraction to the opposite gender,” but since there are not only two genders, this definition is not accurate. |
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| A person who is fluid in sexual orientation and/or gender or sex identity. |
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| A person who is attracted to two sexes or two genders, but not necessarily simultaneously or equally. This used to be defined as a person who is attracted to both genders or both sexes, but since there are not only two sexes and there are not only two genders, this definition is not accurate. |
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| Intersexuality is a set of medical conditions that feature congenital anomaly of the reproductive and sexual system. That is, intersex people are born with “sex chromosomes,” external genitalia, or internal reproductive systems that are not considered “standard” for either male or female. The existence of intersexuals shows that there are not just two sexes and that our ways of thinking about sex is socially constructed. |
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| Transgender people are those whose psychological self (“gender identity”) differs from the social expectations for the physical sex they were born with. To understand this, one must understand the difference between biological sex, which is one’s body (genitals, chromosomes, ect.), and social gender, which refers to levels of masculinity and femininity. For example, a female with a masculine gender identity or who identifies as a man. |
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| Refers to a person who experiences a mismatch of the biological sex they were born as and the biological sex they identify as. A transsexual sometimes undergoes medical treatment to change his/her physical sex to match his/her sex identity through hormone treatments and/or surgically. Transsexuals are included in the umbrella term transgender, but not all transgendered people are transsexual. |
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| A person who lives either full time, or most of the time, in a gender role different than the role associated with their biological or chromosomal sex. |
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| Transvestite/Cross Dresser |
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| Individuals who regularly or occasionally wear the clothing socially assigned to a gender not their own, but are usually comfortable with their anatomy and do not wish to change it (i.e. they are not transsexuals). Cross-dresser is the preferred term for men who enjoy or prefer women’s clothing and social roles. Contrary to popular belief, the overwhelming majority of male cross-dressers identify as straight and often are married. Very few women call themselves cross-dressers. |
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| An umbrella term used to refer to all LGBTIQ people. It is also a political statement, as well as a sexual orientation, which advocates breaking binary thinking and seeing both sexual orientation and gender identity as potentially fluid. It is also sometimes used to explain a complex set of sexual behaviors and desires. For example, a person who is attracted to multiple genders may identify as queer. |
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| A person who redefines or plays with gender, or who refuses gender altogether. A label for people who bend/break the rules of gender and blur the boundaries. |
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| Discrimination against women that results from the male supremacy system of oppression. |
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| Assuming every person to be heterosexual therefore marginalizing persons who do not identify as heterosexual. It is also believing heterosexuality to be superior to homosexuality and all other sexual orientations. |
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| The irrational fear and intolerance of people who are homosexual or of homosexual feelings within one’s self. This assumes that heterosexuality is superior. |
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| Discrimination, fear or hatred of people who blur traditional gender lines that results from the gender binary system. Often comes from one’s own insecurity about being a “real man,” or a “real woman.” Transphobia is manifested in a number of ways, including violence, harassment and discrimination, especially against transgender people. |
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