Back to: How to tackle the rise of the anti-gender movement

Part of understanding gender is being familiar with the language surrounding gender justice and related concepts as it continues to evolve. Let’s examine some key terminology that shapes our understanding of gender-related issues.

What is gender?

Gender encompasses the socially constructed behaviours, attributes and roles that societies associate with femininity and masculinity. These shape expectations about how women/girls and men/boys should act and relate to others, often leading to gender stereotypes. As a social construct created to categorise and structure society, gender varies across cultures and transforms over time.

What is sex?

The World Health Organisation defines sex as the biological and physiological traits that distinguish females, males and intersex individuals, including chromosomes, hormones and reproductive organs. While gender and sex are connected, a person’s assigned sex at birth may not align with their gender identity.

What is gender expression?

This refers to how individuals outwardly present their gender through clothing choices, behaviour patterns, and pronoun preferences.

What about gender identity?

This describes a person’s deep internal sense of their own gender, which may or may not match the sex they were assigned when born.

What is gender expansive?

This term describes individuals whose gender identity transcends traditional cultural norms and binary expectations. Related terms for identities outside the gender binary include transgender, non-binary, gender non-conforming, and gender diverse.

What is the gender binary?

This concept divides all people into two distinct genders – girl/boy or man/woman – based on biological sex. This framework relies on socially constructed gender stereotypes and is challenged by transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming individuals who demonstrate that gender is fluid rather than fixed in a binary (two-part) system. The notion of only two distinct genders is not universal; many cultures embrace a more fluid understanding of gender in their pursuit of gender justice.

Discussion

Would you define any of these terms differently? What is your reasoning?

Share your perspectives with fellow learners in the comments section.