A note on gender

I wanted to follow my first post with a better explanation of some trans/gender issues which will hopefully shed light on the subject. Also, just a note that I am not trying to speak on behalf of the trans* community nor do I  have the experience of being trans*. I write from the perspective of a cisgendered person.

Firstly, when discussing gender, some people might say "What's there to discuss??" as some aspects of gender seem very clear cut. Obviously there are people who identify as male and female and we've recognized this for thousands of years. However, when something such as gender is so deeply engrained in our society and culture we do not always actively think about it and we grow up as "fish in water", not questioning or knowing anything different. But as humans, we are much more complex than this and therefore we form a concept of our own personal identities and our gender identities. We put so much thought into certain aspects of our personal identities, such as what clothes we wear, what we do for a living, our personalities and even our favourite colour! So why don't we put as much thought into constructing our gender identity and gender expression? Truthfully, many people do put a lot of thought into constructing and analyzing their gender identities but we are not generally encouraged to do this in western society. This creates a very narrow view of gender (the gender binary system with only male and female) and anyone who does not fit within that view is met with a lot of resistance.

There have been many new theories of gender proposed, such as the gender "scale" or the "authentic gender model" (akin to the kinsey scale of sexual orientation) which better represent the range of sexes, gender identities and expressions of humans.

A note on interacting with trans* people. If you do not have much (or any) experience with working or interacting with people with varying gender expressions, including trans* and genderqueer individuals here are some things to keep in mind:

Always use their preferred pronoun (he/him or she/her) and name. If you do not know these, then simply ask. Asking is always better than assuming.

Be open minded to different gender expressions and be respectful. Many trans people experience transphobia on a daily basis simply based on the way they look. Many cisgender people have preconceived notions of how gender is expressed, and it is important to keep an open mind and be respectful of others. Remember like the golden rule - treat others the way you want them to treat you.

Trans* people are much more than trans, and their identities are made up of many other things than simply being trans, just as a cisgender person's identity is made up of much more than just their gender. So acknowledge it, but don't make it the focal point of how you know or relate to that person.

If you are interested in discussions on gender and learning more about the trans* community, I found this wonderful video on youtube called Trans Basics created by the people behind the Gender Identity Project. It is a bit long but entirely worth the watch!



- Jocelyne