Foundational Concepts (Reading)

In the video before you got familiar with the LGBTQI+ acronym and the relationship – or more accurately: difference – between sexual orientation and gender identity. In this part we will go even deeper to help you understand the foundational concepts that are important building blocks for further understanding of LGBTQI+ persons and identities.

Concepts listed:

• Sex
• Gender
• Gender identity
• Sexual orientation
• Gender expression

These concepts or factors are relevant for (almost) everyone: everyone “has” them, or everyone can be described with their sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation and gender expression. Even heterosexual cisgender persons have gender identities and gender expression. LGBTQI+ identities are simply a variation of the traditional “setup” of these five factors.

Sex

Sex, also known as sex assigned at birth, describes the physiological makeup of a human being, meaning the combination of one’s genes, hormones, biochemistry, internal and external anatomy, affecting the physical body (Denton, 2016). We have all heard of the binary male and female sex assignments at birth. The sex assigned at birth means that medical personnel make a decision about whether the person was born male or female based on certain sets of physical features (genitalia, chromosomes, gonads, hormones, etc.) when the baby is delivered. There are people who fall outside the sex binary, for example  intersex people, who are born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that does not fit into the typical binary categories.

Gender

Gender refers to the construct of socio-historical and cultural roles given to people usually based on their sex assigned at birth. Gender roles are how a society thinks an individual should behave, based on the labels of either being born male or female, including personality traits, mannerisms, duties, and cultural expectations (Jourian, 2015). Gender is also a socially constructed definition of the relationship between the sexes, which contains an unequal relationship of power with male domination and female subordination in most areas of life. For example, starting from a very young age, girls are encouraged to behave in certain ways – to be gentle, to be caring, to be soft, to play with certain toys (dolls and not cars), to sign up for certain sports – like ballet, skating etc. rather than to play football. Boys are expected to be strong, aggressive, assertive, not to show emotions, they are expected to not be sensitive, to not talk about their fears, to play with gender-specific toys – guns, cars etc.

Gender identity

Gender identity is a person’s own self-conception and experience of gender, the individual’s internal sense of being either male or female or an identity between or outside these two categories. Individuals do not choose their gender identity; rather they explore what already is there. Our gender identity is a core and integral part of our identity, and it is not something we can really make decisions about. How and when we use the different gendered labels is a decision, but the inner sense and experience of our gender is not. One’s gender identity can be the same as (cisgender) or different from (including trans) their sex assigned at birth. One’s external appearance usually through behaviour, clothing, hairstyle, which may or may not conform to socially defined behaviours, is described as gender expression. Expectations regarding gender are communicated through every aspect of our lives, including family, culture, peers, schools, community, media coverage. Pressures to conform to these expectations at home, bullying by peers in school, and social isolation are just some of the struggles facing a person whose gender expression does not follow the rigid binary gender system. We cannot and should not presume someone’s gender identity by their gender expression: how we interpret someone’s behaviour and what we assign to that is all about our own belief system, not about who the other person is.

Sexual and romantic orientation

Romantic and sexual orientation encompasses one’s romantic, sexual, and/or emotional attractions to others, which might also include sexual behaviours and fantasies. The labels people use to describe their sexual orientation, also known as sexual identity or sexuality, are vast: heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, asexual (please refer to the glossary). The Kinsey scale developed by Dr Alfred Kinsey, Wardell Pomeroy and Clyde Martin in 1948 demonstrated that people cannot all be described as either homosexual or heterosexual exclusively. Thanks to developments since then, we view sexuality and gender on a spectrum.

Having the perspective of these four concepts of sex, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation as four fluid and non-binary continua gives us the space to discuss gender and sexuality in complex ways. Furthermore, it allows the freedom for agency and self-identification by the client. A person born with a penis was probably assigned male at birth (sex), may self-identify as female (gender identity) and present to the world in feminine ways (gender expression). This individual might be sexually and romantically attracted to females, males, or both (sexual and romantic orientation). This person may or may not be interested in gender affirming surgery. Gender expression is very fluid: a person born with male characteristics can have a non-binary gender expression; a person born with male characteristics and identifying as gay might demonstrate a very masculine gender expression, or the opposite: a man who is heterosexual could be very feminine or metrosexual in their presentation. Furthermore, regardless of their sex assigned at birth, gender identity and romantic orientation a person can identify as asexual – having no sexual attraction towards other people. Sometimes gender non-conformity and gender-fluidity is a statement of not accepting the binary model of gender identities, an action of exploring how a person feels best in his gender identity, gender roles and gender expression.

To better grasp these concepts, we encourage you to use “The Genderbread Person” educational material. You can find it at www.genderbread.org.