What’s the Difference Between Gender, Sex & Gender Identity?

This blog post will answer your questions about gender, sex, gender identity, and gender pronouns. It is a comprehensive guide that uncovers gender pronouns and different types of gender identity and delves into the societal constructs shaping gender roles.

What is sex?

Sex is the classification of you and me, as humans, being male, female, or intersex. This sexual identity is assigned to you at your birth based on your biological features. These features are the genes that you carry, your chromosomes and your sexual organs.

So, sex is a biological thing that is usually decided on your birth. Hence, based on your biological structures you are given a legal status of being a boy or a girl.

What is gender and gender roles?

The term ‘gender’ has evolved over the period of time.

The World Health Organization defines gender as “… the characteristics of women, men, girls, and boys that are socially constructed ”.

This is a very straight yet simple definition.

If you dig deeper into the ‘socially constructed’ part of the definition, you will understand that every society has defined the roles associated with women, men, and other gender identities.

It means that you are expected to behave, talk, dress, and interact with others in a certain way.

For instance, women are expected to talk delicately with softer tones and laugh politely. They are discouraged from using harsh language.

Whereas, men are generally considered to be strong, and aggressive and even their harsh tones are not questioned at times.

These are the social and cultural traits that we, unintentionally, expect from men and women.

These thoughts and ideologies also define your gender roles. Such as, women and girls are expected to do house chores, on the contrary men and boys are considered unsuitable for such jobs.

Similarly, women are expected to be nurturing and gentle so they are encouraged to pursue the profession of a teacher, nurse, or helper.

Whereas, men are considered breadwinners and providers. So, they are inclined to take leadership and managerial.

Even as a child, girls are expected to play with Barbies, dolls, and kitchenware toys, and boys are given cars, trucks, guns, and blocks. The pink color is associated with girls and the blue color is considered a boy’s color.

What is the difference between sex and gender?

From the above explanation you can conclude that sex and gender are not the same. They are two different and separate terms. However, it is interchangeably used by the majority.

Gender is an identity that is socially developed and can have different meanings in different societies. Or it represents your inner self of who you are.

Whereas, sex is biological and is usually decided when you are born. Your sex is your sexual identity that is decided by your sexual organs, hormones and chromosomes.

What is Gender Binary?

Binary is a term used to refer to something having two values.

With this meaning, the term gender binary classifies gender into two major categories of ‘man’ and ‘woman’. This classification is imposed by societies and cultural beliefs.

This binary concept strengthens the idea of gender roles and gender pronouns.

That means it reinforces that a person born with male organs should behave ‘masculine’. Likewise, a person with female organs should depict ‘feminine’ traits.

What is Non-binary?

‘Non-binary’ is the idea that is opposite to ‘gender binary’. The term ‘nonbinary’ is used to reflect the gender beyond men and women.

It is an umbrella term used by people who don’t identify themselves as a man or a woman.

People who identify their gender as both man and woman and those who don’t express themselves as man or woman are also known as nonbinary.

Nonbinary is a broad spectrum, it encompasses different gender identities that are not recognized otherwise.

Usually, a nonbinary person identifies themselves with a gender that is different from the sex assigned to them at their birth.

Some people who are nonbinary experience their gender as both man and woman and others experience their gender as neither man nor woman.

Nonbinary is used as an umbrella term, encompassing many gender identities that don’t fit into the binary world of man and woman.

What is gender identity?

Your internal and individual experience is known as your gender identity.

It is how you sense being a man, a woman, both, neither or anywhere in between. Your gender identity can be the same as or different from your birth-assigned sex (OHRC, n.d.; O’Neill & Chung, 2021; Abrams & Ferguson, 2022).

What is gender expression?

Your gender expression is how you publicly express or present your gender. This can be expressed through your behavior and your appearance.

Such as your clothing choice, your hair makeup, body language or anything that is associated with gender.

Your gender expression or gender presentation might be the same as what society expects from your gender or it might be the opposite.

This gender presentation also includes your chosen name or your chosen pronouns.

Your gender identity or expression can be different from your biological birth and it is not related to your sexual orientation (OHRC, n.d.; Abrams & Ferguson, 2022).

What are Gender Pronouns?

Despite the name of a person, pronouns are used to refer to someone in a conversation. For example, we often say she is in the office – where she is a pronoun. Similarly, we use they, her, he, etc.

Whereas, gender pronouns – also known as personal gender pronouns – are used by individuals to reflect their identity.

Gender pronouns are used to promote gender equality and gender inclusion in society.

You choose your gender pronoun based on your gender identity i.e. how you want others to call or refer you.
Some common gender pronouns are they/them/theirs | she/her/hers | he/him/his.

Why are Gender Pronouns important?

The use of the Internet has accelerated the level of communication across countries and continents. You communicate with people all around the world with different social, religious, and cultural backgrounds on a daily basis.

You are often unsure about a person’s gender when you interact with a person who belongs to a different region, culture, or religion.

This leads you to the confusion of deciding and choosing the appropriate gender of another person.

Hence, the best way to avoid any confusion is to list down the pronouns that you use as your gender identity.

Adopting this habit saves time, and confusion and prevents everyone from embarrassment.

Types of Gender Identity

People around the world are associated with different gender identities. There are more than 70 gender identities. However, we will not go through all but will discuss some that are listed below.

AFAB: is an acronym that stands for ‘Assigned Female at Birth’.

Agender: is a person who describes themselves as gender-neutral or genderless.

Aliagender:  is someone who doesn’t fit into existing gender identities of male or female.

AMAB: is an acronym that stands for ‘Assigned Male at Birth’.

Androgyne: is a person who depicts the characteristics of both male and female.

Bigender: is someone who appears between the traditional ‘male’ and ‘female’ gender behavior and identities.

Butch: is a term that is generally used by a lesbian woman whose gender expression depicts as typically masculine.

Cisgender: is used by individuals whose gender identity is aligned with their biological sex. Such as a woman who expresses her gender identity as a woman and is also born with a biological sex that represents a female.

Cishet: is a term that is used to refer someone who is cisgender and also heterosexual.

Demiboy: is used for a person who identifies the gender identity of a masculine for being a boy or a man.
This term describes someone’s gender identity.

However, gender identity can be different or the same with a person’s biological sex or gender assigned at birth.

Demigender: is used for individuals who are partially associated with a specific gender identity. Demigirl, demiboy, and demiandrogyne fall under the umbrella term of demigender.

Demigirl: is used for a person who identifies the gender identity of a feminine for being a girl or a woman.

Female-to-male (FTM): is used for individuals who are trans male or trans men. These people are identified with the female biological sex and are assigned the female gender at birth.

They transform their body through a medical procedure that represents their psychological and inner feeling.

Gender Binary: is based on the idea of men and women. The term is used to classify gender or sex into two traditional groups of male and female.

Gender dysphoria: is a medical condition in which an individual feels uncomfortable between their biological sex and their gender identity.

Gender expansive: is used if you don’t accept the standard definition of gender that common in your society.
You fall into this category if you fall out of the traditional boundary of gender binary.

Gender-neutral pronouns: pronouns that are not categorized as masculine or feminine.
These pronouns are used if you want to convey information about who you are and how you want others to refer to you.
Examples of gender-neutral pronouns are: they/them/theirs | ze/hir/hirs | xe/xem/xyrs.

If you don’t want to identify as male or female using the he/she pronoun, then you can use the they/their gender-neutral pronoun. Alternatively, ze is used for he and she, and hir is used for his and her.

Gender Fluid: if you feel somewhere in between the two traditional genders then this term describes your feeling. The term is used for people who may feel masculine some days and vice versa.

Genderqueer: is a non-binary term. It is used by people who don’t identify themselves as man or woman.
People who express themselves as genderqueer depict a combination of genders i.e. male, female, both, or neither.

Intergender: if you have a gender identity that is a mix of both man and woman then it is described as intergender.

Male-to-female (MTF): is used for individuals who are trans female or trans women. These people are identified with the male biological sex and are assigned the male gender at birth.

Mx. is a gender-neutral title used for Mr. or Ms. It is pronounced as miks and is used by someone who does not identify themselves as cisgender.

Omnigender: if you have experienced all or maximum gender identities that fall under the spectrum of gender then you can be identified as omnigender.

Polygender or pangender: are people who have experience of more than one gender are known as polygender or pangender.

Two-spirit:  is an umbrella term traditionally introduced and used by Native American people. It is used to refer to individuals who depict the gender qualities of both males and females.

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FAQs

What are gender roles?

A society’s expectation of you to act, behave, and dress in a certain way as a woman, man, girl, or boy is the gender role. These roles vary across different societies and cultures.

What are Gender Pronouns?

You use your gender pronouns to reflect their identity. You choose your gender pronoun based on your gender identity i.e. how you want others to call you or refer you.

Some common gender pronouns are they/them/theirs | she/her/hers | he/him/his.

What is gender fluid?

If you feel somewhere in between the two traditional genders of man and woman then you are gender fluid. The term is used for people who may feel feminine some days and vice versa.

Acknowledgment

This document inspires and expands the work published by; healthline; young.scot; talkspace; ohrc.

Reference

– OHRC. (n.d.). Gender identity and gender expression. Retrieved October 3, 2023, from Ontario Human Rights Commission

– O’Neill, R., & Chung, M. (2021, October 25). The Different Types of Gender Identity. Retrieved from talk space

– Abrams, M., & Ferguson, S. (2022, February 9). 68 Terms That Describe Gender Identity and Expression. Retrieved from healthline