Patreon’s Choice #3: misunderstood gender identities

Gender identities are already a seemingly hard topic to a lot of people. It seems like a new thing, a new concept, something the GenZ generation came up with.

But it’s not.

Patreon’s Choice is a segment where my Patreon supporters request a topic for me to write about. This was a request topic from my Uncle John. Thank you for the support!

Gender has been around for ages, since as early as the 1920s. The idea of heterosexuality itself was only invented in the late nineteenth century by the Hungarian writer Karl Maria Kertbeny. As stated from Baylor University’s study, The modern idea of sexuality was not solidified until the late twentieth century: and many would argue that the definition of sexuality is still evolving with the emergence of asexuality as a named sexuality in 1983.

Gender Identities Names – In my own words

Cisgender – A person identifies with the gender they were biologically born with. Example: I’m a cisgender woman.

Transgender – A person whose gender identity is different than the gender they were born with. Example: a transgender woman is someone who was born a male then transitioned into a female.

A transgender man is someone who was born a female then transitioned into a male.

Non-Binary – A person who does not identify with being male or female.

Gender Non-Conforming- Someone who does not conform or follow gender norms. They don’t follow the societal norms of men women are “supposed” to be.

Here’s a deeper explanation of these terms.

NPR’s Guide to Gender Identity Terms

Cisgender, or simply cis, is an adjective that describes a person whose gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth.

Transgender, or simply trans, is an adjective used to describe someone whose gender identity differs from the sex assigned at birth. A transgender man, for example, is someone who was listed as female at birth but whose gender identity is male.

Cisgender and transgender have their origins in Latin-derived prefixes of “cis” and “trans” — cis, meaning “on this side of” and trans, meaning “across from” or “on the other side of.” Both adjectives are used to describe experiences of someone’s gender identity.

Gender transition is a process a person may take to bring themselves and/or their bodies into alignment with their gender identity. It’s not just one step. Transitioning can include any, none or all of the following: telling one’s friends, family and co-workers; changing one’s name and pronouns; updating legal documents; medical interventions such as hormone therapy; or surgical intervention, often called gender confirmation surgery.

From Very Well Mind:

Gender nonconformity is simply not conforming to gender roles. In practice, it can mean things as simple as a woman wearing a tie or something as complex and life-changing as adopting new pronouns. Most of us have something nonconforming about the way we live and express our gender. Some women don’t wear makeup but otherwise dress feminine. Some men prefer to be stay-at-home dads.

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I think a lot of people—especially the Baby Boomers— don’t want to learn about gender identities of the new century because its too hard to understand. Too much, too soon, too confusing. Too controlling, that we’re making all of this up. When simply, they are afraid to learn what they don’t understand. Or maybe they do understand, but don’t care anyway. That they think it’s okay to call someone he when their pronouns are they/them.

Respect is twofold; it has to be earned in order to be given. And when we come to respect each other and our gender identities, sexual orientations, the way we live our lives, we’ll all be better off. That’s the world I want to live in.

I hope this was an interesting lesson or refresher for you. Share this with your LGBTQIA+ folks, or just anyone who wants to learn how to be a good human.

My debut poetry novel collection Reality Check is available now! Buy on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Patreon Shout-Outs

Fara Joseph – welcome to the patreon squad! 

John Reid – welcome back!

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