Dressed up for a show

Gender: The social construction of masculinity and femininity in a specific culture.  It involves  gender assignment (the gender designation of someone at birth), gender roles (the expectations  imposed on someone based on their gender), gender attribution (how others perceive someone’s  gender), gender expression (how someone presents their gender), and gender identity (how someone  defines their gender).

Developed by Brett Genny Beemyn  Director, The Stonewall Center, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 413-545-4826, brettgenny@stuaf.umass.edu

Gender Identity:  Gender identity can be defined as the internal sense of oneself as male, female or something else.  Since gender identity is internal, one’s gender identity is not necessarily visible to others. 

Gender Expression: External social cues that can be read as male or female or something else. Some ways folks in society express their gender include clothing, hairstyle, voice, mannerisms, body characteristics, etc

Sex: either of the two major forms of individuals that occur in many species and that are distinguished respectively as female or male especially on the basis of their reproductive organs and structures (www.m-w.com/dictionary/sex)

Intersex:  is a general term used for a variety of conditions in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male.

Sexual Identity (Sexual Orientation):  The sexual, affectional, emotional, and/or romantic interest toward a gender and/or genders.

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