Cisgender Meaning, definition. Cisgender meaning, definition. Do you have a problem understanding cisgender? Is this a subject you would like a comprehensive understanding of?
This article will explore what it means to be cisgender and how it relates to other gender identities.
Cisgender is a term used to refer to someone who identifies as that gender.
Upon seeing your genitals when you were born, people decided if you were a girl or a boy. Depending on how you learn about gender, you may or may not be able to identify with the gender your parents assigned you at birth.
Identifying as a man and being born with a penis defines you as a male cisgender. To identify as a woman, you must have a vaginal birth and be born with a vagina.
People who don’t identify with the gender they were born are transgender, nonbinary, or gender non-conforming.
Origin of the word
The Latin prefix trans- means through or between. On the other hand, the prefix “cis-” means “on this side.” Its use is common in chemistry and references geographical aspects, such as “cisalpine.”
When did cisgender become a word?
During the 1990s, the term “cisgender” appeared in scholarly journal publications. In her book Whipping Girl, published in 2007, transgender thinker Julia Serano explored the topic. In the following two decades, activists, researchers, and message boards spread the word physically.
Most people who use it are sensitive to issues of gender and identity. The term and concept were recognized for their wide acceptance and longevity when it was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2015.
In cisgender, gender is considered more important than sexuality. Individuals who identify as cisgender (commonly referred to as just cis) may have any sexual orientation. It is perfectly possible, for example, for two males to be straight, but the other to be gay.
You can’t tell if someone is cisgender just by looking at them since it’s a matter of personal identity.
What is the meaning of cisgender men?
Cis men (short for “cisgender men”) are non-trans Gender Identity Dialect (DID) guys whose birth sex matches the popular culture conception of their gender identity.
A trans man is a man who has female characteristics but lives as a woman, a term used to describe transgender men. When you identify as a man but aren’t transgender, you’re a cis guy.
Cisgender and transgender identities are rooted in gender roles; however, gender is a continuum since gender roles are socially constructed. Transgender and cisgender are relative concepts that describe how people view gender.
What are the seven genders?
Below is a quick overview of some of the different gender types besides male and female.
- Agender
The term “agender” describes a person who does not have a gender. People who are agender do not always look like people who lack a sense of gender identity. Their physical sex is rarely important to them, instead, they prefer to appear androgynous. Androgynes are people who identify neither with genders nor with gender roles.
- Cisgender
Many people don’t say whether they are cisgender, but it means you believe your biological sex, or the one you were assigned at birth, corresponds to your gender identity. Society tends to consider it a common gender, but it shouldn’t be assumed.
- Genderfluid
A person who is genderfluid does not consider themselves to be male or female but may identify as either at any given time. In this case, being flexible with one’s gender expression is different from being flexible with one’s gender identity. The quality of expressing one’s gender is shown through physical characteristics, actions, and appearance.
The person who is gender flexible may display one gender through dress or interests one day and then identify as a different gender the next.
- Genderqueer
It is a different kind of identity. Neither male nor female, nor neither male nor female, nor neither male nor female, can this individual identify as. Individuals with these characteristics often defy gender stereotypes and the binary system of male-female. Women often express themselves in ways that defy gender stereotypes.
A genderqueer person acknowledges their sexual orientation. A genderqueer individual may prefer people of their gender but does not identify with those of the same gender. Nowadays, this word is becoming increasingly popular.
- Intersex
It is a group of medical conditions in which a person is born with chromosomes, genitalia, or secondary sexual characteristics that are different from what is typically considered male or female. While many people are not aware of their condition, it is an identity that some choose to convey.
- Gender non-conforming
An individual who does not conform to societal gender expectations is either naturally non-conforming or has chosen not to conform. It fits well with most of the others.
Think about all the gender stereotypes that exist, that is, pink clothes for girls and muscles for men. These guidelines may not be followed or the person may be transgender by identifying as the opposite gender.
- Transgender
Transgender refers to people whose gender identity differs from their physical sex. Among its members are transmen, transwomen, genderqueer people, crossdressers, and drag queens and kings. Generalized, it refers to someone who behaves or identifies differently than expected for their gender.
A transgender person may be straight, homosexual, bisexual, or have a different sexual orientation. The term is often abbreviated as trans.
Conclusion
People who identify as cisgender identify with the sex assigned to them by a doctor at birth. However, this doesn’t mean cisgender people cannot have feelings for people of different genders.
In a cisgender person, regardless of whether they conform to society’s standards of gender norms and manifestations, they can still identify with the sex they inherited from their parents as a child.
There are many other categories of gender than males and females. I hope I made you aware of these issues if you weren’t aware of them already, but we still have a long way to go before society as a whole accepts them.
Read also:Asexual Meaning definition; Demisexual meaning, definition, what is, concept
External resources: Wikipedia