Watch this short movie: https://vimeo.com/25845008 (3:10). Be sure to watch it until the final credits are over!
Gender, Sex, Attraction and Expression
We already said “gender” is more than male or female. We could distinguish between:
1.Sex: the label that you get when you are born; like man, intersex, woman
2.Gender identity: how you feel and see yourself; like female, transgender, non-binary, male
3.Gender expression: what you show; like feminine, genderneutral, masculine
4.Sexual or romantic attraction: who you are attracted to; like gay or lesbian, bisexual, heterosexual
This figure is called the “genderbread” person.
It shows how “sex” is located in your genitals (although biological sex can also have markers in your not directly visible genes and hormones), how gender identity originates in your brain, how sexual attraction has to do with love, and how expression is your choice how you overall present yourself. There are no limits.
Model Hanne Gaby Odiele photographed by Ed Kavishe for Fashionwirepress. In 2017 Odiele disclosed that they have the intersex trait androgen insensitivity syndrome.
Hanne prefers to be called “they” instead of “he” or “she” because their gender is neither male nor female.
Copyright Wikimedia Commons
https://www.youtube.com/c/RoshaanteAnderson/community
Roshaante Andersen was born with a vagina and internal testicles.
He found out he had an intersex condition when he was 11.
Copyright LADBible TV – UNILAD
See full interview at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C5hnlCM-j0
People can vary in their biological sexual characteristic on four main spectrums:
The first two spectrums are not visible from the outside of the body. In most people, these divisions are rather clear. In intersex people, the “maleness” of “femaleness” may fully or gradually differ on each spectrum. This means there are many types of intersex people.
This list in reality more elaborate and detailed, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersex and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_related_male_and_female_reproductive_organs
The Greek historian Diodorus Siculus wrote of the mythological Hermaphroditus in the first century BC, who was “born with a physical body which is a combination of that of a man and that of a woman”, and reputedly possessed supernatural properties.
Following Siculus, doctors in Europe used to call people with intersex conditions “hermaphrodites”. This is now considered offensive and incorrect (intersexed people do not always appear with external intersex characteristics).
Participants at the third International Intersex Forum, Malta, 2013
This is Jaimie Wilson, a 21-year-old transgender man and country musician from Florida.
In 2015, Jaimie made the decision to start transitioning from female to male (or simply FTM for shorter).
He is now a man.
Loiza Lamers is a Dutch photo model and businesswoman, best known for being the winner of the eighth cycle of Holland’s Next Top Model, and the world’s first transgender winner of the global Top Model TV-franchise.
In the Netherlands, she is often used in education about being transgender for primary and secondary schools by showing a documentary in which she tells about her life when she was 10. She medically transitioned from male to female when she was 18.
See the documentary “Van Lucas naar Luus” (“From Lucas to Lois”) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YeWn3hbbQM&t=28s (17:14)
Thomas Neuwirth (born 6 November 1988) is an Austrian singer, recording artist, and drag queen who is known for his stage persona Conchita Wurst (also known as Conchita). Neuwirth came to international attention after winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 as Austria’s entrant with the song “Rise Like a Phoenix”. He identifies as male and as a drag queen performer.
Image: Conchita in 2019.
Jiro Ghianni Jiro Ghianni is a gender-free and gender queer trans man who has been active as an activist for the bisexuality and trans movements since the late 1990s. Jiro – who likes to be addressed by the pronouns ‘he’ or ‘it’ – made a popular comics series “The Bosoms”, about two bosoms who lead their own lives after leaving Jiro’s body and reflecting on gender.
Kelsey was born as a girl but behaved much like a boy (“tomboy”) when she was young. This confused her.
Now she calls herself “genderfluid” and uses both “she” and “they” to refer to herself.
Gender Fluid – someone whose gender identity and presentation are not confined to only one gender category. Gender fluid people may have dynamic or fluctuating understandings of their gender. Moving between categories as feels right. For example, a gender fluid person might feel more like a man one day and more like a women on another day, or that neither term is a good fit.
Kelsey: “While I considered myself to be an open-minded person and an advocate for other’s queer identities, for some reason I had a hard time fully accepting it when it was personal. Initially it turned into, “yea I’m genderfluid, but I’m going to force myself to be feminine because I need control”. As this inevitably started affecting my life negatively, I was urged by a therapist to start tracking my gender fluctuations so that I could understand them better. It was good advice, and because I am a data nerd, I ended up taking it to a whole other level.” What do you think: is Kelsey more masculine or feminine?
Source: De Graaf, Hanneke; van den Borne, Marieke; Nikkelen; Twisk, Denise; Meijer, Suzanne (2017). Seks onder je 25e (2017). Seksuele gezondheid van jongeren in Nederland anno 2017. Rutgers/SOA Aids Nederland. Utrecht: Uitgeverij Eburon