Gender Stereotypes
A widely believed generalisation about a certain gender regarding roles (what people are expected to do: for example, men should earn and provide for the house), behaviour (how people are expected to be: for example, men should be assertive and women should be softspoken), abilities (what people can or cannot do: for example, women can’t drive) etc
Binary genders such as man and woman, boy and girl, or male and female, are often understood through:
- Binary notions about certain physical attributes such as male humans have penises and female humans have vulvas.
- Traditionally-ascribed gender roles such as the mother cooks food for the children, while the father drops them to school and signs their report cards.
- Girls grow up to be women, while boys grow up to be men.
- Social behavioural stereotypes like boys don’t cry and girls emotionally mature faster.
- Biological functions like girls attain puberty through menarche, i.e. the first occurrence of menstruation.
Masculinity
This is an arbitrary set of ideas about the set of roles (what people are expected to do: for example: men should earn money and provide for the house), behaviours (how people are expected to be: for example, men should be dominant and assertive), abilities (what people can or cannot do: for example, men are better at maths), traits, or other attributes that society equates with a masculine person, often a boy or a man.
Femininity
This is an arbitrary set of ideas about the set of roles (what people are expected to do: for instance, a woman should manage a home and look after the children of the household), behaviours ( how people are expected to be: for instance, women should be polite, soft-spoken, and yield to a man’s decision even with respect to her own life and body), abilities (what people can or cannot do: for example, women can’t drive or park well, or are not very good at sports), traits, or other attributes that society equates with a feminine person, often a girl or a woman.
Gender Dysphoria
The word dysphoria is the opposite of euphoria. It is the sinking feeling that one experiences when they do not feel seen. It stems from feeling misunderstood and misrepresented in society and culture.
Many trans-folx experience gender dysphoria due to being seen as a gender identity that they don’t personally identify with. This could be because of the pitch of their voice or due to the gendered nature of menstruation in society or due to certain bodily features. They may also experience dysphoria when they are expected to meet certain criteria to qualify themselves as their gender identity.
We believe that gender-euphoria is a basic human right for all. It can be achieved through self-determination of one’s gender identity and freedom of expression.
Transmasculine
For instance, ever since I began regularly getting a shot of testosterone as part of my hormone replacement therapy 5 years ago, I love growing out my beard, but I also really like wearing elaborate eye-makeup. I enjoy riding bikes, but I am an emotionally expressive person and enjoy a good cry every once in a while. I believe that masculinity does not have to mean the rejection of femininity or any other gender expression. I believe that they can all co-exist within me, even though masculinity forms the core of who I am.
Transfeminine
I love wearing summer dresses, but I also enjoy typically ‘boyish’ things like video games – I am a huge DOTA nerd and Team Secret all the way! – and science fiction. I also like to role-play masculine roles with my sexual partners. Nonetheless, I feel dysphoric when people call me a ‘tomboy’ or joke about me feeling penis-envy. I am very comfortable with my anatomy and femininity, but feel limited by the idea of womanhood imposed on me.
Bigender
My gender identity is a mix of more than one identity. I find that a combination of two identities best explains who I am, and that in no way indicates indecisiveness on my part.
Here’s what a bigender experience could look like>>
When someone’s gender identity is a mixture of more than two identities, they may even call themselves polygender.