The development of gender identity is often incorrectly thought of as an individual’s biological sex. But sometimes, there are instances where a person’s gender identity is inconsistent with the characteristics that come with biological sex, like their physical aspects (genitals) and secondary sex characteristics that appear at puberty. Put simply, gender identity is how you feel inside and how you express your gender through clothing, behavior, and personal appearance (“Gender and Gender Identity,” 2016) . Though biological sex can play a part in determining one’s gender identity, it is not the only factor influencing a person’s gender identity. Gender identity is developed through multiple influences including biological sex (hormones) and
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This physical and societal gendering of our bodies affect how we feel about ourselves and how others perceive and interact with us. Biological sex is directly influential on a person’s gender identity at times, and many cisgender individuals (those who identify with their assigned sex at birth) don’t have a problem with the disparity others feel about gender identity versus biological sex. Individuals who do have a gender identify that is different than their assigned sex at birth are called transgender, as opposed to cisgender. Transgender people can also be referred to as transsexual if they have had medical alterations to their body to match their gender identity. Even within biological sex, there is a grey area between the typical male and female binary, called “intersex”. Most societies view sex as a binary concept with only two options, but intersex describes those who have both male and female sex organs. For example, a person might be born appearing to be female on the outside, but having mostly male-typical anatomy on the inside. The opposite could be true as well. Not only can a person be born with both, they can also be born with genitals that seem to be in-between the usual male and female types or born with mosaic genetics, so that some the cells have XX chromosomes and some of them have XY. This can be particularly confusing for someone growing up and not exactly knowing how their biological gender may fit into the world or society. Since biological gender is one basis for developing gender identity, not having one of the “typical” binary sexes can influence a person’s decision about how they present their gender
This physical and societal gendering of our bodies affect how we feel about ourselves and how others perceive and interact with us. Biological sex is directly influential on a person’s gender identity at times, and many cisgender individuals (those who identify with their assigned sex at birth) don’t have a problem with the disparity others feel about gender identity versus biological sex. Individuals who do have a gender identify that is different than their assigned sex at birth are called transgender, as opposed to cisgender. Transgender people can also be referred to as transsexual if they have had medical alterations to their body to match their gender identity. Even within biological sex, there is a grey area between the typical male and female binary, called “intersex”. Most societies view sex as a binary concept with only two options, but intersex describes those who have both male and female sex organs. For example, a person might be born appearing to be female on the outside, but having mostly male-typical anatomy on the inside. The opposite could be true as well. Not only can a person be born with both, they can also be born with genitals that seem to be in-between the usual male and female types or born with mosaic genetics, so that some the cells have XX chromosomes and some of them have XY. This can be particularly confusing for someone growing up and not exactly knowing how their biological gender may fit into the world or society. Since biological gender is one basis for developing gender identity, not having one of the “typical” binary sexes can influence a person’s decision about how they present their gender