Terminology
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Introduction
This list is in a constant state of revision. Like languages, definitions are never static, and with time, geographical location, and different people, they change meaning. While this is an attempt to provide you with current identity terminology, it is always important to keep in mind that an individual may define their experiences and identity differently.
It is dually important to note, that different generations of people may relate to these terms in different ways. This list has a large bias in that it was collaboratively written by a group of individuals between the ages of 19 to 26. Thus, our relationship to these terms may differ than that of a transperson in their late 40’s or 50’s. The following quote is telling of how one must let the person identify themselves.
“The right term to use in reference to any particular person really isn’t in the eye of the beholder – it’s determined by the person who applied it themselves,” (Stryker 2008: 21).
Words About Gender, Genders, and Gendering!
gender: “The social organization of different kinds of bodies into different kinds of people,” (Stryker 2008: 10). In our society, the penis is associated with males, while the lack of a penis is associated with females.
gender identity: The internal embodiment of one’s perceived gender.
gender expression/presentation: How one’s gender identity is expressed externally (may not align with one’s gender identity – for instance, prior to social transition, one’s gender identity may be a gender that is different from their gender presentation).
assigned gender/sex: The governmental declaration of one’s gender/sex (synonymous in the United States) via the examination of a child’s genitals at birth. If the genitals do not fit the medically prescribed ideas of male or female (whereas the baby is medically ‘intersex’), “corrective” surgeries may be performed with or without consent or knowledge of the parents.
gender binary: The social construct that there are two genders: male and female.
gender-variant/gender nonconforming/non binary: The theory that gender is not simply a dichotomy.
gender-normative: The social construct that certain genders are normalized and privileged over other identities or genders.
gendering: The process by which observers determine a stranger’s gender. This is most often through the observation of secondary sex characteristics (pitch of voice, facial hair/lack thereof, Adams apple/lack thereof, etc.) rather than primary sex characteristics (chromosomes, biology, etc.).
mis-gendering: The realization that one gendered a person incorrectly by society’s standards of gender presentation and idea of the gender binary.
biological sex/gender: Your chromosomal mapping and how that relates to the medical (and thus governmental) definitions of gender/sex. Sometimes, genitalia are included along with chromosomes.
Words To Describe People’s Experiences And Identities
transgender: Also, trans; A general term describing people whose gender identities/expressions differ from what is expected. “What counts as transgender varies as much as gender itself, and it always depends on historical and cultural context,” (Stryker 2008: 19).
cisgender: Also, cissexual. The prefix cis translates to “on the same side as”. Thus, cisgender people are individuals whose gender identities/expressions align with what is dually prescribed at birth and socially acceptable.
transsexual: Coined in the 1950’s (Stryker 2008: 18), the term was introduced as way to draw a distinction between those who sought medical interventions to change their bodies, and those who wanted to change their gendered clothing. Today, the term means someone who elects to physically transition from one prescribed gender to another. This can manifest in a number of ways involving a variety of medical procedures or none at all. Not all individuals who elect to transition identify as transsexual, however. Some still prefer to use the term transgender.
cissexual: Also, cisgender. A newly formed term used to describe non-trans people in a way that does not normalize non-trans people, and pivot trans people as “not normal”, “different”, or “mutations of the normal”.
intersex: A collection of sex based medical diagnosis that can manifest in various ways, whether physically noticeable or not. Intersex people may feel a part of the trans community because sometimes they may be intersex a result of gender “corrective” surgeries at birth, but come to identify with a different gender later in life. Some, but not all, intersex people transition.
genderqueer: A general term describing people with non-traditional gender identities/expressions. However, genderqueer can also be adopted as a specific identity. There is no definitive way to be genderqueer, just like there is no definitive way to be trans. Similarly, genderfluid and bi-gendered are identities that emphasize existing or identifying outside of the socially constructed gender binary.
cross-dressing: Wearing clothes of another gender, not one that you identify as, nor are prescribed at birth, and adorning them in order to present as that gender. Cross-dressing often is viewed in terms of sexual fetishes, and while there may be some instances where this is the case, it is not a mutually exclusive reason.
drag: Like cross-dressing, it includes adorning the clothes of a gender you neither present as nor are assigned. However, drag is different from cross-dressing because it often includes more than just clothes – often makeup, faux facial hair, wigs, and other accessories to complete the image. Dually drag can be more performance based as demonstrated in “drag shows” that involve not only the presentation of the gender but also a stage performance.
FTM: Female-to-male; an adjective describing a person who was assigned female at birth, but who identifies as male; a transgender man (transman) is FTM.
MTF: Male-to-female; an adjective describing a person who was assigned male at birth, but who identifies as female; a transgender woman (transwoman) is MTF.
*Note: Often cisgender/cissexual people will refer to transpeople as “an FTM/MTF”. Example: “Connor is an FTM”. Using these terms as nouns is problematic because not all transgender individuals use FTM/MTF as a label for their identity. Some transgender people feel as if these terms focus too much on the transition from past to present, and not their actual lived identity. Thus, refrain from using these terms as a label for a person’s identity unless they claim this identity themselves.
Trans*-Specific Terminology
transitioning: The process of changing gender presentation; might include all, some or none of the following: name, pronoun, or wardrobe changes, as well as hormones or surgeries.
Social Transition: The process of changing one’s gender presentation socially. Depending upon where one lives, this may look different. However, in the United States this often means adorning the clothes of your preferred gender, adopting a gender appropriate or gender neutral name, and switching pronouns.
Legal Transition: The process changing one’s gender through governmental means in order for governmental bodies and documents to recognize one’s preferred gender. Example: Changing the sex marker on your birth certificate or driver’s license. In the United States, the extent to which “proof” is required to legally change your gender differs by state.
Medical Transition: The process by taking medical steps in order to make ones body more closely represent how they feel it should be. This can include any combination of HRT and SRS (see below for definitions of acronyms).
gender dysphoria: The feeling that one’s body is wrong, and thus the massive dislike and disassociation with it.
disclosing: Telling someone who already knows you in your correct, self-identified gender that you are trans/were assigned a different gender at birth.
coming out: Telling someone who knows you by your assigned gender that you are trans/identify with another gender than the one you were assigned.
passing: Also, to pass; the concept of being read as one’s preferred gender. This is common slang in the gender-variant world, but has been recently questioned in the academic realm as whether or not it is problematic language to use. The ability to pass has historically been used by medical professionals as a “real life test” prior to allowing a transgender individual to begin medical transition. Passing dually implies that the transgender person is deceiving society by “passing as male” or “passing as female” instead of “being male” or “being female”.
gender-neutral pronouns: Pronouns that don’t indicate a male/female gender; popular ones include “ze/hir/hirs/hirself”, “they/their/theirs/themselves”, though other options and variations exist.
Gender Identity Disorder (GID): The medical diagnosis by psychologists that one’s prescribed sex (and thus the gender that is socially acceptable for that sex) and gender identity (or how one perceives themselves) do not align. The current edition (5) of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-MD V) has five criteria that must be met before a diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder (302.85) can be given, and thus the DSM-MD is the ultimate gatekeeper for any kind of medical transitioning (whether it be HRT or SRS).
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT): The medical process by which one can take hormones that their body does not naturally produce for the development of secondary sex characteristics of their preferred gender. HRT can not undo any characteristics that were obtained during an early puberty – it can only add characteristics, not take them away. Some intersex people also receive HRT in order to confirm the gender they were assigned, or to transition to another gender if their assigned gender was incorrect.
Sex/Gender Reassignment Surgery (SRS/GRS): The surgical procedures one can undertake to change their physical appearance and existing primary sexual characteristics to that of the other sex. The meaning of SRS differs for transwomen and transmen as the surgeries offered are different both in number and type and quality.
*Note: Do not refer to SRS as “the surgery” as there are multiple surgical procedures that one can elect or not elect to undergo. Dually, SRS does not and should not confirm or validate a trans person’s gender to cissexual people. This kind of thinking is an example of cissexism (see definition below).
Trans Feminism, Privilege, & Oppression
cissexism: “The belief that transsexuals’ identified genders are inferior to, or less authentic, than those of cissexuals,” (Serano 2007: 12). An example of blatant cissexism is when a cisgendered/cissexual person purposefully misuses pronouns against the request of the transgender individual.
trans misogyny: “When a trans person is ridiculed or dismissed not merely for failing to live up to gender norms, but for their expressions of femaleness of femininity,” (Serano 2007: 14). Because of the patriarchal system in our society, femaleness is ridiculed. Feminists are familiar with the idea of misogyny, and trans misogyny is when a trans individual experiences misogyny in conjunction with or because of their trans identity.
transphobia: The fear, aversion to, and discrimination against someone based on their perceived gender, gender variance, or non- gender normative behaviors. Transphobia is rooted in the aggressing person’s ideas of gender binary system and the societal norms attached to each gender. Transphobic aggressors are often nicknamed “gender police”.
oppositional sexism: “The belief that female and male are rigid, mutually exclusive categories, each possessing a unique and mutually exclusive set of attributes, aptitudes, abilities, and desires” (Serano 2007: 13).
traditional sexism: The social belief that maleness/masculinity is superior to femaleness/femininity. This manifests in multiple visible and subtle ways in our society.
exotification: The process by which making the transgender person “exotic”. Often includes objectification and fetishization (see definitions below) while dually putting them “on display” in manners as large as the “he-she” porn industry or on a personal level in terms of how one views transgender people.
objectification: The ways in which a person is stripped of all features other than those that are being magnified and accentuated. For instance, a transperson is objectified by being turned into objects of humor and humiliation via showing “before” and “after” pictures, and emphasizing the metamorphosis of their bodies, rather than focusing on the person as a whole and their transgender status as only a part of that.
fetishization: Like objectification, it involves the removal of all other aspects of a person other than their transgender status. However, fetishization is rooted in the act of sexually objectifying a person. For instance, the porn industry fetishizes transgender people by creating and selling “he-she” porn that creates a sexual exotification, and freak aspect of being transgender.
othering: The process through which one group socially or self-perceived to be stagnant, normal, and inherent while the “other” group is pivoted as something that is unlike the dominate group. Often discussed in terms of language, othering is most often seen when a person from the dominate group uses generalizations and makes assumptions about a minority group. This strips the members of the minority group of their agency and individuality. Example: “Well, all transgender people are gay, and they also really like freaky sex, which is weird and not normal.
Problematic, Offensive, and Disputed Terms
hermaphrodite: Used historically to describe and identify people with ambigious genitalia or any person incompatable with the gender binary. This term is now considered offensive as it sensationalizes intersex individuals. Dually persons who are incompatable with the gender binary are not necessarily intersex, when historically these people were included within the hermaphroditic category.
transgendered/transsexualed: Problematic usage. Example, we do not say that someone is gayed or lesbianed, but rather gay or lesbian. Likewise an individual is not transgendered but transgender. Gender does not happen to someone but rather is part of someone.
tranny/trannie: Slang for a transgender person. However, this term is often used as a slur, and thus has an offensive association with it. The term originated with the sexual exoticfication of transgender individuals in the porn industry (the creation of “tranny” and “he-she porn categories) and are still used within that realm today. Dually the use of the word “tranny” overlooks the reality that some transgender individuals must resort to sex work to create a living because of the barriers they face.
she-male/he-she: Sensationalizes, objectifies, and sexualizes the transgender indvidual. It emphasizes the birth gender, over the prefered gender, and assumes a status of genitalia. It ignors the person’s identity while simulaniously stripping them of all other identies they may have. Like, tranny/trannie, these words orginated with the sex industry, and are still used within that realm.
it: Extremely offensive as it is othering language. The term “it” in reference to a human being is also dehumanizing (saying that that individual is less than human). One of the most offensive things a person can say to an individual.
bio/real/true/natural/genetic: Extremely othering language that stigmatizes transgender individuals as non-normative, freaks, and anomalies. This language is still widely used, but considered by many transgender individuals as offensive.
deceptive/fooling/pretending/posing: A person’s gender is an integral part of their identity. Using this language is not only extremely insulting, but is also cissexist in thought. It indicates that one views transgender and gender varient individuals are fake and “really a (birth gender)”, ignoring the experience and identity of that individual entirely.
transvestite: Originally coined in 1910 (Stryker 2008: 17), the term refers to men crossdressing as women for erotic pleasure. Initially it was used similarly to how “transgender” is used today. Today, it has mostly fallen out of use, though some use it as a way to describe their relationship to dressing as another gender without body modification. In some situations this term is a slur, and thus the term has developed a negative connotation with it, and has more or less fallen out of use.
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Works Cited
Serano, Julia. Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity. Seal Press: 2007.
Stryker, Susan. Transgender History. Seal Press: 2008.
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This definition list was created by C. Gillis, the Executive Director of the Athens Transgender Advocacy Coalition (ATAC) in 2008. All rights reserved. Reproduce only with crediting. Please contact us if you have any comments, as we are looking to keep this list accurately up to date. You can reach us at transgenderathens[at]gmail[dot]com.
Thanks for the terminology page. I find it termendously helpful as someone just learning about trans issues to have all of this new (to me) vocab consolidated in one place.
Just an addition to your “hermaphrodite” entry. As a biologist who studies sex and sexual development, I am familiar with a rather different definition of this term. I don’t know how it is/was used in the context of gender idenitifcation and the like, but your readers may be interested to know that in the medical/biological fields “hermaphrodite” *does* refer specifically to intersex phenotypes, and only to a rather narrowly -defined subset.
“True hermaphrodites” are organisms which have both male and female germlines (sperm and eggs) in the same gonad. “Pseudohermaphrodites” are organisms in which the external sex characteristics differ from the sex of the internal genitalia (e.g., having testes and a vagina).
These terms are of course very cis-, binary – and gonad-centric…which is I guess what one might expect when leaving the terminology up to biologists who are rather concerned with the passing on of genes (sexual reproduction) from one generation to the next. When one studies non-human animals as a model for human biology it’s all very easy to assume that binary gender is “best” and “normal” in the context of reproduction.
Biologists who study sexual development are historicaly not very involved in the social implcations of their work (or even the clinical ones) and this is something I would like to see change in the field. In any case, even basic biologists who are not particularly involved in research on human phenotypes would agree that the term “hermaphrodite” (true or pseudo-) is offensive, and so the use of this term to describe phenotypes is by and large restricted to non-human animals.
@ambivalent academic:
that’s pretty much precisely why “hermaphrodite” is incorrect to apply to humans. it means something that humans just don’t become.
intersex is just so much more accurate, being as the condition almost always seems to describe an ambiguity rather than a duality of genitalia.
but i’m not intersexed, i’m just passing along what i know the terms to mean…
Well, technically speaking, just from the definition of hermaphroditism, it is possible for humans to exhibit these phenoytpes, but I agree that the label is problematic from the perspective of respect for the individual and so forth which is why I’m glad that we’re moving away from applying this term to people. In the case of “true” hermaphroditism it is *exceedingly* rare in humans, but having both testicular and ovarian tissue in the same gonad is not impossible.
I also like “intersex” better for the reasons that you mention – it is not so binary-centric…though a little bit maybe – it means “in between” the two binary sexes. From a biological/medical perspective, this term can be quite problematic though because it does not adequately or accurately describe a phenotype – it’s more of an umbrella term that loosely defines any genetic/gonadal/physical phenotype that *doesn’t* fit the binary. I totally understand why this is a more acceptable term that’s been adopted by intersex people – like you said, ambiguity is both more empowering and less ostracizing than the alternative.
And yet, as a researcher, If someone were to tell me that they’d manipulated Gene C and it resulted in an intersex phenoytpe, that wouldn’t tell me anything useful (recall I’m not talking about human research subjects) – it could mean anything – does this gene manipulation cause ambiguous genitalia? Retention of both the uterus and vasa deferens? Failure of gonads to develop at all? Myriad other phenotypes?
This is why researchers and clinicians hold onto these more archaic terms – they provide an unambiguous description of precisely what is going on rather than just saying that it differs from the binary. Knowing *what kind* of intersex phenotype tells us something about how genes/hormones/whatever it is that we’re manipulating functions in patterning and development of gonads and reproductive systems. This information is useful for treatment of any reproductive disease or disorder which may arise in intersex or gender-binary individuals.
(Is that an appropriate dichotomy? I struggle to find an appropriate non-cumbersome label for non-intersex…like trans/cis….intersex/???? Also, “intersex” or “intersexed”? Which is preferred? Anyone want to chime in on that?)
That being said, it makes a lot of sense not to use these more specific labels for people outside of a clinical setting…and maybe not even there depending on whether the affected person is seeking treatment to change their phenotype or not – if they are, then it is helpful for clinicians to know *what kind* of intersex they are dealing with as this helps them to address the fundamental changes that they are trying to achieve – if not, then as always, I think that the clinician should stick with whatever label the patient is most comfortable with.
But yes, the umbrella term “intersex” is probably a lot better for societal use than any of the more clinically descriptive terms, for all the reasons you mentioned.
It’s all very complicated, and I see these competing needs for appropriate terminology at the center of some of the tension between intersex/patients’ advocacy groups and the medical establishment.
i mean, AA, i think i’m going to take the actual term i use on a case-by-case basis, but i just think of intersex as being NOT “typical.” i mean, that’s what this entire term rests on, on some definition of typical.
i did simplify by leaving out things like chimerism, of course… you’re right in that by taking a word like “intersex” you’re just swinging a word at a broad swath of conditions and people.
i’m so sleepy, maybe i’ll come back and think this out some more.
emily – I think we’re agreeing about this. “Intersex” = “not typical” is a much more concise version of the point I was trying to make. Like you, I agree that terms ought to be applied on an individual basis, and as per the wishes of that individual. I guess I was just trying to say that there are other (very necessary) uses for some of these terms, that serve a very different and non-offensive (hopefully) purpose in a different context.
Also, intersex phenotypes are myriad, and much more complex and nuanced than just chimerism v. not. The causes of all these different phenoytpes can be vastly different, as can the mechanisms by which they manifest. I think that this also speaks to my point about there being many many phenotypes and many many different causes of those phenotypes that are grouped under “intersex”. While this is a useful and appropriate label to use for oneself, if one exhibits one of these many different phenotypes, this is not a very useful label (in certain contexts) for the phenotype. I guess that I am trying to draw a distinction between the label that a *person* uses to describe *themselves*, and the label that describes a *specific collection of traits* which that person may exhibit. In the second case, the term really ought to be neutral and non-offensive because it isn’t about you or me as a person, but about your body/physiology or mine – like having high blood pressure or being tall or having green eyes. Of course, as it stands some of those terms have been used as slurs and are somewhat loaded. Yet, in many cases they are the most accurate terms we have to describe a phenotype. I’m not saying that a person should feel like they need to go around declaring to everyone that “I am intersex group 3 hypogondaotrophin hypogonadism”…just that I think some education and less shying away from these terms might make them less scary and othering when it is necessary to use them, like when discussing one’s treatment (for anything really) with one’s doctor.
I hope that I’m making sense.
In any case, I appreciate the discussion and I look forward to hearing any further thoughts on the matter. Hope you get some sleep.