cisgender

Examples of cisgender in the following topics:

• Gender as a Spectrum and Transgender Identities

  • Viewing gender as a spectrum allows us to perceive the rich diversity of genders, from trans- and cisgender to genderqueer and agender.
  • In Western cultures, those who identify with the gender that was assigned to them at birth based on their biological sex (for example, they are assigned male at birth and continue to identify as a boy) are called cisgender.
  • Transgender is independent of sexual orientation; transgender people may identify as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, polysexual, asexual, or any other kind of sexuality, just like cisgender people do.

• Theories of Gender Differences

  • In gender socialization, the groups people join are the gender categories, "cisgender women and men" and "transgender people".
  • Men's dominance of women and cisgender dominance of transgender is seen as an attempt to maintain power and privilege to the detriment of women.
  • Drawing on Conflict Theories, for example, Feminist Theory examines how women and other gender minorities are disadvantaged in relation to men and cisgender norms within patriarchal structures, cultures, and processes of social organization.

• Gender Identity in Everyday Life

  • Individuals whose gender identity aligns with their sex organs are said to be cisgender.

• Discrimination Based on Sex and Gender

  • The related term "cissexism" refers to the assumption that transgender people are inferior to cisgender people.
  • Consequently, they face even greater obstacles than white transgender individuals and cisgender members of their own race.

• Age and Sexuality

  • Whereas most cultural assumptions and norms about aging are built upon socially constructed heterosexual ideals, research consistently shows that sexual and gender minority groups experience the life course in vastly different ways, which often include earlier social maturation (often due to early experiences with familial and social discrimination), later sexual experimentation and activity (often due to early experiences attempting to and / or being forced to change or hide non-heterosexual and non-cisgendered sexual desires), and greater commitment to sexual health, education, and safe-sex practices than their heterosexual counterparts (often due to the lack of education and information available to them in mainstream society as well as the lingering lessons and educational protocols that grew out of the Aids crisis).

• Gender vs. Sex

  • Similarly, a cisgender male will be assigned male at birth (based on the interpretation of biological material), and then seek to learn and display the symbols, codes, and cues (based upon existing gender norms in his society) to be interpreted (by himself and others) as first a boy and later a man; he will thus follow the script set forth for males in his social world.
  • Such individuals will develop cisgender identities.
  • Either change, however, would require (a) adopting different gender performances than those promoted and enforced by dominant social structures, and (b) risking ridicule, harassment, and discrimination at the hands of cisgender people (often referred to as cissexism or transphobia).

• Sexism

  • Some believe that cisgender people are normal and better than transgender people while others do not even factor transgender people into their reasoning.
  • In short, nearly 1/4 of cisgender Americans maintain sexist attitudes against women (trans people are not counted in the surveys).

• Biological Differences

  • Keep in mind, however, that since these studies ignore trans sex/gender experience, we must limit our commentary to cisgender results only.

• Gender and Sociology

  • Even people who identify as cisgender (identifying with the sex they were assigned at birth) and straight (attracted to the opposite sex) face repercussions if they step outside of their gender role in an obvious way.

• Defining Sex, Gender, and Sexuality

  • Individuals who identify with a role that corresponds to the sex assigned to them at birth (for example, they were born with male sex characteristics, were assigned as a boy, and identify today as a boy or man) are cisgender.