· Think of one important person in your life – family, friend, chosen family, or be creative and make someone up – who may not have the best grasp of any of the terms/ideologies described above, and who adamantly speaks out against LGBTQ and gender and sexuality issues. Describe, let’s say, how you would “enlighten” and educate them on the above-listed definitions.
· Where do you observe their struggle with acceptance of our topic may originate?
· How has the experience of engaging with said person been for you?
· Where does either your personal gender/sexuality or your notions of gender/sexuality experience fit into the conversation?
Writing 300 – 400 words, and complying fully with the following criteria makes for a successful assignment:
- Typed in Times New Roman in a 12pt font
- double-spaced
- numbered pages
- appropriate heading ( name, class, date, professor’s name, topic)
- a creative title ( use your imagination and create a cool title)
- use of literature and citations if applicable
Sex and gender diversity is one of the last great secret taboos in our society. People are not always simply male or female. Sex and gender are separate concepts from each other, and both are distinct from sexual orientation. We are surrounded by gender lore from the time we are very small. It is ever-present in conversation, humor, and conflict, and it is called upon to explain everything from driving styles to food preferences. Gender is embedded so thoroughly in our institutions, our actions, our beliefs, and our desires, that it appears to us to be completely natural. The world swarms with ideas about gender – and these ideas are so commonplace that we take it for granted that they are true, accepting common adage as scientific fact.
Here are some key terms for gender and sexuality:
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Autosexual: or autoeroticism refers to sexual gratification through your own internal stimuli. Such people may get attracted by looking at themselves in the mirror and often fantasize about their own looks and naked bodies.
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Asexual: neither interested in nor desire sexual activity. They may or may not be in a relationship and differ from celibates as celibates are those who refrain from sexual activities of their own will.
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Biphobia: Prejudice, and ignorant fear or hatred directed toward bisexual people.
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Bisexual: A person emotionally, romantically, or sexually attracted to more than one sex, gender, or gender identity though not necessarily simultaneously, in the same way, or to the same degree.
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Cisgender: A term used to describe a person whose gender identity aligns with those typically associated with the sex assigned to them at birth.
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Closeted: describes an LGBTQ person who has not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity.
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Coming out: The process in which a person first acknowledges, accepts, and appreciates their sexual orientation or gender identity and begins to share that with others.
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Demisexual: halfway between sexual and asexual. Demisexuals are those who need a strong emotional bonding before they can get sexually involved with a person. An initial attraction cannot drive them to action.
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DL: or Down-Low, a term used to describe men or women who publicly identify as heterosexual but covertly engage in sexual acts and/or relationships with members of their same sex.
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Gay: A sexual and affectional orientation toward people of the same gender.
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Gender: A social construct used to classify a person as a man, woman, or some other identity.
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Gender dysphoria: Clinically significant distress caused when a person’s assigned birth gender is not the same as the one with which they identify. According to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the term – which replaces Gender Identity Disorder – “is intended to better characterize the experiences of affected children, adolescents, and adults.”
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Gender roles: the culturally defined behaviors associated with gender
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Gender Expression: How one expresses oneself, in terms of dress, mannerisms, and/or behaviors that society characterizes as “masculine” or “feminine.”
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Gender non-conforming: A broad term referring to people who do not behave in a way that conforms to the traditional expectations of their gender, or whose gender expression does not fit neatly into a category.
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Genderqueer: typically rejects notions of static categories of gender and embraces a fluidity of gender identity and often, though not always, sexual orientation. People who identify as “genderqueer” may see themselves as being both male and female, neither male nor female nor as falling completely outside these categories.
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Gray-A: or Gray-Asexuality refers to the gray (grey) area between sexuality and asexuality. These are people who fall on the spectrum between the two. They feel sexually aroused in some very specific circumstances. Sexual desire can also be very low so that it is ignorable.
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Gender transition: The process by which some people strive to more closely align their internal knowledge of gender with its outward appearance. Some people socially transition, whereby they might begin dressing, using names and pronouns, and/or be socially recognized as another gender. Others undergo physical transitions in which they modify their bodies through medical interventions.
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Heterosexual/Straight: A sexual orientation in which a person feels physically and emotionally attracted to people of a gender other than their own.
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Heterosocial: opposite-sex relationships that are not of a romantic or sexual nature, such as friendship, mentorship, or others.
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Homophobia: The ignorant fear and hatred of or discomfort with people who are attracted to members of the same sex.
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Homosocial: same-sex relationships that are not of a romantic or sexual nature, such as friendship, mentorship, or others.
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Intersex: An umbrella term used to describe a wide range of natural bodily variations. In some cases, these traits are visible at birth, and in others, they are not apparent until puberty. Some chromosomal variations of this type may not be physically apparent at all.
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Lesbian: A woman whose primary sexual and affectional orientation is toward people of the same gender.
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Monosexual: attraction to one gender. It could be heterosexual (attraction to the opposite sex) or homosexual (attraction to same-sex).
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Non-binary: An adjective describing a person who does not identify exclusively as a man or a woman. Non-binary people may identify as being both a man and a woman, somewhere in between, or as falling completely outside these categories. While many also identify as transgender, not all non-binary people do.
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Outing: Exposing someone’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender identity to others without their permission. Outing someone can have serious repercussions on employment, economic stability, personal safety, or religious or family situations.
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Pansexual: feeling sexually attracted to people not only from all genders but also transgendered, transsexual, androgynous, and also gender fluid people.
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Queer: A term people often use to express fluid identities and orientations.
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Questioning: A term used to describe people who are in the process of exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity.
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Same-gender loving: A term some prefer to use instead of lesbian, gay, or bisexual to express attraction to and love of people of the same gender.
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Sex: biological, the sex (male or female) given to a child at birth, most often based on the child’s external anatomy. This is also referred to as “assigned sex at birth.”
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Sexual Orientation: an inherent or immutable enduring emotional, romantic, or sexual attraction to other people, sexual identity in relation to the gender to which a person is attracted; the fact of being heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual, etc.
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Transphobia: The ignorant fear and hatred of, or discomfort with, transgender people.
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Transgender: An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or expression is different from cultural expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth. Being transgender does not imply any specific sexual orientation. Therefore, transgender people may identify as straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc.
· a gender outside of the man/woman binary;
· having no gender or multiple genders
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Trans Man/Trans Male: A female-to-male (FTM) transgender person who was assigned female at birth, but whose gender identity is that of a man.
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Trans Woman/Trans Female: A male-to-female (MTF) transgender person who was assigned male at birth, but whose gender identity is that of a woman.