Definitions:
Androgyny: The combination of masculine and feminine characteristics. Sexual ambiguity may be found in fashion, gender identity, sexual identity, or sexual life styles.
Asexual: One without sexual feelings or associations toward someone of either gender.
Binary system: a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning. Binary opposition is the system by which, in language and thought, two theoretical opposites are strictly defined and set off against one another. It is the contrast between two mutually exclusive terms, such as on and off, up and down, left and right.
Bisexual: A self-ascribed state in which one desires sexual relations with members of both sexes.
Body dismorphia: A type of chronic mental illness in which you can't stop thinking about a flaw in your appearance that is either minor or imagined. But to you, your appearance seems so shameful that you don't want to be seen. Commonly leads to depression and anxiety. For example, weight, height, breasts, or other characteristics you find unappealing.
Cisgender: someone whose gender identitiy matches their anatomical sex at birth. Note: "Cis" means "on the same side as," whereas "trans" means "to cross."
Consent (sexual): 1. to permit, approve or agee 2. Getting permission for touching, kissing, or various sexual behaviours 3. The achievement of willful acknowledgement, sexual acceptance, and eventually permission. Antonyms: Rape, sexual assault, sexual abuse. All non-consensual sexual acts are rape, assault, or abuse.
Construct: an idea or theory containing various conceptual elements, typically one considered to be subjective and not based on empirical evidence:
"history is largely an ideological construct." So, gender is a social construct in that its expression changes from culture to culture and over time.
Cross Dresser: An individual who wears clothing and accessories associated with a different gender, and may be inspired for sexual or nonsexual reasons. Although antiquated and stigmatized, "cross dresser" is sometimes synonymous with "transvestite."
Disassociation: separation of normally related mental processes, resulting in one group functioning independently from the rest, leading in extreme cases to disorders such as multiple personality.
Drag King: A female bodied person who dresses as a male in order to entertain others.
Drag queen: A male bodied person who dresses as a woman in order to entertain others.
Egocentrism: Natural restriction on our perspective caused by the fact that people only see the world our of their own eyes. ie. If you've never gone hungry before for a long period of time, you can't truly understand how it feels physically or mentally.
Empowerment: the ability to increase the self-determination in people and communities in order to represent their needs and enable them to overcome various barriers by acting on their own authority.
Ethnicity vs. Race: click here!
Ethnocentric: judging another culture solely by the values and standards of one's own culture.
Family: 1) a group consisting of adults and children living together.
2) can have many different meanings; people have many ways of defining a family and what being part of a family means to them. Families differ in terms of economic, cultural, social, and many other facets, but what every family has in common is that the people who call it a family are making it clear that those people are important in some way to the other person calling them family (love to know.com).
Female to Male (FtM/F2M): individuals labeled as female at birth who identify or present in a masculine expression; also, used as an adjective to describe a transition process.
Feminist: a person who advocates for women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. "Feminism is the radical notion that women are people." Urban Outfitters T-Shirt.
Feminism: the movement for social, political, and economic equality of men and women.
Female Genital Mutilation: (FGM) Is a destructive operation during which the female genitals are partially or entirely removed or injured with the goal of inhibiting a woman's sexual feelings.
Gender: the state of being male or female (typically used with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones). Can be understood as a construct and/or as a spectrum.
Gender Bender: A person who chooses to cross the gender roles and/or expressions which are associated with their sex category.
Gender Binary System: A system of oppression that requires everyone to be raised either male or female, masculine or feminine. It eliminates the possibility for other gender expressions, gives privilege to cisgender and teaches that anything but this system is wrong.
Gender Blindness: 1) the failure to recognize that gender is an essential determinant of social outcome, impacting on projects and policies 2) not discriminating on the basis of gender or not making a distinction between the sexes.
Gender Fluid: A broad gender identity which refers to a gender that varies over time and at any time a gender fluid person can identify as male, female, other non-binary combination. ie. Eri identified as a boy last week, a girl yesterday, and "other" today, which means they are gender fluid.
Gender Identity Disorder: A controversial DSM diagnosis that describes individuals who express and identify with a gender embodiment not associated with their birth-assigned sex.
Gender Ideology: A set of ever-changing culturally and historically specific meanings that shape the social expectations for bodies, behaviours, emotions, and family and work roles, based on gender classifications.
Gender roles: A gender role is a set of societal norms dictating what types of behaviors are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on their actual or perceived sex.
Gender Queer: individuals who reject the binary gender structure of man and woman; similar to androgynous. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PhEppdwArA
Gender Reassignment Surgery: Various types of surgical procedures that some transgender individuals undergo to medically and physically align their bodies with their gender identity.
"Gyn:" prefix, from Greek, for "woman" or "female;" gynecology- the science of female reproductive health; gynephobia- fear of women; gynecoid- resembling a woman
Hermaphrodite: An antiquated and stigmatized term that was used to describe individuals with varying and/or multiple sex characteristics such as genitalia, chromosomes, reproductive organs, hormones, etc. Contemporary discourse uses the term Disorders of Sex Development (DSD).
Heteronormativity: Often expressed subtly; is widely "accepted" as the default by media, education, law makers, and a range of attitudes expressed by society in general. Can be harmful to those who do not fit within its bounds.
Heterosexual: someone who has a sexual orientation to persons of the opposite sex.
Homosexual: of a person) sexually attracted to people of one's own sex.
Hyper-masculinity: is a psychological term for the exaggeration of male stereotypical behaviour, such as an emphasis on physical strength, aggression and sexuality. This term can be pejorative, though it is also used when examining the behaviour dispassionately (such as in a medical situation).
Intersectionality:
Intersex: A general term used for a variety of conditions in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn't seem to fit the "typical" definitions of male or female: ie. genitalia, chromosomes, reproductive organs, hormones, etc
Misandry: opposite of misogyny; hatred or dislike of men; manifested through sexual discrimination, denigration, violence, sexual objectification.
Misanthropy: general hate, distrust or contempt of the human species or nature.
Misogyny: The hatred of women.
Non-Binary:People who identify in this way generally don't identify or express as men or women, instead adopting gender roles and traits outside society’s typical expectations and other times taking elements from both masculinity and femininity. Androgynous people can also fall into this category if they identify their gender as neither male nor female. http://www.vox.com/2016/6/15/11906704/genderqueer-nonbinary-lgbtq
or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-N4-PMMdI0
Also Ellen! www.youtube.com/watch?v=f97aLkl_kWc
Objectification: treating and/or seeing a person, usually a woman, as an object.
Pansexual: an individual who desires multiple sexes and genders regardless of sex membership or gender embodiment.
Patriarchy: A dynamic system of power and inequality that privileges men and boys over over women and girls in social institutions and interactions.
Queer: Both historically and currently, a controversial term describing individuals who reject and live outside of heteronormative structures; also used as an umbrella term for LGBTQ++ spectrum.
Phobia: is a type of anxiety disorder, usually defined as a persistent fear of an object or situation in which the sufferer commits to great lengths in avoiding, typically disproportional to the actual danger posed, often being recognized as irrational.
Privilege: a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people.
Same Sex Families: A family where one or both of the parents' sexual orientation is gay or lesbian. This may be a two parent family, an adoptive family, a single parent family, or an extended family. Many people believe that children of same sex families will experience psychological issues. However, there are no reliable differences in their mental health or social adjustment, or that lesbian/gay parents are less fit as parents than heterosexual counterparts.
Secondary Sex Characteristics: Biological attributes that most often, but not always, emerge during puberty and have social meaning related to gender and sexuality (as opposed to primary sex characteristics, which are mainly functional, for reproduction).
Sexuality and/or sexual orientation: a range of behaviours and expressions related to sexual desire, attraction, and practice.
Slut Shaming: The act of making, or attempting to make, a person, especially a woman or girl, feel guilty or inferior for certain sexual behaviours, circumstances, or desires that deviate from traditional or orthodox gender expectations or that which may be considered to be contrary to natural or religious law. Some examples of circumstances where women are "slut-shamed" include violating accepted dress codes, requesting access to birth control, having premarital, casual or promiscuous sex, or being raped or otherwise sexually assaulted (victim blaming).
Spectrum: used to classify something, or suggest that it can be classified, in terms of its position on a scale between two extreme or opposite points.
Social Construct: The idea that the role of social interaction and culture construct meaning attached to social statuses, (for example: race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, ability, religion).
Social stratification: A system in which individuals are divided into social positions that are ranked hierarchically and tied to institutional inequality.
Stereotype: a thought that can be adopted about specific types of individuals or certain ways of doing things. These thoughts or beliefs may or may not accurately reflect reality.
Transgender: An umbrella term that refers to those with identities that cross over, move between, or otherwise challenge the socially constructed border between the genders. While this can include medical or social transition, it may not. Note: "Cis" means "on the same side as," whereas "Trans" means "to cross."
Transmisogyny: The intersectional oppression of transphobia and misogyny; it is a unique oppression that only transwomen experience.
Transphobia: The fear or hatred of transgender people or people who are perceived as not meeting society's expectations around gender roles, identities, and presentations. Closely linked to homophobia and biphobia.
Transsexual: A mostly outdated term (although depending on one's generation, not necessarily derogatory, if self-ascribed) referring to a person who does not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth and wishes to realign their gender and their sex through use of medical intervention.
Transvestite: an antiquated term that describes a person who cross dresses, for sexual and non-sexual purposes.
Victim Blaming: Occurs when the victim of a crime or wrongful act is held entirely or partially responsible for the harm that befell them.
Xenophobia: the irrational fear or hatred towards the unknown, unfamiliar, or anything foreign.