Gender Identity

According to Dictionary.com, the term “gender identity” refers to somebody’s internal or emotional sense of being male or female. While their definition solely includes male and female, gender identity can refer to one’s sense of being male, female, a combination of both, or none at all. An individual’s gender identity is often “…developed during early childhood as a result of parental rearing practices and societal influences…” As can be gathered from this definition, gender identity is commonly formed around what you hear and see associated with a particular gender.

PFLAG states that one’s “…awareness of gender identity is usually experienced as early as 18 months old…” Gender Identity “does not always correspond to biological sex” according to PFLAG. Thus, one can have the biological sex of a female, but the gender identity of a male; this was Cal’s case by the end of the book Middlesex.

According to the Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender both sociologists and psychologists agree that gender identity is both internal and external as well as being highly dependent on the roles men and women have in one’s culture. Gender identity is external by the way one presents themselves in terms of dress and behavior. For example, in the US, if someone has shaved legs, long hair, and a dress on it is assumed that their gender identity is associated with a girl. Gender identity is often seen to be in coherence to sexuality, however the two are not the same. The American Psychological Association says that sexual orientation or sexuality refers to “…an individual’s enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attraction to another person…” This is in contrast to gender identity as it solely refers to one’s sense of gender or being male, female, somewhere in between or neither. The term “gender identity” circulates around one being aware of who they are and how they identify themselves.

Works Cited

"Answers to Your Questions about Transgender People Gender Identity and Gender 
     Expression." American Psychological Association. APA, n.d. Web. 27 Aug. 
     2015. <http://www.apa.org/topics/lgbt/transgender.aspx>. 

 

Champagne, John. "Gender Identity." Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender. Ed. Fedwa 
     Malti-Douglas. 4 vols. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. 614-16. 
     Print. 

 

- - -. "Gender Identity." Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender. Ed. Fedwa 
     Malti-Douglas. 4 vols. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. 614-16. 
     Print. 

 

"Definitions." Gill Foundation. Vermilion, n.d. Web. 27 Aug. 2015. 
     <http://gillfoundation.org/grants/advancing-equality-toolkit/ 
     definitions/>. 

 

"The PFLAG National Glossary of Terms." PFLAG. Parents, Families and Friends of 
     Lesbians and Gays, n.d. Web. 27 Aug. 2015. <http://community.pflag.org/ 
     page.aspx?pid=316>.