Welcome to part two of the Gender Unicorn series!
To recap, this is the Gender Unicorn:
This one isn't really complicated. Gender expression is the way a person conveys their gender identity to the world through their appearance and behavior.
The three arrows represent the scales of femininity, masculinity, or otherness a person may exist on when expressing their gender identity.
They could be at the beginning of the arrow, representing little or no expression of those traditional, socially defined traits.
They could be in the middle, representing some or moderate expression.
Or they could go to the far right, representing a great deal of expression.
A person could be anywhere on any one, two, or all of these arrows at any time.
Just remember, what you see isn't necessarily what you get. Even if someone presents one way, they could identity as another but their gender expression is what they're comfortable displaying to the public.
~Liss
If you're unsure of someone's gender identity, or have a question about their gender expression and wish to find out more, ask them privately and be warned that they may not feel it's your business.
Always be kind and courteous.
Do not use curiosity as an excuse to point out something you perceive as a flaw.
A good rule of thumb is "if it's something that can't be fixed in 3 seconds, don't mention it."
i.e. kindly and quietly mentioning food in the teeth, gum on the shoe, or a sock stuck to their butt via static cling is okay; things like their weight, color choices, or haircut should remain in the Not Your Business category.
To recap, this is the Gender Unicorn:
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| www.transstudent.org/gender |
The Gender Unicorn helps explain the differences between gender identity, gender expression, sex, physical attraction, and romantic attraction and the scales upon which those things exist.
I'm here to clear up some of the terminology. Today's phrase of the day is "gender expression."
This one isn't really complicated. Gender expression is the way a person conveys their gender identity to the world through their appearance and behavior.
The three arrows represent the scales of femininity, masculinity, or otherness a person may exist on when expressing their gender identity.
They could be at the beginning of the arrow, representing little or no expression of those traditional, socially defined traits.
They could be in the middle, representing some or moderate expression.
Or they could go to the far right, representing a great deal of expression.
A person could be anywhere on any one, two, or all of these arrows at any time.
Just remember, what you see isn't necessarily what you get. Even if someone presents one way, they could identity as another but their gender expression is what they're comfortable displaying to the public.
~Liss
If you're unsure of someone's gender identity, or have a question about their gender expression and wish to find out more, ask them privately and be warned that they may not feel it's your business.
Always be kind and courteous.
Do not use curiosity as an excuse to point out something you perceive as a flaw.
A good rule of thumb is "if it's something that can't be fixed in 3 seconds, don't mention it."
i.e. kindly and quietly mentioning food in the teeth, gum on the shoe, or a sock stuck to their butt via static cling is okay; things like their weight, color choices, or haircut should remain in the Not Your Business category.
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