“The body is never an accident – someone
I know I am not – letters are inseparable
from loss – moving what can be still
moved – one is sweeping the mouth –
what ever isn’t skin – take it off –”
– Dear Melissa, by TC Tolbert
What do ‘Gender Identities’ mean? What significance do they hold? How many times have you addressed or been addressed by wrong pronouns in your peer
circle or your workplace?
Did you know that gender identity is fluid? Did you know that there exists a difference between sex and gender? Have you also witnessed discrimination and harassment against the gender-fluid people?
This becomes important as confusing between gender identity and sexuality can lead to people like you and me making wrong assumptions about others badly affecting our communication and understanding. This also becomes relevant at a time when gender diverse people across the world are fighting for their rights! Let’s dissect and delve deeper into the world of gender identities.
“Gender is not something that one is, it is something one does, an act….a doing rather than a being .”
– Judith Butler
Gender identity refers to the deeply felt internal and individual experience or senseof one’s own gender. It can correlate with a person’s assigned sex and can differ from it.Different cultures across time and around the world have conceptualized gender identity and gender expression differently. It is different from gender expression as it is not outwardly visible to others.
Gender is of key importance in defining the power, privilege and possibilities. It also impacts equality and freedom from discrimination. We usually assume that a person’s assigned sex decides their gender, but its more complex than we think.
Most societies assume that there exist only two genders that people identify with, which is either male or female, this belief is called gender binary. The idea of gender identity is also marred by the stereotypical gender-based expectations based on one’s assigned sex. One’s gender identity can be expressed through their identity marks like pronouns, body appearance and dressing.Gender identity forms a part and parcel of ‘Who am I?’, well who determines your
identity?
Past, Present and Future of Gender Identity
Gender identity as a concept was popularized by John Money in the 1960s. In the late 20 th
Century, the nature and development of gender identity has been studied and debated amongpsychologists, philosophers and social activists. The essentialists hold that gender identity is fixed by birth by genetic factors while social constructivists argue that it is determined by social and cultural influences.
It is no secret that aspects of gender identity are enforced by parents when they teach their children “sex-appropriate behaviours”. The non-binary gender identities have broadened with the usage of gender-neutral pronouns (they, them. Theirs) instead of feminine or masculine pronouns.
Activists and various organisations have been fighting, advocating, lobbying as pressure groups for the greater recognition of their identity and rights. Heath Fogg Davis, in his most recent book, Beyond Trans: Does Gender Matter? he explains that how breaking from the tradition of gendering someone on sight can help us develop respect for another person’s identity. He believes that the Gen Z community is fortunately growing up with “intersectionality” and “queerness” in their vocabularies.
People changed religions and political parties. They moved across the country or the world_ even changed nationalities. Why was gender the one sacred thing we weren’t supposed to change? who made that rule?
– Ellen Wittlinger
Essentialism is a philosophical concept that suggests that certain categories or groups of
entities have inherent and unchangeable characteristics that define their nature. When it
comes to our attitude towards transgender people and sexual diversity, essentialism does play a very important role in shaping perspectives. Traditional essentialist views often categorize gender and sexuality as binary constructs which assumes that there exist only two fixed and distinct genders and considers heterosexuality as the only natural sexual orientation.
It fails to acknowledge the complexity of human experiences. we must abandon this limited approach and embrace a more inclusive and non-essentialist approach as the former would help in fostering understanding, acceptance and respect for gender fluid individuals. For example, women feel obligated to get married and have children or choose professions like nurse or even humanities-oriented courses! On the other hand, men are supposed to be the breadwinner for the family and engage in sports and physical-intensive activities. So, the question arises what people, with gender identities beyond the binary, are supposed to choose?
What is the importance of Legal Gender Recognition?
The Legal Gender Recognition allows transgender and gender-diverse people to change their gender/sex marker and names on official identity documents. The discrepancy between their gender identity and official document identity has a detrimental impact on their access to education, health, education, employment, political participation and public services. In a democracy, it affirms the individual’s right to self-identification and bodily autonomy. In Europe, civil society activism is driving change, for example, in Georgia, a transgender woman was able to change her gender in official documents in 2021, through years of advocacy by queer and women’s rights groups. We will study more about this fight for identity as we study the different types of gender identities separately.
There exists the different types of Gender Identities:
1. Transgender
2. Two-Spirit
3. Cisgender
4. Non-Binary
5. Genderqueer
6. Gender Expression
7. Gender Fluid
8. Gender Neutral
International Law Based on Gender Identity
The right to equality and non-discrimination are core principles of Human Rights enshrined
in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This applies to everyone irrespective of their
gender identity and sexual orientation whether they are gay, lesbian or transgender. This has also been issued by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural rights, the committee on the Rights of the Child among others. The UN Human Rights office has documented the violations committed against individuals based on their sexual orientation. These violent attacks, assault. It also includes discriminatory criminal laws includes criminalizing same-sex marriages and discriminatory treatment taking place in everyday settings especially public places like hospitals, transport facilities, which negatively impact their rights. In June 2011, Resolution 17/19 was adopted in the United Nations Human Council expressing grave concern at violence and discrimination faced by individuals based on their sexual identity.
The unfortunate news is that globally majority of the countries have no liberal laws on gender identity, which makes the recognition of their rights difficult and doesn’t help in bringing into limelight the everyday discrimination they face.
