So we like to think of men and male/women and female as being relatively clear and static but um...nooooo. Here is how to talk about people in the context of gender and sex - or at least my understanding of it. It's not cut and dry and I'm still a bit shaky, but here are the basics of How To Not Piss People Off. It is important to note that these terms are NOT RELATED TO SEXUAL ORIENTATION.
- Male-bodied men are referred to as cismen or cisgender men.
- Female-bodied women are referred to as ciswomen or cisgender women.
- Male-bodied women are referred to as transwomen
- Female-bodied men are referred to as transmen
- Male-bodied individuals are referred to as biomale. Biomales can be either cisgender men or transgender women.
- Female-bodied individuals are referred to as biofemale. Biofemales can be either cisgender women or transgender men.
- In the context of sex positivity 'men' and 'women' refer to gender identity and not biological sex. Therefore, when I say 'men', I mean cismen & transmen, and when I say 'women' I mean ciswomen & transwomen. When I am referring to anatomy I will refer to the male and female as 'male bodied individuals' (or biomale) or 'female bodied individuals' (or biofemale)
- Intersex individuals can identify as male, female or genderqueer; as can anyone. The gender-neutral pronoun is 'they', or less commonly 'ze'. If you are unsure about which pronouns to use, just ask, and if you use the wrong one and you're corrected, don't argue.
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