Transgender: An umbrella term for people who do not conform or identify with the gender expectations associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. Also, people who feel the binary gender system is an incomplete description of who they are.
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There are four different scales in the following Authentic Gender Model, used to determine gender. A person can be a combination of any point, along each of the four scales. The variations are endless, but the description for each individual is quite simple. It is also important to remember that descriptions are not static. They will change as a person becomes more self-aware.
Authentic Gender Model
1) Sex: Bodies change over time either naturally or by choice.
Scale: Male <------ (Intersex) ------> Female
2) Gender role/presentation: is not genetic or biologic. It changes over time and over different cultures.
Scale: Masculine <------ (Androgynous) ------> Feminine
3) Gender identity: unique to each individual.
Scale: Man <------ (any combination) ------> Woman
4) Sexual orientation: independent of biological sex, gender role, and gender identity.
Scale: Women/Both/Neither/All/Other/Men
Some examples using the above gender model:
Example 1: Birth female, whose gender role/presentation is androgynous, who identifies as a man, and who is attracted to women.
Example 2: Birth intersex, whose gender role/presentation is feminine, who identifies as a woman, and who is bisexual.
Example 3: Birth male, whose gender role/presentation is sometimes masculine, sometimes feminine, who sometimes identifies as man and sometimes as a woman, and who is attracted to women.
Me: Birth female, whose gender role/presentation is feminine, who identifies as a woman, and who is attracted to males (except for when my SO, who is example 3, identifies as a woman).
