SEX AND GENDER

A simple guide to terminology to aid people engaging in the debate about sex and gender

Sex
Sex in humans (and all other mammals) is determined at conception, and observed at birth by medical professionals, and often before birth at the 20-week scan. The term ‘sex’ refers to a person’s biological sex – female or male. A female is a person with a XX chromosome, female genitalia, and who, upon maturity, can usually produce large gametes – eggs. A male is a person with an XY chromosome, male genitalia, and who, upon maturity can usually produce small gametes – sperm. Sex is not a spectrum. Like all mammals, reproduction is predicated on a binary model where males impregnate females. Humans cannot change sex. In very rare cases (< 0.02%) there may be some doubt as to which sex a new-born baby is. In these cases, further investigation may be required to see if the child has a DSD (difference, or disorder, of sex development). This investigation will also establish the child’s sex, since DSDs are sex-specific (that is, each condition affects only males, or only females).

Gender
This is a term that is somewhat controversial. The terms sex and gender have historically been used interchangeably, but now the term gender is taken to mean a person’s inner, subjective feeling of who they are and how they want to express being a woman or a man in the world. This relates to societal stereotypes. Many people do not feel comfortable with stereotypes that require them to fit into a rigid model of femininity or masculinity; not every girl aspires to be like Barbie, and not every boy wants to be GI Joe. Many people who are comfortable living in their biologically-sexed bodies nevertheless express being a woman or a man in the world in a way that challenges societal stereotypes. This doesn’t mean they want to change sex, but it may make them gender non-conforming – not conforming to societal stereotypes of masculinity or femininity.

Early-onset gender dysphoria
Where there is a very significant incongruence between a person’s sex and their gender, it can lead to a deep sense of discomfort that is referred to as ‘gender dysphoria’. This discomfort usually manifests itself in early childhood and leads to a profound sense of being a woman or a man trapped in the wrong body. The cause or causes of early-onset gender dysphoria are unknown, but research is ongoing with much of it focussing on organic causes linked to developmental problems during gestation. Some gender dysphoric persons seek relief from this discomfort by going through a transition process from one gender expression to another – ‘gender transition’.

Rapid onset gender dysphoria (ROGD)
This refers to the relatively recent phenomenon of teenagers who have not exhibited early childhood symptoms rapidly developing gender dysphoria. ROGD is a controversial concept proposed in a 2018 study to be a subtype of gender dysphoria caused by peer influence and social contagion spread rapidly among peer groups and facilitated by social media. It is not widely recognised as a diagnosis but is an attempt to explain why it is only very recently that we have seen an increase in the number of teenagers, particularly teenage girls, coming out as ‘trans’ when they had not previously shown symptoms of gender dysphoria.

Late onset gender dysphoria
According to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-V), late onset gender dysphoria is linked to male, heterosexual fetish progression which begins with:

• transvestic fetishism, that is, the subject is aroused by cross-dressing and then progresses to-
  
• autogynephilia, that is, the arousal by fantasies of self as a woman, which then progresses to-
• gender dysphoria, the desire to live continually as a woman and physically alter the body.
  

Transgender and gender transition
A transgender person is a person undergoing, or who has undergone, a gender transition process. This process does not change a person’s biological sex, it changes their gender expression to one that is more congruent with the sex they would like to be. So, for example, a male to female transitioner may dress in women’s clothing, wear makeup, remove male facial hair through depilation, surgically shave their Adam’s apple to make it less prominent, and take cross-sex hormones that reduce their male genitalia to a vestigial size. They may even undergo surgical procedures to remove their testicles and further surgery to create a neo-vagina. This is known as ‘vaginoplasty’.
A female to male transitioner may dress in men’s clothing, take cross-sex hormones, have a double mastectomy to remove their breasts and undergo a surgical procedure called ‘phalloplasty’ to create a prosthetic penis.
Most gender dysphoric persons do not undergo gender transition surgery.

Desister or detransitioner
The most usual meaning of ‘desister’ is someone who at some point identified as trans without undergoing any medical or surgical transition, and then abandoned that identification.
 The most usual definition of ‘detransitioner’ is someone who underwent medical or surgical transition, only to regret having done so and cease attempting to present as something other than their actual sex.

Intersex
‘Intersex’ is an outdated umbrella term used to refer to people with differences, or disorders, of sex development (DSDs). Contrary to what the word suggests, these people are not somewhere between male or female.
DSDs are around 40 distinct conditions that influence the development of the reproductive organs.
For a tiny proportion of DSDs, a new-born baby’s genitalia are ambiguous, and further investigations are necessary to establish their sex and DSD. Accurate diagnosis is essential, since some DSDs cause serious, even life-threatening, symptoms and require urgent treatment.
DSDs are sex-specific, that is, some affect only females and others only males. Describing people with DSDs as neither male nor female, as something in between, as a third sex, or as evidence that sex is a spectrum or not binary is inaccurate.

Cisgender, or cis
These terms originate from people who subscribe to a belief system called ‘gender ideology’. People who believe in innate gender identity use these adjectives for people to whom they attribute a gender identity that is the same as their sex. So, the term ‘cis woman’ implies a person who is biologically female and identifies as a woman, as opposed to a ‘transwoman’ who is biologically male but identifies as a woman. Using them implies that you think there are women of both sexes, and men of both sexes and that the status of ‘woman’ or ‘man’ is not exclusively biologically defined, but something a member of the opposite sex can identify into. This belief is not universally shared and is not reflected in law. People who do not believe in innate gender identity usually do not regard ‘cis’ or ‘cisgender’ as applicable to themselves.

Non-binary
This adjective is used for people who do not identify as either men or women (or sometimes as either male or female). Non-binary people include people who present as typical members of their sex; people who pick and mix from both sexes’ stereotypical presentations; and people who take hormones or undergo surgery in order to present with a combination of secondary sex characteristics (such as a bearded man who takes oestrogen in order to develop breasts).
Regardless of how people identify, as a matter of both material reality and law, they are always either male or female. It is therefore incorrect to say that people who identify as non-binary are of neither sex, or somewhere in between the two sexes.

Gender-critical
This does not mean “critical of transgender people”. It means recognising sex as binary and immutable, and believing that acknowledging that this matters for everybody’s rights, especially for the rights of women and gay people.

TERF, or trans-exclusionary radical feminist
The main use of this acronym is to refer to someone who does not believe that male people can be women, or that female people can be men, and who supports the provision of single-sex spaces and services (which are, by definition, closed to anyone of the opposite sex). Most people fall into this category but are neither trans-exclusionary nor radical feminists. The acronym ‘TERF’ is best avoided because it is inaccurate, and it is usually used as a slur.

Transphobic, or anti-trans
The term ‘transphobic’ refers to people who have an irrational fear or hatred of trans people. Like ‘TERF’, it is often an accusation levelled at people with gender-critical views and is frequently used as a slur to cancel or shut down debate.

In conclusion
This is not a comprehensive compendium of the terminology used when discussing sex and gender – which has become a controversial and polarising subject – but I hope it will provide readers new to this subject with some assistance and clarity.
 

Paul Chase