Pop Quiz - Gender Edition

Author: CASSANDRA JAMES, DEI MANAGER

Pop Quiz: Gender Identity, gender expression and sexual orientation are THREE distinct and different identity categories.

TRUE     OR      FALSE

Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it.

Gender expression, or gender presentation, is a person's behavior, mannerisms, interests, and appearance that are socially associated with gender, namely femininity or masculinity.

Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of whether a person has romantic attraction or sexual attraction to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender.

Based on these definitions the choice is TRUE, but people sometimes conflate the three.  In high school my gender expression was more masculine, as evidenced by the cringeworthy pictures below. What can I say, I grew up in NY in the 90s. Because of that, people made all sorts of assumptions about my gender identity and sexual orientation.  They would erroneously think I wanted to be a boy, or that I was a lesbian. In their minds since I dressed like this, all the other things must follow as well. 

​Think about your own life.  If you’re wearing a dress one day and pants another, does that influence your sexual orientation and who you are attracted to?  Does your gender identity depend on what you are wearing?  I know it can seem overwhelming to learn the different terms and identities, but just think about your own life. Look at how it relates to you, and that may help break it down for you. If not, you can always reach out to me, your friendly neighborhood DEI manager.