What is meant by “Gender” and “Gender Identity”?
The following Glossary of Terms from the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition (www.gpac.org) should help with these definitions: Gender refers to the way we perceive things to be masculine or feminine. Such things need not be human. For example, in many cultures, cups are gendered feminine, and pencils masculine. In people, we tend to associate gender – that is, masculine and feminine meanings – with features that can include: physical sex or genitals; other physical characteristics (for instance height, weight, and body hair); sexual orientation (gay men are often considered more feminine than their heterosexual counterparts, and lesbian women more masculine); and behavior or dress (a man who cries may be considered unmanly; a woman who wears short hair and a suit coat may be considered unfeminine). Gender Identity refers to an individual’s fundamental sense of himself or herself as masculine or feminine, and male or female. The phrase “gender identity” originated in psychiatry and common
