Sex and gender are not the same. Although a person’s sex is largely determined by genetics, genders refers to how they identify internally. The only individual who can decide on their gender identity is that person.
Gender is a person’s internal and exterior expression of who they are. People can show their gender identity by their choices of attire, outward appearance and behavioural patterns.
Gender is a social construct that individuals often describe in terms of femininity and masculinity, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). People typically connect femininity with women and masculinity with men in Western countries. However, this social construct differs amongst cultures.
These days, the gender identity of a person is not limited to being either male or female. Some people do not identify with any particular gender, while others do.
Top 10 types of genders in the world today
Agender
An agender individual may not identify with any particular gender or may not even have one at all. Other words for this could be:
Neutral gender
null-gender
genderless
Neutrois
ALSO READ: Why drug abuse constitutes menace to society; how to tackle it
Bi-gender
A bi-gender individual is a person who possesses two genders. Bi-gender people frequently act out culturally-prescribed masculine and feminine roles.
Cisgender
An individual who is cisgender identifies with the sex they were given at birth.
A cisgender woman, for instance, is a person who continues to identify as the sex their doctor assigned them at birth, which in this case is female.
Transgender
This is a catch-all phrase that refers to anyone who experiences and identifies as a gender other than what their assigned sex at birth would imply.
Although most people associate the term transgender with trans men and trans women, it also refers to nonbinary and genderfluid individuals who identify as either men or women.
Gender fluid
People who identify as genderfluid have gender identities and presentations that fluctuate within or outside of what society typically expects of gender.
ALSO READ: 10 types of sexuality in the world today
Genderqueer
An individual who describes themselves as genderqueer has a gender identity or expression that differs from what society typically expects for their assigned sex or assumed gender.
A person who identifies differently from how society defines gender or someone who identifies with many genders is also referred to as genderqueer.
Non-binary
A nonbinary individual is a person who may identify as an intermediate or separate third gender, identify with more than one gender or claim to have no gender at all.
Additionally, individuals who identify as nonbinary may also overlap with other gender expressions, such as gender non-conforming.
Polygender/pangender
People who identify as a pansexual or polygender exhibit and experience traits from various genders.
Gender outlaw
A person who identifies as a gender outlaw rejects the socially constructed notions of what it means to be male or female.
Omnigender
A person who identifies as omnigender experiences and possesses all genders.
ALSO READ: All you need to know about Jacob’s ladder piercing
