Gender
Gender, like sexuality, is nuanced and complex. Modern societies and cultures often perpetuate the idea that there are masculine characteristics and female characteristics while ignoring or abusing and harassing non-binary and trans people who believe they don’t fit into this rigid worldview. Read more about anti-LBGTQ+ bullying and transphobia.
Although the terms are often used interchangeably, most people tend to separate sex and gender so that sex refers to people being assigned as either male or female at birth, whereas gender is a social construct and therefore a much more fluid concept.
What is a pronoun?
But this separation isn’t always helpful, for example, some people are born as intersex (with both male and female characteristics), and the sex they’re assigned at birth won’t necessarily conform to how that person identifies themselves. If you don’t feel a connection to the sex you were assigned at birth you might consider changing your pronouns from she or him to them or they, or something else entirely. Read more about what a pronoun is and changing pronouns.
How do you define sexuality?
There are many different genders, and the same goes for sexuality, which basically means who you are, or are not attracted to. This is not necessarily who you want to have sex with.
Asexual, bisexual, pansexual information & more
There’s no-one size fits all when it comes to sexuality. The Mix has plenty of information on this subject, including answers to questions like what is pansexuality, what does asexual mean and what are the most common bisexual myths.
We hope you’ll find all the information you need on gender and sexuality here. If you think there’s anything we’ve missed, please get in touch, we would love to hear from you.
Discuss gender and sexuality
All this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to gender and sexuality, and we’re always looking to add to our resources with your own experiences and thoughts, along with expert advice from the LGBTQIA+ community. Read on to find out more.
Sexualities explained
Want to know the right terms to use when talking about sexual identities? There’s a lot of terminology out there and it’s important to be informed so you can be supportive to others. Kyle De’Volle takes us through some of this language, to help us all become better allies to the LGBTQIA+ community.
