Refers to a person's innate, deeply internal and individual experience of gender; which may or may not correspond to the person's physiology or sex at birth.
This includes both the personal sense of the body that may involve, if one chooses, modification of physical appearance or function by surgical, medical or other means. As well as other expressions of gender including:
- Dress
- The way of speaking
- Gestures
The literature refers that sex, gender and gender identity are related, but make up different parts of the self.
For many, sex, gender and gender identity are aligned, but this is not necessarily true for everyone. For example, it can be easy to confuse biological sex, sometimes called sex assigned at birth, with gender and gender identity.
Remember then that gender identity is how you feel inside, how you express your gender through your clothing, behavior and personal appearance.
It is a feeling that begins early in life. An important detail is to understand that people simply have many ways of expressing their gender.
Why is it useful to promote gender equality?
Basically gender equality in humanitarian contexts refers to the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men, girls and boys.
Equality does not mean that women and men will be equal but that the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men do not depend on whether they were born with a certain sex.
Gender equality implies that the interests, needs and priorities of women and men are taken into account by recognizing the diversity of different groups of women and men. Gender equality is not a women's issue but concerns and involves men as well as women.
Equality between women and men is considered a human rights issue and giving a requirement as an indicator of people-centered development as referred to in the literature.
In conclusion:
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Sex is a label usually given by a physician, based on genes, hormones and body parts, such as genitalia that one is born with. It is included on the birth certificate and describes the body as female or male. Some people's sex does not fit female or male, this is called intersex.
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Gender refers to how society reasons that we should look, think and act like girls and women, boys and men. Every culture has its beliefs and informal rules about how people should act based on their gender.
Example: many cultures and societies around the world expect and encourage men to be more aggressive than women.
What is intersex?
It is a general term used for a variety of situations in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that does not conform to what is traditionally considered male or female.
I recommend you watch the movie The Danish Girl, where the painter Einar Wegene discovers that he feels like a woman and with the support of his wife becomes one of the first cases in history to undergo sex change surgery. It is a true story where love within a marriage is directed to the painter's search for gender identity.
I invite you to watch this movie and in the comments panel leave us your comments on what you think about the movie and gender identity.
If you want to know about the main components of the social construction of gender I invite you to learn about Gender norms: The expectations of being a man or a woman.
Contribution created by: Karla Lorena Cordón Trejo
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