Gender and its associated attributes

Gender refers to the roles, behaviors, activities, attributes, and opportunities that any society
considers appropriate for girls and boys, and women and men. Gender interacts with, but is
different from, the binary categories of biological sex.” This definition is given by WHO and
we can very clearly see how gender doesn’t necessarily mean the 2 most commonly known,
male and female. Gender should not be imagined as a rigid binary concept where you are
either a strict male or a female and instead should be imagined as a spectrum. It is also
important to understand that people can belong to any part of the spectrum at any given
period.
Gender Identity mainly stems from the concept that gender is a social construct. It is the
identity a person gives to themselves irrespective of their assigned biological sex. It can also
be said as an internalized realization of one’s gender and may or may not be manifested in
their appearance or place in society. People often struggle to find acceptance when their
identity and assigned sex are different and usually choose to undergo a transition to their
preferred sex.
Gender Expression is the way a person chooses to express their socially constructed gender to
society. It is important to understand that it is not a compulsion for this person to stick to
their Gender Identity while expressing themselves. People express themselves through
dressing senses like wearing a hat or wearing specific clothes etc. It could also include the
person’s mannerisms like how they talk or how they walk etc. Trying to figure out a person’s
Gender Identity or biological sex by their Gender Expression could be demeaning to them
and offensive. People also tend to label persons based on the way they choose to express
themselves and this discourages people to not express themselves freely in society.
A person who changes their position in the gender spectrum with time and does not subscribe
to a fixed place in the gender spectrum is called Gender Fluid. That is they change their
Gender Identity with time. They might identify as a male yesterday, female today, gender-
neutral tomorrow. These people face difficulties in public places, especially where there are
explicit binary divisions(example: public restrooms, security checks) and implicit binary
divisions (example: shopping centers).
Gender Neutral people do not identify with any gender in the gender spectrum and usually lie
around the midpoint in the spectrum. These people also face difficulties living in a society
where you are expected to fall in the binary divisions. Gender Neutrality is not limited to
persons but also to pronouns that are used to refer people who don't subscribe to the binary
division. It is always a good practice to ask a person their preferred pronoun before referring
to them if you are not sure about their gender or preferences. It is also offensive to remark at
gender-neutral pronouns as ‘plural’ in nature. Gender Neutral terms can also be used in place
of words that showcase a gender bias(example: stuntman).