GENDER

Gender is a sense we all have about ourselves which we may be more or less aware of from time to time. Our own personal sense of gender may change from time to time. It is undoubtably created or influenced by, our worlds, our family, our culture. Hard as we try, we can’t change it. We can explore it.

Ingrid Pollard, Performance Outside The Fridge, Brixton, c.1990, black and white R-type print. Courtesy: the artist and Auto Italia, London From: Rosanna McLaughlin, 2020. “Join Lesbians United”: How Artists Shaped London’s Gay Culture. At https://www.frieze.com/article/join-lesbians-united-how-artists-shaped-londons-gay-culture, Accessed March 2023

“Gender as a term has often been conflated with sex; at times these terms have been used interchangeably. However, these are not synonymous terms. Gender, while associated with sex, is a separate aspect of an individual. It is ultimately the result of a person’s relation to their society’s understanding of gendered groups. Gender identity is defined as a personal conception of oneself as male, female, both, or neither. This conception is intimately related to a perceived gender role; this is defined as a presentation (typically within an external context) that reflects a given gender identity. A gender role is usually determined by a culture or community, and may have rigid or loose definitions depending on the approach by the community for rules placed upon any gender categories. Gender identity, as it develops, is self-identified, as a result of a combination of inherent and extrinsic factors; gender role, on the other hand, is demonstrated within society by a set of expected behaviors or characteristics for a given gender. The relationship between gender identity and role is mitigated by gender expression, which is the manner in which an individual manifests a gender identity. This expression can be seen on a continuum, and in most cases allows for a degree of individual variation, but this depends on the culture and level of acceptance for transgression of expectations. Further, for those with a gender identity that is not easily defined by a culture, for example a gender fluid or non-binary type of identity, the gender role (perceived “norms”) for that identity may not exist in explicit terms. Thus the gender expression may be atypical or unusual for the culture as well. A variety of combinations of these factors may occur, and can change over time.”
Nicholas Chadi, 2022 Gender Identity At https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/917990-overview, Accessed March 2023.

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