10 Vocabulary Words That Will Help You Support Your Child’s Gender Creativity
One challenge shared by many parents of gender-creative children is not having the vocabulary to discuss gender with their child. Below are 10 words and phrases commonly used by trans and non-binary folks that will help you better understand and connect with your child.
1. Gender identity: A person’s internal, felt sense of gender.
2. Gender expression: How a person expresses their gender, which may include clothing, hairstyle, makeup (or lack thereof), hobbies, etc.
3. Sexual orientation: Romantic or sexual attraction to others. Gender identity does not determine someone’s current or future sexual orientation.
4. Sex assigned at birth: The record of “Male” or “Female” that appears on a birth certificate; usually determined by a medical professional and based on an assessment of the newborn’s external genitalia.
Related abbreviations are AMAB (assigned male at birth) and AFAB (assigned female at birth).
AMAB and AFAB are gender-affirming alternatives to the phrases “biological male” and “biological female,” which imply that a person’s primary sex characteristics (external genitalia and reproductive organs) and secondary sex characteristics (such as body hair and breast development) are the most important determinants of their gender.
5. Gender binary: The belief system that separates people, personal characteristics, and other aspects of life into “Male” and “Female” categories.
6. Non-binary: Describing someone who does not identify as a man or a woman. Some non-binary people also identify as transgender and some do not.
7. Transgender: Describing someone whose gender identity is other than what is indicated on their birth certificate. This is an umbrella term that not only includes people who have undergone Male-to-Female and Female-to-Male transition, but also those who identify as non-binary, gender-expansive, agender (without a gender), etc.
8. Cisgender: Describing someone whose gender identity is the same as what is indicated on their birth certificate.
9. Masculine (or masc): A way to indicate that something (such as an article of clothing or a toy) is typically associated with men or boys without implying that one has to be a man or a boy to use the item.
10. Feminine (or fem): A way to indicate that something (such as an article of clothing or a toy) is typically associated with girls or women without implying that one has to be a girl or woman to use the item.
For example, if your child asks whether a shirt is for boys or girls, you can respond that it’s for whoever wants to wear it, and ask whether your child thinks it’s more masculine or feminine.
