Sex-gender diversity: what it is and how it is expressed

In recent years we have heard of the term sex-gender diversity, which is used in order to name different ways of being and being in front of the world. For some people it can become uncomfortable and disastrous, on the other hand, for others it is urgent to go deeper by living in a state of confusion, sadness and fear. This is because gender cuts across us in different ways.

Beginning to understand this new portrait of the current genre can be difficult if we do not have a minimal panorama; For this reason, it is important to know several basic concepts that explain what it is about and why it is It is necessary for all of us to have an approach towards this, and above all to know why it is important in the psychotherapy. So... Let's get started!

• Related article: "Asexuality: people who do not feel sexual desire"

The keys to sex-gender diversity

All our lives we have been required to relate congruently to our sex; that there are no ways of manifesting itself through life other than an "ideal" and "correct" model that corresponds to the behavioral expressions that a "man" must have in relation to the masculine and with a "woman" with the feminine. Any human being who manifests otherwise runs the risk of living discriminated against in their social and most intimate spaces.

Lately we've been hearing a lot about the concept of gender, a useful category to understand cultural constructions regarding what it means to be “man” and “woman” in society. Now that this whole gender revolution is in, there is a need to talk more about it, especially because there is a demand for listening and it is important that both therapists and consultants are informed.

Let's start by saying that there are diverse people. To say only that there are "men" and "women" is to exclude many people who do not identify with the roles and stereotypes that society has typified and prosecuted. To begin with, the gender category arises thanks to an iconic phrase: "You are not born a woman, you become one ..." by the existential philosopher Simone de beauvoir, in opposition to many social mandates that to date continue to be practiced from ideas biologists and regulations that discriminate against women and exclude a large part of the LGBT + Community in the world.

From traditional gender to other identities

Thanks to various Gender studies, we know that the feminine and masculine essence have a creation of a cultural nature. There are generic identities that do not correspond only to conventional biological binarism (man-woman). Consequently, there are many alternatives to relate to us as human beings and to enjoy our permanence in society.

So, when we talk about gender identity, we refer to the assimilation and acceptance that a person can have regarding what he considers to be psychically. Here we will see a small glossary; It should be noted that there are many more identities and the best option will always be to refer to the person as he prefers.

1. Man or woman

They are the traditional gender binary with which we grow and internalize in our lives.

2. Transsexual man or woman

People whose identity does not match the gender and sex of their birth, choosing to change their appearance, and even in some cases they change their body surgically and / or with hormonal treatments, but this is not always the case.

3. Transgender

It can be abbreviated as trans. Some people prefer this concept, and it refers to all those whose gender identity does not correspond to their biological sex. It encompasses a range of identities that includes both children and adults. An example is children or adults who identify as male but were assigned female at birth.

4. Cisgender

They are people whose gender identity matches their biological sexuality assigned at birth. Most of these people have this traditional gender conformity.

5. Queer

Or "cuir" in its Spanish translation. Refers to all these gender identifications and expressions that reject the binary notion of male-female sexes when perceiving it from a strict and normative notion in societies. Long ago it was used as an insult; however, some people claim it as something positive and use it to avoid defining themselves within the frameworks of sex-gender.

Gender does not determine sexual orientation

On the other hand, gender identity does not determine sexual orientation, which is the physical, erotic, emotional and / or intellectual attraction that one person may feel towards another. The following classifications fall into this category:

• Lesbians: women who feel sexual, erotic and emotional attraction to other women.
• Gays: men who feel sexual, erotic and emotional attraction to other men.
• Heterosexuals: people who are attracted to the opposite sex and gender.
• Bisexual: refers to the ability of a person to feel physical, sexual, erotic and affective attraction with both men and women.
• Pansexuals: they are the people who feel some physical, romantic, intellectual, erotic and / or emotional attraction regardless of their gender and sex of the other person.
• Asexual: people who report not having any type of sexual attraction towards another person.

With this wide range of identities and orientations a range of possibilities is created to manifest in the world, what today we call sex-gender diversity.

Dynamics of discrimination

Sadly, there is a social rejection of the exclusion experienced by people who are not related from cisheterosexuality. With this concept we refer to people who, since they are born, identify with the assigned gender and their sexual orientation corresponds to that of the opposite sex.

For a long time we grew up with these fixed ideas about what it is to be a "man" and what it is to be a "woman" relating to us from traditional masculinity and femininity. It is important that we start from the idea that there are many ways of being and that gender should not be a limiting aspect for being able to express ourselves and relate to others, so that no one has to live tormented by their identity or preferences sexual.

It is an issue that is on the table today, and we still have a long way to go; However, It is important that therapists are sensitized on the subject because, outside the consulting rooms, there is discrimination that has affected the lives of many people for gender reasons.

Finally, it is important that the professionals of any psychological care center not only have a gender perspective, which is this contemplation and awareness of the situation of inequality that women live in comparison with men, but also that they are sensitized in matters of gender-gender diversity, recognizing its wealth as that of any person, and that they can carry out ethical and engaged.

Author: Daniel De Gyves, psychologist, writer and social activist. Collaborator in Emotional Astronaut.