How to Write About Sex and Gender

Five key concepts to help you navigate the confusing language of gender by Logician

This is a guide for anyone who wants to write clearly and honestly about sex and gender. There is a problem with language in this area; many words have multiple meanings. The task of an author is to think through such distractions and find a way of expressing conclusions in clear, unambiguous language.

There should be no need to prescribe particular terminology once the conceptual picture is clear. But it is useful to understand the current language, if only to sharpen it or discard it. Here, the focus is on the treacherous words that underlie much of the discussion: Sex, Gender, Gender Identity, Transgender, and LGBTQ.

Sex

The mechanism of sex in animals is the result of a subtle evolutionary process. The male contribution takes the form of a small mobile carrier of genetic information. The female contribution is a relatively large carrier of genetic information with the capacity to support development after fertilization. In animals, there are various triggers for development into males or females. In humans, it involves chromosomes. In any case, the normal result is a male or female body, each with its own potential role in reproduction.

Evolution does not need to rely on perfect mechanisms; all that is required is that reproduction succeeds to the degree that it produces the next generation. There is always the possibility that an animal may have an unusual genetic or developmental characteristic that leads to some kind of disorder. When this sort of situation affects the reproductive apparatus, it is called a DSD, or Disorder of Sexual Development. An animal with a DSD may be a fertile male or female, or have fertility affected to one degree or another. The existence of DSDs does not mean there is a third sex; evolution would have no use for that.

We need the words “male” and “female” to describe the two sexes. Since Darwin, it has been well understood that humans are a particular kind of animal, so this applies equally to humans. On the other hand, humans have a complicated culture. From our point of view, the distinction between male and female can be highly important in some contexts and irrelevant in other contexts. But “sex” in the sense of male or female is an inescapable fact of life.

Gender

The most astonishing thing in this discourse is the ambiguity of the word “gender”.

• Gender (sex). The word “gender” is used to mean “sex (male/female)”.
• Gender (cultural). The word “gender” is used to mean “cultural gender”, that is, masculine/feminine stereotypes or sex-based social roles or other cultural behavior associated with sex.
• Gender identity. The word “gender” is used to mean “gender identity”, a subjective perception of a person’s sex or cultural gender. See below.

The National Sex Education Standards (intended for K-12) states that examples of gender “include but are not limited to: male, female, transgender woman, transgender man, agender, gender expansive, genderqueer, and nonbinary.” This is an example of the word being used with several possible meanings in a single phrase.

Avoid the word “gender” in favor of more precise terms. If you must use it, clearly specify its meaning. If you mean “cultural gender”, it could help to narrow it down to a particular form of behavior.

Gender Identity

This term historically referred to sex identity: one’s knowledge of belonging to the male or female sex. The phrase “gender identity” is now interpreted in various ways. Such interpretations often come with implicit assumptions that are subject to question.

• Innate gender identity. This phrase can mean “innate sex identity”. The “who one is”—that is, one’s “real sex”—as opposed to one’s sex in the ordinary sense. It is an intangible essence (male/female or something else), which exists separately from the physical form. It is presumably permanent. One can reasonably doubt that such a thing exists.
• Subjective gender identity. This can mean a “sex identity” or “cultural gender identity”. It is a sex or set of sexual stereotypes that one believes one belongs to or has significant kinship with. It is an inner feeling, perhaps not permanent.

Innate gender identity is a metaphysical concept. On the other hand, subjective gender identity may have a basis that can be subject to scientific examination. It could be part of a psychologically or biologically influenced delusion. Its specific form could also arise from social influence. This may come as a set of quasi-religious ideas transmitted by people and institutions and an out-of-control internet. For some young people, it promises a kind of resurrection, a fresh start in life, often praised as a result of self-discovery. In practice, acting on the basis of gender identity is by reference to sexual stereotypes

Most people have a “gender identity” only in the banal sense of awareness of their own sex or sex role. There are attempts to formulate stronger versions of “gender identity” in law, but they typically rely on the ambiguous notion of “gender”. For example, the Equality Act proposed in the U.S. Congress states, “The term ‘gender identity’ means the gender-related identity, appearance, mannerisms, or other gender-related characteristics of an individual, regardless of the individual’s designated sex at birth.” The Equality Act makes no attempt to define the word “gender”.

Transgender

The concept of “transgender” should be distinguished from non-conformance to sexual stereotypes. The possible meanings of “transgender” are so varied that there have been few attempts to define this concept within a legal framework. Possibilities include:

• Transgender as an innate gender identity. The idea is that there is some kind of inner essence of true sex that differs from sex in the usual sense. The existence of any such fixed inherent trait is doubtful, yet it underlies the power of the notion “transgender person”.
• Transgender as subjective gender identity. The individual believes that their true sex differs from their biological sex, or that their true cultural gender differs from that associated with their biological sex.
• Transgender as discomfort. The individual feels discomfort (dysphoria) with their biological sex that can be alleviated by identification with another sex. (This notion does not depend on the concept of gender identity.)
• Transgender as a medical transition. Transsexual. The individual is attempting to reject natal sex by medical means.
• Transgender as a social transition. The individual is performing a rejection of their sex by social means.
• Transgender as self-declaration. The individual self-declares as “transgender”. This definition seems fantastic, but in some parts of the world, it is enshrined in law.

LGBTQ

This string of letters is a source of great confusion. It helps to isolate the individual parts.

• LGB (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual) describes whom you like.
• T (Transgender) is about sexual identity, who you think you are. As we have seen, an exact definition is elusive.
• Q (Queer) in recent times has come to mean something more political, often including a rejection of sex as a category. This seems incompatible with transgender, which gives great importance to identification with a particular sex. It is perhaps even more difficultto formulate an accepted definition of “queer”. Since the category of sex is important in some contexts and unimportant in others, “queer” is an exaggerated attempt to place emphasis on the latter situation.

Responsible authors need to think carefully about how to sort out the confusing language of the gender world. That is the first step on the road to writing about sex and gender in a way that captures the complex reality of this subject.

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