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Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Change Is Inevitable

Isn't Gender Non-Conforming and Being Transgender The Same?







Gender Non-Conforming


A term used to describe some people whose gender expression is different from conventional expectations of masculinity and femininity. Please note that not all gender non-conforming people identify as transgender; nor are all transgender people gender non-conforming. 

Many people have gender expressions that are not entirely conventional – that fact alone does not make them transgender. Many transgender men and women have gender expressions that are conventionally masculine or feminine. Simply being transgender does not make someone gender non-conforming. The term is not a synonym for transgender or transsexual and should only be used if someone self-identifies as gender non-conforming.


According to MERRIAM-WEBSTER DICTIONARIES, Trans as a prefix means to be on or [move] to the other side of;  across or beyond.  Transgender is an umbrella term for persons whose gender identity, gender expression or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth. Gender identity refers to a person’s internal sense of being male, female or something else; gender expression refers to the way a person communicates gender identity to others through behavior, clothing, hairstyles, voice or body characteristics. “Trans” is sometimes used as shorthand for “transgender.” 

While transgender is generally a good term to use, not everyone whose appearance or behavior is gender-nonconforming will identify as a transgender person. The ways that transgender people are talked about in popular culture, academia and science are constantly changing, particularly as individuals’ awareness, knowledge and openness about transgender people and their experiences grow.

Maybe our transgender "Umbrella is changing or at least expanding.  Let's welcome our new friends.  They are the future.  





3 comments:

  1. I would say that the key differentiation is the absence of gender dysphoria in the gender non-conforming. In other words, they act and dress as they like but have no discomfort of any kind with their birth sex whereas transgender people have variable levels of disconnectedness with theirs. It is not a perfect science but that is generally the accepted dividing line.

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    1. Hi Joanna - Great to hear from you - Hope you are doing well.

      When you start at a young age, have family support and love, you develop without the guilt and dysphoria. We live in wonderful times on that front.

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