Instead of seeing gender as binary we should start thinking about it as a spectrum. ‘Woman’ and ‘man’ are socially constructed labels that bring with them lots of assumptions and expectations how to dress, how to act, what to think, what to do in one’s free time etc. Children should be encouraged to challenge these assumptions, but at the same time, we have to remember that when we challenge gender roles, we should make sure that children do not just end up fulfilling stereotypes of the opposite gender. Gender expression: This is how you present your gender through what you wear, how you present yourself, talk, act etc. You can express in a typical ‘feminine’ or ‘masculine’ way. While for most people gender identity and gender expression go together and they don’t think much about it, you can change your expression more easily and more often, i.e. how you dress. Sexual orientation: Sexual orientation is about who you are attracted to – physically and/or emotionally. It explains to people of which gender someone is sexually or emotionally attracted to. A person who does not feel sexual attraction at all is asexual (but can still feel romantic attraction). Someone who is usually sexually attracted to people of the same gender is called ‘homosexual’ (or gay, lesbian) and someone who is usually attracted to people of the opposite gender is called ‘heterosexual’ or ‘straight’. Someone who is attracted to male and female genders is called ‘bisexual’, while those who feel attracted to any gender are called ‘pansexual’. As pansexual is a fairly new term people who identify as bisexual might also be pansexual and not have any gender preferences. In our society, people usually assume that someone is heterosexual. This assumption is called ‘heteronormativity’ and is something that we want to challenge as educators. The ‘Genderbread Person’, first developed by the trans* activists Cristina González, Vanessa Prell, Jack Riva, and Jarrod Schwartz explains these terms in a visual way: Genderbread Person
Sex
Gender Male
Intersex
Female
Gender Expression
Orientation
Man
Genderqueer
Woman
Orientation Homosexual
Sex
Bisexual
Heterosexual
Expression Masculine
Androgynous
Feminine
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