Gender and Society - Concepts of Sex, Gender, and Sexuality

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering basic concepts of sex, gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation based on the lecture material.

Sex

Refers to the biological characteristics that distinguish males $(XY)$ and females $(XX)$, including chromosomes, hormones, reproductive organs, and physical anatomy.

Gender

A social construct influenced by societal norms, behaviors, and expected roles associated with an individual's sex.

Sexuality

Refers to a person’s attraction, relationships, and expression of affection.

Primary Sex Characteristics

Physical characteristics present at birth; for women, these include the vagina, uterus, and ovaries; for men, they include the penis, testes/testicles, scrotum, and prostate gland.

Secondary Sex Characteristics

Physical traits that develop during the onset of puberty, such as breast enlargement and menstrual cycles in women, or sperm production and facial hair growth in men.

Gender Identity

A person’s internal and personal sense of their own gender; how they understand and identify themselves, such as as a man, woman, both, or neither.

Sex assigned at birth

The classification—typically female or male—recorded when a baby is born, usually based on observable physical characteristics.

Cisgender

A person whose gender identity corresponds with the sex they were assigned at birth.

Transgender

An umbrella term for people whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth.

Nonbinary

A broad term for people whose gender identity does not fit exclusively within the categories of only man or only woman.

Genderfluid

A person who experiences their gender identity as changing or shifting over time.

Agender

A person who may identify as having no gender, little connection to gender, or who doesn't identify with traditional gender categories.

Bigender

A person who identifies with two gender identities, either at the same time or at different times.

Genderqueer

A broad term used when a person's gender identity does not fit neatly within traditional ideas of being exclusively a man or woman; it can overlap with nonbinary.

Gender Expression

How a person presents themselves outwardly through clothing, hairstyle, voice, mannerisms, behavior, or appearance.

Sexual Orientation

Refers to who you are attracted to and whom you feel drawn to romantically, emotionally, and sexually.

Heterosexual

Refers to a person's sexual and romantic interests in people of the opposite sex; often informally termed "straight."

Homosexual

Being attracted to and interested in relationships with people of the same sex.

Gay

Commonly refers to a man who experiences romantic and/or sexual attraction toward other men.

Lesbian

A woman who experiences romantic and/or sexual attraction toward other women.

Bisexual

The capacity to experience romantic and/or sexual attraction toward more than one gender (both men and women).

Asexual

A person, sometimes called an "ace," who experiences little or no sexual attraction toward other people; it exists on a spectrum.

Aromantic

A person who experiences little or no romantic attraction toward other people, primarily describing romantic orientation.

Demisexual

A person who generally experiences sexual attraction only after developing a strong emotional bond with someone; part of the asexual spectrum.

Pansexual

Refers to a person who may experience romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their gender or gender identity.

AroAce

A person who identifies as both asexual (little/no sexual attraction) and aromantic (little/no romantic attraction).