GENDER IDENTITY
When a child has a penis, the assigned sex is male. When a child has a vulva, the assigned sex is female. In rare cases, a child is born with external sex organs that are not clearly male or female.
Although we often associate gender development with puberty and adolescence, children begin showing interest in their gender early in life.
Gender identity: Gender identity
This article discusses how gender identity typically develops and how parents and caregivers can promote healthy gender development in children. It’s important to remember that each child is unique and may develop at a different pace.
female, or it may be somewhere in between, including “neither” or “both”. Gender expression: This is
What we mean by gender: Some useful terms
how you express your gender to others, whether through behaviour, clothing, hairstyle, or the name you choose to go by. Words to describe someone’s gender expression could be “masculine,” “feminine,” or “androgynous”.
Assigned sex: When children are
Sexual orientation: This refers
born, they are assigned “male” or “female” based on their external sex organs.
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is “who you know yourself to be”. While gender has generally been used to mean male or female, we now understand that gender exists on a spectrum. A person’s gender identity may be male,
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to the gender of the people
to whom you are typically sexually and/or romantically attracted. A person can be attracted to those of the same gender and/or different gender(s). Your gender identity does not define your sexual orientation. Transgender: When a person’s gender identity is not the same as their assigned sex at birth, they may be referred to as “transgender” (often shortened to “trans”). For example, a child born with female body parts may say that they are a boy. A child may also say that they are not a boy or a girl, but just “themselves” because they don’t want their sexual characteristics to define who they are. Indigenous people may use the term “two-spirit” to represent a person with a combination of masculine and feminine characteristics.
Gender dysphoria: Describes the level of discomfort or suffering associated with the
