{"id":28070,"date":"2020-02-03T13:03:48","date_gmt":"2020-02-03T12:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/?p=28070"},"modified":"2024-09-27T22:56:59","modified_gmt":"2024-09-27T20:56:59","slug":"cisgender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/cisgender\/","title":{"rendered":"Identity & Sexuality: A Closer Look at Cisgender"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re living in a world that\u2019s continuously evolving, allowing us to learn terms and concepts that we never even knew existed. Like cisgender\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What Does \u2018Cisgender\u2019 Mean?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Cisgender, or \u2018CIS\u2019 for short (CIS, a Latin-derived prefix meaning \u201con the side of\u201d)\u00a0 is when someone\u2019s gender matches that of the sex in which they were born.<\/strong> So, if you were born a female, you identify as a girl or a <\/span>woman<\/span>, and if you were born a male, you identify as a boy or <\/span>man<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

But as we know, not everyone\u2019s birth sex aligns with what they identify as their gender.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why is the Term \u2018Cisgender\u2019 So Important?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Is there a need for a specific term that resembles one who is born a male\/female and identifies as a man\/woman? Why does the word \u2018cisgender\u2019 even exist? In actuality, the word \u2018cisgender\u2019 holds positive connotations for many within the <\/span>LGBTQ+<\/span><\/a> (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, +pansexual, +agender, +genderqueer, +bigender, +gender varient, +pangender) community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By making use of the term \u2018cisgender\u2019 we\u2019re actively recognizing that trans people exist. It\u2019s also a way in which to openly express that one is an allie of those who <\/span>belong to the LGBTQ+ community<\/span>. For that reason, many feel it to be a good thing when someone identifies themselves as cisgender.<\/span><\/p>\n

Side note:<\/b> Interestingly, a <\/span>recent study<\/span><\/a> zoned in on 317 transgender children, 189 of these children\u2019s siblings, and 316 cisgender children. These children were asked questions like <\/span>\u201cHow much do you feel like a boy or a girl?\u201d<\/span><\/i> and \u201c<\/span>What are your favorite toys and clothes?\u201d <\/span><\/i>in order to gauge their sense of gender identity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The result showed that the transgender children had a stronger preference for toys and clothes associated with their gender identity (similar to that of the cisgender children), and not their birth sex. This is interesting as it poses the question of nature vs. nurture.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese findings suggest that children might not be simply learning about gender based on what their parents tell them about their own gender or how they treat them early on (which would be about the gender associated with their assigned sex),\u201d<\/span><\/i> said Selin G\u00fclg\u00f6z, ph.D, the lead author of the study.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the flip side, there are some who believe cisgender individuals experience something called \u2018cisgender privilege\u2019 which is a <\/span>\u201cset of unearned advantages that individuals who identify as the gender they were assigned at birth accrue solely due to having a <\/span><\/i>cisgender<\/span> identity,\u201d <\/span><\/i>according to <\/span>Wikipedia<\/span><\/a>. In this way, cisgender is given an almost negative connotation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some examples of cisgender privilege may include the belief that:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n