Sexual Orientation - continuum
Straight <---> Homosexual
Gender Identity - continuum
Male <---> Female
Gender Expression - continuum
Male <---> Female
Sexual Orientation is the biological sex(es) that you fall in love and have sex with. The terminology here doesn't work for the intersexed; that is something that needs to be addressed.
Gender Identity is the answer to the internal question 'what am I; male or female'. I heard a story about a woman who was comforting her 4 or 5 year old son as a big storm raged outside and said 'That's my brave little boy.' The boy looked up at her and said 'But mommy, I'm a girl!' That is an example of the internal boy/girl not matching outward appearances.
Gender Expression is the outward appearance and whether its male or female. For example hair length: long is more feminine and short is more masculine. There are guys with long hair, but not that many, and there are gals with short hair. On the other hand, since the 50s or 60s, its always been okay for women to be like men. Its just not okay for men to be like women. Other examples include makeup, earrings, dresses/skirts, panty hose, high heels, breasts, smaller waists, bigger (in proportion) hips, and height.
Where am I in this? I have identified myself as a straight boy with Gender Identity between male and female. My Gender Expression is usually mostly male (there are some places that I wear nail polish) with some female.
The next page defines Cis-Gendered
This page last updated 12 February 2002
URL: http://www.geocities.com/darlene_20832/lines.html