Women in Science Advocacy Group

Glossary

The purpose of the Ally Glossary is to inform on the correct definitions for gender-identifying terms. WiSAG aims to create a positive environment for gender-minority members of the Jefferson community through ally education.

If you identify with any of these terms or not, you are welcome to join WiSAG!

Agender: an umbrella term for people who do not have an internal experience of gender or feel they "lack gender"

Ally: someone who actively supports a certain group of people

Cisgender: your gender identity matches your sex assigned at birth

Gender: a person's identity and how they feel inside (ex: man, woman, nonbinary, agender, et al.)

Gender dysphoria: a person's distress when their assigned gender does not match their internal gender identity

Gender euphoria: a person's joy when their gender expression and/or presentation matches their identity

Gender expression: how someone presents their gender to the world

Genderfluid: someone whose gender identity changes over time rather than remaining static

Genderqueer: all gender identities that exist outside the gender binary

Gender roles: the societal expectations attached to a person's sex assigned at birth

Intersex: a person who was born with reproductive anatomy and/or physiology that does not fit the binary female or male definitions

Misgender: when someone gets a person's gender wrong (ex: use the wrong pronouns when talking to them or about them)

Nonbinary: a person whose gender identity is outside the gender binary (man or woman)

Queer: this can mean different things depending on the individual; for many, it means someone or something that is not cisgender and heterosexual

Sex: the physical characteristics that differentiate male, female, and intersex bodies

Transgender: a person whose assigned sex at birth does not align with their gender identity

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