Gender Identity vs Gender Role: Boy or girl? Blue or pink?

This is the way babies are often defined at birth.

But how we define ourselves may not be the same as how others define us.

Understanding the differences between gender identity and gender role can help you better understand yourself and others and improve your relationships with other people who may be different from you.

Gender identity

• It can be the same as or different from your biologically assigned sex.

• Gender identity isn't the same as sexual orientation (who a person is sexually attracted to).

Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash

Gender identities can be binary or non-binary.

• Binary: identifying as either male or female.

• Non-binary: identifying as neither exclusively male nor female.

Examples of non-binary gender include:

• Genderqueer: a person who identifies as both male and female and may have a fluid sense of gender identity.

• Agender: a person who identifies as neither male nor female.

Other terms to describe gender identity include:

• Transgender:a person whose gender identity is different from their assigned sex. They may identify as binary or non-binary.

• Cisgender: a person whose gender identity is the same as their assigned sex.

Gender roles are society’s expectations of typical male or female behavior. They can vary by culture.

People of any gender identity may or may not conform to traditional gender roles.

Examples of gender roles in Western culture:

• "Construction workers are men."

• "Men should mow the lawn."

• "Boys like to play with trucks."

• "Nurses are women."

• "Women should cook dinner."

• "Girls like to play with dolls."

Photo by Katie Rainbow 🏳️‍🌈 on Unsplash

Meet Jamie!

Jamie considers themself to be gender-queer and uses the pronoun they/them.

Check out more Bytes on this topic: Learn to use gender pronouns in 6 minutes