Cisgenderism or cissexism is an

ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...

that challenges people's

gender identities Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the i ...

and thus leads to

discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...

against gender variant people. It is systematic, and reflected in culture and the practices of legal authorities. Cisgenderism includes

normative Normativity is the phenomenon in human societies of designating some actions or outcomes as good, desirable, or permissible, and others as bad, undesirable, or impermissible. A Norm (philosophy), norm in this sense means a standard for evaluatin ...

ideas about

gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...

, which lead to the exclusion of

intersex Intersex people are those born with any of several sex characteristics, including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binar ...

people and cultures with systems of gender different from the Western norm, and people who do not conform to the norms of cisgenderism are categorized as

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

and stigmatized. The concept of cisgenderism was proposed as an alternative to that of

transphobia Transphobia consists of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender or transsexual people, or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger towards people who do not conform to socia ...

, as heterosexism was to

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

Definition

''The SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies'' defines cisgenderism as an ideology that "involves concepts, language, and behavior that problematize people's own definitions and classifications of their genders and bodies". Cisgenderism is systematic and may be promoted by the practices of legal authorities. It can affect all people, including those considered

cisgender The word ''cisgender'' (often shortened to ''cis''; sometimes ''cissexual'') describes a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth, i.e., someone who is not ''transgender''. The prefix '' cis-'' is Latin and ...

, but more often targets transgender people. Cisgenderism is defined in opposition to transphobia, as heterosexism is to homophobia. While transphobia focuses on attitudes towards people seen as transgender, cisgenderism is described as an ideology. This ideology is "systemic, multi-level and reflected in authoritative cultural discourses". Critique of cisgenderism also criticizes the very distinction between cisgender and transgender people. These concepts arise from Western culture with the

gender binary The gender binary (also known as gender binarism) is the classification of gender into two distinct forms of masculine and feminine, whether by social system, Culture, cultural belief, or both simultaneously. Most cultures use a gender binary, ...

peculiar to it, and are inapplicable to societies with other views on gender.

Non-binary Non-binary or genderqueer Gender identity, gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gende ...

and intersex people also cause problems for the cisgender–transgender dichotomy. Therefore, this binary distinction may itself be a result of cisgenderism. The concept of cisgenderism is influenced by critical disability studies as well as critical racism and ethnocentrism studies.

Characteristics

Cisgenderism relies on the assumption that there are only two sex and gender categories, that gender is unchanging through life, and that it should be assigned by external authorities. In doing this, it ignores intersex people as well as societies where these assumptions do not hold true. People who do not conform to these assumptions are categorized as transgender. They are also portrayed as "deviant, immoral, and even threatening". Cisgenderism further justifies

prejudice Prejudice can be an affect (psychology), affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived In-group and out-group, social group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classifi ...

, discrimination, and violence in order to preserve itself.

Consequences

Cisgenderism has a variety of consequences for its targets, intentionally or not. It may result in people's gender identities being pathologized or seen as disordered. This can contribute to depression, and make mental health care harder to access. It can also marginalize people for their gender identities, leading to strain and higher risks of ridicule and

hate crime Hate crime (also known as bias crime) in criminal law involves a standard offence (such as an assault, murder) with an added element of bias against a victim (individual or group of individuals) because of their physical appearance or perceived ...

. Coercive queering, another manifestation of cisgenderism, is classifying someone as

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

against their wishes. It may also be lumping

transgender rights The legal status of transgender people varies greatly around the world. Some countries have enacted laws protecting the rights of transgender individuals, but others have criminalized their gender identity or expression. In many cases, transg ...

issues together with lesbian, gay, and bisexual issues without actually addressing problems specific to transgender people. Misgendering and

objectification In social philosophy, objectification is the act of treating a person as an object or a thing. Sexual objectification, the act of treating a person as a mere object of sexual desire, is a subset of objectification, as is self-objectification, th ...

by reducing people to their physical characteristics are also consequences of cisgenderism. In addition to these overt consequences of cisgenderism, trans erasure, whereby the challenges transgender people face are not represented in dominant discourses, is also a result of cisgenderism. Passing is a way to avoid consequences of cisgenderism, by outwardly conforming with cisgenderist norms.

References

{{transgender topics, state=expanded Discrimination against transgender people Transgender studies LGBTQ erasure Sexism

Definition

Characteristics

Consequences

See also

References