Sex Characteristics and Intersex

Sex characteristics

• Sex characteristics, biological sex, refer to physical traits indicating biological sex, including chromosomes, genitalia, gonads, hormones, and reproductive organs.
• Primary sex characteristics are present at birth, such as vagina and penis.
• Secondary sex characteristics develop during puberty, such as larger breasts and Adam's apple.

Intersex

• Intersex individuals have primary and/or secondary sex characteristics that don't fit the expected patterns of "female" and "male".
• Their biological traits cannot be easily categorized.
• Intersex characteristics can be present at birth or develop during puberty.
• The term "hermaphrodite" is outdated and carries negative connotations.

Sex assigned at birth

• It refers to the categorization of a person as female or male based on external genitalia.
• In most countries, infants can only be assigned female or male.

Gender

• It encompasses cultural and societal expectations for girls, women, boys, and men.
• It categorizes a person's femaleness/womanhood or maleness/manhood based on sex assigned at birth.

Gender Identity (GI)

• It's a person's deeply felt internal experience of gender, whether female, male, or another identity.
• It may or may not align with sex assigned at birth.
• Cisgender refers to individuals whose gender aligns with their sex assigned at birth.
• Transgender describes individuals whose gender doesn't match their sex assigned at birth. It includes a broad spectrum of identities.

Non-binary genders

• These genders exist outside the woman-man binary and spectrum.
• They have existed throughout history in many cultures.

Transitioning

• A personal process transgender individuals undergo to live as their true selves.
• It can involve:
  • Internal transition: coming out to oneself as transgender.
  • Social transition: coming out to others and using gender-affirming name and pronouns, clothing, and other acts.
  • Legal transition: changing name or sex/gender marker in legal documents.
  • Medical transition: hormone replacement therapy or gender-affirming surgery.
• These are considered gender-affirming acts.

Gender Expression (GE)

• It refers to the external appearance of a person's gender, expressed through behavior, clothing, haircut, names, pronouns, or voice.
• It may or may not conform to gender identity or social expectations.
• When gender expression conforms to gender identity, it's called gender conforming.
• When gender expression doesn't match gender identity, it’s called gender non-conforming.

Sexual Orientation (SO)

• It describes a person's inherent and enduring capacity for emotional, romantic, or sexual attraction to other people.
• Heterosexual individuals are attracted to people of a different gender.
• Gay describes attraction to people of the same gender.
• Lesbian is used for women attracted to other women.
• Bisexual individuals are attracted to people of more than one gender.
• Asexual individuals experience a lack of sexual attraction, regardless of other forms of attraction.

LGBTQIA+

• Queer refers to individuals whose sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression doesn't conform to societal cisgender-heterosexual norms.
• Questioning refers to people exploring their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
• The + represents all other gender and sexual minority identities.

Gender-affirmative terms:

• Use sexual orientation instead of sexual preference.
• Use gay/lesbian instead of homosexual.
• Use heterosexual instead of straight.
• Use asexual, bisexual, and gay as adjectives instead of nouns.
• Use the initialism **LGBTQIA+ ** to describe a group of people, not an individual.
• Avoid using homosexual/gay/lesbian couple, homosexual relations, or homosexual relationship.
  • Instead, ask individuals for their preferred terms.
• Use marriage equality instead of gay marriage or same-sex marriage.

This quiz explores the concepts of sex characteristics, including primary and secondary traits, as well as the uniqueness of intersex individuals. It delves into how biological sex is categorized at birth and the evolving understanding of gender. Test your knowledge on these important topics in human biology and gender studies.