CIS GENDER

Cisgender
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Cisgender and cissexual (often abbreviated to simply cis) describe related types of gender
identity where individuals' experiences of their own gender match the sex they were assigned at
birth.[1] Sociologists Kristen Schilt and Laurel Westbrook define cisgender as a label for
"individuals who have a match between the gender they were assigned at birth, their bodies, and
their personal identity" as a complement to transgender.[2]
There are a number of derivatives of the terms in use, including cis male for "male assigned male
at birth", cis female for "female assigned female at birth", analogically cis man and cis woman,
as well as cissexism and cissexual assumption. In addition, one study published in the Journal of
the International AIDS Society used the term cisnormativity, akin to sexual diversity studies'
heteronormativity.[3][4] A related adjective is gender-normative; Eli R. Green has written that
"'cisgendered' is used [instead of the more popular 'gender normative'] to refer to people who do
not identify with a gender diverse experience, without enforcing existence of a normative gender
expression".[5]

Contents
[hide]

1 Origins
o 1.1 Cisgender with regard to cissexual

2 Uses

3 Critiques
o 3.1 From feminism and gender studies
o 3.2 From intersex organizations

4 See also

5 References

6 Further reading

7 External links

Origins[edit]
Cisgender has its origin in the Latin-derived prefix cis-, meaning "on this side of", which is an
antonym for the Latin-derived prefix trans-, meaning "across from" or "on the other side of".
This usage can be seen in the cistrans distinction in chemistry, the cistrans or complementation
test in genetics, in Ciscaucasia (from the Russian perspective) and in the ancient Roman term
Cisalpine Gaul (i.e., "Gaul on this side of the Alps"). In the case of gender, cis- is used to refer to
the alignment of gender identity with assigned sex.

Cisgender with regard to cissexual[edit]

Julia Serano has defined cissexual as "people who are not transsexual and who have only ever
experienced their mental and physical sexes as being aligned", while cisgender is a slightly
narrower term for those who do not identify as transgender (a larger cultural category than the
more clinical transsexual).[6] For Jessica Cadwallader, cissexual is "a way of drawing attention to
the unmarked norm, against which trans is identified, in which a person feels that their gender
identity matches their body/sex".[7]

Uses[edit]

German sexologist Volkmar Sigusch used the term cissexual (zissexuell in German) in a peerreviewed publication: in his 1998 essay "The Neosexual Revolution", he cites his two-part 1991
article "Die Transsexuellen und unser nosomorpher Blick" ("Transsexuals and our nosomorphic
view") as the origin of the term.[8] He also used the term in the title of a 1995 article,
"Transsexueller Wunsch und zissexuelle Abwehr" (or: "Transsexual desire and cissexual
defense").[9]
The terms cisgender and cissexual were used in the 2006 article in the Journal of Lesbian
Studies[10] and Julia Serano's 2007 book Whipping Girl,[6] after which the term gained some
popularity among English-speaking activists and scholars.[11][12][13] Jillana Enteen wrote in 2009 that
"cissexual" is "meant to show that there are embedded assumptions encoded in expecting this
seamless conformity".[14]
Julia Serano also uses the related term cissexism, "which is the belief that transsexuals' identified
genders are inferior to, or less authentic than, those of cissexuals".[15] In 2010 the term "cisgender
privilege" appeared in academic literature, defined as the "set of unearned advantages that
individuals who identify as the gender they were assigned at birth accrue solely due to having a
cisgender identity".[16]
In February 2014, Facebook began offering "custom" gender options, allowing users to identify
with one or more gender-related terms from a curated list, including cis, cisgender, and others.[17]
[18]

Critiques[edit]
From feminism and gender studies[edit]
Krista Scott-Dixon wrote in 2009: "I prefer the term non-trans to other options such as
cissexual/cisgendered."[19] She holds this view because she believes the term "non-trans" is clearer
to average people and will help normalize transgender individuals.
Women's and Gender Studies scholar Mimi Marinucci writes that some consider the "cisgender
transgender" binary to be just as dangerous or self-defeating as the masculinefeminine gender
binary, because it lumps people who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) arbitrarily and
over-simplistically with heteronormative class of people as opposed to with transgender people.
Characterizing LGB individuals together with heterosexual, non-trans people may
problematically suggest that LGB individuals, unlike transgender individuals, "experience no
mismatch between their own gender identity and gender expression and cultural expectations
regarding gender identity and expression".[20]

From intersex organizations[edit]

Intersex persons are born with atypical physical sex characteristics that can complicate initial sex
assignment and lead to involuntary or coerced medical treatment.[21][22] "Cisgender" is "confusing"
in relation to people with intersex conditions, according to the Advocates for Informed Choice
Inter/Act project.[23] Hida Viloria of OII-USA argues that, as an intersex person with a non-binary

gender identity, this technically makes her "cisgender" but it fails to account for gender-based
stigmatization of intersex bodies.[24] Organisation Intersex International Australia argues that,
while most intersex people are not transgender, the experience or risk of "involuntary medical
treatment to impose stereotypical sex characteristics" makes the use of "cisgender" problematic
regardless of their gender identities.[25]

See also[edit]
Transgender portal

Gender taxonomy

List of transgender-related topics

Womyn-born womyn

References[edit]
1.

Jump up ^ Crethar, H. C. & Vargas, L. A. (2007). Multicultural intricacies in professional

counseling. In J. Gregoire & C. Jungers (Eds.), The counselors companion: What every beginning
counselor needs to know. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. ISBN 0-8058-5684-6. p. 61.

2.

Jump up ^ Schilt, Kristen; Westbrook, Laurel (August 2009). "Doing Gender, Doing
Heteronormativity: 'Gender Normals,' Transgender People, and the Social Maintenance of
Heterosexuality". Gender & Society 23 (4): 440464 [461]. doi:10.1177/0891243209340034.

3.

Jump up ^ Logie, Carmen; James, Lana; Tharao, Wangari; Loutfy, Mona (2012). "We dont
exist: a qualitative study of marginalization experienced by HIV-positive lesbian, bisexual, queer and
transgender women in Toronto, Canada". Journal of the International AIDS Society 15 (2). Retrieved 17
January 2013.

4.

Jump up ^ Ou Jin Lee, Edward; Brotman, Shari (2011). "Identity, Refugeeness, Belonging:
Experiences of Sexual Minority Refugees in Canada". Canadian Review of Sociology 48 (3): 241274.
doi:10.1111/j.1755-618X.2011.01265.x.

5.

Jump up ^ Green, Eli R. (2006). "Debating Trans Inclusion in the Feminist Movement: A TransPositive Analysis". Journal of Lesbian Studies 10 (1/2): 231248 [247]. doi:10.1300/j155v10n01_12.

6.

^ Jump up to: a b Serano, Julia (2007). Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the
Scapegoating of Femininity. Seal Press. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-58005-154-5.

7.

Jump up ^ Sullivan, Nikki; Murray, Samantha (2009). Somatechnics: queering the

technologisation of bodies. Surrey, England: Ashgate Publishing. p. 17. ISBN 0-7546-7530-0.

8.

Jump up ^ Sigusch, Volkmar (February 1998). "The Neosexual Revolution". Archives of Sexual
Behavior 27 (4): 331359. doi:10.1023/A:1018715525493. PMID 9681118.

9.

Jump up ^ Sigusch, Volkmar (1995). "Transsexueller Wunsch und zissexuelle Abwehr". Psyche
49 (910): 811837. PMID 7480808.

10.

Jump up ^ Green, Eli R. (2006). "Debating Trans Inclusion in the Feminist Movement: A TransPositive Analysis," Journal of Lesbian Studies. Volume: 10 Issue: 1/2. pp. 231248. ISSN 1089-4160

11.

Jump up ^ Pfeffer, Carla (2009). "Trans (Formative) Relationships: What We Learn About
Identities, Bodies, Work and Families from Women Partners of Trans Men". Ph.D dissertation, Department
of Sociology, University of Michigan.

12.

Jump up ^ Williams, Rhaisa (November 2010). "Contradictory Realities, Infinite Possibilities:

Language Mobilization and Self-Articulation Amongst Black Trans Women". Penn McNair Research
Journal 2 (1).

13.

Jump up ^ Drescher, Jack (September 2009). "Queer Diagnoses: Parallels and Contrasts in the
History of Homosexuality, Gender Variance, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual". Archives of
Sexual Behavior 39 (2): 427460. doi:10.1007/s10508-009-9531-5. PMID 19838785.

14.

Jump up ^ Enteen, Jillana (2009). Virtual English: Queer Internets and Digital Creolization
(Volume 6 of Routledge studies in new media and cyberculture). New York City, New York: Taylor &
Francis. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-415-97724-1.

15.

Jump up ^ Serano (2007) also defines cisgender as synonymous with "non-transgender" and
cissexual with "non-transsexual" (p. 33).

16.

Jump up ^ Walls, N. E., & Costello, K. (2010). "Head ladies center for teacup chain": Exploring
cisgender privilege in a (predominantly) gay male context. In S. Anderson and V. Middleton Explorations
in diversity: Examining privilege and oppression in a multicultural society, 2nd ed. (pp. 8193). Belmont,
CA: Brooks/Cole. Quote appears on p.83.

17.

Jump up ^ Brandon Griggs (February 13, 2014). "Facebook goes beyond 'male' and 'female' with
new gender options". Retrieved 2014-02-13.

18.

Jump up ^ The Associated Press. "Facebook's New Gender Identity Options".

19.

Jump up ^ Scott-Dixon, Krista (2009). "Public health, private parts: A feminist public-health
approach to trans issues". Hypatia 24 (3): 3355. doi:10.1111/j.1527-2001.2009.01044.x.

20.

Jump up ^ Marinucci, Mimi (2010). Feminism is Queer: The Intimate Connection between
Queer and Feminist Theory. Zed Books. pp. 125126.

21.

Jump up ^ Domurat Dreger, Alice (2001). Hermaphrodites and the Medical Invention of Sex.
USA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-00189-3.

22.

Jump up ^ Eliminating forced, coercive and otherwise involuntary sterilization, An interagency

statement, World Health Organization, May 2014.

23.

Jump up ^ Inter/Act Youth Inter/Act has been working with MTVs Faking It on... Inter/Act
Youth. Retrieved October 17, 2014.

24.

Jump up ^ Caught in the Gender Binary Blind Spot: Intersex Erasure in Cisgender Rhetoric, Hida
Viloria, August 18, 2014. Retrieved October 17, 2014.

25.

Jump up ^ Intersex for allies, Organisation Intersex International Australia, 8 October 2014.
Retrieved 17 October 2014.

Further reading[edit]

Gorton R., Buth J., and Spade D. Medical Therapy and Health Maintenance for
Transgender Men: A Guide for Health Care Providers. Lyon-Martin Women's Health
Services. San Francisco, CA. 2005. ISBN 0-9773250-0-8

Fausto-Sterling, Anne (2000). Sexing the body: gender politics and the construction of
sexuality. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-07714-5.

External links[edit]
Look up cisgender in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Gender and Sexuality Center FAQ, University of Texas at Austin Division of Diversity
and Community Engagement

The Queer Community Has to Stop Being Transphobic: Realizing My Cisgender

Privilege, Todd Clayton, The Huffington Post, 27 February 2013
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