Gender Identity and Gender Expression: What’s the Difference?

Gender Identity

Gender identity refers to the internal perception of an one’s gender and how they label themselves.

I would say that the vast majority of people identify as cisgender, which means they identify with the sex they were assigned at birth. On the other hand, people who identify as transgender do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth.

Is gender identity different than assigned sex?

Yes!

Oh, you want me to elaborate? Right, of course.

When you were born, a doctor assigned you a sex based on a bunch of medical factors. Most people fall into the male or female categories based on their sexual and reproductive anatomy. For those who do not fit the typical definitions of male and female, they may be described as intersex.

I describe this as “assigned sex” instead of “biological sex” because someone else made that decision for you. A doctor assigned me the sex of female when I was born, which put me down a very gendered path in life that largely caused me grief and pain.

My Gender Identity

I am a genderfluid individual. That means my gender identity shifts along the binary, as well as outside of it completely. I am also an AFAB individual, which means I was assigned female at birth.

Personally, I identify primarily with agender, bigender, and female identities, but not as a male. I made this cool chart to show you how I usually identify:

Genderfluidity is under the transgender umbrella. For a long time, I did not personally identify with the term trans because I didn’t feel trans enough. I didn’t feel like I’d earned the right to use that identifier. I hadn’t fought the same battles and I could pass as cis. Part of my self-love and self-discovery process has been reshaping those thoughts and feelings. I can now proudly say that I am trans, even in the face of gatekeeping.

What does it mean to identify as agender?

For me, agender means that I don’t feel particularly attached to any specific gender. In fact, I feel very disconnected from the entire concept. Imagine me as some sort of genderless goddexx, imbued with the power to transcend preconceived notions about gender.

What does it mean to identify as bigender?

For me, bigender means that I feel both female and male. The two become so intertwined inside of me that I can’t separate them out. Imagine me as a genderful goddexx, imbued with the power to transcend preconceived notions about gender.

Gender Expression

Gender expression refers to the external display of one’s gender. Clothes, make-up, hair, social behavior, demeanor, …etc. There are a million things that go into gender expression.

Traditionally, women are expected to be emotional, home-makers, thin, graceful, dressed/groomed femininely, …insert other stereotypes here. On the flip side, men are expected to be aggressive, breadwinners, muscular, dressed/groomed masculinely, …well, you know the drill.

Feminine expressions are traditionally indicative of women. They include clothes like skirts and dresses, long hair, make-up, and the like.

Masculine expressions are traditionally indicator of men. They include clothes like suits, short hair, and the like.

Androgynous expressions have elements of both femininity and masculinity.

My Gender Expression

An interesting tidbit is that while I do not identify as a male, I do identify with masculine appearances, traits, and roles.

Let’s be real: I usually present like I’ve just rolled out of bed these days. You can often catch me lounging around in leggings, sweatshirts, any clothes I steal from Alex (thanks, babe!)… etc.

However, when I do go out into the world and actually care what I look like, I definitely have a certain look that I go for. Most of my clothing is androgynous or masculine. I really like to shop in the “men’s” section. I own a chest binder that I love and use frequently. Presenting masculinely is usually when I feel my best.

That isn’t to say that I never present femininely. Those instances are just once every few blue moons. I do, though, enjoy lace, fishnets, and corsets. Maybe it’s a remnant of my dancing days and a reminder of what I want to get back to. I will confuse you further by telling you that I do not consider those items to be feminine. If anything, I feel almost hyper-masculine while wearing them. I think it’s because I feel powerful when I wear that kind of stuff and I intrinsically associate masculinity with power. That’s something to unpack another time, but it’s how I feel.

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Re-Cap

Gender identity and gender expression are entirely separate concepts. While they both can go hand-in-hand sometimes because your identity often drives your expression, they are not the same!

These are not as simple as you may have been led to believe. Trust me, as someone who lives this, it’s very complicated! Just reading this one post will not make you an expert. If you’re interested in learning more, I highly encourage you to look more into this!

Feel free to check out some of my other posts in this series! You can find my last post, a tell-all about my gender and sexuality, here!

Quick Vocabulary List

• AFAB: assigned female at birth
• AMAB: assigned male at birth
• Androgyny: a gender expression that has elements of both masculinity and femininity
• Assigned sex: sex assigned at birth, typically by a medical professional, based upon sexual and reproductive anatomy
• Binder: an undergarment used to alter or reduce the appearance of one’s breasts
• Cisgender: when someone’s sex assigned at birth and gender identity correspond in the expected way
• Femininity: a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with girls and women
• Gatekeeping: the process of excluding transgender people from resources or spaces by demanding they “prove” their gender identity
• Gender: society’s expectations, standards, and characteristics about how individuals are supposed to act in relation to their sex
• Gender binary: the idea that there are only two genders and that every person is one of those two
• Gender expression: the external display of one’s gender, through a combination of clothing, grooming, demeanor, social behavior, and other factors, generally made sense of on scales of masculinity and femininity
• Gender identity: the internal perception of an one’s gender, and how they label themselves, based on how much they align or don’t align with what they understand their options for gender to be
• Genderfluid: a gender identity characterized by shifting along, or outside of, the gender binary
• Masculinity: a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with boys and men
• Transgender: when someone’s sex assigned at birth and gender identity does not correspond in with socially-defined gender norms

Note: I took most of these definitions from this list. It is not the end-all and be-all of definitions, but I feel that it’s a good starting point for learning about the terminology.