Have you ever wondered about your gender? Does it stay the same, or change occasionally? Is there a set way to define yourself, or do we have to stop thinking in black and white? Currently, everyone, especially the young generations is having a lot of discussions like these. One concept that has gained attention is ‘gender fluidity’. Let’s keep up with the world and find out more about it.
What is Gender Fluid?
A person is considered cisgender if their gender identification corresponds to the sex listed on their original birth certificate, whether it be male or female. The term “gender fluidity” describes how a person’s gender expression, gender identity, or both can alter over time. Before settling on a more solid gender expression or identity, some young people may use gender fluidity as a way to explore their gender. Others may always feel gender fluidity as a component of their gender identity.
The ‘gender fluid’ identity falls within the category of transgender and nonbinary identities, which include persons whose gender identity differs from the sex shown on their original birth certificate. Being nonbinary refers to a person whose gender identification defies conventional definitions of male or female. Not everyone who experiences changes in their gender expression or identity identifies as gender-fluid. Furthermore, not everyone wants to undergo surgical procedures that would transform their body to more closely conform to their gender identity.
The Development of Gender Identity
Gender identity starts developing at an early age, usually when a child is about 2 or 3 years old. That stage of early childhood becomes significantly important in the life cycle of the child as they begin to comprehend and conceptualize their own gender identity. However, all these critical processes involved in the formation of gender identity are influenced by several social contexts.
The family directly influences the gender of the child. The requirements and expectations of the expression of gender and how to identify oneself differ from one family to another. This can be a source of support or constraint among children to explore and express gender. Community plays a very key role in deciding the gender identity of any child. Thus, these social norms and expectations of gender either facilitate or trigger the child’s developing identity in the community.
For example, a traditional gender-role society can reject children’s participation in any activities of life that are deemed to be “unmasculine” or “unfeminine.” An equal society can enable the creation of an open social space for children to acquire their gender in a way that best suits them.
Overlapping of Social Contexts
The interaction of children with more than one social context may, therefore create a contradictory complex setting for developing their gender identities. For instance, a child may be educated in a family context that generally appreciates diversity and inclusiveness but their school is rather more traditional of views on gender. There is therefore conflict when this child comes to express themselves differently in different contexts.
Evolution of Gender Identity Over the Lifecycle
For example, most people know their gender identity or expression pretty early in life and are generally stable over time. In others, gender may change; such changes can happen virtually at any time during a person’s life. However, most of the time, these tendencies arise during early infancy, childhood, and adolescence-the times of life when people often grow and develop at a fast pace, at which stage they may ask themselves and seek to learn about their gender identity, thus leading to a change either in expression or in identity.
Effect on Mental Health
Every community has standards for what constitutes “normal.” Being gender-fluid puts a young person at higher risk of bias and discrimination since it defies the conventional notion that certain characteristics of personality form early in life and don’t change over time. Gender-fluid youth may also experience harassment from some transgender community members who believe they are “not transgender.” For those with rigid gender stereotypes, witnessing a young person dress more feminine one day and macho the next may be perplexing or even frightening.
Support and Acceptance
We, as a society, should provide a supporting environment in which individuals can investigate and explore themselves. This may include the development of a safe, inclusive space in which people feel comfortable in sharing their feelings and concerns; access to any resources and support services like therapy and counselling can assist in the journey of exploration of gender identity. We have to understand that gender is a spectrum, establishing a feeling of acceptance towards the youth.
A case study
Diamond’s 2020 research indicates that there is an increasing number of children and adolescents reporting gender identities or expressions that are different from the gender assigned to them at birth. But this doesn’t mean that gender fluidity is a new phenomenon, rather, it confirms that there is a new word in our vocabularies that accurately describes the experience and is being acknowledged by the world. Here is a case of a woman who identifies as gender fluid.
The 26-year-old Carla Hernando has never really felt like they belong in one gender. After Covid-19 took hold in March 2020, they had a lot of time to themselves to consider who they were. Their perspectives expanded beyond the binary classification of “woman” or “man.” The phrase “gender fluid” was another discovery made. Hernando thought that it described their gender identification even more accurately. They describe the experience as feeling feminine one day, and relatively masculine on other occasions. It was Hernando’s lived experience of gender fluidity—dressing more femininely one day, wearing a binder the next—that finally led them to realize that the word applied to them.
Gender identity becomes established while going through many social processes. We should create a supportive and inclusive environment for others to explore and express themselves. In this manner, we can further better contribute to the more subtle compassionate understanding of gender identity and expression.
FAQs
Q1. What Distinguishes Gender Neutrality from Fluidity?
A person who identifies as gender fluid embraces the idea of gender identity and gender expression as being flexible. They may identify as either one of the genders or not at all. People of any gender can be described as gender-neutral. As the name implies, gender neutrality does not define sexual orientations or gender identities.
Q2. What’s the difference between gender-fluid and transgender?
A person is considered transgender if they identify with a different gender than the one assigned to them at birth, and this identity remains consistent over time. On the other hand, a person is considered gender-fluid if their gender identity or expression changes over time, such as identifying with different genders at different points in life.
Q3. Could it be a phase?
Being gender fluid implies that you have the flexibility to alter how you identify. This does not imply that the individual is no longer gender flexible. That’s something only they can decide.
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