Androgynous

An androgynous person has both masculine and feminine traits, whether in bodily characteristics, clothing, mannerisms, or general presentation. Maia emself begins to cultivate a more androgynous, rather than strictly masculine, appearance later in the memoir.

Asexual

An asexual person experiences little or no sexual attraction to people of any gender and demonstrates little interest in sexual activity. In Gender Queer, Maia never fully declares emself asexual, but does consider the term more than once and admits to liking the asexual pride flag the best. E is never fulfilled by dating and even goes on dates primarily as a social experiment, hoping to understand what the fuss is all about. 

Bisexual

A bisexual person experiences attraction to people of more than one gender. As Maia enters adolescence, e finds emself attracted to people of a wide variety of gender presentation. In early high school, Maia develops a crush on a masculine-presenting woman who uses a male name. Maia’s apparent bisexuality sometimes sits in tension with eir feelings of asexuality. In the end, Maia never officially declares emself bisexual or asexual, instead leaving eir sexuality open-ended. 

Cisgender

A cisgender person identifies with the sex or gender they were assigned at birth. Cis is a Latin preposition meaning “on this side.” Maia knows from a very early age that e isn’t cisgender, even if e doesn’t learn the term until later. However, Maia struggles to figure out whether e might be transgender but eventually identifies as nonbinary or genderqueer.

Gender

Distinct from sex, which concerns genital and other biological characteristics, gender is the social and cultural performance of femininity, masculinity, androgyny, and other possibilities. A main theme of Gender Queer is that gender is learned through the reinforcement of social protocols. 

Genderqueer

A genderqueer person has a fluid gender identity and understands themselves as being beyond the gender binary. A genderqueer person might identity as neither female nor male, as both female and male, or as something else altogether. Genderqueer is a capacious term that can denote anyone who is not cisgender and who resists being identified exclusively with either of the binary categories of male or female. In Gender Queer, Maia uses the term nonbinary more or less synonymously with genderqueer.

Gender Dysphoria

Gender dysphoria is a feeling of significant discomfort, stress, or trauma prompted by a sense of misalignment between a person’s gender identity and the gender they were assigned at birth. Gender dysphoria can take many different forms and can be felt at varying levels of intensity. Maia uses the term during eir second Pap smear appointment to explain to the physician why e’s been putting off the exam.

Nonbinary

A nonbinary person identifies as neither male nor female. As the name implies, to be nonbinary is to reject the two-part gender binary of male and female and to acknowledge other gender possibilities for oneself. 

Sex

Distinct from gender, which concerns the social and cultural performance of femininity, masculinity, androgyny, or other possibilities, sex denotes the genital and/or other biological characteristics (including chromosomes and hormones) of a person. While society often treats sex and gender as overlapping concepts, Maia’s experiences throughout Gender Queer show that these categories do not always map onto one another in predictable ways. Research done by the neurophilosopher Patricia Churchland complicates the categories of both sex and gender and offers scientific explanations for nonbinary identity.

Spivak Pronouns

Deriving from the work of mathematician Michael Spivak, Spivak pronouns are gender neutral and take the form e/em/eir. Some nonbinary and genderqueer people, including Maia, prefer Spivak pronouns over the more typical nonbinary pronouns they/them/their. When Maia is first introduced to Spivak pronouns, e feels a tingle down eir spine because these forms of address finally feel right. 

Transgender

A transgender person does not identify with the sex or gender they were assigned at birth. Trans is a Latin preposition meaning “across,” “beyond,” or “on the other side.” When Maia first learns the word “transgender” in the summer before high school, e struggles to determine whether this is the most fitting label for em. E knows e isn’t a girl but has to reconcile eir bisexuality or possible asexuality with eir gender confusion. For some trans people, transitioning means moving from one side of the gender binary to the other (i.e., female to male), while for others transitioning simply means moving away from the sex or gender assigned at birth and would thus include nonbinary or genderqueer people.

Take a Study Break