CHAPTER 1

Gender 101: SOGIE

A Presentation for GE Gender and Society
In this chapter, we answer
these Gender 101 questions:
1. How is gender different from sex?
2. What is gender identity?
3. What is gender expression?
4. What are gender roles?
5. What is the gender binary?
6. What is gender nonconformity?
7. What does it mean to be
transgender?
8. What does it mean to be intersex?
9. What does gender have to do with
sexuality?
How is gender
different from
sex?
How is gender different from sex?
• Sex refers to biological
characteristics, and gender is a
multifaceted aspect of one’s
identity.
• Sex is typically assigned at birth as • Typical sex development: Those
either male or female depending
on the appearance of genitals.
• There are individuals who are
intersex, meaning that their bodies
do not fully match our expectations
of what female or male bodies are.
with XX chromosomes are
expected to grow with ovaries, a
vagina, a vulva, and a clitoris. Those
with XY chromosomes grow to have
what?
How is gender different from sex?
• Just as we are assigned a sex at • Being raised as girls or boys means
birth, we are also assigned a people assign us gender roles—
gender role, and our assigned positions and responsibilities
gender roles generally reflect our expected of us based on our
assigned sex. assigned gender.

• Those with vulva are raised and • Note that these gender roles can
expected to be girls, and those with vary from country to country and
penis are raised and expected to even within countries.
boys.
How is gender different from sex?
• Aspects of our • Gender/SOGIE is an amalgamation of several
sex are elements: chromosomes (those X’s and Y’s),
biological, while anatomy (internal sex organs and external
“gender” is so genitals), hormones (relative levels of
much more. testosterone and estrogen), psychology (self-
defined gender identity and patterns of
attraction), and culture (socially defined gender
behaviors). (Henig, 2017)
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/
article/how-science-helps-us-understand-
gender-identity
Gender is a complex psychosocial construct.
• Distribution of power in political,
Institutionalized education, and other social institutions
• Shapes gender norms

Relations • Interpersonal interactions

• e.g., family, workplace dynamics

• Societal expectations (parents, peers,

Roles schools and teachers)
• Career you pursue, your role in the family

• Being cisgender, transgender, or nonbinary

SOGIE • Being feminine, masculine, or others
• Sexual characteristics, sexual orientation
What is gender
identity?
What is gender identity?
• Gender identity is our self- • What really makes someone a man
conception of who we are—our or a woman? Is it our physical
innermost sense of being a man, a sexual characteristics?
woman, or something else entirely.
• Gender identity is how our brain
• For some people, gender identity is thinks about ourselves as
consistent with their sex assigned gendered beings, and what those
at birth, leading people to believe genders mean to us regardless of
that sex and gender should be what body parts we (or do not)
congruent. possess.
What is gender identity?
• General types of people based on • As early as 3 years old,
gender identity: toddlers already have a sense
1. Cisgender people – congruent sex of gender identity.
and gender identity
2. Transgender people – incongruent
sex and gender identity; people who • Despite having it early on,
tend to feel they are “born in the gender identity is not always
wrong body” expressed in words or actions.
3. Non-binary people – identifying with Why is this so?
both men and women or a gender
that is neither
What is gender
expression?
What is gender expression?
• Gender expression is a term
used to describe a person’s
outward appearance.
• Characteristics that are
commonly gendered include
clothing, jewelry, and hair
length and style; also
includes activities, interests,
and mannerisms that are
observable.
• Gender expressions vary with culture:
1. Masculinity – Presentation in ways a
culture associates with being a man.
2. Femininity – Presentation in ways a
culture associates with being a
woman.
3. Androgyny – A combination of
masculine and feminine traits or a
nontraditional gender expression.
What is gender expression?
• Important note: Gender • Consider crying. It is a sign of
expression may or may not emotional vulnerability in many
correspond with gender identity. cultures today, but it used to be sign
of heroism in feudal Japan.
• Gender expression varies
depending on the cultural What other behaviors are examples of gender
context and time. expressions that vary across cultures?
Brad Pitt
2022
Harry Styles, 2020
 What can you say about this?
What does this say about gender?
What are
gender roles?
What are gender roles?
• Gender roles are those spoken
and unspoken duties that are
assigned to a person based on
their sex or gender.
• Gender roles not only vary
throughout the globe and over time Cleopatra).
but also within a particular
community.
• In 1870 in the US, women worked
as miners, steelworkers, hunters,
locksmiths.
• In ancient Egypt, there were
powerful women who held highest
positions of leadership (e.g.,
• In precolonial Philippines, we used
to have female leaders called
babaylans (who were warriors,
healers, priestesses, and sages).
What are gender roles?
• Important: Gender roles
are fluid.
• However, within a specific
culture, as one strays from
the norms of accepted
gender roles, skepticism
and devaluing are
common.
• In the Philippines, what are the usual reactions
of people when they see someone deviating
from their expected gender roles?
1. Cisgender woman becoming a Chief of police
force
2. Cisgender man using a tote bag
3. Transgender woman joining the Miss
Universe pageant
4. Transgender man singing a feminine ballad
song.
5. Non-binary person being just themselves, not
harming anybody
What is the
gender binary?
What is the gender binary?
• The gender binary refers to a • When we think about sex or gender
structure of understanding wherein in a binary system, we tend to
sex and gender are viewed as identify characteristics that are
consisting of only two choices— exclusive to one or the other,
male/ female, man/ woman, rather than traits that many people
masculine/ feminine—with across different genders share.
nothing in between.
What is the gender binary?
• Why is it that our society seems to • Throughout history, multiple
maintain the gender binary? The genders are recognized.
answer is related to power or
social influence.
• A significant number of people
have begun to use words like non-
• The gender binary is so ingrained in binary or genderqueer to describe
our culture that most of us do not themselves. They may see
notice or question it. Even the way themselves as androgynous or
we speak is inherently binary. gender neutral, or they may oppose
the strict boundaries of binary
gendering.
What is gender
nonconformity?
 Do you know these people?

https://www.pep.ph/lifestyle/celebrations/174022/10-transgender-celebrities-in-philippine-showbiz-a5128-20230628-lfrm
 Gretchen Custodio Diez, a
transgender woman, was
prevented from using a women’s
restroom by a janitress who
insisted that she use the men’s
restroom. This is in 2019. She
was arrested by police.

The janitress then said: “May

utin ka pa rin. Tandaan mo
‘yan (You still have a penis.
Remember that).”

https://www.rappler.com/nation/237698-transgender-woman-arrested-after-blocked-using-women-restroom-cubao/
What is gender nonconformity?
• Gender nonconformity refers to the • What are examples of
experience of someone who does not gender nonconforming
identify or express the culturally accepted behaviors that you can
set of gendered behaviors or actions think of?
associated with the sex they were assigned
at birth.

• Some people describe their gender identity

as gender nonconforming, or GNC.
What is gender expression?
• Important: People who
demonstrate gender
nonconforming behaviors
may identify in a variety of
ways, including as cisgender,
transgender, or nonbinary.
• However, many people who
identify themselves as GNC
often see themselves as
falling under the transgender
umbrella.
• They also use other terms, such as
1. Nonbinary (not identifying as a man or
a woman)
2. Agender (not having a gender)
3. Bigender (identifying as man and
woman)
4. Multigender (multiple genders)
5. Genderfluid (fluid or changing gender
identity)
6. Genderqueer (another word to identify
outside of the binary)
What is gender nonconformity?
• To respectfully use the correct
gender identity for someone, it is
usually best to ask them
directly.
• Misgendering someone can cause
discomfort on the person.
How to use singular They
1. As a nonbinary personal
pronoun
2. As a universal gender-neutral
pronoun
3. As an indefinite pronoun when a
person’s self-identified gender is
unknown.
Saguy, A. C., & Williams, J. A. (2022). A Little Word That Means A Lot: A Reassessment of Singular
They in a New Era of Gender Politics. Gender & Society, 36(1), 5–31.
https://doi.org/10.1177/08912432211057921
What does it
mean to be
transgender?
What does it mean to be transgender?
• Transgender refers to someone
who identifies with a gender that is
outside the expectations
associated with the sex they were
assigned at birth.
• Men born with vulvas and ovaries
are transgender men or
transmen, while women born with
penises and testes are
transgender women or
transwomen.

• Do we consider transwomen as women?

What does it mean to be transgender?
• Important notes:
1. Being transgender is separate
from being gay, lesbian, or
nonbinary. They should not be
confused with one another.
2. Being transgender is not a
“extreme version” of being gay.
3. It is not a result of some trauma,
poor parenting, or abuse.
• Transgender identity remains to be
stigmatized in many societies,
which is why young children who
are GNCs cause distress to
parents and caretakers.
• These young children who are
GNCs experience anxiety, getting
warned of embarrassment.
What does it mean to be transgender?
• Note: • Gender identity can be closely
1. Many masculine-presenting girls, related to gender expression, but
or tomboys, do not grow up to be they are not necessarily
transgender. equivalent.
2. Many feminine boys do not grow
up to be trans girls. • How do we know when someone is
3. Not all transgender young people transgender?
demonstrate gender- • If your answer is cross-dressing, you
are wrong.
nonconforming behaviors.
• If your answer is sex reassignment,
you are wrong also.
What does it
mean to be
intersex?
What does it mean to be intersex?
• Intersex people are those whose • Some physicians categorize
sexual or reproductive organs
develop differently than the typical
male or female pathways.
• The antiquated term
hermaphrodite is now considered
offensive.
intersex people as having
“disorders of sex development.” A
less pathologizing phrase is
“differences of sex
development.”
• Most intersex people are healthy,
and their only major differences
from others are in their sexual or
reproductive organs.
What does it mean to be intersex?
• Intersex people are those whose • Some physicians categorize
sexual or reproductive organs
develop differently than the typical
male or female pathways.
• The antiquated term
hermaphrodite is now considered
offensive.
intersex people as having
“disorders of sex development.” A
less pathologizing phrase is
“differences of sex
development.”
• Most intersex people are healthy,
and their only major differences
from others are in their sexual or
reproductive organs.
https://agentsofishq.com/post/intersex
What does it mean to be intersex?
• Some intersex people consider Questions to ponder:
themselves to be part of the LGBTQ 1. Is being intersex a disease or a medical
spectrum, while others do not. condition?
2. Is being intersex a type of gender?
• Longer forms of the abbreviation 3. Are transgender people and intersex
people the same?
often include the word intersex
(i.e., LGBTQIA, which is sometimes 4. Are intersex people automatically gay
or lesbian?
expanded to mean lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, queer,
intersex, and asexual).
What does
gender have to
do with
sexuality?
What does gender have to do with sexuality?
• Gender identity refers to our own • Sexuality, or sexual orientation,
sense of how we see ourselves, is an enduring pattern of romantic
while sexuality is defined as the or sexual attraction (or a
gender or genders of the people we combination of these) to persons
are attracted to. of the opposite sex or gender, the
same sex or gender, or to both
sexes or more than one gender.
What does gender have to do with sexuality?
• The sexual orientation spectrum:
1. Heterosexual (or straight):
people who get attracted to
opposite sex or gender
2. Homosexual (or gay/lesbian):
people who get attracted to the
same sex or gender
3. Bisexual: people who get
attracted to both sexes or
genders.
4. Pansexual or queer: People
whose attractions span across
many different gender identities
5. Questioning/curious: People
who are unsure about their
sexual orientation
6. Asexual: People who don't
experience any sexual attraction
for anyone.
What does gender have to do with sexuality?
• Sexuality, or sexual orientation,
is an enduring pattern of
romantic or sexual attraction (or
a combination of these) to persons
of the opposite sex or gender, the
same sex or gender, or to both
sexes or more than one gender.
• It can be independent from a
person’s gender identity and
expression.
Sexual activities, regardless of
gender identity; usually by so-called
“sex workers”, can be independent
as well from gender:
• MSM: men who have sex with men
• WSW/FSF: women who have sex
with men or female who have sex
with female
• Heterosexual sex: individual who
engages in sexual activity with
another of opposite gender
Illustration of SOGIE, present in all
human persons
1. SEX (S) – Biological aspects of
gender, usually the genitalia
2. SEXUAL ORIENTATION (O) – Patterns
of emotional/romantic attraction to
other persons
3. GENDER IDENTITY (GI) – Cognition
or belief of one’s identity (brain)
4. GENDER EXPRESSION (E) – Outward
observable behaviors
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/how-science-helps-us-understand-gender-identity
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S074152142100656X
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S074152142100656X
IN CLOSING
• SOGIE is an inclusive terminology
to refer to human persons’
complex gender-related and
sexuality-related identities.
• SOGIE components can be
independent of one another, which
means that: Sex ≠ Sexual
Orientation ≠ Gender Identity ≠
Gender Expression
Take home lesson
Modern science has offered
insights for us to understand
that gender is not a rigid
dichotomy but is a spectrum
and has various facets. This
brings us to SOGIE, and this
necessitates a shift towards
greater acceptance and
respect for diverse Sexual
Orientation, Gender Identity,
and Expression (SOGIE).

What’s yours?
Thank you for listening!
Raymon “Sir Monch” P. Española | respanola1@ssct.edu.ph
Surigao del Norte State University, Surigao City, Philippines
CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS
How does language influence
our perceptions of SOGIE, and
what are the implications of the
words and terms we choose to
use when discussing gender
and sexuality?
What are the potential
psychological effects on
individuals when their SOGIE is
not recognized or respected by
their community or society?
What would be the legal/ethical
implications of recognizing or
failing to recognize diverse
SOGIE in various societal
institutions, such as education,
healthcare, and the workplace?
How should educational
systems adapt to
accommodate and support
diverse SOGIE among students
and staff, and what challenges
might arise in this process?