What is gender identity?
Gender identity is a deep personal sense of being male, female, both or neither. Sometimes a person’s sex assigned at birth may not match their inner experience. A person’s sex is not the same as a person’s gender. Sex refers to the biological traits which a person is born with. Gender refers to the inner experience of the person.
Gender identity is based on the way you feel about yourself and how you express that to others. A person may identify with any of the following pronouns; She/Her, He/Him, They/Them. However, these pronouns do not necessarily define a person’s gender. The most important thing to remember is that we use a person’s preferred pronoun to show respect and support everyone’s differences.
Why is gender identity important?
Gender is important because it has implications for the expectations we have of one another, what it means to be a mother, a father, or a partner. Gender matters because of stereotypes that we all hold. These stereotypes carry into all facets of life; work, education, and the economy. To justify these stereotypes and inequities, society has developed beliefs that rationalise these sexist institutions. Gender is important not just as an identity or as a stereotype. It is at the centre of how our social world is founded. Like how every society has a political or economic structure, there is also a gender structure. These beliefs influence our attitudes and behaviour towards others and helps to explain why we may include or exclude certain gender identities in society.
Gender is important beyond understanding or respecting an individual’s identity. For example, in the U.S., many people who identify with the queer community and their associated gender identities are less likely to have housing, health insurance and are more likely to experience violence because of their identity. Furthermore, advocacy groups, medical groups and politicians need to work together to shift cultures and create policies that benefit everyone. This requires widespread understanding and respect for how everyone shows up and identifies in the world.
What is gender equality?
Gender equality is when people of all gender identities have equal rights, responsibilities and equal opportunities. Gender inequality impacts everyone- men, women, transgender, non-binary and all other diverse gender identities. Gender equality is important because it prevents violence towards women and young girls. Gender equality is also essential for economic growth. When societies value all genders as equal, everyone becomes safer and healthier. Having gender equality is a human right and benefits everyone.
Conclusion
Gender identity is a deep personal sense of being male, female, both or neither. Gender identity is based on the way you feel about yourself and how you express that to others. Gender is important not just as an identity or as a stereotype. It is at the centre of how our social world is founded. When societies value all genders as equal, everyone becomes safer and healthier. Having gender equality is a human right and benefits everyone.
The best companies understand how important diversity and inclusion is. We help them become great at it through scientific measurement of their organisations culture. inclusio is a science-based, data-led diversity and inclusion platform, designed to measure, track and action diversity and inclusion across your organisation.