Cisgenderism

Cisgenderism, a construct related to but distinct from writing on cissexism, is an ideology that challenges people's gender identities and thus leads to discrimination against gender variant people. It is systematic, and reflected in culture and the practices of legal authorities. Cisgenderism includes normative ideas about gender, which lead to the exclusion of intersex people and cultures with systems of gender different from the Eurocentric norm, and people who do not conform to the norms of cisgenderism are categorized as transgender, nonbinary, gender fluid, etc.

Definition

The SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies defines cisgenderism as an ideology that "involves concepts, language, and behavior that problematize people's own definitions and classifications of their genders and bodies".^[1] Cisgenderism is systematic and may be promoted by the practices of legal authorities. It can affect all people, including those considered cisgender, but more often targets transgender people.^[1]

Cisgenderism refers to the gender ideology that one's assigned sex classification and their gender identity are, or should be, aligned in a specific way. This concept of cisgenderism was created as a critique of this gender ideology. In a cisgenderist perspective, people's own understanding of their gender is treated as less authoritative than gender classifications imposed by external authorities. Cisgenderism is an "-ism" in the sense of being a form of systemic oppression that affects public policy, legislation, and societal norms. Work in the field of cisgenderism, including Ansara and Hegarty (2012), critiques the cisgender / transgender binary for treating people's genders as more or less valid depending on external classifications of gender.

• Systemic bias

References