Gender

Growing up most of us are taught that the biological sexual identity is only binary: boys or girls. And gradually we accepted this and settled with this knowledge. We also live in a society where “gender” and “sex” are considered a single entity. But these two represent two different aspects: identity and sexuality, and these two are separate entities. The Gingerbread person model is used to simplify biological sex, gender expression, sexuality, and gender identity. This model was created and illustrated by author Sam Killerman who is an LGBT advocate and also writes for “itspronouncedmetrosexual.com”.

This model is a helpful tool that helps to understand the components of genders and sex visually. SOGIESC is a description given by Internal human rights work: Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression, and Sex Characteristic. It does not only describes the difference between gender identity and biological sex but also separate romance and sexual attraction. We need to understand the fact that gender identity and all its aspects are distinct and personal to every individual.

By understanding a gingerbread person model, we can:

Understand various identities which are otherwise confused or misunderstood.
Know about the legal protection and its grounds for different identities.
Get to know about identities in a way that all of us can relate to.
Differentiate between romantic and sexual attraction or relationships.

Understanding the gingerbread person model:

Gender expression: As the name suggests, this aspect allows you to express your gender in a way to communicate with others and especially with yourself. It is done via your clothing, makeup, your act, the way you behave or interact. It is generally interpreted by others based on traditional gender norms such as women wearing skirts and men wearing pants. But gender expression is so much more than this, it is influenced by your gender identity and by your sex, however, it is more flexible. Your gender expression can change from time to time or even frequently without you thinking a lot about it. It lies in your subconscious and you become aware of it long after its commencement.
Biological/Anatomical sex: It consists of anatomy or physical features of the body like chromosomes, genitals, body hair e.t.c. Now, biological sex is a much more complex topic than what is perceived by our society for example a person can have pair of male genitals along with a female reproductive system. There has been a lot of intersex births with mixed genitals and our society still find it difficult to accept other genders than cisgender.
Gender identity: This factor entirely depends on your perception of yourself. It defines how you interpret the chemistry inside your body. It allows you to explore which role do you fit into the society, a man/ a woman or neither of them. It is believed that we form our gender identity around the age of three and after that, it is quite difficult to alter this. The formation of your identity does not only depend on your biological sex but it depends on hormones and the environment.
Attraction: Attraction is based on the sexual orientation of the person. Attraction can be romantic or sexual. Now, sexual orientation defines who you are attracted to spiritually, emotionally and sexually. There are labels for one’s sexual orientation, if men like men, he is called gay, if women like women she is called lesbian, if men like women he is straight and vice versa, if men like both men and women he is called bi-sexual and vice versa. These are the labels that we are generally aware of but there are many more than these such as pansexual (experience attraction without taking gender into account) and asexual (experience romantic attraction but no sexual attraction).

Gender

By understanding a gingerbread person model, we can:

Understanding the gingerbread person model:

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