I only understand LGBT and I cannot for the life of me understand how there are more than 2 genders. What is Pansexual, ah its so confusing.
It's my understanding that when people say there are more than two genders, they don't mean like male, female, and something else like alien. Gender is a continuum, or slider with M and F on either side, and a person's identity may be a mix of masculine and feminine traits. Bi and pan are different in inclusiveness of these non-absolute identities. I call myself bi because it's easier than having to explain this to anyone who's curious. But really it means one is attracted to males and females, in some proportion, with little exception. Pansexuality includes those who consider themselves genderqueer, genderfluid, etc. The difference can appear subtle because of how comparatively rare these people are, and rarer still that they are bold/safe enough to express themselves how they wish in public. I think my moment sort of came when I quit worrying about if I'm gay, straight, or whatever and having to follow those expectations. Instead I decided "I like whom I like" and from that point on, gender expression stopped being a boundary for attraction. It was a marvelous day.
That's alright, we all learn a thing or two. First off, try and think of gender as a spectrum rather than a binary. I cannot stress this enough. Often we think in very black and white terms of "male or female" when this isn't necessarily the case. I don't believe it is wrong to generalize gender into primarily male and female, though, seeing as how over 90% of the population is cis-gendered (meaning you identify with the gender you were assigned at birth, based on your genitalia). As long as you don't claim that generality as an absolute. The brain is not so simple, however. Many people exist somewhere in the gray or overlapping area between male and female - either physically, neurologically, or psychologically. How gender exactly works is still an area of scientific intrigue so not much can be "proved." But just as you know that you are attracted to men, so others know they are a different gender than what their bodies at birth suggested. It is as simple as that. A brief and simple list of gender identities you may have seen floating around I will attempt to address below: > transgender male Someone assigned female at birth but who identifies as a male (or masculine person). > transgender female Someone assigned male at birth but who identifies as a female (or feminine person). > intersex Someone born with ambiguous genitalia, and may identify as male, female, both, or neither. > genderfluid/bigender Someone whose gender shifts between male and female or is simultaneously male and female. > agender Someone who identifies as genderless. These are some examples and is not a comprehensive list. The point I'm trying to make is that gender is a >>spectrum>> and NOT a || binary ||. You don't have to memorize or even understand all the potential identities out there, the only thing that is important is simple respect. Someone says they're a guy, girl, neither, both? The best thing you can do is to accept them. Smile, shake their hand, call them by their chosen name and pronouns. It makes all the difference in the world. Pansexuality simply means "gender blind." It is essentially a sub-type of bisexuality. The difference is that pan-identifying people tend to have attraction for any type of person without regard to said person's gender - including all those in the trans* umbrella. Bisexual people differentiate between male or female, and do not always feel attraction to trans* individuals.
I'd actually say that gender is more like a big glob of different colours all mixing together. The different labels aren't really important, just remember that there isn't just male and female/man and woman. This is how most people's body's are, but the gender in people's minds are sometimes different. If someone says they are neither male or female, then try to not see them as male or female, or however they may look on the outside. Just treat them like anyone else except without the label. Maybe, for example, someone tells you they are demi boy. This means they identify as mostly male. So treat them as such, but respect and take into account that they don't identify as 100% a boy/man. As long as you treat every transgender person as a human being like anyone else, then you should be fine. If you look around, there's a pretty much endless list of different gender identitys, so don't feel like you have to know all of them.
I agree, Kodo did do a very good job of explaining. I learned something new and have a better understanding of it myself!
