The Gender-bread Person
How one image can help explain gender identity, gender expression, sex, and sexual orientation for everyone.
Gender identity has certainly been a hot topic in recent years, especially in some parts of the United States with the passing of very controversial laws. Even with the launch of Pride Month 2023, the LGBTQIA+ community will be utilising this month to push education, support and to celebrate sexuality and gender diversity.
With the rise of acceptance in sexuality and gender identity/transitioning, it can be difficult for some to fully understand certain terms associated within the LGBT+ community. Some may not be able to discern the differences between sex and gender, others might not yet understand the diverse nature of gender, and that’s okay. These things are not naturally taught in schools or talked about in the typical workplace, so unless you or your close ones are a part of the LGBT+ community, or you have taken it upon yourslef to keep yourself updated, it can be understood why all these terms and “rules” can be overwhelming at first glance.
There is however a simple and straightforward way to see the whole concept of gender identity, sex, gender expression, and sexual orientation all in one image. Meet the Gender-bread person:
The Gender-bread Person, created by Sam Killermann, is a visual tool that helps educate people about the concept of gender. The above gender-bread person visually demonstrates that one's identity, attraction, expression, and sex are all seperate elements as a part of an individual. Below is a more in-depth explanation of what each of these terms involve and what they mean.
Gender Identity
Your social identity is a sense of belonging to the groups and communities that you are in. Your different identities may play a role in how you and the people around you perceive you. In regard to gender, your gender identity is how you define and express yourslef in the boundaries of gender. Most people identify their gender by their sex assigned at birth, for example, if you were born with a penis, you’re most likely to identify as a male. However, others may transition their gender from what they were assigned at birth, these individuals are known as transgender. Furthermore, gender identity can also range outside of the man/women binary, this is also known as “genderqueer”.
Gender Expression
Gender expression is how you express yourself, as you. You may express your gender identity by physical characteristics, such as hair length, clothes, or makeup. You may also express your gender using pronouns (he/she/they). Gendered characteristics are very stereotypical, so feminine characteristics may be associated with long hair and dresses, while masculine characteristics may be associated with short hair and suit and ties. It is important to note that, although these stereotypes, anyone can have masculine or feminine characteristics, regardless of thier sex or gender identity.
Biological sex
Biological sex are the genetic components that shape your biology from birth, such as your genitals, hormone levels, and your natural pitch of voice. Typically, biological sex is binary, meaning that people are born biologically male or female. However, a fair number of individuals are born with mixed or both reproductive systems from the two sexes, these individuals are known to be intersex. People can go their whole lives without realising that they are intersex, so they are typically labelled, along with everyone else, by their external genitals from birth (penis = male, vagina = female).
Attraction
Attraction refers to the people that you feel romantically and/or sexually attracted to. This is also known as sexual orientation. People can be heterosexual (the attraction towards the opposite sex), homosexual (the attraction towards the same sex), bisexual or pansexual (the attraction towards both or more genders), or asexual (the attraction to nobody). Attraction may also not be as straight forward as thought, for example, some people may only be romantically attracted to the same sex, and only sexually attracted to the opposite sex at the same time. Some may also not want to label themselves as “gay” or “pansexual” for their own reasons, for example, they may not know what their sexuality is yet, and that’s okay. A lot of people label themselves as “queer”, which is an umbrella term used to describe someone as “not straight”.
The gender-bread person has been a great educational tool for us that has helped explain these different terms and elements within us, it has definitely taught me a thing or two as someone from the LGBT+ community. If you haven't already, it might be fun to think about yourself in this context, how do you express your gender? Who are you sexually/romantically attracted to? Before writing this post, I never considered the possibility that someone could be both sexually and romantically attracted to different genders at the same time.
I’d love to hear if you have learnt anything, or if you have anything of value to share below, I sure hope I have all the information above correct. One question I do want to ask my audience is, do you think the gender-bread person should be taught in schools? At what age should young people be introduced to this visual tool? All your thoughts and opinions are welcome :D
Thanks for reading!
Thank you for reading and educating yourself, especially during Pride Month 2023. I hope the information above was easy and straight forward to understand.
Welcome to my new followers, Jhon Chena Eguwaii., Elisabeth Roberts, George T Marvin, and S M Mamunur Rahman. It’s so great that you’re here, I’m looking forward to seeing your posts!
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