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Cisgenderism or 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 Western norm, and people who do not conform to the norms of cisgenderism are categorized as transgender and stigmatized. The concept of cisgenderism was proposed as an alternative to that of transphobia, as heterosexism was to homophobia.

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 is defined in opposition to transphobia, as heterosexism is to homophobia. While transphobia focuses on attitudes towards people seen as transgender, cisgenderism is described as an ideology. This ideology is "systemic, multi-level and reflected in authoritative cultural discourses".^[2]^[3] Critique of cisgenderism also criticizes the very distinction between cisgender and transgender people. These concepts arise from Western culture with the gender binary peculiar to it, and are inapplicable to societies with other views on gender. Non-binary and intersex people also cause problems for the cisgender–transgender dichotomy. Therefore, this binary distinction may itself be a result of cisgenderism. The concept of cisgenderism is influenced by critical disability studies as well as critical racism and ethnocentrism studies.^[1]

Characteristics

Cisgenderism relies on the assumption that there are only two sex and gender categories, that gender is unchanging through life, and that it should be assigned by external authorities.^[4] In doing this, it ignores intersex people as well as societies where these assumptions do not hold true. People who do not conform to these assumptions are categorized as transgender.^[5] They are also portrayed as "deviant, immoral, and even threatening". Cisgenderism further justifies prejudice, discrimination, and violence in order to preserve itself.^[6]

Consequences

Cisgenderism has a variety of consequences for its targets, intentionally or not. It may result in people's gender identities being pathologized or seen as disordered. This can contribute to depression, and make mental health care harder to access. It can also marginalize people for their gender identities, leading to strain and higher risks of ridicule and hate crime.^[1] Coercive queering, another manifestation of cisgenderism, is classifying someone as LGBT against their wishes. It may also be lumping transgender rights issues together with lesbian, gay, and bisexual issues without actually addressing problems specific to transgender people.^[7] Misgendering and objectification by reducing people to their physical characteristics are also consequences of cisgenderism.^[7] In addition to these overt consequences of cisgenderism, trans erasure, whereby the challenges transgender people face are not represented in dominant discourses, is also a result of cisgenderism. Passing is a way to avoid consequences of cisgenderism, by outwardly conforming with cisgenderist norms.^[8]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Ansara, Y. Gavriel; Berger, Israel. Cisgenderism. In: Goldberg, Abbie; Beemyn, Gemmy, editors. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies. SAGE Publications; 2021. ISBN 978-1-5443-9381-0.
^ Ansara, Y. Gavriel; Hegarty, Peter. Cisgenderism in psychology: pathologising and misgendering children from 1999 to 2008. Psychology and Sexuality. 2012;3(2):137–160. doi:10.1080/19419899.2011.576696.
^ Kennedy, Natacha (2013). "Cultural cisgenderism: Consequences of the imperceptible". Psychology of Women Section Review. 15 (2): 3–11.
^ Rogers, Michaela M. (October 2021). "Exploring the Domestic Abuse Narratives of Trans and Nonbinary People and the Role of Cisgenderism in Identity Abuse, Misgendering, and Pathologizing". Violence Against Women. 27 (12–13): 2187–2207. doi:10.1177/1077801220971368. ISSN 1077-8012. PMC 8404723. PMID 34448660.
^ Blumer, Markie L. C.; Gavriel Ansara, Y.; Watson, Courtney M. Cisgenderism in Family Therapy: How Everyday Clinical Practices Can Delegitimize People's Gender Self-Designations. Journal of Family Psychotherapy. 2013;24(4):267–285. doi:10.1080/08975353.2013.849551.
^ Lennon, Erica; Mistler, Brian J. Cisgenderism. Transgender Studies Quarterly. 2014;1(1–2):63–64. doi:10.1215/23289252-2399623.
^ ^a ^b Ansara, Y. Gavriel. Challenging cisgenderism in the ageing and aged care sector. Australasian Journal on Ageing. 2015;34(S2):14–18. doi:10.1111/ajag.12278.
^ Rogers, Michaela M. The intersection of cisgenderism and hate crime: learning from trans people's narratives. Journal of Family Strengths. 2017;17(2). doi:10.58464/2168-670X.1352.