Defining Gender, Sex, and Transgender: Interrogating the Complexities of Perceptions and Identities

• In Event: Decolonizing Data: Navigating Gender, Sex, and Indigenous Knowledge in Research

Abstract

This study examines how individuals define gender, sex, and transgender identities through a mixed methods analysis. Responses were categorized into typologies to identify patterns in how higher education staff made meaning of the terms ‘sex’, ‘gender’, and ‘transgender’. Our data reveal complexities in understanding and articulating these concepts, highlighting distinctions between internal identity and external societal constructs. Our analysis underscores a range of nuanced ways individuals navigate and define gender and sex while also accounting for transgender identities. For example, responses to defining gender revealed a spectrum of discernment highlighting both internal and external aspects of identity. Responses focused on gender as a deeply personal, self-defined aspect.

Authors

• Kari J. Dockendorff, Colorado State University

• Nick Fahnders, Colorado State University