Gender Bender. It's been quite some time since I last wrote about gender, so let's begin by defining what the terms mean: Gender refers to your own identity as a woman or a man, so, if you're a girl, you are a female and you are a woman. Same with boys. Bender refers to transgender people. As you can see, a bender, which sounds just like a nerd (just like Bender from the movie Futurama), refers to someone who, as their identity, is at once a boy and a girl, man and woman, just like Bender. That's why it's more appropriate to call a transwoman a "bender," and the one who identifies as male, but who was raised as a girl, "girly-girl" than to use "bender." After all, girly-girl is a term that describes girls' gender identity just as girlyboy is a term that describes boys' gender identity. But it's still important to keep the differences in gender identity and how to refer to that identity in mind. Gender is complex and confusing and is subject to interpretation. To learn more about gender, please click here. You can also read more about terms you've heard around here. And don't forget to check out our video on Gender Bender! You may notice that the word "trans" (short for "transgender") is used liberally when talking about transsexual people, but very rarely when discussing transgender men. As a matter of fact, some have said that you shouldn't use it at all. However, the word is simply a contraction of the words transgender and cisgender, which mean cissexual and transgender, respectively. What's the difference between cissexual and transgender? The words are antonyms. Cissexual means that you were born anatomically with the same sex. For example, if a boy is born with a penis, he is cissexual. That's pretty straightforward. Transsexual, on the other hand, describes someone who was born with a different sex but identifies as the opposite sex. The word cissexual, by the way, comes from the term cisgender. If you're cissexual, then your gender identity matches the one you were born with. Now you can put it all together: Transsexual, trans, and transgender are all a part of the spectrum of transgender identity, while cissexual is just the opposite of it. You might have noticed that I never used the word "males" in reference to men who identify as transsexual. As I was saying, I usually talk about transsexual people and I usually don't use the word "male" because you may refer to males as males and females as females. But just so we're on the same page, I've added a new category on my menu bar so you can see the word "male" as an option when writing about men who are transgender. If you have any feedback regarding this, I'd love to hear from you! So, what about the new word transvestite? We at Transwoman wrote a post on Transvestites. It's a very confusing word because many people think that it's exactly the same thing as "transsexual." However, it's not. Transvestite, like transsexual, describes a person who was born with the opposite sex but identifies with the gender that matches their birth gender. However, transgender people identify as the opposite of their birth gender, just like transsexual people do, but they are very different from transvestites. As we've said before, "transvestite" is a confusing word because many people think that they are the same thing. And because they are closely related, this may lead to us using the word "transvestite" more often in transgender discussions. So keep in mind that transvestite is a very specific word to describe people who have no gender identity. Now let's see how this may cause misunderstandings about the term: If a transvestite who happens to be transgender (i.e., he was born a girl but identifies as a boy) decides to use the word "transvestite" to describe himself, he might get confused because people might get the impression that he's transgender, when, in fact, he's not. However, if you read our original post, you'll see that transvestites are those who were born the opposite of what they identify with, so, in this case, the transgender person would be the opposite of what he is (a transvestite), and he should be referred to as a transvestite. In addition to the word "transvestite," another word that gets frequently confused is the term crossdresser. Just like transvestite, crossdresser refers to a person who was born with the opposite sex, but now identifies with the gender that matches their birth gender. Crossdresser, like transvestite, is a very misleading word because it's very similar to the term "transsexual." The truth is that, unless a person is transgender, they can't identify with their birth gender, or crossdresser, so it's important not to use this word when talking about transgender issues. And again, you should read our original post on Crossdresser for more information. Again, just as with transvestite, the word crossdresser is often confused with transgender because both words are so similar. Crossdresser is often referred to when we're talking about crossdressing transsexual people, but that's not the only way it can be used. So please, just keep this in mind when you read or hear someone talk about crossdressing or transvestites. When you search the internet, you'll see that words like these are used interchangeably when talking about transgender people. However, it's important to remember that words like these are very specific and if we're not careful, we may cause misunderstandings. In the interest of clarity, I'm providing an extensive list of words and terms used in transgender communities so you'll have a better idea about what the words and terms mean. If you have questions about the meaning of any of the words used in trans* communities, or if you have questions regarding my posts, please write them in the comment section. I love talking to you and I'm here to help! Thanks for reading my post and for keeping up with Transwoman! I'm also excited to be sharing a couple of guest posts from transgender people, including transvestites. The first is by a transvestite who I wrote a letter to when he was transitioning: Transvestite (transsexual) When you talk about people who like to dress as the opposite sex, most people assume that they’re transsexuals. However, this assumption can be very misleading. This is because transvestites (also called cross-dressers, transsexuals, transgenders or trannies) have a gender identity that falls somewhere on the transsexual scale, from 0 (agender) to 6 (cissexual), whereas most transsexuals fall closer to the transvestite end of the scale (range 5-6), with a relatively higher degree of identification with their birth sex than the transvestites. It’s important to understand this distinction because it has big implications for transsexuals and transvestites alike, whether it be in terms of language used by themselves, medical professionals and/or researchers, or even their allies. For instance, there are many transsexuals who choose to describe themselves as “