Actually, that's not exactly accurate. A cisgender person is a person born with male genitalia who presents himself as a man and acts in a masculine fashion (and the inverse for women). You don't necessarily have to be a "man's man" to qualify as a cisgender. I think of it like this: if you made of list of supposedly feminine and masculine traits (though such lists normally end up contradicting themselves) and you check off more than half of the feminine traits and you are a male, you aren't a cisgender. I wouldn't say any of the provided terms apply though. (I am actually curious as to where you found those terms because I have study gender at an extensive rate but I have only seen half of them.) I mean the closest term to label that person is "Genderfluid" that seems to imply a non-stagnant gender identity. I don't believe anyone fits neatly into the false dichotomous genders set up by society and that people can be more or less masculine/feminine on any given day, there is still consistency to most people's gender identity.
For better example of how cisgender applies to people, think of lesbians. There are butch lesbians, lipstick lesbians, and then girls who fall somewhere in between. Butch lesbians, though butch, often identify as girls. There are some butch lesbians who go on to become transgender, but that's beside the point. As a butch lesbian you can whole-heartedly identify as a girl. However, that doesn't make them cisgender for they are taking on a masculine role. Even the girls who fall between butch and lipstick aren't normally considered cisgenders. Only lipstick lesbians are considered cisgenders (for the most part) because they identify as a girl and look like a typical, feminine girl (what some people also refer to as the "straight girl look".
Though, I don't know what I would call a butch lesbian based upon the terms provided for most of the terms seem to involve a fluidity or mixing of the two accepted genders at different intervals. What about a simple mix of the genders? Half-masculine and half-feminine? You consider that a tri-gender, but what about one-quarter masculine and three-quarters feminine? Is that a quad-gender? I think what is messing with my mind here is these "alternative genders" seem to be based off of the gender binary. The best way to approach life is simply accepting gender exists on a spectrum, and that gender is actually a fictitious concept. Sex is real (though intersex is a real possibility), but sex does not equate gender, ever.
Okay. Sorry. I didn't mean to turn this into such a block of here-let-me-inform-you text. I just... I want to answer this question, but I can't given the terms provided. Initially, I thought to myself, "I am cisgender since I have female genitalia and I see myself as a woman. However, I am genderfluid since I was tomboy growing up and those personality traits still float around in me. I am not exactly feminine in other words, though I am definitely not butch or masculine. I would say I am in the middle. So, Tri-gender? But, still. I am a woman, and I can present myself as a woman. This is why Pansgender wouldn't work because I don't feel like neither nor. I just feel like a female with masculine traits that is presented as a woman. It's like a bit of both... but more towards the woman side of things. I am not without a label but I am not a third category. I just am. A set of traits." You see. It's really hard (for me I guess, but I know others find it difficult as well) to work with a dichotomous notion of gender. I think that's why so many people have expressed similar sentiments involving accuracy.
And since I apparently wish to express more than my two cents here... I think of the word female as referring to our biological sex. It's a scientific word, and I think most sociologist take that stance as well. Masculine/feminine refers to our gendered identities, and man/woman refers to how people including ourselves see us (which is an extension of our gendered identities). I mean such that a FtM transgender looks and acts masculine, "he" will be considered a man even though he wasn't born that way. (Though, it is true many people would reverse that notion once finding out about his true nature, however transgender is a messier concept that gender by itself which I view as one large clusterfuck.)
EDIT: I just realized that "Pansgender" seems to define a simple mix of the two accepted genders. I just think fo "pansexuality" when I see that term which is defined as being attracted to any human regardless of their sex, gender, or mixture therein (such as a MtF transgender who is a butch bisexual). Though, I am going to stand by the opinion that gender is poor label to apply to people, in any sense.
Hmm well i was saying that you don't have to be manly men, etc to qualify as cisgender. it's not necessarily feminine or masculine personality TRAITS that decide it, in my mind, but how you view your body and assigned gender. a cisgender male can be "girlish", a trigender female can be, too. sometimes that's consistent, sometimes not.
these are terms used by trans* people and genderfluids, etc to describe themselves.
and in my opinion, that's usually the most accurate.
i think part of what we're seeing differently is "gender identity". being genderfluid isn't just feeling masculine one day, feminine the next- it's feeling like a
MAN one day, and a
WOMAN the next. (and sometimes, for tri-genderfluids like me, i feel agender/no gender/third gender.) it goes past whether you're feeling confident, or weepy, or any other gender-related trait/role/stereotype. it's a state of mind. some people may call that cross-dressing, but it goes deeper than that, too. many crossdressers are cisgender, people who are just doing it for kicks or fetish and not for any
deeper reasoning like they actually feel like the opposite sex at that time.
However, that doesn't make them cisgender for they are taking on a masculine role.
^ see that's not what cisgender means. it's not just a gender role, it's gender itself. gender roles are individual- it depends on what you glean/reject from society and what you consider yourselves as feminine and masculine. that is the difference between a gender role and a gender identity. gender identity
isn't how society teaches you to be or what you were born with, it's how your
internal gender feels to you. some genderfluids bind breasts or shave their legs according to how they feel, and it swings back and forth. some even take hormones to deepen/heighten their voice, but it all depends on the person.
The best way to approach life is simply accepting gender exists on a spectrum, and that gender is actually a fictitious concept. Sex is real (though intersex is a real possibility), but sex does not equate gender, ever.
if gender identity doesn't exist, why are trans* people so adamant on having extensive surgeries, taking hormones carefully, even being so desperate that they commit suicide at staggering rates because of overwhelming expenses and lack of social acceptance? it's not a fictitious concept, no, otherwise you're saying their feelings were invalid and in vain. i don't accept that, sorry. not at all.
being a tomboy doesn't make you genderfluid, or tri-gendered, or any of that. your personality isn't really in question, it's your relationship with your hormones, your body, and your identity. perhaps you are agender, and you don't find an issue with presenting as a female. maybe you're cisgendered with androgynous traits. you're the one who feels it, i don't know.
And since I apparently wish to express more than my two cents here... I think of the word female as referring to our biological sex. It's a scientific word, and I think most sociologist take that stance as well. Masculine/feminine refers to our gendered identities, and man/woman refers to how people including ourselves see us (which is an extension of our gendered identities). I mean such that a FtM transgender looks and acts masculine, "he" will be considered a man even though he wasn't born that way. (Though, it is true many people would reverse that notion once finding out about his true nature, however transgender is a messier concept that gender by itself which I view as one large clusterfuck.)
okay, i got problems with this. trangender is
not a "messier concept [than] gender by itself" that is "one large clusterfuck".
first of all, being female is not referring to biological, born in sex. being female is feeling like a woman, girl, butch dyke, goddess, whatever flavor of female the individual
is. not pretends to be, not decides to be, but
is. sometimes a female has a penis. sometimes a female grows one with hormones. it's up to her to know who SHE is, it's natural to her mind, her concept of herself. female is not some science term, like a MtF can't use it. they are females. masculine and feminine are traits in every male, female, and third gender identity.
i really, reeeally don't appreciate the words, "true nature" in that context, either.
a FtM's "true nature" is being a man. once people get that through their OWN heads, this whole "clusterfuck" starts to look pretty simple to me.
a FtM doesn't have to all masculine, either. FtMs can be sensitive, quiet dudes who write poetry and love songs. just like cisgendered males can be.
it's not a messy concept. it's called listening. people have their own interpretations of themselves, who they are, and gender matters. it doesn't matter to all, like you, i'm assuming. it's not a poor label when it helps people be comfortable in their own skin, either by external changes to match their minds, or what have you.
you can't tell a MtF that she (notice i didn't put any quotations around that? yeah, that's not okay) should be comfortable having a penis because gender doesn't really exist anyway. i guess you can, but you'll be sorry when you realize she was brave enough to tell you that in the first place after she relapses in suicidal depression and social rejection. this isn't some concept to hem and haw about, this is someone's life. IDENTITY. you are who you are, and gender IS a part of that. it matters to some when they date, why wouldn't it matter to someone's identity?
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