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You are here: Home / LGBTQ+ / What Does It Mean to Identify as Cisgender?
What Does It Mean to Identify as Cisgender?

What Does It Mean to Identify as Cisgender?

March 8, 2020 By Cade Hildreth Leave a Comment

What does cigender mean and how did the term come about? If you’re asking this question, you’re not alone. The short answer is that a cisgender person is someone who identifies with the same gender that they were assigned at birth.

The term “cis” is a Latin prefix that means:

  • “On this side”

In contrast, “trans” is a Latin prefix that means:

  • “On the other side”

Outside of gender, I first learned of the term “cis” within the context of chemistry, where cis indicates that the functional groups are on the same side of the carbon chain while trans means the functional groups were on opposing sides of the carbon chain.

Rise of the Term Cisgender

With government officials, medical providers, and society at large recognizing the existence of a gender spectrum, terms such as cisgender and transgender have been on the rise.

The  graph below shows rates of Google Searches for the term “cisgender” from 2004 to present. Clearly, searches for this term have been on the rise over the past five years.

Google Searches for Term Cisgender

Meaning of the Term Cisgender

The term cisgender was first coined by the transgender movement in the 1990s. The prefix cis means “on the same side as.”

As explained above, a cisgender person is a person who identifies with the gender that they were assigned at birth.

Within this context, the word and meaning of cisgender is a clearly an important part of LGBTQ culture and terminology.

The Point of Cisgender

Before cis became utilized within the English language, people often used the label “non-transgender” to describe a person who was not transgender. Unfortunately, this wasn’t particularly clear, nor was it empowering.

Calling a person cisgender was thus adopted as a way to identify someone who is not transgender.

Sometimes, the terms assigned female at birth (AFAB) or assigned male at birth (AMAB) are also used to mean that a person was labelled as “biologically female” or was “born a female”.

Of course, sex assignment at birth is a very complex determination, because medical providers have historically based this decision on a single biological marker (external genitalia), when there are at least 10 biological markers that would be relevant to the decision and likely many more.

Biological markers of human sex include, but are not limited to: chromosomes, gonads (testis or ovaries), hormones, secondary sex characteristics, internal genitalia, external genitalia, gene gxpression, brain structure, skeletal structure, and personal identity.

To summarize: 

  • A person who was declared to be female at birth and who identifies as a female today would be considered a cisgender woman.
  • A person who was declared to be male at birth and who identifies as a male today would be considered a cisgender man.

Of course, people may also exist between these two identities, with examples including people who are intersex, nonbinary, or gender non-conforming (GNC), among many other possibilities.

The Etymology and History of Cisgender

In his two-part 1991 article, German sexologist Volkmar Sigusch first used the term cissexual to describe a person who identified with their original sex.

Trans means “on the other side of” while cis, as we previously stated, means “on the same side as.”

Simply using the labels man and woman were problematic in that it implies that a cis person is “normal” while a trans person is “not normal”.

People used to use the word gender-normative to describe a non-trans person but this obviously brings back the problem of suggesting that one type of person is normal while the other is abnormal.

The term cisgender grew in popularity after it was used in a 2006 article in the Journal of Lesbian Studies. Julie Serano, a biologist and transactivist, used the term in her popular 2007 book Whipping Girl. Serano also introduced the term cissexsim.

Cissexism (sometimes written cis-sexism) is an underlying assumption that a transgender person’s gender is less authentic, or inferior to, that of a cisgender person.

While some people believe that the identifier cisgender is merely an example of political correctness, there are medical scholars who use the term officially.

Definition of Cisgender

In 2013, cisgender was added to the Oxford English Dictionary and defined as “designating a person whose sense of personal identity corresponds to the sex and gender assigned to him or her at birth”.

The Merrium Webster Dictionary defines cisgender as “of, relating to, or being a person whose gender identity corresponds with the sex the person had or was identified as having at birth.”

Cisgender Definition

In February of 2014, Facebook started to offer Custom Gender Options, showing a more mainstream acceptance of these terms and ideas.

Interestingly, terms using the prefix “cis” represent 10 of Facebook’s gender options, as shown below:

  • Cis
  • Cisgender
  • Cis Female
  • Cis Male
  • Cis Man
  • Cis Woman
  • Cisgender Female
  • Cisgender Male
  • Cisgender Man
  • Cisgender Woman

The Answer to “What Does Cisgender Mean?”

I hope this article has provided you with a well-informed answer to the question, “What does cisgender mean?”

If you have additional thoughts or would like to contribute to this conversation, I’d encourage you to share your perspective in the comments below or drop a note here. We love to crowdsource global feedback and integrate your insights.

Are we connected yet on Instagram? If not, let’s make it happen so I can share in your life too!

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Cade Hildreth“As an LGBTQ+ entrepreneur, real estate investor, former USA Rugby Player, and fitness fanatic, I’ll teach you what your parents and teachers should’ve taught you, but didn’t know themselves.” -Cade Hildreth

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⚠️ One of the most important TRUTHS I’ve eve ⚠️ One of the most important TRUTHS I’ve ever learned was this:When you give yourself permission to be yourself, you give other people permission to be themselves.If someone is upset by you being fully yourself — whether that is gay or straight or gender expansive or in a relationship with someone your family disapproves of or anything else — it is sad for them, because what they are saying to you is, “I don’t believe I have permission to do what you are capable of doing.”When you realize this, the only reaction you can have toward them is compassion.Share a “💯” below if you’ve experienced this (or needed this reminder today)...👇🏽
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⚠️ UPDATE: Arkansas' Republican governor on Mo ⚠️ UPDATE: Arkansas' Republican governor on Monday vetoed an anti-transgender health care bill that would've prohibited physicians in the state from providing gender-affirming "procedures" for trans people under age 18.Gov. Asa Hutchinson told reporters that he killed HB 1570 because the bill "would be and is a vast government overreach" and because it would've created "new standards of legislative interference with physicians and parents as they deal with some of the most complex and sensitive matters involving young people."Had the governor approved it, Arkansas would've been the first state in the nation to outlaw gender-affirming health care for trans youth, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.The governor also predicted during his remarks that the state's Republican-controlled General Assembly "will likely override" his veto, noting it takes only a simple majority to do so.Leave a “👏🏽” to show support for Governor Hutchinson or share your thoughts below. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️Source: CNN
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✅ #WorkoutTip: If you’re looking to get a more ✅ #WorkoutTip: If you’re looking to get a more developed and defined chest, a quick bar change from traditional barbell to Swiss Bar can help you hit new muscle fibers and supercharge your gains! 🔥💪🏽Why is this? 🤔1) As you can see, it switches your grip from horizontal (your grip on a straight barbell) to parallel. This rotates your entire arm, including the position of your elbow, shoulder, and all of the attached muscle groups.2) It lets you choose from a wide variety of widths. In this example, I choose the second from the middle grip, but you can work from extremely narrow to really wide.3) The balance/loading of the Swiss Bar feels extremely different than a straight barbell, so your accessory muscles get recruited to work extra hard throughout the path of the lift.Of course, if you add a pause at the bottom of the lift as the Swiss bar touches your chest, it can also increase the difficulty of the lift and introduce a new stimulus.Have you tried a Swiss Bar before? Let me know below... 👇🏽
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Are we connected yet on TikTok? If not, let’s make it happen, so I can share in your world too. 😁
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Looking to add lean muscle mass while dropping bod Looking to add lean muscle mass while dropping body fat? 💪🏽🔥If so, you’re simply not going to beat the BIG compound lifts like the deadlift. 🔥🔥But, since the traditional deadlift puts a fair amount of strain on your lower and middle back, what should you do if you’re training multiple times per week? 🤔The answer? 👀1. Mix Up the Stimulus — The Hex Deadlift shown here is one of my favorite options, because it allows a more upright torso. This both lets you lift more weight and displaces some of the load across your hips and lower body.However, if you can’t access a Hex Deadlift bar at your gym, then you can use a normal barbell to do a...... Sumo Deadlift (wider stance)
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To all my trans, nonbinary, and gender-expansive s To all my trans, nonbinary, and gender-expansive siblings:💙 You are valid.
🤍 You are worthy.
💗 You are loved.Thank you for becoming who you were born to be, because you inspires others to be their true selves too.Always remember: Courage is contagious.Happy #TransDayOfVisibility—
From @qchristianorg:Being visible is important for the movement. For the individual, being visible can mean being one of the 20% of trans people who experience homelessness or the 25% who have been fired because of their gender identity.It could make you one of the 44 trans people who were killed last year for being trans.Being visible means risking rejection and abandonment, facing erasure in the name of religious freedom, being ridiculed, mocked, bullied and misgendered intentionally.It can mean being one of the 41% who, because of all this, attempt to end their lives.
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