My God knows that I did not know a person’s gender could be determined in sixteen different ways until a friend of mine sent me an application form from the Royal College of General Practitioners, UK, which had sixteen options listed in the gender box. This made me dizzy, and you might feel the same way.
The first box listed “Genderqueer.” When I looked it up in the dictionary, I found out that it refers to people who consider themselves neither male nor female but can identify as both male and female if they choose to. Frankly, I couldn’t understand it. If someone had texted me this meaning on a mobile phone, I might have sent them an emoji of a man clenching his finger in his teeth and looking up in surprise.
Next, there was “CIS Man” in the second box, which means a person who was thought to be a boy by their parents at birth, and it turned out to be true. Similarly, “CIS Woman” means a woman who was considered a girl at birth and remained one as she grew up. Why use “CIS” when you can simply write “male” or “female”?
After that came the “Third Gender,” which is about people whose gender cannot be classified as male or female. Then, the form had only “male” and “female” options, which seems inadequate.
Following that was “Agender,” referring to a person who internally feels neither male nor female nor a combination of both. This is somewhat similar to “Genderqueer,” for reasons I don’t quite understand.
The most complicated gender term I found in this form was “Two Spirits,” used for people who feel they have both a female and a male spirit as if it were a third gender. It seems quite similar to “Genderqueer.”
Next on the list was “Genderless,” for people who do not identify with any gender, and “Gender Neutral,” similar to the non-affiliated movement. If someone asks the difference between “Bhalamansin” and “Agender,” the LGBT community might not take kindly to it.
Then, the form had a box for “Transman,” a person who was registered as a woman at birth but later changed their identity to a man. Similarly, “transwoman” refers to someone born as a man who later became a woman. It’s a bit confusing when you consider people who identify as having both male and female identities.
The next term was “Transgender,” often called “trans,” indicating someone different from the gender they were assigned at birth. But things get more complex with “Non-binary,” which refers to people identifying as intermediate or separate third genders. They might identify as non-binary, with multiple genders, or none at all, or their gender identity may fluctuate over time.
Life is complicated enough, but this non-binary gender concept can be baffling. Does it mean someone whose gender changes every moment or someone with the power to change their gender whenever they want?
The next term, “Genderfluid,” refers to a person flexible with their gender identity, which may not be fixed and could include one gender, multiple genders, or none at all. Gender identity and expression may change over time.
Looking at this application form, it seems as though Western countries have eradicated many forms of cruelty and injustice from the world. Now, they are focused on conquering the frontier of gender identity. It appears that the Western world believes it has the power to determine global ethics and can prioritize certain issues while turning a blind eye to human rights violations elsewhere.
With so many forms of gender expression listed, it might seem as though humans are not just like other animals or mammals but creatures with the power to change their gender at a whim. To be clear, I support giving fundamental rights to marginalized communities, and no group should be targeted based on their gender identity or sexual orientation. However, the Western approach might make these communities a target of ridicule.
“The rapid invention of these terms in the Western world and the early introduction of LGBT awareness in schools may lead to a future where simply identifying as male or female becomes stigmatized, and heterosexual individuals are penalized.
