Every person is different, and who they are is a combination of hundreds of different parts of their identity. The Genderperson tool is a handy way to show the difference between some of these elements, which can sometimes be confused. For example, you might be a woman (gender identity) who wears masculine clothes (gender expression).

Here’s a breakdown of everything you need to know…

Gender Identity

Your gender identity is the gender that you identify with, the gender that you know and feel yourself to be, and it is part of your internal sense of self. Our gender identity can be very important to who we are as a person.

Some people are men, some people are women, and some people are non-binary (this means their gender is outside the binary of man and woman). You are the only person who knows what gender you are, and you can describe your gender however it feels most comfortable to you.

A person whose gender identity is different to the gender they were assigned at birth, might describe themselves as trans. Whereas a person whose gender identity is the same as they were assigned at birth might describe themselves as cis.

Sex Characteristics

“Sex characteristics” are all about your body, and are distinct, and are different from your gender identity. This group of bodily characteristics could include genitals, chromosomes, hormones or secondary sex characteristics. Bodies are complex!

It is common for a person’s body to be categorised as either “male” or “female”, but not everybody’s body fits neatly into these two categories. Some people are intersex, meaning their bodies cannot be classified as clearly male or female. People come in all different shapes and sizes and can have all kinds of different combinations of sex characteristics.

Your gender is not determined by your body parts. Despite this, a gender is often assigned to a person based on observation of their genitals at birth.

Gender Expression

Gender expression could include how you dress, present yourself, act or interact with the world. This is different to your gender identity. Your gender doesn’t mean you have to wear certain clothes or look a certain way.

Some men are very feminine. Some women are very masculine.

Everyone is unique and has their own style and presentation. You don’t have to fit the stereotype of what society thinks a man or a woman should look like, you just have to find ways of being comfortable!

Sexual Orientation

A person’s sexual orientation is the part of their identity that relates to who they find attractive or who they fancy. Although it’s in the name, the attraction to other people does not have to be sexual, it could be romantic, or spiritual, or something else.

Some people are attracted to a particular gender/genders, others are attracted to who the person is (their morals, values, humour, intelligence, etc.), and for some it’s a combination of the two. Attraction can feel different for different people.

People might describe themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, straight or by many other identities. People who have little or no sexual attraction may describe themselves as asexual.

Your sexual orientation is separate to your gender. People of all different sexual orientations exist across the gender spectrum, and people of all genders exist across the sexual orientation spectrum!

Gender Assigned At Birth

When we are born, most of us are given, or assigned, a gender. Often, the first thing ever said about us is “it’s a boy” or “it’s a girl”! Gender is usually assigned by looking at our genitals. Of course, you can’t really tell the gender of a person just by looking at their genitals, and not everyone’s gender ends up matching the gender they were assigned at birth.