Terminology

An overview of the identities, labels, and communities referenced throughout this website, noting that cultures and individuals may have different definitions to what is described here. Consider this a starting point, not the final say.

Several of the terms on this page are used as slurs against trans, gender-diverse, and non-conforming people. For some people however, such terms are their entire identity, and that should be respected.

Culture-Specific Identities

Identities and labels which are specific to certain communities, spiritualities, ethnicities, etc. View culture-specific media here.

مسترجل (Mustarjil)

Mustarjil was an accepted gender identity among the Ahwari people of Iraq's marshes, with the term meaning "becoming a man" in Arabic. It described men, born female, who chose to present masculinely and take on male roles. In the modern-day, mustarjil is more often used in a derogatory way. Learn more here.

Brotherboy

Brotherboy is a contemporary term used by some Torres Strait Islander people, and Aboriginal people in the land now known as Australia, who were assigned female at birth but have a "boy spirit". Brotherboys may also identify as trans men, transmasculine, non-binary, etc. Learn more here.

お鍋 (Onabe)

Onabe is an older term used by some Japanese people, assigned female at birth, who present masculinely and live as men. Onabe may also identify as trans men, butch lesbians, transmasculine, etc. Learn more here.

Two Spirit

Two Spirit is a contemporary term used by some Indigenous people, in the land now called North America, to describe those who fulfil a transitional third-gender or gender-variant role in their communities. Learn more here.

Indigiqueer

A contemporary umbrella term attributed to Indigenous trans man Theo Jean Cuthand, who coined the label in 2004 because, "some LGBTQ Indigenous people don’t feel as comfortable with the Two Spirit title because it implies some dual gender stuff, which some people just don’t feel describes their identity".

Trans and Gender-Diverse Identities

Trans

A shorthand for transgender and/or transsexual.

Transgender

An umbrella term for people whose gender identities do not correspond with the gender identities they were assigned at birth.

Transsexual

Someone who has changed, or who seeks to change, their sex characteristics through medical interventions (hormones, surgeries). This term is also used by some people who do not pursue medical interventions, especially older trans people. Unlike orientation terms (homosexual, heterosexual), the "sex" in this term refers to sex characteristics.

Trans Man or Transman

A man who was assigned female at birth, but who has a male gender. Some men, particularly older men, may instead write this term as transman, without the space. View trans male media here.

Non-Binary

An umbrella term for people whose gender identities fall outside of a man/woman binary. For example, agender (a sense of having no gender) and genderfluid (fluctuating gender identity). Non-binary can also be used as an individual identity, if a person does not wish to label their identity any further. View non-binary media here.

Transmasculine

Trans people who were assigned female at birth, and whose gender identities are centrally defined by masculinity. Some trans men use this label, others do not feel represented by it.

Butch

A term which is used in diverse ways by masculine lesbians, gender non-conforming women, masculine-of-centre people, and (in the modern-day) people who also use terms like transmasculine or non-binary. Some butches may solely identify as butch, using no other label. Some butches access medical gender affirmation, such as testosterone and top surgery.

Along with the photography book BUTCH: Not Like the Other Girls, I highly recommend the series Butch Is Not A Dirty Word to learn about butch identity and diversity. The founder of BINADW, Esther Godoy, explains, "People refer to the word butch as a noun, as an adjective, as a gender identity all in itself... Nobody can really say what is, or what isn't, butch. There's so few other terms that do that. It feels like a safe space, for me."

Importantly, while butch media is included on this website due to self-described gender diversity among butches (and the reality that some butches access hormones and surgery), there are many butch women who do not relate to TGD people in the slightest, and do not experience dysphoria.

View butch media here.

Acronyms and Terms

FTM (Female-to-Male)

A shorthand acronym for people who were assigned female at birth, who transition to male. A minority of trans men prefer the acronym MTM (male-to-male), to indicate that they have always internally identfied as male.

TGD (Trans and Gender-Diverse)

An inclusive umbrella term/acronym for people whose gender identities do not correspond to their genders assigned at birth, and people whose gender experiences are non-normative and diverse, but who may not use the term trans to describe themselves.

AFAB (Assigned Female at Birth)

A shorthand acronym for people who were assigned female at birth, alternatively described as "born female" or "female-born" across media and by some community members. Sometimes written as PFAB (presumed female at birth).

Gender Dysphoria

A persistent sense of distress and discomfort caused by a person's birth sex conflicting with their innate gender identity. For example, a trans man may begin experiencing physical gender dysphoria during puberty, when he starts to develop breast tissue beyond what other boys are developing at his age. A trans man may experience social gender dysphoria when referred to as a woman, or with she/her/hers pronouns.

Cisgender

A person whose gender identity corresponds to the gender they were assigned at birth. Basically, the majority of the human population. For example, a cisgender man is a bloke who was born male, raised as a boy, and grew up as a man. The etymology of "cis" simply means "on the same side" and, when applied to gender, means that a person's gender status has not changed.

For most cis people, this is not an identity necessarily, but is rather used in medical and advocacy settings to avoid stigmatising language like "trans men and normal men," implying that trans men are abnormal or unnatural.

Alternative language used in historical media and in different global communities includes, "neo-natal males and natal males," and, "trans men and biological men," "natural men and trans men", and more. The appropriateness of these terms depends on social context... but, generally speaking, these ones will make many modern-day trans men feel uncomfortable.

Other Terms

Intersex, Endosex, and IVSC

Intersex is an umbrella term for people born with innate variations in their sex characteristics, which do not fit medical/social norms for male and female bodies. Sex characteristics include chromosomes, gonads, genitalia, hormones, and physical changes which emerge with puberty.

Being intersex is not the same as being TGD. Many intersex people are cisgender. As this is a TGD-focused website, intersex media is only included where TGD people also happen to be intersex, or where intersex experiences also happen to be discussed in TGD media.

The acronym IVSC (Innate Variations of Sex Characteristics) can be used to emphasise the meaning of intersex in contexts where LGBT+ communities and allies misunderstand intersex as describing a gender identity.

An endosex person is someone who was born with innate sex characteristics which correspond with medical/social norms for male and female bodies. This is the majority of the human population, and the majority of TGD people. I self-label as being born endosex, because I am a trans man who was born in a female body which fit the medical and social norms of female anatomy. The changes to my sex later, when I transitioned, does not make me intersex. My sex variations are acquired, not innate.

Self-labelling as endosex is a way of acknowledging that, whatever else I faced, I was spared the corrective medical interventions and mutilations endured by many intersex individuals.

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