Cishet
A slang term used mostly within the transgender community to describe cisgender heterosexual individuals. Maya was irritated when she noticed the cishet neighbors handing out invitations to their unborn child’s gender-reveal party.
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Cisgender Privilege
A set of legal standards, social norms, institutions, and other contributing factors granting cisgender people superior civil protections, rights, and freedoms compared to their transgender counterparts. Cisgender privilege results from the belief that cisgender people are superior to transgender individuals, and resultingly, some transgender individuals consider cisgender privilege a form of transphobia. During the first few months of her transition, Tiana found herself feeling jealous of her cisgender co-workers who were able to use the women’s restroom without fear of being attacked—they acted as if they weren’t even aware of their cisgender privilege.
Cisgender
An individual whose gender identity matches their birth assignment. Chad is cisgender—he identifies as male and was assigned male at birth.
Butch
A form of gender expression characterized by stereotypically masculine behaviors and appearances, sometimes used to describe lesbian women but applicable to people of varying genders and sexual orientations. The designation is historically associated with working-class, traditional masculinity (Trans Language Primer, 2018), and in the 1980s, was re-established as a sexually empowering term within the TLGBQ+ community. Simon, Grayson et al. “The Transgender Language Primer.” The Trans Language Primer, 2018
Breast Forms
Prosthetic breasts formed from silicone (or similar material) worn either inside a bra or attached to the body, meant to simulate the weight, size, and shape of breast tissue. May be informally referred to as “falsies.”
Breast Augmentation
A surgical procedure intended to increase the size and/or change the shape of a person’s breasts (informally known as a “boob job”; may also be considered a type of top surgery).
Gender Transition
The process of undergoing social, legal, and/or medical transition from one’s birth-assigned gender to another. For instance, a person assigned male at birth might possess a female gender identity, therefore changing her birth name and pronouns and the gender marker on her government-issued documents. Transitioning is a personal process unique to the individual—a journey in which one makes decisions to become more like their true self. When she was twenty, Camila came out as transgender and began transitioning by using feminine pronouns and legally changing her name.
Transgender
An umbrella term describing individuals whose gender identity differs from the one assigned to them at birth. The transgender population is comprised of diverse people and is found in numerous nations throughout the world. Since gender identity and sexual orientation are separate concepts, transgender people can be heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, sexually fluid, or various other orientations.