Femininity
Traits, things, skills, and qualities typically associated with women. These change in time and are culture-specific. For instance, things like nurture, dolls, makeup, skirts, and the color pink are often described as feminine even though in the 18th century men too were expected to wear fancy clothes and show their emotions openly. All of us manifest some degree of femininity. Femininity is thus not directly linked to a person’s gender; rather, it is an ever-changing feature of a person, much like one’s style.
Masculinity
The opposite of femininity. In our culture things described as masculine are cars, technology, the color blue, and strength, for example. Masculinity and masculine traits are strongly culture-specific and time-specific, too. For instance, the color blue was considered more suitable for girls in the early 20th century. Masculinity – just like femininity – is a style that we all manifest in our personality to some degree.
Intersex
Intersex is a general term for various conditions where a child’s physical sex characteristics such as genitals, hormones or chromosomes cannot be defined as belonging unambiguously to a girl or a boy. An intersex condition can be detected at birth or later, for instance in puberty. Sometimes an intersex condition is not detected in an individual’s lifetime. In Finland, approx. 500 intersex children are born every year.
Multiculturalism
In this project, the starting point is that the Finnish society has always been multicultural, i.e. consisting of and influenced by various different cultures. Multiculturalism can thus be understood as a broader term embracing the diversity of people in terms of language, culture and ethnicity.
Non-binary gender identity
A person who is non-binary does not identify as unambiguously male or female. Non-binary people can consider themselves both male and female – or neither of the two.
Rainbow family (LGBT family)
Refers to a family with children where one or more of the parents belong in a sexual or gender minority. Rainbow families come in all forms: they can be single-parent families, families with two parents, or families with different types of co-parenting settings where parenting is divided between different family units. The definition of the term is fluid and closely connected to the self-definition of families.
Stereotype
Stereotypes are rigid conceptions of different groups of people and their characteristics, often based on generalizations and oversimplifications. Even though generalizations are needed in order to facilitate discussion, stereotypes are often connected to prejudice and racism. Stereotypes can also be positive and can be employed when constructing one’s identity.
Gender
Gender can be looked at from several perspectives. Gender is always socially constructed. It is a term that refers to the cultural and social conceptions that have traditionally been associated with masculinity and femininity in a society. These conceptions are concretely mirrored in the way men’s and women’s gender roles have traditionally been seen. Gender roles change in time and are culture-specific as demonstrated by the improvements in women’s rights in the 20th century, for instance. Cultural habits allow different things for different people. For instance, in some cultures with rigid gender roles, it is common for male friends to be affectionate with each other, hold hands, and kiss goodbye.
From bodily point of view gender or sex refers to an individual’s internal and external genitalia, the amount of chromosomes they have as well as their hormonal levels. In terms of biology the male-female or girl-boy binary is an oversimplification. Gender is also biologically diverse not to mention that in the concept of sex/gender also sex is culturally constructed.
The most important point of view of gender is self determination. It is person’s individual and personal experience of their own gender. One’s gender experience can also change during lifetime. Others should always respect an individual’s self determination and understand that the individual is an expert in issues relating to their own gender.
Gender specific activities
Sometimes gender specific activities are organized, meaning they are only aimed at persons of one gender. Working in gender specific groups can be justified if the aim is to discuss sensitive issues mainly concerning a certain gender, for example. In this case, working with people of the same gender might offer the participants an opportunity to work with the group in an unconstrained and meaningful way. A good example would be different kind of crisis groups. On the other hand, gender specific activities can exclude transgender people. Gender specific activities should respect self determination of gender.
Gender neutrality
Gender neutrality aims for equality but in the end a neutral approach to gender ignores the various meanings of gender and leads to a way of thinking where providing exactly the same for everyone is thought to automatically bring about equality. In this case, the effects that the perceptions associated with gender roles have on the structures of organizations or society do not become visible. The concept also easily evokes an idea of genderlessness or making gender expression neutral. The term gender-neutral education can be used to refer to e.g. practices where all toys stereotypically used by one gender are removed from children’s learning environment.
Gender norm
Gender norms are perceptions of what kind of traits, behavior, or expression of one’s gender are acceptable, desirable or usual for a certain gender in a community. In most cases, these norms are unspoken and considered so self-evident that they feel natural. We are dealing with gender roles when we hear statements such as “boys don’t cry” or “all girls love pink”. An individual who cannot or does not want to conform to the norms can feel left out, which in turn can cause anxiety or feelings of inferiority. The cause of these unpleasant feelings is not the individual but the strict norms. Loosening the norms makes life easier for everybody, regardless of their gender. Norms can be reshaped in all everyday situations and encounters.
Gender incongruence
Gender incongruence means that a child, an adolescent, or an adult experiences incongruence between their gender and their body or how other’s see their gender. The experience is so strong that one’s own body or social situations might evoke feelings of dysphoria such as disgust or distress that comes from one’s gendered features or misgendering in social situations.
Gender sensitivity
Gender sensitivity refers to the recognition of the ways in which assumptions, prejudice, or perceptions associated with different genders in a given cultural and social context are visible in everyday activities and ways of speech. Gender sensitive educators understand the nature of gender roles as concepts that are changing and changeable in time. They also acknowledge the effects of stereotypical depictions of gender both on a societal and an individual level. This means, for instance, questioning everyday generalizations of gender such as “all girls like playing princess”. A gender sensitive educator understands that a child’s personality is always more than the gender they were assigned at birth.
Gender equality
Equality of all genders means ensuring that all individuals have the same rights, possibilities, and responsibilities regardless of their gender.
Equality
Equality means that everybody is equal regardless of their sex, gender, age, ethnic or national background, nationality, language, religion, belief, opinion, disability, health, sexual orientation or other personal characteristics. Equality, including gender equality, is a fundamental right.
