Terms for Reference
Introduction
Words have a great deal of power and it is vital when interacting with groups who may otherwise feel marginalized to use and understand their vocabulary. Much of feminist and LGTBQ+ vocabulary remains unfamiliar to many sections of society such as older generations or those who have not had much contact with members of these communities. This page, by no means an exhaustive list of LGBTQ+ and feminist vocabulary, is intended to be a point of reference when coming into contact with unfamiliar terms or ideas throughout this site. Through the understanding of these terms, we may better appreciate the ideas and the experiences of the contributors to “Musings of a #Lonely Feminist”.
Terms Relating to Feminism
Ableism: discrimination or prejudice against individuals with disabilities
Androcentric: dominated by or emphasizing masculine interests or a masculine point of view
Asexuality: the lack of sexual attraction to anyone, or low or absent interest in sexual activity
Benevolent sexism: a subjectively positive orientation of protection, idealization, and affection directed toward women that, like hostile sexism, serves to justify women’s subordinate status to men
Biphobia: aversion toward bisexuality and bisexual people as a social group or as individuals
Bisexuality: an identity for which sex and gender are not a boundary to attraction
Christian egalitarianism: all people are equal before God and in Christ; have equal responsibility to use their gifts and obey their calling to the glory of God; and are called to roles and ministries without regard to class, gender, or race
Cisgender: denoting or relating to a person whose self-identity conforms with the gender that corresponds to their biological sex; not transgender
Creep(er): a strange person who you strongly dislike; an unpleasant or obnoxious person; someone who causes you to feel nervous and afraid
Complementarianism: a theological view that men and women have different but complementary roles and responsibilities in marriage, family life, religious leadership, and elsewhere; these separate roles preclude women from specific functions of ministry within the Church
Cultural appropriation: when members of a dominant or privileged group exploit the culture of a marginalized group, often without understanding the latter’s history, experience, or traditions
Double standard: a set of principles that applies differently and usually more rigorously to one group of people or circumstances than to another; especially a code of morals that applies more severe standards of sexual behavior to women than to men
Fat-shaming: unkind and usually public criticism of someone for being overweight
Hegemony: preponderant influence or authority over others; the social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group
Heteronormative: of, relating to, or based on the attitude that heterosexuality is the only normal and natural expression of sexuality
Heterosexual: sexually attracted to people of the opposite sex; based on sexual attraction to people of the opposite sex
Homophobia: irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals
Homosexual: sexually attracted to people of the same sex; based on or showing a sexual attraction to people of the same sex
Internalized misogyny: the involuntary internalization by women of the sexist messages that are present in their societies and culture; the way in which women reinforce sexism by utilizing and relaying sexist messages that they’ve internalized
Institutional racism: societal patterns that have the net effect of imposing oppressive or otherwise negative conditions against identifiable groups on the basis of race or ethnicity; in the United States, institutional racism results from the social caste system that sustained, and was sustained by, slavery and racial segregation
Intersectionality: concept often used in critical theories to describe the ways in which oppressive institutions (racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, xenophobia, classism, etc.) are interconnected and cannot be examined separately from one another; first came from legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989.
Kyriarchy: a concept first created by Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza in 1992 to describe her theory of interconnected, interacting, and self-extending systems of domination and submission, in which a single individual might be oppressed in some relationships and privileged in others.
Male gaze: presentation of media, such as films or advertising, from the perspective of a heterosexual man
Men’s rights activists (MRAs): people who believe that social, legal and economic discrimination against males is present in society to the extent that fighting it deserves an organized effort mirroring feminism; generally have asserted since the 80s that women and feminism “went too far,” and have harmed men in the process
Misandry: a hatred of men
Misogyny: a hatred of women
Nice Guy (TM): men who view themselves as prototypical “nice guys,” but whose “nice deeds” are in reality only motivated by attempts to passively please women into a relationship and/or sex.
Objectification: the treatment of someone like an object instead of a person
Patriarchy: social organization marked by the supremacy of the father in the clan or family, the legal dependence of wives and children, and the reckoning of descent and inheritance in the male line; broadly, control by men of a disproportionately large share of power
Privilege: a set of advantages (or lack of disadvantages) enjoyed by a majority group.
Purity Culture: the view of any discussion of things of a sexual nature outside of the context of heterosexual marriage as taboo; adherence to a strict heteronormative lifestyle that forbids most physical contact with significant others, as well as engaging in self pleasure, or holding lustful thoughts about another person that is not a spouse; includes an insistence on female modesty and responsibility to shield boys and men from sexual temptation.
Racism: a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race; racial prejudice or discrimination
Rape culture: a society in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to societal attitudes about gender, sex, and sexuality.
Sexism: prejudice or discrimination based on sex; especially discrimination against women; behavior, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex.
Slut-shaming: attacking a woman or a girl for being sexual, having one or more sexual partners, acknowledging sexual feelings, and/or acting on sexual feelings
Straw feminist: a made-up version of a feminist that doesn’t really exist, used in straw man arguments against feminist ideas
Toxic masculinity: socially-constructed attitudes that describe the masculine gender role as violent, unemotional, sexually aggressive, etc.
Transgender: of, relating to, or being a person who identifies with or expresses a gender identity that differs from the one which corresponds to the person’s sex [assigned] at birth
Transphobia: intense dislike of or prejudice against transgender people
Victim-blaming: here the victim of a crime, an accident, or any type of abusive maltreatment is held as wholly or partially responsible for the wrongful conduct committed against them
Wage gap: the difference between the amounts of money paid to women and men, often for doing the same work
White Feminism: a set of beliefs that allows for the exclusion of issues that specifically affect women of color; a “one size-fits all” feminism, where middle class white women are the mold that others must fit
Womanism: a form of feminism focused especially on the conditions and concerns of black women
Source: Bella Brita, 2014.
Terms Relating to LGBTQ+
Ally: A person who is not LGBTQ but shows support for LGBTQ people and promotes equality in a variety of ways.
Androgynous: Identifying and/or presenting as neither distinguishably masculine nor feminine.
Asexual: The lack of a sexual attraction or desire for other people.
Biphobia: Prejudice, fear or hatred directed toward bisexual people.
Bisexual: A person emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to more than one sex, gender or gender identity though not necessarily simultaneously, in the same way or to the same degree.
Cisgender: A term used to describe a person whose gender identity aligns with those typically associated with the sex assigned to them at birth.
Closeted: Describes an LGBTQ person who has not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Coming out: The process in which a person first acknowledges, accepts and appreciates his or her sexual orientation or gender identity and begins to share that with others.
Gay: A person who is emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to members of the same gender.
Gender dysphoria: Clinically significant distress caused when a person's assigned birth gender is not the same as the one with which they identify. According to the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the term - which replaces Gender Identity Disorder - "is intended to better characterize the experiences of affected children, adolescents, and adults."
Gender-expansive: Conveys a wider, more flexible range of gender identity and/or expression than typically associated with the binary gender system.
Gender expression: External appearance of one's gender identity, usually expressed through behavior, clothing, haircut or voice, and which may or may not conform to socially defined behaviors and characteristics typically associated with being either masculine or feminine.
Gender-fluid: According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a person who does not identify with a single fixed gender; of or relating to a person having or expressing a fluid or unfixed gender identity.
Gender identity: One’s innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend of both or neither – how individuals perceive themselves and what they call themselves. One's gender identity can be the same or different from their sex assigned at birth.
Gender non-conforming: A broad term referring to people who do not behave in a way that conforms to the traditional expectations of their gender, or whose gender expression does not fit neatly into a category.
Genderqueer: Genderqueer people typically reject notions of static categories of gender and embrace a fluidity of gender identity and often, though not always, sexual orientation. People who identify as "genderqueer" may see themselves as being both male and female, neither male nor female or as falling completely outside these categories.
Gender transition: The process by which some people strive to more closely align their internal knowledge of gender with its outward appearance. Some people socially transition, whereby they might begin dressing, using names and pronouns and/or be socially recognized as another gender. Others undergo physical transitions in which they modify their bodies through medical interventions.
Homophobia: The fear and hatred of or discomfort with people who are attracted to members of the same sex.
Lesbian: A woman who is emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to other women.
LGBTQ: An acronym for “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer.”
Living openly: A state in which LGBTQ people are comfortably out about their sexual orientation or gender identity – where and when it feels appropriate to them.
Outing: Exposing someone’s lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender identity to others without their permission. Outing someone can have serious repercussions on employment, economic stability, personal safety or religious or family situations.
Queer: A term people often use to express fluid identities and orientations. Often used interchangeably with "LGBTQ."
Questioning: A term used to describe people who are in the process of exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Same-gender loving: A term some prefer to use instead of lesbian, gay or bisexual to express attraction to and love of people of the same gender.
Sexual orientation: An inherent or immutable enduring emotional, romantic or sexual attraction to other people.
Transgender: An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or expression is different from cultural expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth. Being transgender does not imply any specific sexual orientation. Therefore, transgender people may identify as straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc.
Transphobia: The fear and hatred of, or discomfort with, transgender people.
Source: The Human Rights Campaign, 2017.