Genderbread Cookie

- [Narrator] This video brought to you

by Wel Jong Niet Hetero will
explain the Genderbread Cookie.

When you look around in this world,

everyone seems to be a woman or a man.

But what exactly does that
mean, being a man or a woman?

And what does it mean when
people wanna change their gender?

Or when they dress like the opposite sex?

And how about people that identify

as neither male nor female?

And when you are gay,

does that change anything
about your gender?

To explain all of this,

we need the help of
the Genderbread Cookie.

Before we start, it's essential to explain

the difference between
your sex and your gender.

Sex is biologically-determined

and has everything to do with
what's inside of your pants.

It is often assumed that everyone

is born either male or female.

But what a lot of people don't know

is that biological sex lies on a spectrum.

Everyone who is not 100% male or female

is called intersex.

Now, what exactly is intersexuality?

Approximately 1 in 3,000 babies

is born with ambiguous genitals,

which, for example, could look like this.

In this case, doctors often
can't determine immediately

whether the baby is a boy or a girl.

There are also other ways

in which a person can
be considered intersex.

For example, through a
difference in the level

of your chromosomes, your
gonads, or your hormones.

So what does the passport of
an intersex person look like?

In Belgium it is up to now only possible

to be legally registered as an M or an F.

This means that there is no
possibility for intersex people

to have their biological
sex recognized by the state.

So people often have to choose

the sex of the baby at birth.

In the entire world, only seven countries

and five American states have
some sort of legal recognition

for intersexuality, which is not a lot.

We covered sex, but what about gender?

Your gender or gender
identity denotes how you feel.

A person can feel exclusively
feminine or ultra-masculine,

but this too lies on a spectrum.

It is perfectly possible to feel

a little bit more masculine than feminine

or the other way around.

Some people feel both male and female

or neither and just wanna be themselves.

To define these gender identities,

a lot of complicated names
exist, such as these ones.

Each of these words describes

a slightly different gender identity.

However, this is not written in stone,

and only you can decide
which word fits you the best.

When one's sex and gender identity align,

for example, when you are born female

and you feel like a woman, we
call this person cisgender.

However, when one's
sex and gender identity

do not correspond, we call
this person transgender.

We do not however use
the word transsexual.

Originally, this word was used to describe

trans people who had undergone
gender confirmation surgery.

But nowadays, this is considered outdated

and sometimes even hurtful.

Besides, not everyone who is transgender

wants to have a surgery, of course.

The third aspect of our gender

is comprised of how we present ourselves

to the outside world and
of how others perceive us.

We call this our gender expression.

Just like the other
aspects, your expression

can also be female or male
or something in between.

A person's gender expression
exists of many layers.

The most obvious one is, of
course, the clothing you wear.

Do you wear manly clothes
or feminine clothes?

However, also your
haircut, the way ya talk,

the way ya move, walk, or sit,

the hobbies or interests you have,

the books you read, the
music you listen to,

the movie jars you like,
and even the drinks

you order on a night out are gendered.

So, basically everything.

Important to remember here

is that what is considered
masculine or feminine

is incredibly time and location bound.

These ideas are not the same
everywhere and at all times.

A funny example are high heels.

While the Western world now sees them

as typically feminine footwear,

in the Middle Ages, it
was completely normal

for men to wear shoes like these.

Now, what exactly is
meant with transvestism?

A transvestite is someone who takes on

the stereotypical gender
expression of the opposite sex.

Here, for example, you see Lady Gaga

who takes on a male gender expression.

Or the world-famous drag queen RuPaul,

who takes on a female gender expression.

It doesn't all have to be so binary.

When someone doesn't limit themselves

to the categories of man or woman

and just mixes it all together,
we use the word androgyny.

A widely known example of a person

with an androgynous gender
expression is David Bowie.

The fourth aspect of your gender

has to do with who you are sexually

or romantically attracted to.

We call this your attraction.

You can feel attracted to men or women.

A person who likes people
from the opposite gender

is called heterosexual.

A person who likes people
from the same gender

is called homosexual.

You can also, of course,
like both genders,

which is then called bisexuality.

Once again, it doesn't have
to be so black and white.

Human sexuality is considered to be fluid,

which means that it is
changeable throughout time

and depends on the situation.

You can, for example, feel
incredibly attracted to men

but also a tiny bit to women.

Or, it could happen that even though

you felt attracted to
women your entire life,

all of a sudden you
fall in love with a man.

Some people also identify as pansexual.

In this case, your
attraction is not confined

within the borders of the
binary gender spectrum

and you actually feel attracted
to a person's personality

rather than their sex.

Another sexuality which falls

outside of the spectrum is asexuality.

Asexual people do not feel

sexual attraction to others at all.

This, however, does not
mean that they do not long

for a romantic relationship
or affection, just no sex.

Even though you cannot
choose your sexuality,

identity and labels seem
to be very important

to define one's attraction.

Labels like gay and straight exist

because a lot of people find comfort

in the idea of belonging to a group

and use these words as tools

for explaining their identity to others.

These labels are, however,
not clearly defined.

Which labels you choose
to describe yourself

and how you define them is highly personal

and can never be wrong.

After all, nobody knows
you better than yourself.

Moreover, you are not obligated

to give yourself a label at all.

As you see, your gender
is a lot more complicated

than what they expect from you at birth.

The Genderbread Cookie's
not even complete.

The construction of a person's gender

is an incredibly complex process
which involves psychology,

biology, sociology, and so much more.

Capturing this process in a small cookie

would be very ambitious.

But it's a start.

(bright chiming music)