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The topic of gender and gender identity, while not specific to EGS, is important to understand when engaging in discussion about EGS, or in an analysis of EGS (such as is the purpose of this wiki).

Pronoun use in this article[]

The pronoun "they", and its declined forms, may be used in this article to refer to single, usually unspecific, persons. This use is traditionally valid, but generally deemed nonstandard. (It is worth noting here that the word "you" is the plural of "thou" or "thee", but use of "you" for singular persons is standard.) It also sidesteps some difficult issues regarding whether everyone is either a "he" or a "she", which is not really overkill for an article actually speaking on this very subject.

Gender versus sex[]

Sex, as an attribute, in contrast with gender, is a description of a person's physical body, either at birth or at present. This may be male, female, or a number of indeterminate cases classified as "intersex". (The latter is sometimes called "hermaphrodite", but this is both technically incorrect and also often considered impolite (implying that a person is not human) and should be avoided.) Uryuoms, unlike humans, do not have multiple sexes. A person's sexual characteristics such as genitalia are private and usually irrelevant to social interaction.

Gender is a fundamental manner of categorizing people in a society, which tends to correspond to a certain degree to sexual or reproductive role or capacity; precise conceptions can vary between cultures. While this will tend to amount to a person's sex, this is by no means a hard and fast rule. Uryuoms use genders, at least when integrating into other societies.

Some people experience some degree of unpleasant psychological "gender dysphoria" if treated as a gender contrary to a "gender identity", which does not necessarily equal the physical sex. This can be sufficiently bad to drive people to suicide, and hence is no laughing matter.

Justin, during Grace's Birthday Party, experienced an inability or unwillingness to identify as a female; it is nonetheless unclear whether this was due to some degree of dysphoria. Tedd's astral self appeared female during There Be Whales Here. Precisely how much this implies is uncertain at this time.

Dan has in the past used "sex" and "gender" interchangeably, but has since resolved to use them more rigorously.

Other terminology[]

Confusingly, and perhaps frustratingly, there is no universal consensus on the precise meaning, or level of offence, of a lot of terminology in this domain. This listing should be limited to those terms used in EGS, in the sense of how they are used in EGS. Sources more specifically about gender identity should be consulted for further information.

  • Transgender: as Grace explains, one gender "up here" (referring to the head), a different sex "down there" (referring to the genitals). The opposite is "cisgender".[1]
  • Genderfluid: with a gender identity which is not constant. Tedd is an example.[2]

External links to more infomation[]

References[]

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