On Genderism & Genderists

genderism 

Noun

The belief that gender is a binary, comprising male and female, and that the aspects of a person’s gender are inherently linked to their sex at birth.


Genderism is the cultural belief that gender is a binary, or that there are, or should be, only two genders — man and woman — and that the aspects of one’s gender are inherently linked to the sex in which they were assigned at birth.

It can reinforce negative attitudes, bias, and discrimination towards people who display expressions of gender variance or nonconformity and/or whose gender identity is incongruent with their birth sex.

Genderism is of particular relevance to individuals who fall within the transgender spectrum, and is the overarching ideology responsible for transphobia and gender bashing.

In addition, much like how transphobia is parallel to homophobia, genderism is said to be parallel to heterosexism.

Known uses of the word in professional contexts:

  • Shirley R. Steinberg (1 April 2009). Diversity and Multiculturalism: A Reader. Peter Lang. pp. 229–230. ISBN 978-1-4331-0345-2.
  • Genny Beemyn; Susan R. Rankin (1 November 2011). The Lives of Transgender People. Columbia University Press. pp. 89–90. ISBN 978-0-231-51261-9.
  • Derald Wing Sue (26 July 2010). Microaggressions and Marginality: Manifestation, Dynamics, and Impact. John Wiley & Sons. p. 224. ISBN 978-0-470-49139-3.
  • The Psychology Of Prejudice And Discrimination. ABC-CLIO. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-275-98234-8.
  • Norton, Jody (1997). “”Brain Says You’re a Girl, But I Think You’re a Sissy Boy”: Cultural Origins of Transphobia”. International Journal of Sexuality and Gender Studies. 2, Number 2 (2): 139–164.
  • Roger J.R. Levesque (5 September 2011). Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Springer. p. 2641. ISBN 978-1-4419-1694-5.
  • Frederick T.L. Leong; Wade E. Pickren; Mark M. Leach; Anthony J. Marsella (1 November 2011).Internationalizing the Psychology Curriculum in the United States. Springer. p. 163. ISBN 978-1-4614-0072-1.
  • Preves, Sharon Elaine (July 2000). “Negotiating the Constraints of Gender Binarism: Intersexuals’ Challenge to Gender Categorization”. Current Sociology 48 (3): 27–50.
  • Jack Harrison, Jaime Grant, Jody L. Herman (2011–2012). “A Gender Not Listed Here: Genderqueers, Gender Rebels, and Otherwise in the National Transgender Discrimination Survey” (PDF). LGBTQ Policy Journal (Harvard Kennedy School) 2: 22.
  • Brent Bilodeau, Ph.D.,Genderism: Transgender Students, Binary Systems and Higher Education, http://www.amazon.com/Genderism-Transgender-Students-Systems-Education/dp/3639004930

It is also sometimes used to describe Discrimination towards gender variant persons who fall outside of the gender binary; is prejudice towards individuals whose professed gender identity does not fit the gender binary as strictly male or female.

It is a type of transphobia and sexism.

It affects third gender, genderqueer, and other non-binary identified people.

Cisgender and binary transgender people can both display prejudice against non-binary people, and there is discrimination of this sort in the transgender community much like there is transphobia in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities.


When you see someone using “genderist” in reference to trans people, you are immediately notified that they are engaging in hate speech, as they are trying to appropriate the term that describes them for use against the trans community, which holds *precisely the opposite view*.

Right now, on Tumblr, the “genderist“ tag is being used by transphobic TERFs, Trans critical, and Gender Critical people to malign and insult and engage in violence against Trans people. Genderism, genderists are also being used as well.

Be aware of this, and do not be fooled.

Genderists are the people who argue that a trans woman is a man/male or a trans man is a woman/female.  And the evidence of this use is above, in professional, actual use in legal, political, scientific, and academic standards.