B [GLOSSARY] → Binarism, Binarist: Actions, attitudes, or as- sumptions that adhere to, or uphold, some binary A ideology (usually the in discussions of issues). See also binary. (1) → Accessibility: The state of being open to me- aningful participation by all people, in particular → Binary: Generally refers to the human tenden- people whose participation (in this activity or in cy to describe people or phenomena in terms of society at general) is usually limited by oppressi- two mutually-exclusive categories that suppo- on of some kind. Accessibility in general means sedly exist in opposition to one another. Within being free of barriers into [which can be placed transgender communities, the focus is typically by the group inadvertently or advertently (e.g. on the gender binary. However, there are count- lack of childcare or a members-only policy) and/ less other binaries in our , and they often or can be placed by society (e.g. housing must play a foundational role in marginalization. Bina- be paid for rather than being a right, etc.)] … ries tend to have a built-in hierarchy, one that is AND free of limits to participation once present. often discussed in terms of center versus mar- Sometimes the term “accessibility” is used with gin or unmarked versus marked (1) specific reference to the needs of people with di- sabilities. A space cannot be deemed “accessible” → Bisexual: An umbrella term for people who ex- in this sense if the atmosphere is ableist, even if perience sexual attraction to members of more measures are in place (e.g. wheelchair-accessible than one gender or sex. Some people of bisexu- entrance/facilities that are safe and dignified, al experience prefer alternate labels, including Braille/large-print/audio-tape resources, TTY pansexual, polysexual, multisexual, omnisexual, and sign language interpretation). (5) , or no label at all (1)

→ Affirmative action: Refers to such speci- fic measures that are aimed at preventing or C compensating disadvantages that are linked to grounds such as ethnicity, gender and age. (3) → Canon/Canonization: List of generally recog- Agender: a person who does not identify with nized important works in a field, or the process any gender, or who does not experience a gen- of making such a list. In feminist terms, as long der identity. (1) as learning disciplines were controlled exclusively by white males, very few women or ethnically → Ally: A person who is not a member of a par- diverse authors were included in this list. (2) ticular minority or marginalized group, but who works to challenge the that group → Cis Privilege: societal advantages experienced faces. (1) by people solely as a result of not being trans. (1)

→ Androgynous: or presen- → Cisnormativity, Cis Assumption: related con- tation that combines feminine and masculine cepts that enable trans erasure and invisibility. elements and/or which blurs the lines between “Cisnormativity” describes a societal mindset masculine and feminine. (1) wherein cis//cissexual are presumed to be the norm, while trans/transgender/trans- → Appropriation: To borrow or take something sexual people and experiences are deemed “ab- that someone else has created and to use it for normal” by comparison (if they are even conside- one’s own purposes. In activist circles, the term red at all). (1) more specifically refers to instances where a do- minant/majority group appropriates aspects of → Colonization: Colonization can be defined as a marginalized/minority community’s identities, some form of invasion, dispossession and sub- expressions, creations, and/or culture. (1) jugation of a people. The invasion need not be military; it can begin—or continue—as geogra- → Asexual: A term for people who do not ex- phical intrusion in the form of agricultural, urban perience sexual attraction to other individuals. or industrial encroachments. The result of such is distinct from experiencing sexual incursion is the dispossession of vast amounts arousal and/or a capacity for romantic relati- of lands from the original inhabitants. This is of- onships with other people. (1) ten legalized after the fact. The long-term result result of such massive dispossession is instituti- → Drag: Sometimes used generically as a syn- onalized inequality. The colonizer/colonized rela- onym for crossdressing, particularly when an tionship is by nature an unequal one that bene- individual is described as being “in drag” Alter- fits the colonizer at the expense of the colonized. natively, “drag” refers to a genre of performance Ongoing and legacy Colonialism impact power re- art or entertainment that is intended to play lations in most of the world today. For example, with, or challenge, commonly held assumptions white supremacy as a philosophy was developed about gender. The most familiar forms of drag largely to justify European colonial exploitation performance involve male-bodied/identified indi- of the Global South (including enslaving African viduals presenting as women (often called drag peoples, extracting resources from much of Asia queens) or -bodied/identified individuals and Latin America, and enshrining cultural norms presenting as men (often called drag kings), but of whiteness as desirable both in colonizing and numerous other variations exist. (1) colonizer nations). (4) E → Critical human geography: Critical human geo- graphy can be seen as a diverse set of ideas and → Ethnicity: A social construct that divides practices linked by a shared commitment to a people into smaller social groups based on cha- broadly conceived emancipatory politics, pro- racteristics such as shared sense of group gressive social change, and the use of a range of membership, values, behavioral patterns, langua- critical sociogeographic theories. Critical human ge, political and economic interests, history and geographers draw on theoretical approaches ancestral geographical base. such as anarchism, anticolonialism, critical race Examples of different ethnic groups are: Cape theory, , feminism, Marxism, Verdean, Haitian, African American (Black); Chi- nonrepresentational theory, post-Marxism, post- nese, Korean, Vietnamese (Asian); Cherokee, Mo- colonialism, poststructuralism, psychoanalysis, hawk, Navaho (Native American); Cuban, Mexican, , situationism, and socialism. (7) Puerto Rican (Latino); Polish, Irish, and Swedish (White). (13) → Cultural Appropriation: Theft of cultural elements for one’s own use, commodification, → , Essentialist: The belief that all or profit — including symbols, art, language, members of a particular category (especially customs, etc. — often without understanding, those categories that are presumed to be na- acknowledgement, or respect for its value in the tural in origin) must share a particular set of original culture. Results from the assumption characteristics, qualities, or “essence” with one of a dominant (i.e. white) culture’s right to take another. One relevant example would be the other cultural elements. (5) notion that all women are genetically XX, or are attracted to men. While essentialism fails to ac- D count for the naturally occurring complexity and heterogeneity exhibited by humans (and other → Discrimination: Any distinction, exclusion, re- organisms), people routinely rely on, or resort striction or preference, based on “race”, colour, to, essentialist explanations of how the world descent, or national or ethnic origin which has works. People often mistakenly conflate essenti- the purpose of or effect of nullifying or impairing alism with biology. (1) the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental F freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultu- ral or any other field of public life. (International → Feminism: a diverse array of activist mo- convention on the elimination of all forms of vements which all share the common goal of racial discrimination ICERD 1965) (3) challenging traditional sexism (i.e., the assump- tion that femaleness/femininity is inferior to, or less legitimate than, maleness/masculinity). → Deconstruction: „strategy of critical analysis . . Some strands of feminism focus solely on tradi- . directed towards exposing unquestioned meta- tional sexism and envision themselves as a “wo- physical assumptions and internal contradictions men’s liberation” or “women’s rights” movement. in philosophical and literary language” (OED). Other strands of feminism are more broadly Deconstructive analysis shows the text’s failure focused on challenging multiple (or all) forms of to fulfill its “project” by exposing overly simplistic sexism, and thus are concerned with women as binary assumptions, gaps (aporia) in the messa- well as gender and sexual minorities. Still other ge and by showing the absence of those clearly strands recognize intersectionality, and thus present. (2) argue that feminism should be concerned with with challenging all forms of marginalization → Gender Performativity: A theory of gender rather than just sexism. (1) forwarded by in her book : Feminism and the Subversion of Identi- → Femme: The French/Français word for woman; ty. (1) in English it generally refers to feminine gender expression or a feminine identity. The word also → Glass Ceiling: An intangible barrier within a hi- refers to an activist and cultural movement that erarchy that prevents women or minorities from challenges masculine-centrism and femmephobia obtaining upper-level position. (8) in society. (1) → Glass Escalator: The term „glass escalator“ → Femmephobia: A term often used to describe was introduced by Christine L. Williams in her dismissive or delegitimizing views of people who research „The Glass Escalator: Hidden Advanta- express femininity. (1) ges for Men in the „Female“ Profession“[1] pub- lished in August 1992. The glass escalator refers G to the way men, namely heterosexual white men, are put on a fast track to higher up positions → Gender: As a noun, it can refer to identities when entering women dominated sex-segrega- or social classes that are generally organized ted professions. It is most present in lower levels around some or all of the following facets: a of the profession. This idea is a parallel to the person’s assigned gender/sex or legal sex; their popular idea of the glass ceiling, where women physical sex or sex embodiment; the gender/sex face troubles advancing in the workplace. Howe- they identify with (i.e., ) or live ver, it has been found that not all men experien- as (i.e., lived sex); their gender expression and/ ce the financial benefits equally. Only white men or . Some people define gender more have been found to have an advantage in benefits narrowly (e.g., as synonymous with gender iden- over women, while men of other races do not tity, or as merely a product of socialization. (1) have them equally. (9)

→ Gender Binary: A concept forwarded by trans- H gender activists in the 1990s to explain gen- der-based oppression. The model states that all → Hegemony: One group’s multiple levels of people in our culture are nonconsensually forced dominance over another, including the suppres- into one of two dichotomous categories (man or sed group’s consent to domination; hegemony woman), and based on that gender assignment, is less a domination by force than a means of we are all expected live up to the gender norms encouraging participation in one’s own oppres- associated with that group. People who do not sion. Cultural hegemony, a term used by Antonio fit neatly into either of these classes and/or Gramsci, is the use of ordinary practices and who fail to adhere to such gender norms (e.g., shared values as a means by which one group transgender and people) are typically can dominate a diverse culture. (2) marginalized in our society. See also binary. (1) → : A societal mindset in which → Gender Expression: Refers to aspects of one’s heterosexual people, experiences, and desires behaviours, mannerisms, interests, and styles of are presumed to be the norm, thus invisibilizing dress that are generally considered to be femini- , , bisexual, and asexual people and ne, masculine, or some combination thereof. (1) perspectives. Often heteronormativity is used in an even broader way to include binary gen- der norms people are expected to conform to, → Gender Neutral Pronouns: Third-person singu- and assumptions about how relationships and lar pronouns that, unlike she/her/hers and he/ families should be organized (e.g., monogamous him/his, do not make any presumption about a pairings, nuclear families). (1) person’s gender. Some trans activists have for- warded neologisms such as ze or sie (in place of he/she) and hir (in place of him/her). An alterna- → : Often literally read as a “fear tive approach is to use the third-person plural of” or “aversion to” people who are homosexual pronouns they/them/theirs in singular form. (and/or those who experience same-sex attrac- These latter pronouns have the advantage of tion or relationships). I typically use the term in a already existing in the English language. (1) broader manner to describe the belief or as- sumption that same-sex attraction is inferior to, or less legitimate than, . (1) → Homosexual: A term for people who are exclu- bisexual, and T = transgender). People then began sively attracted to members of their own gen- adding one or two Q’s (for queer and/or questi- der/sex. In the mid-to-late twentieth century, oning) to make these acronyms even more inclu- the term was sometimes informally used in a sive. In the years since, numerous other symbols broader manner similar to how the word queer are sometimes added onto the end of these is often used today. It has since fallen out of acronyms; examples include: I (for intersex), A (for favor as an identity label or term of self-de- asexual), an extra T (for ), the number scription, and is instead mostly used as a techni- 2 (for two-spirit), G (for genderqueer), one or cal term when distinguishing a person’s sexual two P’s (for pansexual and/or polyamorous), K orientation from those who are heterosexual, (for kinky), H (for HIV-positive), U (for undecided), bisexual, and asexual. (1) E (for everyone else), and + (to recognize other additional identities and individuals not explicitly I included). (1)

→ Institutional discrimination: The term refers → Liberal Feminism: Includes most mainstream to “inequality which is understood to be partly expressions of feminism, which are typically fo- the result of more subtle, structural institutional cused on reforming laws and customs to ensure forces rather than individual acts of exclusion by that women have equal rights in society. People identifiable persons.” Direct institutionalised di- do not usually self-identify as “liberal feminists”; scrimination refers to actions initiated by an or- rather, the term is most often used in a pejora- ganisation or community that, by intention, have tive manner by feminists who favor more radical a differential and negative impact on members approaches. (1) of subordinate groups. Indirect institutionalised discrimination encompasses practices that have M a negative and differential impact on members of subordinate groups even though the norms and → Mansplaining: The term caught fire in the regulations themselves are not intended to harm late-’00s feminist blogosphere and describes a members of these groups: (3) particularly irritating form of sexist micro-ag- gression: namely, a man explaining a topic of → Intersectionality: A term coined by Kimberlé conversation to a woman who a) has already Crenshaw, which arose out of the work of femi- demonstrated adequate knowledge of that topic; nists of color, and which is concerned with how b) could reasonably be presumed to know about different forms of marginalization (e.g., racism, that topic; and/or c) could reasonably be presu- classism, sexism, ableism, sizeism, etc.) intersect med to know much more about that topic than with and exacerbate one another. Within femi- he does, because she is an expert in the field. nism, intersectionality challenges the notion that Mansplaining is part of a set of cultural assump- sexism occurs unilaterally (i.e., men are oppres- tions that place men’s opinions above women’s. sors, women the oppressed, end of story). (1) It occurs when men assume that women don’t understand something and need it explained → Intersex: An umbrella term for people whose to them, which is more often than not a false reproductive or sexual anatomy does not appear assumption. It is usually done in a condescending, to fit the standard definitions for female or overconfident, inaccurate or oversimplified man- male.(1) ner. Rebecca Solnit popularized the term in the book Men Explain Things to Me, which discusses L men explaining women’s own academic fields to them. There are also terms such as ‘Whitesplain’ → Lesbian: A term for women who are exclusively which refers to white people unnecessarily exp- attracted to other women. (1) laining things to people of colour. (14)

→ LGBT (and its variants): Ever-evolving acro- → Marginalization: When a particular subpopula- nyms often used when discussing gender and tion is relegated to the margins of a community sexual minorities. These acronyms originated or society. I personally prefer this word over in the 1990s, when bisexual, and subsequent- more common terms (which I sometimes use) ly transgender, activists began to petition for such as “discrimination” (which seems to cast inclusion within (what had, up until then, simply the situation in terms of individual expressions been called) “lesbian and gay” organizations. This of ) or “oppression” (which is fitting explains why these acronyms almost always when describing one group dominating another begin with LGBT (where L = lesbian, G = gay, B = group, but feels a bit heavy-handed when di- scussing more subtle forms of invalidation, or Q instances of exclusion that occur within oppres- sed populations). Marginalization also literally → Queer: A reclaimed word that has since beco- cites the center-versus-margin hierarchy that me a widely accepted umbrella term for gender can be found in binary forms of thinking. (1) and sexual minorities/LGBTQ+ people. Despite its current acceptance, some people who fall under → Masculinity, Masculine Gender Expression: this label reject the term because of its past use Behaviors, mannerisms, interests, and styles of as a slur, or because it is too closely associated dress that are commonly associated with (but with gay identities. (1) certainly not exclusive to) men in our culture. (1) → Queer Ecology: The term “queer ecology” re- → Misgender, Misgendering: To refer to a per- fers to a loose, interdisciplinary constellation of son as, or consider them to be, a gender that practices that aim, in different ways, to disrupt they do not identify with. Often, misgendering prevailing heterosexist discursive and institutio- is unintended (although it can still be invalidating nal articulations of sexuality and nature, and also to the person who is subjected to it). People who to reimagine evolutionary processes, ecological harbor cissexist beliefs or attitudes will often interactions, and environmental politics in light engage in purposeful acts of misgendering trans of queer theory. Drawing from traditions as people. (1) diverse as evolutionary biology, LGBTTIQQ2SA movements, and queer geography and histo- N ry, feminist , , and , queer ecology currently → Non-binary: Within trans-related discourses, highlights the complexity of contemporary bio- typically refers to people or identities that fall politics, draws important connections between outside of the gender binary. A few examples the material and cultural dimensions of environ- mentioned elsewhere in this glossary include mental issues, and insists on an articulatory people who are agender, bigender, genderqueer, practice in which sex and nature are understood genderfluid, and two-spirit.(1) in light of multiple trajectories of power and matter.(6) P → Queer Theory: An academic field that became → Pansexual: Another term for people who ex- influential in the 1990s, and which set out to perience sexual attraction to members of more challenge essentialist assumptions about gender, than one gender or sex.(1) sexuality, bodies, and desires. One of its main strategies was to deconstruct the (typically bi- → Patriarchy: A social structure that is centered nary) categories that serve to define and restrict on men, and which marginalizes women. (1) these phenomena. (1)

→ Privilege: In activist settings, refers to the → Questioning: In queer/gender and sexual mino- benefits or advantages one may experience rity discourses, refers to someone who is unsure solely as a result of being a member of a domi- about, or in the process of exploring, some facet nant or majority group. It is a different way of of their gender and/or sexuality. The term is framing marginalization than the usual approach often intended to make queer settings more ex- of discussing the disadvantages or obstacles plicitly inclusive of people who are still trying to experienced by the corresponding marginalized figure out their gender or .(1) or minority group, and the intention is to make members of the dominant/majority group aware R of the fact that they too are impacted by this form of marginalization (albeit positively). (1) → Racism: Racism is a complex system of beliefs and behaviors, grounded in a presumed superi- ority of the white race. These beliefs and beha- viors are conscious and unconscious; personal and institutional; and result in the oppression of people of color and benefit the dominant group, whites. A simpler definition is racial prejudice + power = racism. (11) S lizes violence, such as in the saying „boys will be boys“ with regard to bullying and aggression. → Sexism: Any double standard based on a per- Self-reliance and emotional repression are cor- son’s sex, gender, and/or sexuality. (1) related with increased psychological problems in men such as depression, increased stress, and → Sexual Minority: An umbrella term for peo- substance abuse.(12) ple whose autonomous or consensual sexual practices, interests, and desires fall outside of → Trans Feminism, : A term accre- societal norms, and who often face marginaliza- dited to Diana Courvant and Emi Koyama, and tion as a result. (1) used to describe transgender perspectives on feminism and/or feminist perspectives on trans- → : Refers to the sex/gender gender issues. (1) that a person is primarily attracted to. There are four commonly accepted categories of sexual X orientation: heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, and asexual. While these labels/categories are → Xenofeminism: XF is a gender abolitionist, often useful, they do have potential drawbacks: anti-naturalist, technomaterialist form of 1) they center attraction around same-sex ver- posthumanism, initiated by the working group sus other-sex, which can invisibilize many trans- Laboria Cuboniks. It is a world-building project gender and intersex people (and those who are working from the assumption that any society attracted to us), 2) it seems to imply that one’s worth constructing would take feminism as a preferred sex/gender category is the most im- foundational principle. It is a project that aims portant aspect of sexual desire, when in actu- to infect a wide range of fields, and operates on ality people’s sexualities vary with regards to a the assumption that any meaningful change will multiplicity of traits and facets. (1) happen at a range of scales and across a range of disciplines. (15) → Sexuality: A broad term that may→ refer to a person’s sexual orientation, interests, fantasies, desires, acts, expressions, experiences, or some combination thereof. (1)

→ Social Construct, Socially Constructed: Refers Sources: (1) Serano, Julia: There Is No Perfect Word: A Transgender Glossary to beliefs, meanings, and connotations that we of Sorts. from: http://www.juliaserano.com/terminology.html project onto objects (or people) in the world, and (2) Women‘s Studies Resources for Students (2010): A Glossary of Women’s Studies Terms. from: https://grccwomenstudies.files. which shape the way we see them. For instan- wordpress.com/2010/09/a-glossary-of-womens-studies-terms. ce, while biological sex is a real thing, many of pdf the expectations and assumptions that we have (3) Hedblom, Agneta: GendeRace Glossary. from: http://dev.ulb. ac.be/tef/glossaire/index.php?option=com_glossary&Itemid=34 about social gender (e.g., that it constitutes (4) Colonization and Racism. Film, Emma LaRocque, PhD, Aboriginal a strict binary, that blue is for boys & pink is Perspective, via https://www.racialequitytools.org/glossary#colo- for girls, that men just want sex while women nialism (5) Colours of Resistance Archive: Definitions for the Revolution. want commitment, etc.) are socially construc- from: http://www.coloursofresistance.org/definitions/cultu- ted -- these ideas may seem natural and taken ral-appropriation/ (6) Sandilands, Catriona: Keywords for Environmental Studies. from: for granted for many people in our culture, but https://keywords.nyupress.org/environmental-studies/essay/ other people and may view these mat- queer-ecology/ ters very differently.(1) (7) Berg, L.D. (2010): Critical Human Geography chapter in The Ency- clopedia of Geography, B. Warf, Sage Publishers (8) Definition Glass Ceiling, from: https://www.merriam-webster. T com/dictionary/glass%20ceiling (9) Definition Glass Escalator, from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Glass_escalator#cite_note-Smith-2 → Toxic Masculinity: The concept of toxic mascu- (10) Doyle, Sady (2014) Mansplaining, Explained, from: http://inthe- linity is used in psychology and media discussions setimes.com/article/16552/rebecca_solnit_explains_mansplaining (11) Racial Equity Resource Guide (2009): Glossary, from: http:// of masculinity to refer to certain cultural norms www.racialequityresourceguide.org/about/glossary that are associated with harm to society and to (12) Definition Toxic Masculinity, from: https://en.wikipedia.org/ men themselves. Traditional stereotypes of men wiki/Toxic_masculinity (13) Adams, Maurianne; Bell, Lee Anne; Griffin, Pat (1997) Teaching for as socially dominant, along with related traits Diversity and Social Justice: A Sourcebook. Routledge such as misogyny and homophobia, can be con- (14) Crehan, Maddy (2018): Feminist Glossary. from: https://rosie. sidered „toxic“ due in part to their promotion of org.au/blog/feminist-glossary/ (15) Bauer, Diann: Xenofeminism. from: http://diannbauer.net/xeno- violence, including sexual assault and domestic feminism violence. The socialization of boys often norma-