Cisnormativity or cissexual assumption is the assumption that everyone is, or ought to be,
cisgender
Cisgender (often shortened to cis; sometimes cissexual) is a term used to describe a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth. The word ''cisgender'' is the antonym of ''transgender''. The prefix '' cis-'' is La ...
. The term can further refer to a wider range of presumptions about
gender assignment
Sex assignment (sometimes known as gender assignment) is the discernment of an infant's sex at or before birth. A relative, midwife, nurse or physician inspects the external genitalia when the baby is delivered and, in more than 99.95% of birt ...
, such as the presumption of a
gender binary, or expectations of conformity to
gender roles even when
transgender identities are otherwise acknowledged. Cisnormativity is a form of cisgenderism, an
ideology
An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied prim ...
which promotes various normative ideas about
gender, to the invalidation of individuals' own
gender identities
Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...
, analogous to
heterosexism or
ableism
Ableism (; also known as ablism, disablism (British English), anapirophobia, anapirism, and disability discrimination) is discrimination and social prejudice against people with disabilities or who are perceived to be disabled. Ableism characteri ...
.
Cisnormativity is widespread in society. It manifests in speech as a separation of cisgender and transgender people where cisgender individuals are considered "normal" and transgender people, an exception. Cisnormative legislation may require
mental health diagnoses or
sterilization as a precondition for legal recognition of a transgender person's gender identity, and cisnormativity in health care results in transgender people having difficulties finding clinicians who are competent in
transgender health care, or being forced into
sex
Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones (ova, ...
-segregated spaces which they feel uncomfortable in. This further causes some transgender people to avoid medical care, or to avoid disclosing their transgender status to practitioners.
Cisnormativity is closely tied to
heteronormativity. The combination of the two, termed ''hetero-cis-normativity'', represents the societally dominant view that sex, gender, and
sexual orientation are all congruent.
Definition
Transfeminist Julia Serano
Julia Michelle Serano (; born 1967) is an American writer, musician, spoken-word performer, trans– bi activist, and biologist. She is known for her transfeminist books ''Whipping Girl'' (2007), ''Excluded'' (2013), and ''Outspoken'' (2016). ...
writes in ''
Whipping Girl
''Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity'' is a 2007 book by the gender theorist, biologist, and writer Julia Serano. The book is a transfeminist manifesto that makes the case that transphobia is rooted ...
'' that "
issexual assumptionoccurs when a cissexual makes the common, albeit mistaken, assumption that the way they experience their physical and subconscious sexes
��applies to everyone else in the world". She argues that cisgender people "indiscriminately project" their experience of gender identity onto all others, "transforming cissexuality into a human attribute that is taken for granted".
A 2009 article published in the ''
Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care'' (JANAC) defines cisnormativity as "the expectation that all people are cissexual".
''The
SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies'' states that cisnormativity is "the presumption that most people do, or should, conform to the norms about gender assignment in their society". It elaborates: cisnormative' behavior varies depending on the gender norms in place within a given society. For example, in some societies, having only 'woman' and 'man' as gender categories would not be cisnormative".
A related concept is that of cisgenderism (also known as cissexism), defined by Erica Lennon and Brian J. Millster writing for ''
Transgender Studies Quarterly
''TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering transgender studies, with an emphasis on cultural studies and the humanities. Established in 2014 and published by Duke University Press, it is the fir ...
'' as "the cultural and systemic ideology that denies, denigrates, or pathologizes self-identified gender identities that do not align with assigned gender at birth as well as resulting behavior, expression, and community".
Cisgenderism was proposed as an alternative concept to
transphobia, with the intention of drawing focus to a systemic ideology, rather than an individual "phobia". This draws from the earlier distinction between heterosexism and
homophobia
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, ma ...
. According to ''The SAGE Encyclopedia'', cisnormativity is one form of cisgenderism.
Consequences
According to the 2009 JANAC article, "Cisnormative assumptions are so prevalent that they are difficult at first to even recognize."
Cisnormativity is present in the way cisgender people are addressed without qualification as "men" or "women", while trans individuals often are consistently referred to as ''trans'' men or women, regardless of context. That is, being cisgender is considered normal, while being trans requires clarification.
''The SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies'' cites as examples of cisnormativity in legislation laws mandating mental health diagnoses to receive gender-affirming treatments or to have one's gender legally recognized, and laws requiring a trans person to be sterilized before they can change their
legal gender
Legal gender, or legal sex, is a sex or gender that is recognized under the law. Biological sex, sex reassignment and gender identity are used to determine legal gender. The details vary by jurisdiction.
History
In European societies, Rom ...
.
Health care
Health care providers often lack education and thus awareness about transgender topics, which causes them to be unprepared to treat transgender people. In 2015, 24% of transgender survey respondents in the United States reported having to educate health care providers about transgender health. Transgender people often feel unwelcome in sex-segregated wards or clinics, and some report being outright dismissed by doctors, or asked to seek help elsewhere, upon revealing that they are transgender. Past or anticipated experiences in cisnormative health care systems cause some transgender people to shy away from health care. According to the 2021 Trans Lives Survey report, 57% of respondents in the United Kingdom avoided seeing a doctor when ill. Some transgender people also avoid disclosing their transgender status to clinicians for fear of mistreatment; this may cause further problems due to inappropriate treatments, or from unintentional revelation of the patient's sex during examination.
Relationship with heteronormativity
Cisnormativity often appears together with heteronormativity.
According to
Judith Butler
Judith Pamela Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In 1993, Butler b ...
, the dominant view of gender assumes a "causal continuity among sex, gender, and desire".
In 2012, sociologist Meredith Worthen coined the term ''hetero-cis-normativity'' for this phenomenon:
According to Worthen, hetero-cis-normativity is a model to explain antipathy towards
LGBT people,
and transphobia may be a symptom thereof.
See also
*
Gender essentialism
Gender essentialism is a theory that is used to examine the attribution of distinct, fixed, intrinsic qualities to women and men. In this theory, based in essentialism, there are certain universal, innate, biologically or psychologically based feat ...
*
Trans erasure
References
{{Reflist
Transgender studies