Here’s Why You Should Never Assume Someone Else’s Sexuality
Humans are diverse creatures and assuming their sexuality would be an informal thing to do. We used to live in a world where humans are only limited to act as a boy or a girl due to their biological gender.
Furthermore, people who naturally act feminine or masculine regardless of their gender exists. This is the reason why we should never assume someone else’s gender unless they stated what their sexuality is.
Here’s Why You Should Never Assume Someone Else’s Sexuality
In meeting a person, you can feel quite unsure about how to address them. The best thing you could do to clear things out is to ask what their preferred pronouns are. Moreover, there are people who are born of a certain gender may flourish into the other gender, and here are the factors that affect them:
Social and Environmental Factors.
There are people who were raised either by men or women, and that could explain why a person acts masculine or feminine. You don’t go out there and assume that they’re gay or lesbian. Their sexuality is still based on them, try not to offend anyone by assuming their gender.
Children observe and naturally imitate what their elders project. If a boy grew up being cared for by women, then chances are he will adapt the feminine side of his caretakers and vice versa to women. Moreover, the environment they a person belongs directly influence how a person behaves.
Hormones affect too.
Biological factors are the first thing that could affect a person’s sexuality. Starting from the physical organs, men and women are already built differently. However, some boys and girls have congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). Which causes them to have higher levels of androgen that significantly affects their behavior.
Girls who have CAH tend to display more masculine traits and behaviors than their same-age hormonally-normal friends. In addition, girls who have this condition affect their physical too for having extra genitalia, but they’re still considered as females. This condition has a distinct effect on girls compared to boys because males naturally have higher androgens and can display male traits.
All in all, no matter how people project themselves in the public, shouldn’t be the reason for them to be gender-stereotyped.
Gender-stereotyping is an act of assuming the person’s gender based on the way people present themselves, and their behavior.
To have a clear vision of this, men can have a feminine side. Women can have a masculine side. Moreover, humans can be gender fluid too whereas, at some point, they feel like being the other gender. Therefore, that’s okay as long as they feel free and empowered.
To have a further understanding, the Genderbread Person may help people to understand sexuality better.
From this illustration, a person can be flexible in their Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression (SOGIE) whereas identity, attraction, and sex could influence the person’s sexuality.
Moreover, to the people who happen to be unsure of what their gender identity is, it’s not a requirement to come out.
You don’t have to pressure yourself to come out if you’re not ready yet. Moreover, you can come out if you want, even if it takes time. Freely express yourself because you’re valid and you’re a human. On the other hand, you can still decide how people can address you for interactions.
