What Is a Cis Woman?
What It Means to Be Cisgender
Medically reviewed by Renita White, MD
Cisgender (sometimes referred to as "cis") describes a person whose gender identity corresponds to the sex they were assigned at birth. As such, you would be a cisgender woman if your assigned sex at birth was female and you identify as a girl or a woman. Cisgender women typically use the pronouns "she" and "her."
Cisgender is part of the larger spectrum of gender identities. Although many people may identify as cisgender, a cisgender person is neither "typical" nor has qualities or characteristics that inherently differentiate them from a person of other gender identities.
As with all gender identities, the term simply describes how a person sees themselves and helps others communicate more accurately and respectfully, Cisgender has nothing to do with a person's sexual orientation.
This article explains how sex and gender differ and where cisgender falls within the spectrum of gender identities. It also discusses cisgender privilege and the relationship between gender identity and sexual orientation in cis women.
Proper Usage
A common mistake that many people make is using the term "cisgendered." In the same way that you would never refer to someone as being "gayed" or "transgendered," you should not call someone "cisgendered" as it suggests an action rather than a state of being.
The correct term is cisgender.
Differences Between Sex and Gender
Although the terms are often used interchangeably, sex and gender are not the same. Sex and gender can be aligned, as it is if you are cisgender. But they can also be misaligned, a state described as gender dysphoria.
What Is Sex?
Sex is a biological and physiological designation. It refers to a person's sex chromosomes and the characteristics assigned by those chromosomes.
This includes a person's genitals and sex organs (including the vagina, uterus, clitoris, and vulva designated by the XY chromosomes or the penis, testes, prostate gland, and scrotum designated by the XY chromosomes).
It also encompasses secondary characteristics like breast size, bone structure, body size, and facial hair that are regarded as being "female" or "male."
What Is Gender?
Gender is a social construct. It refers to roles and behaviors that society assigns as being "masculine" or "feminine." It infers behaviors that are "accepted" or "appropriate" based on how a person acts, speaks, dresses, or even sits.
Gender is often ascribed in titles (such as "sir," "ma'am," "mister," or "miss"), pronouns ("him," "she," "he," and "her"), or roles ("actress," "actor," "prince," "princess"). Many of these suggest a hierarchy and who has power and who does not. Cisgender women often fall victim to these gender dynamics.
As society changes, so too can gender definitions. Beliefs that were once acceptable may no longer be acceptable, and even long-held concepts—like there only being two genders—may be challenged and redefined.
Increasingly, gender is used to describe how someone sees themselves internally, irrespective of the social construct.
Sex
A biological and physiological designation based on a person's sex chromosomes and sexual organs
Refers to both a person's chromosomes and the way that their genes are expressed
Generally described in terms of "male" and "female" characteristics or the sex a person is assigned at birth
Gender
A social construct
Refers to the social roles, behaviors, and expectations considered "appropriate" for men and women
Historically defined as "masculine" and "feminine," although the definitions can change as societal expectations change
Glossary of Gender Identities
In the past, gender was largely regarded as binary, meaning that you were either a "woman" or a "man." Today, gender is largely viewed as a spectrum wherein someone might identify with one gender, more than one gender, or no gender.
The definitions are often subtle and can often overlap, co-exist, or even change.
Gender identity types include:
Cisgender: Someone whose gender identity matches their assigned sex at birth
Transgender: Someone whose gender identity does not match their assigned sex at birth
Non-binary: Someone who feels their gender identity cannot be defined in the gender binary
Demigender: Someone who feels a partial, but not full, connection to a particular gender
Agender: Someone who feels either neither "male" nor "female"
Genderqueer: Similar to non-binary but inferring a rejection of societal expectations
Gender-neutral: Similar to non-binary but focused on the abandonment of gender labels
Gender fluid: Someone who experiences multiple genders or moves between genders
Polygender: Someone experiences or expresses more than one gender at once
Pangender: Someone who identifies with all genders
Third gender: Someone who views their gender as being distinct and separate from the binary
Twin gender: A Native American term describing someone who is simultaneously male and female
Cis Woman Identity
The terms cis woman or cis female is used to describe a person who was assigned female at birth and identifies as such.
For a cis woman, this would mean that their gender identity would align with not only align with their primary sex characteristics (such as the vagina and ovaries) but also their secondary sex characteristics like:
The development of breasts
Lighter musculature
A wider pelvis
A higher pitch voice
Broadening of hips due to fat disposition
It may also involve a concept known as cisnormativity, meaning the assumption that everyone identifies as the gender they were assigned at birth. Inwardly, it would inform how a cis woman would be expected to dress and act.
(Cisnormativity differs from an even more extreme concept called gender essentialism in which gender differences are said to be rooted purely in biology and therefore cannot be changed.)
Despite the negative connotation, cisnormative beauty standards can influence the beauty standards of many transgender women and, by doing so, end up reinforcing gender stereotypes that further fuel cisnormativity.
Where Did "Cisgender" Come From?
The term first appeared in the 1990s, possibly in online discussion groups. The prefix “cis” comes from Latin meaning “on the side of.” This is the opposite of “transgender” in which the prefix “trans" means “across from.”
"Cisgender Privilege"
Cisgender privilege refers to the concept that people who are cisgender get unearned benefits compared to someone who doesn't conform to the gender binary. This includes cisgender women as well as cisgender men.
Cisgender privilege occurs when a cisgender person assumes they are the "norm" and consciously or unconsciously acts against those who fall outside the definition of "masculinity" and "feminity." Because they are protected from these abuses, they are said to have cisgender privilege.
Examples of cisgender privilege include:
Not worrying about being called a "tomboy" or "sissy"
Not being denied work and social opportunities because you don't fit into the "boy's club" or "girl's club"
Not having to have your sexual orientation questioned
Not having to fear abuse or attract questioning looks in public facilities or locker rooms
Not being challenged or questioned about the clothes you wear or the way you look
Not being demeaned or mocked because of the pronouns you use
Not being denied healthcare due to the discomfort of healthcare providers
Not fearing that your civil rights or legal protections will be taken from you
Debate and Controversy
Cisgender is the antonym for transgender. The term is largely embraced because it does not assign a relative value to either gender identity.
Even so, the terms and definitions are not embraced by everyone. Some contend that defining a cisgender person as being "aligned" suggests that a transgender person is "not aligned."
Others contend that cisgender is used as a default category to assert that "I am not transgender." As such, some activists have proposed using the term non-transgender instead.
Gender Identity vs Sexual Orientation
Gender identity and sexual orientation are also not the same things. A cisgender person can be heterosexual or homosexual, bisexual, or asexual. So can a transgender person.
This highlights one of the complaints that some transgender activists have with the LTGTQI+ acronym. They argue that the acronym makes it more likely that people will equate gender identity with sexual orientation when they, in fact, have no entirely different things.
Summary
A cisgender (cis) woman is a person whose gender identity corresponds with the female sex designation they were assigned at birth. A cis woman uses the pronouns "she" and "her."
Being cisgender has no correlation to a person's sexual orientation. Gender and sex are not the same thing, and neither are gender identity and sexual orientation.
Cisgender is the antonym of transgender and, as a term, places no relative value on either gender identity.
