What is the difference between sex and gender?
What is the difference between sex and gender?
Sex is a biological construct based on chromosomes and anatomy.
Gender is a social construct (an idea or concept) and refers to attitudes, feelings, and behaviors often associated with a person’s assigned sex.
Gender identity refers to an individual’s personal sense of self and gender.
Gender dysphoria refers to clinically significant distress experienced due to discordance (conflict) between gender identity and assigned gender. Gender dysphoria may show itself in a variety of ways, including desires to be treated consistently with one’s gender identity—not assigned gender—and/or to have physical sex characteristics aligned with one’s gender identity. Not all transgender or gender-diverse people experience gender dysphoria.
Gender diverse refers to individual people or the community of people with gender identities outside of the traditional gender binary of female and male.
Transgender is a term used to describe people whose gender identity and assigned sex do not align.
Gender-Affirming Treatments
Gender-affirming treatments frequently are not single procedures. They may be part of a multidisciplinary treatment plan that may involve medical, surgical, and behavioral health interventions.
MassHealth covers a range of gender-affirming treatments, including the following.
- gender-affirming surgery (GAS)
- gender-affirming facial hair removal
- gender-affirming speech therapy
- gender-affirming hormone therapy
- gender-affirming behavioral health services
If you’re looking for gender-affirming care and treatment, it may be helpful to start by speaking to your primary care provider (PCP) or other trusted provider, or by speaking to a representative from your health plan.
To learn more about eligibility for gender-affirming care visit Eligibility for Gender-Affirming Care | Mass.gov.
To learn more about what’s covered by MassHealth and how to access gender-affirming care visit Gender-Affirming Care Covered by MassHealth | Mass.gov.
Additional Terms and Concepts
Cisgender is a term used to describe people whose gender identity aligns with the gender associated with their assigned sex.
Gender expression refers to the way someone communicates their gender to the world through clothing, behavior, speech, and more. Gender expression varies based on culture, context, and history.
Intersex describes a group of congenital conditions in which genitals, reproductive organs, and/or other sexual anatomy do not develop or align with traditional expectations for the female sex or the male sex. Being intersex is different from being transgender.
Non-binary describes someone whose gender identity does not fit into the traditional binary structure of girl/woman and boy/man.