Gender By Sexed Body

a. The two competing conceptions of gender are gender by presentation and gender by sexed body. Gender by presentation is identifying your gender with how you physically look and how you want others to observe your gender as. On the other hand, gender by sexed body is defining an individual by their genitalia given to them at birth. If an individual does not feel they fit with their given body parts, individuals present themselves in “gendered attire which is designed to conceal body because such attire represents genital status” (Bettcher, 54). Our society values those that are cisgender, meaning the sex you are born as is the sex you present yourself as. Therefore, it is expected that the way in which an individual communicates or presents themselves, would align with their sex parts. By not adhering to this norm, transgender people are accused of being deceivers. As Bettcher says, this can be understood with the appearance versus reality concept. An individual’s appearance, which would be defining gender by presentation, may be viewed as a female. However, the reality of this is that the individual’s body parts, their sexed body gender, is male.

The transgender community is disadvantaged, a subordinate group, and transgender people are almost always forced to reveal their genital status for sex verification. Because of this, the presentation gender concept underlies the idea of “deception.” An individual who was born as a male, yet truly feels like a female would present themselves as the gender they feel they are in terms of clothing, hair styles, etc. This presentation is used to disguise their body parts because this is who they want to be. However, they are stripped of this presentation when being defined by their primary sex parts. If people find out that an individual presents themselves as a different gender than their body parts, this misalignment screams deceiver. It is seen as dishonest to present yourself in a way opposite of your