Language has a major influence on our thinking. It structures our understanding of the world. Conversely, what language does not name is not perceived by people. This leads to social exclusion and discrimination.
Language conveys gender stereotypes. It plays an important and complex role in the production of gender and certain ideas of gender. A simple example is first names, which are generally interpreted as female or male.
The Observatory aims to use gender-sensitive language on its website and in its publications. Gender-sensitive language seeks to develop and establish linguistic forms that represent and address all people and thus reflects gender diversity.
We want to consciously move away from a binary language that only includes cis-hetero people in the form of women and men. In this way, we also take up evidence-based research findings that gender exists on a spectrum (Ainsworth 2015).
However, data that reveal gender-related differences continue to be collected in binary form in most cases (e.g. the gender pay gap). This also serves to make the structurally determined gender-related disadvantage of women compared to men visible.
The Observatory wants to make fundamentally structural, gender-related exclusions and discrimination visible. At the same time, we would like to draw attention to the fact that the binary understanding of gender on which language is based is inadequate. For these reasons, we use the gender star for women* and men*. In this way, the structural inequalities to the detriment of women* remain visible and are explicitly named, while the gender star simultaneously breaks up the binary language.
If spellings deviating from the gender star (*) appear in our texts, we have adopted these as self-designations from the original text or it is clear that only women and/or only men are meant, for example in legal texts or if the persons named have explicitly assigned themselves to one of the two genders
Glossary
Gender & Doing Gender
The term “gender” essentially refers to social gender relations, i.e. the ideas, expectations and norms that are directed at women* and men* in a society.
It differs from the term “sex”, which refers to the biological sex that is determined by sexual characteristics.
The term “gender” shows that gender relations are not a natural fact, but are socially created and predetermined, and therefore socially constructed. What is accepted behavior of women* and men*, what scope for action and opportunities they have, what is considered feminine or masculine, varies according to historical epoch and in different societies and can change over time.
Gender relations are therefore not immutable but can be changed and shaped.
Doing gender refers to the reproduction of gender in social interaction, but also through rules, norms, and social institutions.
This is not necessarily a deliberate act. Doing gender occurs in routines and is usually not reflected (Prechtl 2005: 144). For a long time, comparative cultural social research has been working on how different gender orders emerge in various cultures. Numerous empirical studies – e.g. historical, anthropological and science-critical ones – have long shown that masculinity and femininity are not natural characteristics, not unchangeable features of identity, but historically and culturally varying ideas and models (Faulstich-Wieland 2004: 175, 181). Thus, gender difference is a socially shared and subjectively internalized agreement about which characteristics, behaviours, and habits are read as female* or male*. As a result, individuals are disciplined socially when they diverge from norms, like when children are told “this isn’t for boys/girls”. In parallel, when people conform to gendered expectations, they are praised, like when girls and women receive positive feedback about their beauty or boys and men for their intelligence or bravery. Doing gender is therefore about the interactions in which gender is represented and appreciated or rejected.
Sex
Sex is not binary, but a continuum between the male and female poles.
In modern biology, the idea of gender sex as a continuum is increasingly gaining ground. On this continuum, “female” and “male” are two poles. In between, there are numerous intermediate-sex levels. As a result, all people have a mix of more or less masculine and more or less feminine physical characteristics (Ainsworth 2015).
This mixture is most evident in inter* people. They have an ambiguous sex because their sex characteristics vary: they are people who are neither male nor female or both male and female, but in any case not exclusively male or female (Schultz/Plett 2017: 1).
Equal rights, gender equality and gender equity
Equal rights represents a demand for abolishing any legal restrictions that make people unequal and ensuring that people are not discriminated against.
Asking for gender equality moves beyond those rights and includes addressing aspects like the unequal effects of gender roles and gendered divisions of labour discussed below.
Gender equity calls for serving justice for people of historically disadvantaged genders and ensuring that the gender identity of a person does not affect their opportunities and living situation.
(United Nations Population Fund (2005): Frequently asked questions about gender equality.)
Intersectionality & Intersectional feminism
Intersectionality describes the simultaneity of different forms of discrimination. The focus is on the effects of multiple forms of discrimination, which can influence and reinforce each other, affecting the daily lives of individuals (Britannica 2024).
Intersectional feminism “has set itself the goal of recognizing multiple discrimination and accepting multiple identities.” [own translation] (Center for anti-discrimination educational work). It is about looking at complex realities of people’s lives and the effects of multiple, joint-up forms of discrimination.Heteronormativity
Heteronormativity refers to “[...] the norms of heterosexuality and binary sexuality and understands them as a social power relationship [...]. Cisnormativity is part of this heteronormative power relationship and refers to the norm of locating oneself within the gender/sex assigned at birth” (Dionisius 2021: 78; own translation).
Human Rights
Human rights are universal rights regardless of nationality, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status. They range from the most fundamental – the right to life – to those that make life worth living, such as the rights to food, education, work, health, and liberty. (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights)
LGBTIQ* people
LGBTIQ* is an abbreviation for the terms lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, inter* and queer and thus an abbreviation for diverse sexual orientations and gender identities.Trans* refers to persons who feel that they do not or do not exclusively correspond to the gender they were assigned at birth.
Inter* refers to persons with variations in sexual characteristics.
Queer is a collective term for all non-heteronormative and non-cisgender lifestyles and identities and is representative of all of them here. For example, for non-binary persons: “Non-binary is [...] an umbrella term for all genders that are not purely male or purely female. [...] However, only one’s own perception is decisive for the identification as non-binary.” [own translation] (Queerulant_in e.V. 2019: 37).
The asterisk * represents the diversity of gender and sexual orientations as well as the processuality and incompleteness of gender orientation and positioning (Fütty 2019: 17 quoted after Dionisius2020: 78).
Patriarchy
Patriarchy refers to a male-dominated form of society in which various areas are determined by male domination, e.g. many leading positions in politics and business are held by men* or research fields such as medicine are largely based on the male body (Gender Glossary Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung 2024).People of Colour
People of Colour is a self-designation to express solidarity of people who share experiences of racism (Ha 2009). When the term People of Colour is used on this website or in our publications, it refers to all people who experience(d) structural, institutional, and interpersonal power inequalities; and therefore discrimination of a racist nature vis-a-vis the majority of society.
race
The term race has different meanings. The Observatory understands race as “[…] a human classification system that is socially constructed to distinguish between groups of people who share phenotypical characteristics. Since race is socially constructed, dominant groups in society have shaped and informed racial categories in order to maintain systems of power – thereby also producing racial inequality.” (Oxford Bibliographies 2016).“The idea of race as an objective or ‘real’ category is a myth. Instead it is widely accepted that race is a social construction that nonetheless has very real implications and outcomes.“(Meer 2014). The italicized spelling of certain terms is intended to emphasize the construction of these terms.
Rainbow families
Rainbow families are defined as families in which children live with at least one LGBTIQ* parent: “These can be patchwork families with children from a previous heterosexual relationship, lesbian or gay couples who decide to have children together, transgender or intersex parents who bear responsibility for children in a wide variety of constellations. Rainbow families are families with biological, adopted or foster children, with one, two, three or [...] [several] parents” (own translation). (Regenbogenportal of the German Ministry BMFSFJ, Glossary)Reproductive justice
Reproductive justice is a scientific-activist concept, developed by Black women in the USA in 1994. This concept links social justice and reproductive health.
It has three basic principles: 1) the right to not have a child; 2) the right to have a child; and (3) the right to parent children in safe and healthy environments.
Sexual and reproductive health and rights
Sexual and reproductive health and rights relate to the realisation of a state of physical, mental, and social well-being in relation to all areas of human sexuality and reproduction (Guttmacher-Lancet Commission 2018).
These have been enshrined in international human rights since the United Nations World Population Conference in 1994.Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC)
Sexual orientation refers to “each person’s capacity for profound emotional, affectional and sexual attraction to, and intimate and sexual relations with, individuals of a different gender or the same gender or more than one gender” (Yogyakarta Principles 2007: 8).Gender identity refers to “each person’s deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex assigned at birth […]” (Yogyakarta Principles 2007: 8).
Gender expression is understood “as each person’s presentation of the person’s gender through physical appearance – including dress, hairstyles, accessories, cosmetics – and mannerisms, speech, behavioural patterns, names and personal references” (Yogyakarta Principles 2017: 6; Preamble). This presentation “may or may not conform to a person’s gender identity” (ibid.). Gender expression is thus part of the definition of gender identity.
Sexual characteristics are “each person’s physical features relating to sex, including genitalia and other sexual and reproductive anatomy, chromosomes, hormones, and secondary physical features emerging from puberty” (Yogyakarta Principles 2017: 6).
References
Gender & Doing GenderFaulstich-Wieland, Hannelore: Doing Gender : Konstruktivistische Beiträge, in: Glaser, Edith; Klika, Dorle; Prengel, Annedore (Hrsg.): Handbuch Gender und Erziehungswissenschaften (Bad Heilbrunn / Obb.: Klinkhardt, 2004), 175-191.
Prechtl, M. (2005). "Doing Gender" im Chemieunterricht. Zum Problem der Konstruktion von Geschlechterdifferenz-Analyse, Reflexion und mögliche Konsequenzen für die Lehre von Chemie (Doctoral dissertation, Universität zu Köln).
Rubin, G. (1975). The traffic in women: Notes on the" political economy" of sex. New York: Monthly Review Press, 157-210.
sex
Ainsworth, Claire (2015): Sex redefined, in: Nature, Volume 518, S. 288–291.
Schultz, Ulrike/Plett, Konstanze (2017): Intersexualität und Transgender. In: Berghahn, Sabine/Schultz, Ulrike (Hrsg.): Rechtshandbuch für Frauen- und Gleichstellungsbeauftragte. Recht von A-Z für Frauen- und Gleichstellungsbeauftragte in der Öffentlichen Verwaltung, in Unternehmen und in Beratungsstellen, Hamburg: Dashöfer GmbH, Kapitel Aktuelles und Trends 2/1.7. S. 1–10.
Heteronormativity
Dionisius, Sarah (2021): Zwischen trans* Empowerment und Cisnormativität: leibliches Elternwerden in Grenzbereichen. In: Peukert, Almut / Teschlade, Julia / Wimbauer, Christine / Motakef, Mona / Holzleithner, Elisabeth (Hrsg.): Elternschaft und Familie jenseits von Heteronormativität und Zweigeschlechtlichkeit. In: GENDER – Zeitschrift für Geschlecht, Kultur und Gesellschaft. Sonderheft 5. S. 77–91.
LGBTIQ* people
Dionisius, Sarah (2021): Zwischen trans* Empowerment und Cisnormativität: leibliches Elternwerden in Grenzbereichen. In: Peukert, Almut / Teschlade, Julia / Wimbauer, Christine / Motakef, Mona / Holzleithner, Elisabeth (Hrsg.): Elternschaft und Familie jenseits von Heteronormativität und Zweigeschlechtlichkeit. In: GENDER – Zeitschrift für Geschlecht, Kultur und Gesellschaft. Sonderheft 5. S. 77–91.
Queerulant_in(2019): Vielfalt verstehen. Eine kleine Einführung in queere Begriffe. Herausgegeben von Landesfachstelle Hessen „Queere Jugendarbeit“.
People of Colour
Ha, Kien Nghi (2009): 'People of Color' als Diversity-Ansatz in der antirassistischen Selbstbenennungs- und Identitätspolitik. Heinrich Böll Stiftung.
race
Meer, Nasar (2014): Key concepts in race and ethnicity. SAGE Publications Ltd.
Reproductive justice
Ross, Loretta (2017): Reproductive Justice as Intersectional Feminist Activism. In: Souls – A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society19 (3): 286–314.
Sexual and reproductive health and rights
Guttmacher-Lancet Commission (2018): Accelerate Progress: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights for All. Executive Summary.
Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC)
Yogyakarta Principles (2007): The Yogyakarta Principles. Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in Relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity of March 2007.
Yogyakarta Principles (2017): The Yogyakarta Principles plus 10. Additional Principles and State Obligations on the Application of International Human Rights Law in Relation to Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics to Complement the Yogyakarta Principles, as adopted on 10 November 2017.