Gender Variety: Meaning, Gender Diversity, and Expression

A community may include people with different gender identities. Even people who share the same identity may dress, speak, behave, or relate to gender differently.

The phrase recognizes difference without requiring every person to fit one model of masculinity, femininity, or nonbinary experience.

• The community reflects considerable gender variety.
• The study examined gender variety among participants.
• The organization recognizes a variety of gender identities.
• Gender variety exists across cultures and generations.

In everyday and professional English, a variety of genders or gender diversity may sound more natural:

• The event welcomed people of a variety of genders.
• The workplace supports gender diversity.

The adjective gender-diverse may describe a group containing people of different genders:

• a gender-diverse team;
• a gender-diverse community;
• gender-diverse participants.

Gender variety communicates a similar idea but is less common in academic, legal, organizational, and social-policy writing.

Both phrases may refer to:

• different gender identities;
• varied forms of gender expression;
• different relationships to masculinity and femininity;
• culturally specific gender categories;
• changing or nonbinary gender experiences.

When clarity matters, gender diversity is usually the preferred expression.

Gender plurality may describe the presence of multiple genders within a society, system, or individual experience.

For example:

• A school with students of several gender identities shows gender variety.
• A person who experiences more than one gender may describe gender plurality.

The phrases can overlap, but variety emphasizes range, while plurality emphasizes the presence of more than one gender.

Gender variety exists because people may identify in many different ways, including as:

• a woman;
• a man;
• nonbinary;
• genderfluid;
• agender;
• bigender;
• multigender;
• another personally or culturally meaningful gender.

No list can represent every gender identity. People may also use broad labels, specific labels, multiple labels, or no label.

Gender variety includes differences in expression as well as identity.

For example:

• two women may express femininity differently;
• two men may have very different relationships to masculinity;
• a nonbinary person may present in a feminine, masculine, mixed, or neutral way;
• someone’s expression may change without their identity changing.

Appearance alone does not reliably reveal a person’s gender.

Gender variety recognizes that people’s experiences may include:

• binary genders;
• nonbinary genders;
• partial identification with a gender;
• more than one gender;
• changing gender experiences;
• little or no sense of gender;
• culturally specific identities.

Recognizing variety does not invalidate women or men. It means that these are not the only possible gender experiences.

For example, people who identify as men may differ in:

• clothing;
• emotional expression;
• family roles;
• body language;
• interests;
• attitudes toward masculinity.

Similarly, women and nonbinary people do not share one required appearance, personality, or social role.

Gender identity names a person’s gender; it does not prescribe a complete way of living.

Some societies have historically recognized gender roles or identities beyond the categories of man and woman. These identities may be connected to particular languages, communities, histories, spiritual traditions, or social responsibilities.

Culturally specific genders should not be treated as interchangeable with one another or automatically translated into Western labels. Respectful discussion uses the terms and explanations provided by the relevant community.

• different pronouns;
• gender-neutral titles;
• inclusive relationship terms;
• multiple words for gender identities;
• flexible ways of describing family roles;
• avoidance of unnecessary gender assumptions.

Some languages mark gender strongly in grammar, while others use fewer gendered forms.

Inclusive language does not require removing all gendered words. It means using language that accurately reflects the people being discussed.

Practical recognition may involve:

• allowing people to state their names and pronouns;
• avoiding unnecessary assumptions;
• applying dress standards consistently;
• preventing gender-based harassment;
• providing flexible forms and records;
• protecting privacy;
• using respectful language;
• addressing people according to their stated identity.

Recognition does not require requesting personal information that is unrelated to the situation.

Gender concerns identity, expression, social meaning, and personal experience.

Sex characteristics may include anatomy, hormones, chromosomes, and reproductive traits.

A person’s gender cannot always be determined from sex characteristics. People with similar bodies may have different gender identities, and people with the same gender may have different bodies.

Gender identity concerns who someone is in relation to gender.

Sexual orientation concerns patterns of sexual attraction, identity, or desire.

A gender-diverse group may include people who identify as heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, queer, or in other ways.

Knowing someone’s gender does not reveal whom they are attracted to.

Depending on context, it could refer to:

• several gender identities in a group;
• varied gender expressions;
• a society recognizing multiple genders;
• differences in gender roles;
• personal variation in gender over time.

Clear writing should explain which kind of variety is being discussed rather than relying on the phrase alone.

It is another word for nonbinary.
Nonbinary identities are part of gender variety, but the phrase includes binary genders as well.

People with the same gender must express it similarly.
Gender expression varies widely within every identity.

Gender variety and sexual orientation are the same.
Gender concerns identity, while orientation concerns attraction.

Recognizing several genders erases women and men.
It expands recognition without invalidating binary identities.

Gender variety is a medical diagnosis.
It is a descriptive social phrase, not a diagnosis.

• recognize gender variety;
• reflect gender variety;
• a wide gender variety;
• variety of gender identities;
• gender variety in society;
• cultural gender variety;
• gender variety and inclusion;
• represent gender variety.

• A community includes women, men, and nonbinary people.
• Two people with the same gender identity express it very differently.
• A workplace allows employees to provide their names and pronouns.
• A school updates a form that previously offered only two gender options.
• A culture recognizes gender categories specific to its own history.
• A person changes clothing style without changing gender identity.
• A gender-diverse team includes people with different identities and expressions.
• A writer uses gender diversity instead of gender variety for greater precision.

1. The organization aims to represent greater gender variety.
2. Gender diversity is a more common formal term than gender variety.
3. The group included people with a variety of gender identities.
4. Gender expression can vary among people who share the same identity.
5. Clothing does not reliably reveal someone’s gender.
6. The survey was revised to recognize a wider range of genders.
7. Gender variety exists both within and across cultures.
8. Gender identity does not determine sexual orientation.
9. Cultural gender terms should be understood within their own communities.
10. Respectful language helps acknowledge different gender experiences.

A person of any gender may have any sexual or romantic orientation. Their gender identity does not determine their level of desire, preferred relationship structure, or sexual behavior.

In intimate relationships, recognizing gender variety may involve respecting names, pronouns, body-related language, boundaries, and preferred relationship terms. Clear communication allows people to describe their gender and sexuality without pressure to fit a narrow category.