Gender - Your Guide: The Gender-friendly Primer on What to Know, What to Say, and What to Do in the New Gender Culture

Be a part of the ever-evolving conversation around gender and discover how to navigate gender diversity in today’s families, communities, and workplaces in this updated edition that is “an invaluable resource for both new and veteran allies” (Library Journal, starred review).

Gender is now a global conversation, and one that is constantly evolving. More people than ever before are openly living their lives as transgender men or women, and many transgender people are coming out as neither men nor women, instead living outside the binary. Gender is changing, and this change is gaining momentum.

From the differences among gender identity, gender expression, and sex, to the use of gender-neutral pronouns like singular they/them to thinking about your own participation in gender, Gender: Your Guide, 2nd Edition serves as a complete primer to all things gender. Guided by professor and gender diversity advocate Lee Airton, PhD, learn how gender works in everyday life; how to use accurate terminology to refer to transgender, nonbinary, and/or gender nonconforming individuals; and how to ask when you aren’t sure what to do or say. It provides you with the information you need to talk confidently and compassionately about gender diversity, whether simply having a conversation or going to bat as an advocate. In this updated edition, Dr. Airton explores updated definitions of intersex people, conversion therapy bans, transgender students in sports, online and social community discussions, updated pop culture references, and much more.

Just like gender itself, being gender-friendly is a process for all of us. Gender: Your Guide, 2nd Edition invites everyone on board to make gender more flexible and less constricting: a source of more joy, and less harm, for everyone.

Lee Airton, PhD, is assistant professor of gender and sexuality studies in education at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. They are a frequent keynote speaker and media commentator and are regularly asked to consult on gender-neutral language and gender diversity issues in relation to media, policy, and education. They founded TheyIsMyPronoun.com, a blog on gender-neutral pronoun usage and user support in 2012 and the No Big Deal Campaign (NBDCampaign.ca) in 2016. Learn more at LeeAirton.com.