What is gender?

'Gender' is the English word for sex. In contemporary usage, however, it has become an ambiguous concept: it sometimes refers to biological sex ('gender reveal party' = announcing the sex of the baby), sometimes to social role expectations, and sometimes to gender identity — the inner experience of being a man, a woman or something else, separate from the body. The same term therefore covers several contradictory meanings, which in linguistics is called doublespeak. For precise usage, it is better to avoid 'gender' and explicitly refer to 'sex' or 'gender identity'. The history of the word, from the Latin genus to Van Dale, can be found at letterbrij.nl.

From gender roles to identity

Originally, gender was used in sociology to describe the expectations and roles that society imposes on men and women — for example, that girls should be caring and boys should be tough. That analysis was valuable: gender roles are culturally determined and changeable.

In modern Western society, gender roles have largely disappeared: women can be truck drivers, and men may wear nail polish. As a result, 'gender role' has effectively become a redundant concept in our free society, in which everyone may be who they are, regardless of their biological sex.

Nevertheless, over the past few decades the meaning of 'gender' has shifted further. Whereas it initially referred to societal expectations surrounding sex, it increasingly refers to an inner, self-reported feeling of identity. This shift is not scientific progress, but a conceptual expansion that many researchers — including sex researchers, developmental psychologists and legal scholars — view with skepticism.

Biological sex: binary and stable

In humans, as in other mammals, biological sex is binary: there are two gamete systems (eggs and sperm), and therefore two sexes. Intersex variations (DSDs) are rare (estimated at <0.02% when only genuine ambiguity is included) and do not constitute a 'third sex'; they are variations within the male or female developmental pathway.

Moreover, sex is not 'assigned' at birth, as is sometimes claimed; it is observed and recorded on the basis of anatomy that was already formed in the womb. It is not an administrative choice, but a biological fact established by doctors.

Gender identity: the sexed soul

What is called 'gender identity' in current discourse in practice refers to what could more accurately be called a sexed soul (in English: gendered soul): the belief or inner experience that a person's core carries a specific sexed nature, independent of the physical body or legal categories.

Linguistically, the term 'gender identity' is not a good fit for this concept. Identity by definition refers to how someone is recognized and categorized by both themselves and others — like a metalhead who identifies with a rock genre through their clothing, hairstyle and behavior. An inner, unverifiable experience of the soul is fundamentally different. By calling it 'identity', a metaphysical belief is presented as a socially recognizable characteristic, which leads to conceptual confusion.

There is no objective test for gender identity; the concept is based entirely on self-reporting and is defined in various ways in the literature. The British Cass Review (2024) concluded that the scientific basis underlying a large part of gender-affirmative care is weak. Comparable conclusions have been reached in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark, which have since substantially adjusted their treatment practices.

Woman versus feminine

A commonly heard expression is: "I feel like a woman." Conceptually, this is problematic. Woman is a biological category — not a feeling, but a factual status. What is usually meant is: "I feel feminine." Feminine is a descriptive attribute that can be experienced. Confusing these concepts reinforces the confusion and makes it more difficult to have a clear conversation about what someone actually experiences.

The explosion in the number of identities

The number of children and young people — especially girls — identifying as transgender or non-binary increased ten- to twentyfold in Western countries between approximately 2010 and 2022. Researchers such as Lisa Littman point to the phenomenon of Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria: dysphoria that arises suddenly, often within friendship groups and in connection with intensive social media use. These patterns cannot be explained by a stable biological phenomenon and suggest that social influence plays a substantial role.

Nevertheless, many policy documents and educational materials still operate on the assumption that gender is a spectrum with countless categories. That is not a scientific premise, but an ideological choice.

What does being 'critical of gender' mean — and what does it not mean?

Critical study of gender discourse is not the same as denying the suffering of people who struggle with their bodies. Gender dysphoria is a real condition that deserves care and serious treatment. The question is which care helps and which causes harm. The Dutch 'Dutch Protocol' was long presented as the gold standard, but in recent years it has come under international pressure because of inadequate long-term data, low dropout rates that do not align with other studies, and growing attention to detransition. More information can be found in the article about the Dutch Protocol.

Genderinfo.nl does not seek to favor one side in this debate, but it does point out that the dominant narrative in Dutch media and policy — gender as a self-determined identity, free from biology — does not reflect scientific consensus.