Cissexual, spelled /sɪsˈsɛkʃuəl/, is a term used to describe a person whose gender identity corresponds with their birth sex. The term is derived from the Latin prefix "cis-" which means "on this side of" and is the opposite of "trans-". The spelling of this word is based on the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) which is a standardized system used to represent phonemes in written form. The /s/ sound at the beginning is followed by the short "i" sound /ɪ/ and the "s" sound in the middle is followed by the "k" sound /k/ and the "sh" sound /ʃ/.
Cissexual is an adjective that is used to describe individuals whose gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth. The term is derived from the Latin prefix "cis-," meaning "on the same side," and "sexual," which refers to a person's biological sex or sexual orientation.
Cissexual individuals typically identify and experience themselves as being the gender that corresponds to the sex they were assigned at birth. For example, if someone is assigned female at birth and identifies and feels comfortable as a female, they are considered cissexual. It is important to note that cissexual is often used in discussions about gender identity to differentiate it from transgender identities.
Cissexual is also closely related to the concept of cisgender, which refers to individuals whose gender identity matches the societal expectations and roles assigned to their biological sex. While cisgender focuses more on the alignment of gender identity and societal expectations, cissexual emphasizes the alignment between gender identity and biological sex.
The term cissexual acknowledges that gender identity can be diverse and that not all individuals identify with the gender that aligns with their assigned sex at birth. It recognizes that many people's internal sense of self corresponds to the sex they were assigned, and they do not experience distress or discomfort with their gender identity.
The term "cissexual" is a derivative of the Latin prefix "cis-", which means "on this side of" or "not across". It was first used in the context of gender identity by the German sexologist Volkmar Sigusch in 1991, who introduced the concept of "cissexual" to describe individuals whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth. The term was coined as a counterpart to "transsexual", which refers to individuals whose gender identity does not align with the sex they were assigned at birth. Thus, "cissexual" was created to label those who are not transgender or transsexual.