Split Attraction Model

The idea that romantic attraction and sexual attraction are separate from one another, meaning someone’s romantic orientation and sexual orientation can be different (e.g., someone romantically attracted to multiple genders but not sexually attracted to anyone might identify as “panromantic asexual”). While anyone can use this model to describe their attraction(s), it’s most commonly used by asexuals, aromantics, and bisexuals (e.g., homoromantic asexual, aromantic asexual, heteroromantic bisexual). For more.

STEM

A term used to group the academic disciplines in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math in education, the workforce, and recreational hobbies (e.g., computer coding, NASA, science fair projects).

Here’s a creator’s toolkit from the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media for those looking to tell stories about women and girls in STEM.

Stud

A term originating in the African American lesbian community to describe a dominant gay or bi+ woman who is also masculine and usually African American. More on its usage here.

Student Veterans

Veterans who pursue higher education post-service via the G.I. Bill or tuition assistance and are more likely to be 4-8 years older than typical college-aged students, married, have children, work part- or full-time during the school year, graduate with a higher GPA, and move into a higher paying job than civilian counterparts. 1+ million veterans a year access the G.I. Bill funds for higher education, and post-9/11, are increasingly women, LGBTQIA+, more likely to be Black or Latinx, and have a disability. Two third of students are first-generation students. See here.

Sunni

The larger of Islam’s two main branches, which differs from Shia in its understanding of the Sunna, its conception of religious leadership, and its acceptance of the first three caliphs. Sunni Muslims strongly believe human beings’ redemption depends on faith in Allah, His prophets, acceptance of Muhammad as the final prophet, and belief in righteous deeds as explained in the Koran. Shia Muslims believe that just as God alone appoints His prophet, only God can appoint the successor to His prophet. They believe God chose Ali to be Muhammad's successor, Islam’s infallible, first caliph (khalifah, head of state).

TERFs

Stands for “trans-exclusionary radical feminists.” First recorded in 2008, the term was originally applied to a minority of women who were espousing transphobic sentiments (e.g., the false assertion that trans women are men who don’t belong in “women’s spaces”). The term has since expanded to refer more broadly to people with trans-exclusionary views (e.g., support transphobic legislation, spread scientifically debunked misinformation about gender-affirming care). See more on the term and the impact of trans-exclusionary beliefs and policies.

Termination of Parental Rights

A court order that permanently ends the legal parent-child relationship (e.g., custody, visitation, inheritance). The termination of rights might be voluntary or involuntary, and can be attributed to a number of factors (e.g., abuse; failure to provide education; long-term drug- or alcohol-induced incapacity; legal emancipation; child has developed a healthy relationship with their resource family and articulates a preference to stay under their care).

The Arab League

Comprises 22 members: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen. The term “Arab” morphed in meaning over the centuries. At times, it meant Bedouin tribes from southern Arabia. It was a linguistic marker, meaning anyone whose language or origin was Arabic. Current meaning refers to nationalistic/ethnic kinship. Used here as an expansive category including all those identifying as “Arab.”

The Butterfly

A racist and sexist stereotype about East Asian women that originated in Giacomo Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly. This portrayal depicts a dominant white man over the subjugated, submissive East Asian woman who is cast aside and treated as dispensable.

The Male Gaze

A sexually objectifying way of portraying women in media from a masculine perspective meant to pleasure straight men. This can be conveyed through a man behind the camera, as a character in the story, and/or as an audience member. The male gaze empowers men and diminishes women by emphasizing aspects considered interesting, pleasing, or titillating to the assumed straight male viewer (e.g., zooming in or focusing on women’s breasts or butt, especially when failing to do the same to male characters). The term was coined by Laura Mulvey in her 1975 essay, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema."

Third Gender

A category of people whose gender doesn't fit within the limiting and inaccurate notion of a gender binary within a particular culture. “Third gender” is used to describe some people whose gender identity is different than the sex they were assigned at birth (e.g. non-binary, intersex, bigender, agender, hijra, metis). Some countries officially recognize a “third gender” on legal documents (e.g., an “X” gender or sex marker in lieu of the typical “F” or “M”). Note: Some societies widely recognize fourth, fifth, and more genders. Because gender is a spectrum, there are actually infinite genders. The term “third gender” is not used in everyday life by the communities that are labeled as such. The term mostly originates from the antiquated, academic notion that only three genders exist (i.e., woman, man, “other”), and therefore can be offensive and even invalidate someone’s gender identity.

Thug

Through consistent misuse, it has taken on racial connotations. It is used to elicit stereotypes of Black criminality and to dehumanize Black people. It’s often used to blame Black people for social unrest and to declare property as more valuable than Black lives.

Tiger Parenting

Or “tiger mother/mom” refers to a strict and demanding East Asian parent who pushes their child to high levels of academic and scholastic achievement. This portrayal often involves “Confucian child rearing techniques” that damage a child’s social, physical, emotional, and psychological well-being.

Tiki Culture

A motif of restaurants and bars that caters to a longing for tropical regions, especially in the South Pacific. Tiki culture is marked by complex, fruity drinks (e.g., mai tais), fake tiki idols and carvings, cabana sets, and “Hawaiian” shirts. This “culture” is built on an appropriation and caricaturization of Polynesian identity and traditions.

Toxic Masculinity

How the promoted “norm” of masculinity and “manliness” perpetuates negative and violent behaviors like aggression, domination, devaluation of women, and homophobia. Adherence to traditional male gender roles also stigmatizes and limits the emotions, traits, and behaviors that men and boys feel comfortable expressing for fear of being perceived as weak or feminine.

Transfeminine

A person assigned male at birth who is closer to femininity than masculinity but is not a binary woman. Often abbreviated as “transfem” or “transfemme.”

Transgender

(Trans) Someone whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. Like cisgender, trans isn’t a gender itself; there are trans women, trans men, and trans non-binary people. When a trans person transitions, they are not “becoming” a man or woman, rather they are bringing their gender expression and/or bodies into alignment with the gender identity they've always been. Being transgender is not dependent on physical appearance or medical procedures. Note: Always use “a trans/transgender person,” never “transgendered.” For more.

Transition

When a trans person transitions, they are not “becoming” a different gender, rather they are aligning their gender expression and/or body with the gender identity they’ve always been. This is a complex process that can occur over a long period of time and varies from person to person.

Transitioning can include: social transition (e.g., telling family, friends, and co-workers; dressing differently; using a new name/pronouns); legal transition (e.g., changing name and/or sex marker on legal documents and bank accounts); medical transition (e.g., hormone replacement therapy, surgical procedures). Some trans people choose not to, don’t want to, or are unable to transition in one or all of these ways for many reasons (e.g., financial barriers, don’t feel like they’re in the “wrong body”). Being transgender is not dependent on physical appearance or medical procedures.

Transmasculine

A person assigned female at birth who is closer to masculinity than femininity but is not a binary man. Often abbreviated as “transmasc.”

Transmisogyny

An intersection of transphobia and misogyny as expressed through negative attitudes, cultural hate, individual and state violence, and discrimination directed toward trans women, transfeminine people, and other feminine-presenting non-binary and gender-diverse people (especially those who are BIPOC).