Senior Citizen

Synonym for an older person, typically one who is retired or living on a pension.

Sex Characteristics

Biological traits such as genitals, gonads (i.e., ovaries, testes), hormone production, hormone response, chromosomes, and reproductive organs. Secondary sex characteristics are features that may appear during puberty or exposure to hormones, including breast growth, deepening voice, facial hair, and body hair.

Sexual Fluidity

When one’s sexual orientation isn’t fixed, meaning who they are sexually attracted to can change over time (sometimes influenced by their relationship, situation, or environment). Sexual fluidity is not the same as bi+ identity and doesn’t negate sexual orientations. Instead, it captures the idea of a spectrum or fluidity among the orientations.

Sexual Orientation

An identity or embodied part of a person that describes how someone experiences romantic and/or sexual attraction, if they do at all. A person’s sexual orientation is a part of who they are, no matter their relationship status or sexual/romantic experience(s).

Sharia

Sharia literally means “the clear, well-trodden path to water.” It’s a code of conduct for all aspects of Muslim life, derived from the Quran and Hadiths (Islamic text about the Prophet Mohammed’s life). Sharia is not a set of laws to infiltrate America.

Sheik

An honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a tribal chief or royal family member, also can often refer to a Muslim religious scholar. Transliterations include shaik, shaikh, shayk, shaykh, sheekh, sheikh, shekh, and sheyikh.

Shia

The smaller of Islam’s two main branches, followed especially in Iran, that rejects the first three Sunni caliphs and regards Ali, the fourth caliph, as Muhammad's first true successor. 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). Sunni Muslims believe that 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.

Sikh

A subscriber to the world’s 5th-largest organized religion Sikhism and a word meaning “Seeker of Truth.” Sikhism teaches all paths lead to one God, all people are equal, and all can experience freedom through loving and serving others. More than .5 million Sikhs live in the U.S. and 99% of those wearing turbans in America are Sikhs. Sikhs have lived in the U.S. for 150+ years, helping to build the Transcontinental Railroad, serving in every major world war, standing at the forefront of civil rights, and were among the first responders on 9/11. For more.

Small Island Developing States (SIDS)

A group of small island countries that share many of the same sustainable development challenges (e.g., poverty, climate change, justice). There are three SIDS regions with their own cooperation bodies: the Caribbean Community (the Caribbean), Pacific Islands Forum (the Pacific), and the Indian Ocean Commission (Africa, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, and South China Sea).

Social Determinants of Health (SDoH)

The conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age. These are shaped by the distribution of money, power, and resources at global, national, and local levels. Conditions (e.g., social, economic, physical) in these various environments and settings (e.g., school, church, workplace, neighborhood) have been referred to as “place.” In addition to the more material aspects of “place,” patterns of social engagement and sense of security and well-being are also affected by where people live.

Resources that enhance quality of life can have a significant influence on population health outcomes (e.g., safe and affordable housing, availability of healthy foods, toxin-free environments). How population groups experience “place” directly impacts the specific social components of SDoH (e.g., access to educational, economic, and job opportunities; public safety; language and literacy) and public components of SDoH (e.g., natural environments, built environments). See here for more details.

Social Security

An insurance program that provides retirement, disability, and survivors benefits run by the U.S. Social Security Administration. Find more about Social Security here and here.

Special Operations Forces

Units of armed forces that undertake covert, counterterrorist, and other specialized operations (including but not limited to Delta Force, Navy SEALs, Army Green Berets, Rangers, and Marine Force Reconnaissance, among other elite units).

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.”