Understanding Gender Fluidity
Our understanding of “reality” is formed by consensus models, agreements, and traditions, but many such models contain internal contradictions or irreconcilable, opposing variables. Such a model is also seen in human sexuality, as it is still common for people to understand sexual identity (a component of identity that reflects different aspects of sexuality and sexual orientation) in terms of sexual attraction that a person feels towards others (as divided into two categories: heterosexuality and homosexuality).
Sexual orientation is no longer seen as a tendency to be exclusively homosexual or heterosexual but rather as a sequence of fluid movements between them. In this group, the total sexual attraction to men and women (or pan-sexuality) is characterized by aesthetic appeal, romantic love, or sexual desire towards people, without association to their gender identity or biological species.
Sexual attraction and sexual orientation are becoming more flexible than in the past, both in their definition and the perception of the LGBTQIA+ community. During adolescence, there is the often-turbulent period of changing self-perception, and a process of gender and sexual identity formation takes place.
In parallel, these young people also deal with the physiological changes of adolescence. For LGBTQIA+ youths, accepting these changes alongside coping with gender roles dictated by society and the culture in which they find themselves is a complex, ongoing and delicate process. When a youth experiences shame and concealment of their desires and needs or feels a mismatch between the biological sex and their gender experience, forming a personal identity becomes complex.
For example, a girl who feels from a young age that she is a boy, dresses as a boy, and acts like a boy, experiences a gap between the gender identity she wants to adopt and her biological identity. In such cases, there is a chance they may develop anger and/or self-hatred that impair their functioning and well-being in the various areas of life.