Introduction
Gender is a social system in which humans are differentiated based on sex for roles, behaviours, identities, appearances, and characteristics, mapping the cultural meanings and norms about both sex and gender onto human
bodies. Transgender is a broad term used to describe those whose gender, gender identity, or gender expression is in some sense different from, or transgresses social norms for, their assigned birth sex. Transgender may include those who identify as being
transsexual, cross-dressers, androgynous, bi-gender, no-gender or multi-gender, or gender-queer. Transsexual people in stiff societies living “covered” lives hide their identity from virtually everyone including their own family members, friends, colleagues
and employers and spend their lives as one of their birth gender would.
There are transgender individuals who hide their identities and live full-time in a gender-affirming role because they are not interested in hormonal and surgical sex re-assignment and want to avoid any discrimination or abuse linked with disclosure of gender.
Those who challenge the binary order by enacting their gender in ways that are comfortable for them but disturbing to others, face undesirable reactions extending from discrimination to explicit violence.