Gender(ed) Identities   

An individual's gender identity, as many contemporary scholars have noted, is a dynamic, rather than a static, entity--one that is based on varied life experiences, evolution of values, and other factors.  Adolescence is often the period in one's life when an individual feels conflicted--the pressure to conform and the desire to explore are many times at odds within an individual's mind and psyche.  Terms such as gender roles, gender variance, gender dysphoria--all are used in varying contexts (and with varying perspectives) to address and discuss issues of gender identity.  From Wikipedia's detailed discussion of terms linked to issues of gender identity:  Wikipedia Gender Identity link

The  Gender Identity Center of Colorado website states that the Center's objective is to offer "support to those who are, or think they may be, transgendered or those who are the significant others (wives/husbands, boy/girlfriends, or family members) of a person who is transgendered."   The Center makes the following distinction:

"First, gender is NOT the same as sex: gender is how one feels inside, while sex is the physical reality. Gender dysphoria is a persistent distress with one's physical sex characteristics or their associated social role. Dysphoria is from the Greek language and means "hard to bear." It is often quite painful. Many transgendered people feel that "I should have been born a girl/boy!" while others wonder why they are more comfortable wearing clothes considered appropriate to the other sex."

Merlene Bishop, who teaches "Sex Education 101" at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and who contributes to the university's  Human Sexuality Web  , offers definitions of terms such as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, and transsexual.  She asks her students these questions:

"If all of this sounds odd to you, or difficult to understand, consider this: most of us are always manipulating our outer appearance, psychologically speaking. How many of us hide our true feelings about certain things that may be unsafe, painful or difficult to express ? How different is this from the person whose true gender identity remains hidden for long periods of their life, or manipulates their outer appearance to fit their true inner feelings?"