How do we know if we are a woman, man, non-binary or gender fluid? What determines our gender identity? 

Gender identity is your innate or natural self of being – be it male, female, in-between, fluctuating or neither. Many people believe that gender is binary, you are either a male or female but according to many historic accounts in almost all parts of the world there have been people who do not fit in that binary and have been part of communities and even had a high status within them.

Gender identity could be summarized as how much you feel as a male, female, both, or neither. This means that, similarly to sexuality, gender identity lies on a spectrum. While to majority of people it is a constant one category, it does not mean everyone experiences it the same way throughout their life.

There is also a difference between gender and sex:

• Sex, assigned at birth, is corresponding to the traditional way of seeing people, as either male or female based on physical presentation.
• Gender, however, is a social construct. Generally, gender is the way in which someone is supposed to act according to societal norms, what is expected from you based on your biological sex.

Your gender identity does not have to correspond with the sex you were assigned at birth. Gender identity is the inner knowledge of yourself and outer expression of it. Many of those who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth, identify somewhere under the trans umbrella, whether it is trans man or trans woman, non-binary or gender-fluid or any other gender identities.

More resources:

https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/gender-identity/sex-gender-identity

https://www.stonewall.org.uk/help-advice/glossary-terms#s

https://au.reachout.com/articles/the-difference-between-gender-sex-and-sexuality