Glossary

These are the terms and definitions that I believe are correct and acceptable at this moment in time (June 2019). Any descriptors for community groups are subject to change as the community groups deem fit. I will update them accordingly.

Ableism: discrimination in favour of able-bodied people.

Cisgender or ‘cis:’ denoting or relating to a person whose sense of personal identity and gender corresponds with their birth sex. 

Colonised: Colonialism is the policy of a nation seeking to extend or retain its authority over other people or territories, generally with the aim of economic dominance. The colonising country seeks to benefit from the colonised country or land mass

Decolonisation of Galleries, Archives, Galleries and Museums: Ensuring Memory institutions are liberated from the euro-centric, patriarchal, sexist narrative created by the groups that colonised lands.

Emotional Labour: Regulating feelings and attempt to shape the emotions of others to get the job done. It uses a disproportionate amount of emotional resources and leaves the individual drained.

Erased groups: Marginalised groups who are removed from historical or contemporary recordkeeping.

First peoples: Indigenous peoples, also known as first peoples, aboriginal peoples or native peoples, are ethnic groups who are the original settlers of a given region, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied or colonized the area more recently.

Euro-centric: focusing on European culture or history to the exclusion of a wider view of the world; implicitly regarding European culture as pre-eminent.

Homophobia: dislike of or prejudice against homosexual people.

Intersectionality: the complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap, or intersect especially in the experiences of marginalized individuals or groups.  When used in the context of Intersectional GLAM or Intersectional Feminism, it highlights the ethos of including all people with various intersecting identities.

Lived Experience: creates what is known as an Expert by Experience. This is someone who has developed a deep understanding of a subject due to encountering it in their daily lives. One person cannot speak for an entire group, but they can give a valuable insight into barriers and situations when discussing experience their experiences, many of which may be invisible to those with privilege.

Neuro-divergent: The diversity of human brains and minds – the infinite variation in neurocognitive functioning within our species. A brain that functions in ways that diverge significantly from the dominant societal standards of “normal.” This can include; Dyspraxia, Dyslexia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Dyscalculia, Autistic Spectrum, Tourette Syndrome, Borderline Personality Disorder, Bi-polar, Depression, General Anxiety Disorder and many others.

Neuro-typical: not displaying or characterized by autistic or other neurologically atypical patterns of thought or behaviour

Patriarchal: society or government controlled by men

People of Colour: The term “person of colour” today is used primarily in the United States to describe any person who is not European American or white. The term encompasses all non-white people, emphasizing common experiences of systemic racism. Alternatives include: BAME (British, Asian, Minority, Ethnic)   

Privilege: a set of characteristics that benefit an individual in the cis-gendered, hetero-normative, euro-centric, capitalist, patriarchal power structure; characteristics that do not negatively impact daily life.

Racist:  a person who shows or feels discrimination or prejudice against people of other races, or who believes that a particular race is superior to another.

Transphobia: dislike of or prejudice against transgender people.

Under-represented groups: Marginalised groups who are rarely visible within historical and contemporary recordkeeping.

LGBTQIA:

L: Lesbian – Refers to a woman who has a romantic and/or sexual orientation towards women.

G: Gay – Refers to a man who has a romantic and/or sexual orientation towards men. Also a generic term for lesbian and gay sexuality – some women define themselves as gay rather than lesbian.

B: Bisexual – Bi is an umbrella term used to describe a romantic and/or sexual orientation towards more than one gender.
Bi people may describe themselves using one or more of a wide variety of terms, including, but not limited to, bisexual, pan, queer, and other non-monosexual identities.

T: Transgender – An umbrella term to describe people whose gender is not the same as, or does not sit comfortably with, the sex they were assigned at birth. Trans people may describe themselves using one or more of a wide variety of terms, including (but not limited to) transgender, transsexual, gender-queer (GQ), gender-fluid, non-binary, gender-variant, crossdresser, genderless, agender, nongender, third gender, bi-gender, trans man, trans woman,trans masculine, trans feminine and neutrois.

Q: Queer or/and Questioning:

Queer is a term used by those wanting to reject specific labels of romantic orientation, sexual orientation and/or gender identity. It can also be a way of rejecting the perceived norms of the LGBT community (racism, sizeism, ableism etc). Although some LGBT people view the word as a slur, it was reclaimed in the late 80s by the queer community who have embraced it.

Questioning is the process of exploring your own sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

I: Intersex:  A term used to describe a person who may have the biological attributes of both sexes or whose biological attributes do not fit with societal assumptions about what constitutes male or female.
Intersex people may identify as male, female or non-binary.

A: Alleyship or/and Ace:

Alleyship is the practice of confronting heterosexism, sexism, genderism, allosexism, and monosexism in oneself and others out of self-interest and a concern for the well being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual people.  Is founded on the belief and believes that dismantling heterosexism, monosexism, trans oppression/trans misogyny/cissexism and allosexism is a social justice issue.

Ace is an umbrella term used to describe a variation in levels of romantic and/or sexual attraction, including a lack of attraction.
Ace people may describe themselves using one or more of a wide variety of terms, including, but not limited to, asexual, aromantic, demis and grey-As.