In 2019, Japan LGBT Research Institute Inc. conducted an online survey, collecting 348,000 valid responses from people aged 20 to 69, not all of whom were LGBT. 2.5% of the respondents called themselves X-gender.[18]
The Japanese termX-gender is made up of anX indicating indeterminacy and theloan wordgender, which is borrowed from English but may have somewhat different connotations from the English term.
The Kansai region on the Japanese main island is assumed to be the origin of the expression, where it appeared again and again in publications by queer (homosexual) groups in the course of the 1990s, although the exact origin is unknown. The meaning is first considered and defined in detail in an issue ofPoco a poco magazine, published byG-Front Kansai in 2000, which contained several articles about people who would be classified asX-gender. However, the term itself only appeared in the glossary. Through one of the founding members of the group, who participated in several interviews and documentaries,x-jendā (pronouncedekkusu jendā in Japanese) further established.[19] As a result, the term became more widespread through use in social media and increased awareness of the gender discourse in public opinion.[5]
X-gender is considered part of thetransgender spectrum and is often considered a gender identity disorder (Japanese:性同一性障害,romanized: seidōitsuseishōgai). Since "X-gender" encompasses a wide variety of gender identities, there is no clear definition of this category in terms of a specific gender; three subgroups are used by some queer groups but has no mainstream reach:[5][20]
ryōsei (両性): Individuals with characteristics of both sexes (bigender/androgyne);
chūsei (中性): Persons with a gender identity beyond male or female (third gender/gender neutral);
musei (無性): People who do not have clear sex characteristics (intersex) or do not want to be tied to one of the two gender roles (agender).
The word component-sei (性) used in all of these designations means "gender" and refers to both biological and identity characteristics.
In addition there is a fourth subgroup
Futei-sei (不定性): Gender identity of a person whose gender identity fluctuates between two specific genders (genderfluid)[20]
There are multiple explanations for gender identity that can be summarized as X gender, including but not limited to the above, and variations of neutrality such as "male-leaning neutrality," neutrality with gender identity other thangender binary, and examples of both genders but feeling superior to one gender or the other, so even if the term is the same on the surface, there is a range in perception by the parties involved.[21][22]
The meanings of "transgender" and "gender identity disorder" originally referred to the change between the two sexes man-woman: from one to the other entirely (transsexuality). Part of the ideas was also that there was only this dual gender, combined with aheteronormativity of the respectivesexual orientation (opposite sex love). In contrast, JapaneseX-gender offers an indefinite possibility of gender assignment outside of the two categories without questioning theirbinary or heteronormativity.[5]
People bornintersex are described as XtX,[23][24][25] and sometimes XtM and XtF, depending the gender identity[26]
^Dale, S. P. F. (2012). An introduction to X-Jendā: Examining a new gender identity in Japan.Intersections: Gender and sexuality in Asia and the Pacific,31.
^"【ＸラウンジからNEWS！】参議院議員の尾辻かな子さんへのレインボー・アクションの陳情で、Ｘラウンジから要望書を提出しました。" [[NEWS from X Lounge!] We submitted a request form from the X Lounge in response to a petition of Kanae Otsuji, a member of the House of Councilors, about the rainbow action.].Rainbow Action (in Japanese).Archived from the original on February 21, 2020. RetrievedDecember 21, 2020.
^abc2019, Allison Alexy, Emma E. Cook, Intimate Japan: Ethnographies of Closeness and Conflict, page 166:In Japan, acronyms are often used in talking about transgender identities—namely, FTM (female to male); MTF (male to female); and, in the case of x-gender, FTX (female to X), MTX (male to X), andXTX (used in the case of intersex individuals […] )
