Gender identity

Gender identity is a person's internal, deeply held sense of their owngender (or lack thereof). Unlikegender expression, gender identity is not visible to others. An individual's gender identity may or may not align with theirbirth assignment.^[1][2] Most people have a binary gender identity—male/man/boy or female/woman/girl—whether they arecisgender ortransgender. For other people, their gender identity does not fit neatly into one of those two options, such as people who arenon-binary orgenderqueer.^[1]

A person's gender identity usually develops when they are very young.Gender variance in exploring gender expressions andgender roles is an expected part of human development for children and teenagers. Most children and adolescents with variance in these behaviors have a gender identity that corresponds to their birth assignment, and this exploration does not necessarily indicate a gender-variantidentity. A small percentage of children wish they were another gender instead of the gender assigned at birth.^[3] An individual's realization that their gender identity differs from their birth assignment can occur as early as three years old, in childhood prior to the onset of puberty, or later in life.^[4] This progression is similar to the awareness of same-sex attraction in childhood developing into using a specificsexual orientation term as a teenager.^[3]

Examples[]

The gender identities below are ordered alphabetically rather than by type.

Agender[]

Main article:Agender

Agender, also known asgenderless,^[5][6][7] is agender identity that has been defined multiple ways, including:^[6]

• Without gender(literal meaning);^[6] not having a gender;^[8][9] the feeling of a gender is absent.^[5]
• Having agender and that gender is neither "man" nor "woman";^[8] beinggender neutral in relation to thegender binary of male/female, man/woman,masculine/feminine.^[6]
• Not identifying with any gender;^[7][9] finding the concept of "gender" to be personally irrelevant or rejecting it for one's self.^[6]
• Rejecting the concept of gender entirely, not just personally.^[6]

Agender can be one of theA terms in the acronymLGBTQIA+, along withasexual andaromantic.^[5][7] While theterm agender is categorized under thetransgender and/ornon-binaryumbrellas,^[8] agender individuals may or may not consider themselves non-binary, transgender,^[5][8] or any other term that implies having a gender rather than being without gender or being separate from the concept of gender.

Bigender[]

Main article:Bigender

Bigender is agender identity in which a person has or experiences twogenders. The genders may be any combination of two genders, and those genders can bebinary ("man" or "woman") ornon-binary. They may be experienced simultaneously or may alternate, and they may not be experienced equally or in the same way. For example, a bigender person may be both a woman and a man,agender andneutrois, or non-binary and a woman.^[6] Bigender is an identity under thetransgender umbrella.^[5]

Demigender[]

Main article:Demigender

Demigender is anumbrella term fornon-binary genderidentities that feel a partial, but not full, connection to a particulargender. Anyone can be demigender regardless of whatgender they wereassigned at birth, and demigender individuals may identify as another gender in combination with their demigender identity.^[10]

Genderfluid[]

Main article:Genderfluid

Genderfluid, or simplyfluid, refers to someone whosegender identity changes over time. A genderfluid individual can identify as anygender, or combination of genders, at any given time. Their gender can change at random, or it may vary in response to different circumstances. At times, these individuals may identify as male, female, both, or neither.^[11] Theirpronouns may vary at different times. The term genderfluid can be used as a specific identity in itself or as a descriptive term. They are generally considered under thenon-binary andtransgenderumbrellas, but not all genderfluid individuals identify with those terms. Some genderfluid peopletransition socially, physically, and/or legally.^[12]

Genderqueer[]

Main article:Genderqueer

Genderqueer is a term for people who "queer" their gender in some way. Genderqueer people fall outsidecisgendernorms, such as through beingnon-binary,gender non-conforming, ortransgender.^[13][14] It is especially commonly used specifically in the non-binary sense, referencing gender identity which is neither male nor female, is a combination of the two binarygenders, or is on a continuum between those two genders, among other non-binary experiences.^[15] Genderqueer is also sometimes used in a political sense, deliberately playing with gender in a provocative way.^[14] Some, but not all, genderqueer people identify as transgender.^[16] Genderqueer, non-binary, and transgender can all be seen asumbrella terms for more specific identifiers.^{[13][14][15][16]} However, genderqueer and non-binary may also be used as standalone identities.^[15]

Neurogender[]

Main article:Neurogender

Neurogender identity was originally proposed on a Tumblr blog as "agender feeling that is strongly linked to one's status as neurodivergent".^[17] It was further elaborated upon as the following: "Neurogender is a gender feeling that is linked to someone's neurodivergence. It can be both anidentity and anumbrella term for genders that are limited to neurodivergent people. Obviously, you have to be neurodivergent to identify as this gender. And no, it is not 'turning neurological disorders into a gender'. Neurogender just means that a person's perception of their gender is influenced by them being neurodivergent."^[18] As the meaning of the term "neurodivergent" has been debated, it is unclear which definition was intended.^{[note 1]}

By 2016, "neurogender" had been redefined by others on theGender Wiki as "an umbrella term to describe when someone's gender is somehow linked to their neurotype, mental illness, or neurological conditions. There are many different neurogenders related to most, if not all, neurodivergencies."^[19] This specific redefinition has been cited in at least one print source.^[20] In another redefinition from 2018 that was published both online and in print, neurogenders were described as "genders specific to neurodivergent people whose experience of gender relates to their neurotype or who feel they can't fully understand gender due to their neurotype."^[21]

Neutrois[]

Main article:Neutrois

Neutrois is anon-binarygender identity described as being aneutral or null gender.^[22] It is considered part of thegenderqueer,non-binary, andtransgenderumbrellas.^[23][24]

Non-binary[]

Main article:Non-binary

Non-binary, sometimes written asnonbinary, is a term referring to individuals whosegender identity does not exclusively fall into thebinary gender classification of only "man" or "woman."^[1] Those who are non-binary may appear eithermasculine orfeminine in some capacity, both, or neither at all.^[25][26] Although it is a gender identity on its own, it can also be used as anumbrella term to refer to many gender identities.^[27] While non-binary is included in thetransgender umbrella, not all non-binary people identify as transgender;^[28] some identify ascisgender.^[1]

Since identifying as non-binary can mean different things to different people, it is best to ask someone who uses the term what it means to them.^[27]

Pangender[]

Main article:Pangender

Pangender is agender identity defined as experiencing many or allgenders.^[5][6] As an identity that is multigender—experiencing or having multiple genders—the number of genders experienced may be unknown or may fluctuate, and they may be experienced one at a time or simultaneously.^[6] Pangender encompasses so many genders that is difficult or impossible to list all of them, and can be described as experiencing an immense number of genders.^[13][14]

Pangender can also be defined as a multigender which is expansive, nonspecific, vast, and infinite, while still extending only to one's own culture and life experience. There is no limit to the amount of genders a pangender person can have. This identity can go beyond the current knowledge of genders, identifying infinitely with gender, including the hypothetical.^[13][14]

It should be noted that the pangender labelonly includes identities which can be experienced within one's own culture and life experience. Therefore, this identity is not inherently culturally appropriative, nor is it appropriative of other exclusive identities, such asneurogender.^[13][14] Pangender falls under thenon-binary,multigender, andtransgenderumbrella terms.^[5]

Queer[]

Main article:Queer

Queer is an identifier for individuals who are not exclusivelyheterosexual in theirsexual orientation,^[29] who use it in reference to theirgender identity and/orgender expression (as a standalone term or part of another likegenderqueer),^[30][31] or who are fluid in their identities, as well as anumbrella term for theentire community.^[9] It is also used instead oflesbian,bisexual, orgay by some people who find those terms too limiting or loaded with connotations that do not apply to them.^[30]The "Q" inLGBTQIA+ and similar acronyms commonly meansQueer.^[29] As a reclaimed word, it has been used in fights forLGBTQIA+ rights and liberation^[32] as an inclusive and sometimes defiant term.^[9]PFLAG andGLAAD are two of the organizations that recommend only using it for people who self-identify as queer because it has varying meanings and is not universally accepted.^[29][9] In addition, the term may be used in preference to other identifiers by members, for a variety of reasons.^[33]

Xenogender[]

Main article:Xenogender

Xenogender is defined as "a gender that cannot be contained by human understandings of gender; more concerned with crafting other methods of gender categorization and hierarchy such as those relating to animals, plants, or other creatures/things".^[34] Xenogender individuals may use ideas and identities outside of thegender binary to describe themselves and avoid binary gendered identifiers, such as using only their first name or the name of an animal.^[35] They may feel they cannot place a label on themselves,^[36] or feel as though they lack the terms to fully express their gender or identity, something that derives from a lexical gap.^{[note 2][38]} The term "xenogender" itself was designed to help fill the lexical gap by using terms not typically associated with gender or describing gender with metaphors.^[38] Since it is agender identity that is outside the binary concepts ofmasculinity andfemininity, xenogender is anon-binary identity.^[35]

See also[]

• Romantic orientation
• Sexual orientation

Notes[]

References[]