Taco's Unofficial Guide to All-Things Gender/Sex/Sexuality

[PsychicTaco115]

So after Facebook gave users almost 50 choices to put on their gender, there was understandably a lot of confusion over what a lot of those terms mean. With that, I present a list of terms that hopefully clear up some of the confusion.

A FEW THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

*This is merely a list defining gender/sex/sexuality terms. Please keep this civil and try not to argue here

*This thread is still in Early Access Beta so it isn't an exhaustive list as of yet; please be patient as I try to know what/what not to put here

*If you think some terms are missing or require a clearer definition, comment here and I'll do my best to provide

Alright, now let's learn some mother-fucking terms!

Spoiler: Agender

Agender: Person without a gender

Spoiler: Androgyne

Androgyne: Person who cannot be classified into the typical gender roles of their society; independent of orientation

Spoiler: Androgynous

Androgynous: Having the characteristics or nature of both male and female

Spoiler: Asexual

Asexual: Lack/low interest of sexual activity

Spoiler: Bigender

Bigender: A person who feels that they exhibit two genders; can be inside/outside of the gender spectrum

Spoiler: Cis

Cis: An individual's experience of their own gender matches the sex they were assigned at birth; shorthand for cisgender

Spoiler: Cis Female

Cis Female: Female with a female gender identity

Spoiler: Cis Male

Cis Male: Male with a male gender identity

Spoiler: Cisgender

Cisgender: An individual's self-perception of their gender matches the sex they were assigned at birth; can be shortened to Cis-

Spoiler: Cisgender Female

Cisgender Female: Female with a female gender identity

Spoiler: Cisgender Male

Cisgender Male: Male with a male gender identity

Spoiler: Female to Male

Female to Male: Someone who was female assigned at birth who now identifies as male; can be shortened to FtM

Spoiler: Gender

Gender: The social distinction between male and female

Spoiler: Genderfluid

Genderfluid: Moving between genders or with a fluctuating gender identity

Spoiler: Gender Dysphoria

Gender Dysphoria: Condition of being in a state of conflict between gender and physical sex

Spoiler: Gender Expression

Gender Expression: The way a person communicates gender identity to others through behavior, clothing, hairstyles, voice or body characteristics.

Spoiler: Gender Identity

Gender Identity: A person's internal sense of being male, female or something else

Spoiler: Gender Nonconforming

Gender Nonconforming: Behaving and appearing in ways that are considered atypical for one?s gender

Spoiler: Gender Questioning

Gender Questioning: Process of exploration by people who may be unsure, still exploring, and concerned about applying a social label to themselves

Spoiler: Gender Variant

Gender Variant: Behavior/gender expression that does not conform to dominant gender norms of male and female

Spoiler: Genderqueer

Genderqueer: "Catch-all" for gender identities other than man/woman

Spoiler: Intersex

Intersex: Variation in sex characteristics including chromosomes/gonads/genitals that do not allow an individual to be distinctly identified as male or female

Spoiler: Male to Female

Male to Female: Someone who was male assigned at birth who now identifies as female; can be shortened to MtF

Spoiler: Neutrois

Neutrois: A person who doesn't see themselves as any gender

Spoiler: Non-binary

Non-binary: Gender identities that don't fit within the accepted binary of male and female

Spoiler: Pangender

Pangender: People who feel they do not fit into binary genders; feel they are all genders; includes both, neither or a mixture

Spoiler: Pansexual

Pansexual: Sexual attraction/desire, romantic love, or emotional attraction toward people of all gender identities and biological sexes

Spoiler: Sex

Sex: the biological distinction between male and female, defined by the gametes the organism produces

Spoiler: Trans Man

Trans Man: Assigned female at birth, but identifies as male

Spoiler: Trans*

Trans*: Refers to all of the identities within the gender identity spectrum; includes non-cisgender gender identities, including transgender, transsexual, transvestite, genderqueer, genderfluid, non-binary, genderfuck, genderless, agender, non-gendered, third gender, two-spirit, bigender, and trans man and trans woman

Spoiler: Transfeminine

Transfeminine: Anyone with a feminine-of-center identity, especially those not assigned female at birth

Spoiler: Transgender

Transgender: Umbrella term for persons whose gender identity/gender expression/behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth

Spoiler: Transmasculine

Transmasculine: People who were assigned female at birth, but identify as more male than female

Spoiler: Transsexual

Transsexual: Person who does not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth and wishes, whether successful or not, to realign their gender and their sex through use of medical intervention

Spoiler: Two-spirit

Two-spirit: Person whose body simultaneously manifests both a masculine and a feminine spirit

 

[schrodinger]

I wish thee luck, sir Taco. Whether or not the escapist will keep their shit together for more than a couple pages will be interesting to see.

Also, is gender fluid an official thing or just an offshoot of genderqueer? my searching gives me conflicting reports.

 

[PsychicTaco115]

Sheepy Snip

I'm secretly a sadomasochist who gets off when people rage at me on the Internet. But don't tell anyone!

And to my knowledge, gender fluid is "moving between genders or with a fluctuating gender identity"

So it's more of a subsection of genderqueer

 

[JoJo]

Good concise list, I can't see any errors here. Hopefully this will clear up some questions that arose in the last thread, though I had to Google a couple listed under 'Trans*', I'd never heard of 'Genderfuck' before today for example

 

[Vegosiux]

Spoiler: Pangender

Pangender: People who feel they do not fit into binary genders; feel they are all genders; includes both, neither or a mixture

That's even more brain-bending than holding tea and no tea at the same time!

Facebook should totally do this: After you pick your gender from that list, it should ask you "It only took you 3 seconds to fill that one out. You sure? You might want to think about it a little more..."

I mean, they're just being ridiculous for the sake of being ridiculous with that list as it is...

 

[BunnyMomiji]

Does anyone know if there is a difference to Agender and Neutrois?

The terms are really similar in description so I wasn't sure.

 

[Barbas]

Good concise list, I can't see any errors here. Hopefully this will clear up some questions that arose in the last thread, though I had to Google a couple listed under 'Trans*', I'd never heard of 'Genderfuck' before today for example

I've not heard that before now, either. I think it's a synonym for "Gender-bending", or bending the expected gender roles, basically. Wikipedia says:

"Gender bending is sometimes a form of social activism undertaken in response to assumptions or over-generalisations about genders. Some gender benders identify with the gender assigned them at birth, but challenge the norms of that gender through androgynous behavior and atypical gender roles. Gender benders may self-identify as transgender or genderqueer, feeling that the gender assigned to them at their birth is an inaccurate or incomplete description of themselves; some are transsexual and desire to change their physical sex through hormone therapy or sex reassignment surgery. Gender Bender is also the slang term for connecting either two female connectors or two male connectors by the use of an adapter in the communications field."

Sockets and adapters? Wow. All I needed to know and more!

EDIT: Good work, OP, you've put serious thought and effort into that list.

 

[Doctor Teatime]

I've mostly seen transmasculine and transfeminine used to describe the expression of your transness.
For example, an agender female-assigned person might adopt masculine traits to achieve an overall more androgynous look, thus being transmasculine agender.

 

[Barbas]

Very good job with your list, Taco. I could learn a lot from these terms.

... Pangender was the one that interested me the most. It sounds like a gender (person really) whom feels everyone's truly equal, or at least that's how it sounds like. However, I could be wrong and it's seeing people as people, not defining them by gender.

... I'm confused, why wouldn't you label people by their gender? I'm not going to treat people differently, but I wouldn't call a lady "That somebody" when it'd be easier to just say lady. Maybe this is a start of my life where I need to learn people's names XD

I find myself asking people what they prefer to be called more frequently now, because the list of terms seems to be growing faster and faster as of late. Until a few years ago, I hadn't heard of any terms beside straight, male, gay, lesbian, transvestite and transsexual.

 

[Eamar]

... I'm confused, why wouldn't you label people by their gender? I'm not going to treat people differently, but I wouldn't call a lady "That somebody" when it'd be easier to just say lady. Maybe this is a start of my life where I need to learn people's names XD

A lot of people, myself included, believe that gender (not sex) is a social construct and, frankly, would like to see the whole concept go the way of the dodo. That said, I suppose I do still label people by their sex if I'm trying to point them out in a crowd or something and they don't have another, more obvious feature.

OT: Good job Taco I didn't spot any glaring errors, though I'm hardly an expert on a lot of these terms.

Can anyone elaborate more on transmasculine/transfeminine? I hadn't heard of those until the other day, and I'm still not sure I get what they mean.

 

[Doctor Teatime]

As far as I understand it a transmasculine person could be any person with an interest in masculinizing resources, whether clothes, surgery, drugs, etc. Transmen aren't necessarily the only people with an interest in that kind of resources so it's an easy way of expressing that you're not necessarily a transman but still use resources primarily marketed for transmen.

And vice versa.

The context in which I've encountered the term is a female-assigned neutrosis person who used testosterone and binders to achieve a more neutral look. They are not male and have no desire to be male but still use these resources to "counter" their femininity.

 

[Eamar]

snip

I see, that makes sense. It's really not a concept I'd thought about at all, if I'm honest. This stuff gets more complicated by the day

Thanks for the explanation

 

[Wraith]

I'm okay with this Facebook thing. The more inclusive something is the better I say. I just hope it won't be taken as a big offense if I don't remember the definition of all 50 of these terms-- 75% of which I am just now learning TODAY-- and with the odd combinations that can come with these terms it will be an even greater challenge for me.

I don't want to offend someone unintentionally by assuming the wrong gender, but sometimes I find even asking can be a problem. It's like 'How dare you not already know this even though I'm a stranger'. Not saying it happens to me a lot, but I've been in situations like those. Hell I remember in my younger years (roughly 6-9) where I was constantly asked if I was a girl or a boy. I must have been very feminine in my face and mannerisms or something, but it was highly annoying.

 

[DANEgerous]

Does anyone know if there is a difference to Agender and Neutrois?

The terms are really similar in description so I wasn't sure.

After having thought about it I think I may. Before I would say I am agender as I see gender as kind of pointless I would say Neutrois is more accurate as it sounds "Totally without gender" where agender is "There are genders but I accept none" I may be wrong but my stance is they are (at least objectively) no genders.

Now will I ever say I am agender or neutrois? Not likely unless I am i debat about what gender is

... I'm confused, why wouldn't you label people by their gender? I'm not going to treat people differently, but I wouldn't call a lady "That somebody" when it'd be easier to just say lady. Maybe this is a start of my life where I need to learn people's names XD

A lot of people, myself included, believe that gender (not sex) is a social construct and, frankly, would like to see the whole concept go the way of the dodo.

Yep I want to say just keep the labels but as I keep stating when you get to a limit. And yes admittedly I do not know what it would be and yes agender V neutrois sounds to arbitrary even with my previous statement. Just feels like "Hey let make more out groups MORE! MORE MORE!" and that is anything but unifying.

 

[Padwolf]

Yay, it is true, you learn something new everyday! I had never heard the term Two-Spirit before. I knew it existed, I just didn't know the right term. Great list, Taco! I knew there were a lot of terms, a lot of new ways to name sexualities, but I didn't realise just how many. It feels like this gender stuff gets a bit more complicated day by day. But hey, I'm glad facebook took the step to include everyone.

 

[Eamar]

Just feels like "Hey let make more out groups MORE! MORE MORE!" and that is anything but unifying.

I have to say that's kind of how I see it. Now, I'm not going to tell anyone they shouldn't use any of these labels - as far as I'm concerned people can label themselves however they like and of course I'll respect their wishes - but I really can't say I see the point of some of them.

I mean, as someone who is biologically female (and fine with that) but with an overwhelmingly "masculine" personality, I could probably use quite a few of these terms to describe myself. However, I never would, because I don't understand why my personality should be considered "masculine" in the first place. I don't recognise personality traits or interests or preferences as gendered, so I suppose the way of thinking that demands a lot of these different categories is just alien to me.

That said though, good for facebook if this makes more people happy.

 

[Doctor Teatime]

I read a blog by a neutrosis person and it seems appropriate to share their views on what neutrosis is.

Neutrois are agendered or neutral-gendered. Neutrois are the transsexual of agendered. They experience a sense of gender dysphoria - discomfort at being in "the wrong body" - one that doesn?t correctly reflect their internal gender. Furthermore, they have a strong desire to change their body to reflect this internal gender. Transition is a process of subtraction: a neutrois wishes to get rid of any and all gendered characteristics so as to achieve as neutral a body as possible. Physical transition may consist primarily in the removal of primary and/or secondary sex characteristics, such as genitals or breasts and body hair. Because the concept and identity of neutrois is relatively new, not all neutrois have undergone surgery, or even seriously want to undergo surgery or physical transition yet.

Neutrois is not androgyne, it's quite the opposite. Androgyny is a combination of female and male characteristics, while neutrois is an elimination of them.

Neutrois is not genderless. While the prefix a- in agender may hint at a "lack of," neutrois is not a lack of gender. Just like a neutral color does not mean colorless, or a neutral opinion does not mean without opinion, a neutral gender does mean without gender. Neutrois do have an internal gender, it just happens to be neither male, nor female. It's neutral.

Blog is here [http://neutrois.me/] for those interested.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

Why are there three ways of saying what kind of cis-gender you are? That is beyond redundant.

Besides that, I guess I can see the differences between them now. I doubt I'll ever be able to understand the mentalities of certain ones, such as agender and pangender though. That seems just as confusing as contemplating the infinity of the universe.

At any rate, thanks for the list. It is, indeed, helpful.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Some of these seem a bit redundant but I guess I'll defend people's right to conveniently label themselves like jars of marmalade.

 

[Longing]

Some people will make such a fuss over things that don't concern them.

Thank you for the list, there were a couple I wasn't too sure on.