Agender is a gender identity generally defined as in which one lacks a gender or has very little experience of a gender. It can be seen either as a non-binary gender identity or as a statement of not having a gender identity. People who identify as agender may describe themselves as one or more of the following:
- Genderless or lacking gender.
- Gender neutral. This may be meant in the sense of being neither man or woman yet still having a gender.
- Neutrois or neutrally gendered.
- Libragender, feeling mostly agender but with a partial connection to another gender.
- Having an unknown or undefinable gender; not aligning with any binary or non-binary gender.
- Having no other words that fit their gender identity.
- Not knowing or not caring about gender, as an internal identity and/or as an external label.
- Deciding not to label their gender.
- Identifying more as an individual than any gender at all.
Many agender people also identify as genderqueer, non-binary and/or transgender. However, some agender people prefer to avoid these terms, especially transgender, as they feel this implies identifying as a gender other than their assigned gender, while they in fact do not identify as any gender at all. In fact, the term agender is considered an oxymoron among many. Since it is a lack of gender, some feel that it should not be labeled as a gender at all. Others see the label agender as a declaration that they are whole without a gender.
Agender people can have any preference for pronouns, although some prefer to avoid using gendered language about themselves as much as possible. They can also present in any way - masculine, feminine, both or something completely beyond the binary. Agender people can (but don't have to) experience gender dysphoria if they are unable to express their identity in a way they are comfortable with.
Agender people may seek many of the same hormone therapies or surgeries available to transgender and nonbinary people.
Agender people can be of any sexuality and should not be confused with being asexual.
Gallery
Further Research
A 1997 paper in International Journal of Transgenderism states that "An individual of any genetic sex may also regard him-herself as [...] an ungendered person, who does not or will not identify with any conventional gender."[8]
The 1998 book Working with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender College Students: A Handbook for Faculty and Administrators lists "ungendered" as a label used by some transgender people.[9]
A 2000 post on Usenet described the Christian God as agender. It was used in a discussion thread titled "alt.messianic". The user Miriam Wolfe wrote "All I understand is that G-d is amorphous, agender, etc. so "image" can't be a physical or gender or sexual thing."[10] There were a few other instances of the word being used around the same time, but these also were either about God or were talking about individuals presenting in a gender-neutral manner (not as specific gender identity).
In 2005, another Usenet user wrote that "cultures can have transgender, agender, and hypergender individuals."[11]
"Non-gendered", "genderless", and "agender" were mentioned in a list of valid nonbinary identities in the 2013 text Sexuality and Gender for Mental Health Professionals: A Practical Guide.[12]
Salem X (also known as "Ska" or as their Tumblr user name "transrants") created the agender flag in 2014, sharing the design on Feb 18th.[13] In reference to the colors chosen, they said "The black and white stripes represent an absence of gender, the gray represents semi-genderlessness, and the central green stripe represents nonbinary genders." In 2014, they also created the demiboy, demigirl and deminonbinary flags.[14]
In 2014, agender was one of the 56 genders made available on Facebook.[15]
In 2015, Dictionary.com added an entry for "agender,"[16] which it defined as "a person who does not have a specific gender identity or recognizable gender expression."[17]
On March 10, 2017, the Multnomah County Court of Oregon granted Patch a "General Judgment of Name and Sex Change"; Patch thus became the first legally agender person in the United States. The same judgment also allowed them to change names and become mononymous—meaning only having one name instead of a given name and a surname.[18]
A 2018 survey of "Attitudes to Gender", ran by the Britain-based "Future of Legal Gender" project, asked people if they agree or disagree with the statement "More people will identify as agender (not having a gender) in the future." 32.4% selected "agree" and 13.7% selected "strongly agree". 20.6% selected "neither agree nor disagree" and 19.7% "don't know", compared to a mere 6.6% "disagree" and 7% "strongly disagree". (71% of nonbinary respondents agreed or strongly agreed.)[19]
Notable Agender people
- Patch, a 27-year-old video game designer. Likely the first legally agender person in the United States.[18]
- Bogi Takács is a Hungarian poet, writer, psycholinguist, editor, and translator. E is currently married to R.B. Lemberg. Takács refers themself with e/em/eir/emself and Singular they pronouns.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://www.them.us/story/inqueery-agender
- ↑ https://majesticmess.com/encyclopedia/agender-flag/
- ↑ transrants's post claiming Agender flag by Salem
- ↑ pride-flags deviantart post showing Alternate agender flag (2)
- ↑ agenderflag.carrd.co
- ↑ pride-flags deviantart post showing Alternate agender flag (4)
- ↑ agender.info
- ↑ Eyler, A.E.; Wright, K. (1997). ["Gender Identification and Sexual Orientation Among Genetic Females with Gender-Blended Self-Perception in Childhood and Adolescence."]. International Journal of Transgenderism. https://cdn.atria.nl/ezines/web/IJT/97-03/numbers/symposion/ijtc0102.htm. "An individual of any genetic sex may also regard him-herself as neither a woman nor a man, but a member of some other gender, as is common in non-Western cultures (and is becoming increasingly recognized in the West as well), or as an ungendered person, who does not or will not identify with any conventional gender.".
- ↑ Working with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender College Students: A Handbook for Faculty and Administrators p. 37 (1998). “Transgender persons are those who are not comfortable living within the confines of the social stereotype of gender as applied to themselves. Labels used include cross-dresser, drag king, drag queen, intersexed, transsexual, butch, femme, ungendered, androgynous, and more. The labels are many and changing, and they are not always accepted by the people to whom they are applied.”
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20220121154524/https://groups.google.com/g/alt.messianic/c/Egv3-Fufvsw/m/FIGdiv-8z7AJ
- ↑ What Does It Mean to Be Agender?. them. (7 August 2018). “sj Miller”
- ↑ Sexuality and Gender for Mental Health Professionals: A Practical Guide SAGE Publications (2013). ISBN 9781446293133
- ↑ Agender Flag – Majestic Mess Designs.
- ↑ Interview: Creator of the Agender Flag – Majestic Mess Designs.
- ↑ Shapira, Eve. Gender circuits: Bodies and identities in a technological age.
- ↑ New words added to Dictionary.com (May 6, 2015).
- ↑ Agender.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 O'Hara, Mary Emily (2017-03-23). Judge Grants Oregon Resident the Right to Be Genderless. NBC News.
- ↑ Survey Findings. The Future of Legal Gender.
External links
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