Bigender
Encyclopedia
Bigender, bi-gender or bi+gender describes a tendency to move between feminine
and masculine
gender
-typed behaviour depending on context. Some bigendered individuals express a distinctly "en femme
" persona and a distinctly "en homme" persona, feminine and masculine respectively; others have shades of grey between the two. It is recognized by the American Psychological Association
(APA) as a subset of the transgender
group. A 1999 survey conducted by the San Francisco Department of Public Health observed that, among the transgendered community, less than 3% of those who were genetic males and less than 8% of those who were genetic females identified as bigender.
While an androgynous person retains the same gender-typed behaviour across situations, the bigendered person consciously or unconsciously changes their gender-role behaviour from primarily masculine to primarily feminine, or vice versa.
community itself, rather than being adopted after it was created by another sub-culture (for example, transsexual was defined first by the mental health community).
Because bigender is still a self-applied label, it is not possible to give a definitive outline of the typical bigendered person. Any description of a bigendered person is just an example of what someone who identifies as bigender might be like. Although there are patterns, the only firm characteristic is the sense of dual gender.
For some bigender people, labels like gay, lesbian or bisexual can seem less relevant or satisfactory due to their focus on physiological sex. Some might prefer terms that refer to gender (see Gynephilia and androphilia
) while others might prefer to not specify a sexual orientation at all. Since bigender is a gender-related term, not an erotic one, a bigender person can be asexual.
s apply either incompletely, or not at all. Some bigendered individuals forego the use of Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms altogether, whereas common gender-neutral
titles chosen by other bigendered individuals are Ser
and Mx
.
Some bigender people use different pronouns depending on their presentation at the time. For example, going by "she/her" when en femme, and "he/him" when en homme.
Femininity
Femininity is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with girls and women. Though socially constructed, femininity is made up of both socially defined and biologically created factors...
and masculine
Masculinity
Masculinity is possessing qualities or characteristics considered typical of or appropriate to a man. The term can be used to describe any human, animal or object that has the quality of being masculine...
gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
-typed behaviour depending on context. Some bigendered individuals express a distinctly "en femme
En femme
The term en femme is an anglicized adaption of a French phrase. It is used in the transgender and crossdressing community to describe the act of wearing feminine clothing and/or expressing a stereotypically feminine personality...
" persona and a distinctly "en homme" persona, feminine and masculine respectively; others have shades of grey between the two. It is recognized by the American Psychological Association
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...
(APA) as a subset of the transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
group. A 1999 survey conducted by the San Francisco Department of Public Health observed that, among the transgendered community, less than 3% of those who were genetic males and less than 8% of those who were genetic females identified as bigender.
While an androgynous person retains the same gender-typed behaviour across situations, the bigendered person consciously or unconsciously changes their gender-role behaviour from primarily masculine to primarily feminine, or vice versa.
Use of term
It is worth noting that this concept emerged from within the transgenderTransgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
community itself, rather than being adopted after it was created by another sub-culture (for example, transsexual was defined first by the mental health community).
Because bigender is still a self-applied label, it is not possible to give a definitive outline of the typical bigendered person. Any description of a bigendered person is just an example of what someone who identifies as bigender might be like. Although there are patterns, the only firm characteristic is the sense of dual gender.
Sexual orientation
It might seem that a bigender identity must go with a bisexual identity but gender identity and sexual orientation are independent. It is possible to be bigender and not bisexual, or bisexual but not bigender.For some bigender people, labels like gay, lesbian or bisexual can seem less relevant or satisfactory due to their focus on physiological sex. Some might prefer terms that refer to gender (see Gynephilia and androphilia
Gynephilia and androphilia
Androphilia and gynephilia are terms used in behavioral science to describe sexual orientation, as an alternative to a homosexual and heterosexual conceptualization....
) while others might prefer to not specify a sexual orientation at all. Since bigender is a gender-related term, not an erotic one, a bigender person can be asexual.
Addressing a bigendered person
Bigendered individuals usually decide for themselves how they wish to be addressed, as for obvious reasons, gender-specific social titles and honorificHonorific
An honorific is a word or expression with connotations conveying esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term is used not quite correctly to refer to an honorary title...
s apply either incompletely, or not at all. Some bigendered individuals forego the use of Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms altogether, whereas common gender-neutral
Gender-neutral language
Gender-neutral language, gender-inclusive language, inclusive language, or gender neutrality is linguistic prescriptivism that aims to eliminate reference to gender in terms that describe people...
titles chosen by other bigendered individuals are Ser
Ser
Ser is a gender-neutral form of Sir that has been used in the Dragon Age video game series by BioWare, in Greg Bear's The Way novels, and in A Song of Ice and Fire by George R R Martin...
and Mx
MX
-Internet and computing:* .mx, an Internet top-level domain* MX record, an Internet data element used for routing email* WinMX, a file sharing program* Logitech MX Revolution, a computer mouse* Macromedia Studio MX, a web content software program...
.
Some bigender people use different pronouns depending on their presentation at the time. For example, going by "she/her" when en femme, and "he/him" when en homme.