I feel as if I've been misinformed about genderqueer people. So, if I have invalidated any of your identities, I'm very sorry. (*hug*) Because of this, I'm asking now - what exactly does genderqueer mean? What are your experiences as genderqueer? Thank you in advance.
Aw no problem. :hug: No-one can invalidate my identity except for me. Well genderqueer is one of those terms that covers a spectrum of feelings. To some people it's very strong in that they can't identify with any gender, i.e. genderneutral. For others, like myself, it means that we don't feel we can relate to both genders at the same time. It differs per individual of course. It's also used sometimes by transgender people who aren't sure if/are sure that they don't want to transition. Basically it's an umbrella term for everyone who doesn't identify as either any specific gender.
I believe, in my experience that being genderqueer means you don't feel like either gender. Some may describe themselves being bigender, while others agender. I used to identify as genderqueer, but I'm becoming comfortable with female as of late.
To be honest my experience has been very confusing, but now i'm starting to think that i am starting to come to terms with not identifying as any one gender. I'm happy being me
Genderqueer is an umbrella term to describe any gender other than male/female. My experience with being genderqueer (specifically genderfluid) has been that I sometimes strongly identify as female, sometimes strongly identify as male, and often feel neither/in between. I do have dysphoria on male days and sometimes on neither/in between days too.
For me being genderqueer is the only identity that makes much sense to me. I don't fit concretely as 100% female, even if I'm mostly female, but more importantly, I just don't consider myself a woman. And I feel like if I was a woman, I wouldn't be allowed to do some of the stuff I like, like occasionally dressing up in a men's suit.
Well, I'm questioning my gender at the moment. But I like to consider myself genderqueer or androgynous.
Basically what Wuggums said, but, well, reversed. That and being a little ambiguous comes naturally to me. I suppose I could be considered genderqueer since I don't feel to be completely gendered one way or the other (just mostly male), but I don't really like the word myself, I don't know why. If I'm allowed to pick something besides male or female to describe my gender I usually go with "androgyne", or "neither, thanks".
For me it is just being a person, nothing more. Something everyone is familiar with, yet they do not know what exactly it is.
Genderqueer is generally accepted to be defined as something along the lines of "Not feeling, or expressing an identity not wholly male or female," yes? Though some people use it for a specific subset of non-binary identities, and some people use it as a term for anyone who isn't (completely) binary. I use it in the second sense. I consider myself transmasculine and genderqueer, somewhere between non-binary, androgyne, and male. All I know is that I'm not a girl, but I'm not exactly a guy, either.. well, not, fully one. The problem I run into sometimes is that talking to binary people about the non-binary can be like talking to Christians about being non-theist, and having them come out with some analogue of "please describe to me the god you don't believe in" - because they literally can't imagine a different paradigm from the one they're living, and because it's entirely outside their own personal experience.
For me, it's basically anyone who doesn't fit into traditional definitions of the gender binary. Some people use it as a stand alone term, while others in combination with non-binary ones, and/or trans. It's a politically-charged word, so some use it for that reason as well. A few might later come out as transsexual, but I've also seen cases where someone discovers and identifies with gq after having transitioned and lived as a man or a woman. Then you have those who consider themselves gender-variant versions of members of their assigned sex. I suppose if I had to choose a more specific term at the moment, something like "femandrogyne" might work. We're basically the B of the T. Bonus points if you happen to be both. :eusa_doh:
Gotcha. Thanks everyone. As for talking to binary people about nonbinary people, I imagine it's reversed too. It's hard to understand what you never experienced, but hey, as long as we're all civil to each other, right?
To an extent. The concept of binary sex/gender is so embedded in our society it's hard not to have experienced the effects, if not the feeling of belonging in it. Same with religion in the US. Much less so the other way around.