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Terminology

Discussion in 'Sexual Orientation' started by ThinkingZeno86, Jun 13, 2013.

  1. Can anyone help me understand what the difference is between bigender, pangender, androgyne, and gender fluid? I know that transgender or transsexual means I feel that I was born in the wrong body, that it doesn't represent who I am and causes me to feel really uncomfortable with the wrong pronouns and how I'm perceived. I'm assuming that those others at various points along the gender spectrum don't feel as intensely about it? While realizing all of these could fall under the trans* umbrella.
     
  2. Krilky

    Krilky Guest

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    I'm not an expert but here goes:
    Bigender: You feel like both a man and a woman, and/or you prefer some women's stuff and some men's stuff. Someone might like both dresses and suits, as an example.
    Pangender: Pretty much the same thing outwardly, but inwardly different. Instead of feeling like you're "both" genders, you feel like you're neither one, or if there were a third societal gender introduced, you'd feel comfortable in that one too.
    Androgyne: Agender, you don't fit in with any gender.
    Gender fluid: sort of like bigender, you slip between genders and can work in both.
     
  3. Tetraquark

    Tetraquark Guest

    I can't speak to bigender or pangender, since I don't identify as either, but I do have some experience with being an androgyne and genderfluid.

    Androgyne can mean different things to different people. To me it means that my gender is simultaneously male and female in different proportions (most of the time, I'm more female than male) while also being neither. It is not the same thing as agender, which usually expresses lacking a gender.

    Genderfluid means having a gender that is not constant in time. In my case, it means the male and female portions of my gender "take turns" with how prominent they are. Sometimes I feel more strongly female, sometimes I'm agender, and every once in a while I feel male. For some people the shifts in gender are probably more drawn-out and subtle, but for me they tend to be rather abrupt and frequent. I can go to the store intending to buy men's clothes, fall in love with a dress, and then be unable to wear it the next day because I don't want to be seen as female.