May 15th XDoV 2022: All About Xenogenders
Hello, all! I’m positively delighted to wish everyone a happy 2nd annual xenogender day of visibility. Xenogenders and those who identify with them are very commonly misunderstood due to misinformation about what xenogenders are, how they work or why someone may want to use them. In this post, I am going to attempt to explain the concept of xenogenders for the uninitiated, particularly those who have concerns of it’s legitimacy as a feasible category of non-binary identity.
The term “Xenogender” was coined by tumblr user Baaphomett in 2014 via MOGAI-Archive. Ze defined the term xenogender as, “a gender that cannot be contained by human understandings of gender; more concerned with crafting other methods of gender categorization and hierarchy such as those relating to animals, plants, or other creatures/things”. As a result, “Xenogender” is a very large umbrella term with many sub-identities.
“Xeno” is from Greek, “xenos”, meaning “strange”, “foreign” or “alien”. This is referring to the the fact that xenogenders are approached in a way that anthrogenders are not, being outside the bounds of how human society tends to describe and categorize gender, thus the description of “alien”.
Xenogenders hold an anontrinary quality that is not masculine, feminine, androgynous, epicene, gender-neutral, outherine or any other “human” quality without being genderless or beyond gender. This xenine quality is described with the aid of xenic description, which utilizes “non-human” concepts that are not traditionally used to describe genders, such as emotions, sensations, aesthetics, ideas, archetypes, media, living things, inanimate objects, situations, locations, actions, and language. Most xenogenders describe how one experiences their gender as opposed to what one experiences their gender as.
Xenogenders, as an umbrella term, have a gender glyph, which is the Iris 7 astronomical sign. This symbol, a star beneath a rainbow, represents Iris, Greek goddess of rainbows. The stripes of the flag are the various colors that irises grow. Other attempts were made toward a more traditional gender glyph while invoking the imagery of the iris flower, resulting in this glyph made from tumblr user system-lgbt in 2018.
The xenogender flag, specifically the one used in this post, was created by user pastelmemer in 2017. There is also an alternate flag that was created in 2017 by Mod Hermy of Pride-Flags.
Anyone can identify as any xenogender, given the particular gender identity in question is within the individual’s experience; if the identity is exclusive to a particular group you are not part of, the gender identity is unavailable to you. If a xenogender is specific to a particular group, it will either be stated as part of or along side the definition. When you are in doubt, if it is possible, it is best to contact the coiner to inquire about the exclusivity of the term.
A very common misconception is that xenogenders, as a whole, can only be used by neurodivergent (ND) individuals. The only xenogenders that are exclusive to ND individuals are neurogenders. Neurogenders describe how one’s neurotype, mental illness and/or neurological condition can effect how one experiences their gender identity. Since one’s neurodivergence can effect one’s perceptions of self, others and society, and thus their gender, they are classified as xenogenders. Most xenogenders are not neurogenders, but all neurogenders are a type of xenogender. Neurogenders do not serve to equate one’s neurodivergence with their gender; one’s gender identity is effected by, not defined as, one’s neurodivergence. Neurogenders are often used in conjunction with other, frequently unrelated, affinitive terms.
Why do People Identify with Xenogenders?
There are many reasons that one may identify with or as a xenogender. Some of these reasons include, but are in no way limited to:
Xenogenders and xenic description can be very accessible for some individuals, particularly children who are exploring and verbalizing their gender, but don’t fully understand the intricacies of gender identity and individuals who better relate to and/or better understand xenc description, as opposed to anthroine description, both neurotypical and neurodivergent.
Anything can be used as a basis or inspiration for a xenogender or xenic-alignment, which is one of the most unique and interesting aspects of xenogenders, xenic-alignment and xenic description. This versatility allows for xenogenders and xenic-alignments to be anything, ranging from vague and simplistic to hyperspecific and intricate in essence. With xenogenders, the possibilities are limitless, allowing “non-human”, nontraditional concepts to be incorporated into gender, it’s roles and the expression of one’s identity in creative, largely unprecedented ways that have not been widely established outside of the Microlabel/Neogender tumblr community.
Xenogenders are far more often than not metaphorical than they are literal. Xeninic description allows for one to be poetic or figurative when outlining their gender. This feature of xenogenders allows people to partially or fully self-describe using a figure of speech, as opposed to categorizing and conveying themselves solely using the qualities used in one’s cultural system of gender.
Another common reason that people use xenogenders is the desire to subvert anthroininity or even the concept of gender as a whole. Describing one’s gender using xeninic description for the sake “fucking with” gender is quite easy, making a prime choice for those who desire to “fuck with” gender, especially in a way that isn’t connected to traditionally “human” concepts of gender.
Some people use xenogenders as a method of reclaming dehumanization they experience by taking on xenogenders that they find empowering. This dehumanization can be related to one’s a-spec orientation, being transgender and/or non-binary, being intersex, neurodivergent, disabled or any other type of dehumanization that can be directed at someone not listed here. After all, xenogenders are used to describe nontraditional, “non-human” concept of gender, making them excellent for this purpose.
While the alterhuman subculture is entirely distinct from the topic of xenogenders, many alterhuman individuals use xenogenders because they relate to concepts that are not traditionally kept among humans and feel better represented by them due specifically to their alterhumanity. Because of this, there is a lot of overlap between these two communities. For many alterhumans, xenogenders aren’t as metaphorical, but tend to instead be more literal, because they are being used to describe what gender they hold as an alterhuman, not necessarily how it is experienced. Not all alterhumans identity with xenogenders and not all individuals with affinitive xenogenders are alterhumans.
Enjoyment & Gender Euphoria
For some, identifying with xenogenders is done simply because they enjoy the concept illustrated by the xenogender, or similarly, because identifying with provides them with provides gender euphoria. For example, if an individual has a deep, overarching enjoyment for something that would be considered xenine concept and that effects their gender identity for some reason, that can be the basis for a xenogender in itself. For some, it surpasses personal pleasure and because a function of gender euphoria. Gender euphoria is very personal. While most individuals can find join in anthrogenders and their qualities, others are delighted by the freedom, specificity and diversity of description provided by xenogenders.
For those that do not experience a sense of freedom from anthrogenders due the relation to traditional, “human” subjects, xenogenders can be extremely freeing. Gender identity is a social construct. Social constructs are ideas that are physically intangible, or as many say, “fake”. This is both true and false; social constructs are real in the sense that they effect people’s lives and shape how society functions, but they are fake in the sense that they are not something that someone can touch with their skin or generate from the constituents of the universe in some way. Given that social construction are not immutable, many people feel the rightful freedom to experiment, which often leads to expressing their gender, and often their disconnection from antrhogenders, as a xenogender. What freedom means for an individual for one’s gender is highly unique. Some people go further by embracing genderlessness, autonomous genders, yonderine “gender” and even non-participation in the construct itself.
Sometimes, people are simply the gender that they are because they can be or just are; a person doesn’t necessarily have to justify identifying with a particular gender identity in order to be of that gender identity. Gender identity is a sense of self, and for some, that sense of self is best described as xeninoic. Certain people’s experiences fall in what in the lexical gap we currently have when it comes to language, so, sometimes, it simply is what it is.
Xenogenders are very much real and valid. They are a creative, subversive end-product of gender as a social construct. Regardless of being situated very, very far away from the gender binary in the gender spectrum, which may make them rather difficult to initially understand, xenogenders are indeed authentic and operable in their own right and are fully deserving of respect along side other transgender identities.
With today being XDoV, I would like to challenge you to take a moment to read about xenogenders from people who identify with them or, if not available, those educated in such gender theory. To those with xenogenders; happy day of visibility. Thank-you for being revolutionary.
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