A specific gender identity and/or gender experience that is strong, concrete, and outside of the gender binary. It cannot be described in any conventional terms, but is a unique gender unto itself.
Flag's Meaning & Symbolism
Three Stripes: A visual representation of 'third'.
The Color Green: As to show that the identity is outside of the pink and blue binary -(but not yellow as to not be conflated or confused with the maverique, gender neutral, or similarly yellow pride flags).
Light Green: Symbolizing peace and optimism
True Green: Symbolizing prosperity and growth
Dark Green: Symbolizing grounding and the inherent natural nature of being outside the gender binary.
From identifying as broadly non-binary, to agender, to a binary trans man, to trans masc, to trans masc/non-binary - I've always struggled to find a gendered term that really feels like it fits me. And not for other people's understanding, but for my own comfort and sense of self.
As a Social Work major with minors in Gender Studies and Psychology* - the term 'third gender' is used a lot in academic settings as an umbrella term for culturally or historically specific genders. These genders were usually recognized by said culture or historical society as almost the "third option" as it were - male, female, and third gender. These third genders are (mostly but not always) completely outside of the male-female binary. A concrete singular identity that, outside of possibly a language specific term, have no other quantifiers.
Publicly, I'm trans masc (or a trans man when around those with less knowledge about non-binary gender spectrums). But privately? Within my own self, within my religious practice, and online - I am third gender.
*These are degrees I already hold and completed in 2021 - and if anyone is curious, I am 26 years old.
To the best of my knowledge, the term 'third gender' has not been coined in this way. Thus far I have only found it used in academic settings, and not as a specific gender identity. However, the world is vast and no one knows everything. If you have seen this term used as a gender-identity unto itself please let me know 💚
I know this is a bit different from what I usually post/what my blog is about, however anti-mogai people really do upset me, esp people who hate things like emoji pronouns, nameself pronouns, xenogender, etc.
Yeah, i get it, it can kinda be a bit weird at first, but at the end of the day, nothing makes me happier than seeing other people happy because they get to hc their favorite characters (as that’s what i tend to see a lot on my dash).
Seeing people getting referred to correctly, be respected like a normal human, and seeing them get so happy about it. Honestly, i think it’s amazing.
As someone who uses any/all pronouns, i really do get limited to the basic she/he/they, and sometimes people just stick with one. There are plenty of people who, when they hear my voice, refer to me only with she/her because i am afab. Really, using neopronouns isn’t that hard, although i will agree it can be a bit hard at first, but anything like that will be. It’s not like school systems are teaching us how to use neopronouns, and many of us are discovering them later in life, esp nowadays since they are becoming more known.
And honestly, i love that they’re becoming more known. Yes, it does give anti-mogai people more “ammunition” to bully us, however at the end of the day, mogai can exist in its own community and ignore the people who don’t understand us.
I don’t want this to sound like a “omg uwu kwerky we’re not like other grrrls” type thing. I’ve noted that everyone in the mogai community experiences gender completely differently, thus what leads to other, newer genders being made. It’s to describe that experience, even if it’s hard to put into words. People can use multiple labels (such as myself, i identify as gender apathetic/genderfluid) because it better explains their experience. Emoji pronouns, xenogenders, nameself pronouns, neopronouns, etc. are all valid, even if you think they are weird, even if you think you are weird, even if you have a hard time validating yourself.
My whole TL;DR on this thing is that mogai is not bad, even if its weird. At the end of the day, this is a group of people who are trying to explain their experiences in the ways only they can. Even if it doesn’t make sense, it makes sense to them. They just want to hc characters because they like imaging characters to be like themselves so they have someone to relate to. Honestly, i think that’s amazing.
As I’ve grown into adulthood, I’ve found my connection to my gender become such an indescribable thing. I am so full of gender - the pride and power some women feel in screaming “I am a woman” is the same feeling I get about my own gender, even if I can’t exactly name it.
This is what I mean when I say I’m 3rd Gender (not something I say offline cause that’s a weird sentence grammatically to say out loud) I mean that my gender is so concrete, so solid in my own mind, but in a way that is neither male nor female.
I know there are cultural specific third gender (Hijras and Muxes come to mind) - but as a White™️ person whose closest connection to “culture” is being raised Catholic & southern, I don’t have a cultural label I can grasp.
Despite my best wishes, I don’t think there will ever be a singular word that feels correct to me, maybe one day I’ll invent one, but now 3rd Gender will have to do.
Who are hijras? Many outside of India and surrounding countries may not know who these people are. In this video Laxmi Tripathi informs viewers on the hijra identity, as well as incite on her own as well as other hijras’ experiences.
