A Deep Dive Into Aliagender
Aliagender is a gender that is “other”, meaning it exists outside the gender binary but otherwise without any specific placement. It comes from the Latin alius meaning “other”, which is why it’s also called aliusgender. This otherness is intentionally vague but not so vague that it evokes a sense of unknown or questioning as seen in many uingenders (genders unknown in nature.) Aliagender is otherness with intent, not an empty space or a placeholder.
“Other” - as a gender - often refers to choosing a third option from the standard two - in this case, male and female. When given options on consent forms, surveys, and other important documents, someone might forego the binary option in favor of something else. This experience is more ambiguous than the more specific concept of aliagender, which is why the latter is not a replacement for “other”, but otherness is a cornerstone of the experience nonetheless. Someone who is aliagender may feel like they can relate to the “Other” option.
This otherness can extend to:
Man/Woman/Both/Other
Man/Woman/Androgynous/Neutral/Other (as mentioned above)
Binary/Nonbinary/Other (often called anonbinary)
Masculine/Feminine/Neutral/Other
All of the above examples illustrate how someone who is aliagender might relate to existing gender concepts.
Aliagender is inherently abinary, meaning it is entirely outside of the gender binary, but it also isn’t meant to be a neutral gender (as explained in its original coining post.) Instead, the intention is that it’s “othered” - at least, this is how it was viewed as its name was being workshopped. However, aliagender can be seen as more than just “not binary.” When given categorical options in general - man, woman, androgynous, neutral - aliagender would be the “other” option and not just a third gender. It’s meant to say “My gender does not fit these prescribed frameworks and instead, exists independent of them.”
Aporagender (another abinary gender) is a term that was coined as an alternative to aliagender, though both are used today as terms for people’s genders. If aliagender had been the more commonly known and used term, it likely would have described genders like maverique, péra, or ilyagender (which are instead described as aporagenders.) The difference here is that aporagender is more specific in its definition and usage. Aporagender, in another life, might have even been considered an aliagender.
Aliagender can take a number of forms: It can change, shift, fluctuate, exist in fractions, or coexist with other genders. Multigender people can be aliagender, having any combination of aliagender and other genders. For example, someone can be a man, woman, and aliagender all at once. Or, someone might have two, three, four, or more genders that all have a sense of otherness that makes the individual feel aliagender as one whole identity. All of these examples may also involve aliagender-ness that changes over time.
When someone experiences a partial connection to aliagender, it is called demialia (or demialiagender), which falls within the multigender umbrella. This partiality can manifest in many ways, such as being partially a binary gender and partially aliagender, depending on the individual. If their gender feels between the binary (midbinary), it is called midaliagender.
Someone may be both genderfluid and aliagender (aliafluid, which was not officially coined), which means that their gender changes from aliagender to something else, usually along a spectrum. In comparison, a fluctuating aliagender identity would be aliaflux - the otherness of the gender fluctuates in intensity in this case. These both fall under the multigender umbrella as well.
Aliusine is the gender quality associated with aliagender. A gender quality is the inherent element, aspect, or alignment of a gender - like masculine, feminine, androgynous, or neutral - rather than being a gender itself. Aliusine genders would include more than just aliagender on its own and encompasses other similar genders that are based on otherness. The noun form is aliusinity. By extension, transaliusine would be the trans-aspect term for being both transgender (or transsexual) and aliusine, meaning a connection to aliusinity or a desire to transition towards it.
Many aliagender people may also consider their gender to be outherine, a gender quality that is based on being “other” - other than masculine, feminine, androgynous, and neutral. The original coining post mentions that aliagender is not meant to be binary, androgynous, or neutral, which fits the outherine category. However, many aliagender folks may prefer no categories at all and would not see their gender as fall under any umbrella term.
While aliagender is an uncommonly used gender, it was a jumping off point for discussions surrounding othergenderedness and terms that centered otherness as an intrinsic aspect of one’s experience in a binarized society. It can be so much more than just “not binary” or just “something vaguely othered” and instead, is a way to encompass many different ways of having a gender that can’t be sorted into conventional categories.
