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{{Emerging}}
 
{{Infobox
 
{{Infobox
| image = Sapphic Flag.svg
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| image = Xenogender Flag.svg
| caption = Sapphic flag with simplified violet
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| caption = Xenogender flag by Roswell
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| altname = <!-- In case the article's topic is known under multiple names, differentiate with a comma. -->
| altname = Women loving women (WLW), sapphist
 
| term = *[[Sexual orientation]]
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| term = [[Gender identity]]
 
| spectrum = *[[MOGAI]]
*[[Romantic orientation]]
 
 
*[[Non-binary]]
| spectrum =
 
| gender = * Women
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| gender = <!-- N/A -->
  +
| attracted = <!-- N/A -->
* [[Non-binary]]
 
  +
| attractedtype = <!-- N/A -->
| attracted = *Women <small>(not exclusively)</small>
 
 
| romance = <!-- N/A -->
* [[Non-binary]]
 
| attractedtype = Any
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| different = Xenic
| romance =
 
| sexuality =
 
| different = [[Lesbian]]
 
 
}}
 
}}
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'''Xenogender''' is defined 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".<ref name="Tumblr: Baaphomett">{{Cite_web |url=http://baaphomett.tumblr.com/post/89738557605/ive-done-a-lot-of-thinking-about-identity-and |title=Untitled post |author=Baaphomett |date=2014-06-24 |archivedate=20140701150845 |nolive=1}}</ref> Xenogender individuals may use ideas and identities outside of the [[gender binary]] to describe themselves and avoid binary gendered identifiers, such as using only their first name or the name of an animal.<ref name="Counselling Skills" /> They may feel they cannot place a label on themselves,<ref name="Archer: Thesis">{{Cite_web| url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/067bb01957e208afbc205ebf7c253565 |title=LGBTQ+ Youth and the Search for Labels: Identity Exploration Online |author=Archer, Katherine |publisher=Arizona State University |partialdate=December 2021 |format=PDF}} Meân, Lindsey; Cayetano, Catalina; and Taylor, Jameien (graduate supervisor committee). <small>(graduate thesis; approved November 2021)</small></ref> or feel as though they lack the terms to fully express their gender or identity, something that derives from a lexical gap.{{#tag:ref|A lexical gap is a word that does not exist in a particular language, although it could exist according to that language's rules.<ref name="Lexical gap">{{Cite_web|url=https://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/dictionary/american/lexical-gap|title=LEXICAL GAP (noun)|work=[https://www.macmillandictionary.com Macmillan Dictionary]}}</ref>|group=note}}<ref name="DeviantArt: Pride-Flags 4">{{Cite_web |url=https://www.deviantart.com/pride-flags/art/Demixenogender-870952056 |title=Demixenogender |work=[https://www.deviantart.com/pride-flags Pride-Flags] |date=2021-02-24 |archivedate=20220125083321}}</ref> The term "xenogender" itself was designed to help fill the lexical gap by using terms not typically associated with gender or describing gender with metaphors.<ref name="DeviantArt: Pride-Flags 4" /> Since it is a [[gender identity]] that is outside the binary concepts of [[Masculine|masculinity]] and [[feminine|femininity]], xenogender is a [[non-binary]] identity.<ref name="Counselling Skills">{{Cite_print |author=Beattie, Michael; Lenihan, Penny; and Dundas, Robin |title=Counselling Skills for Working with Gender Diversity and Identity |date=2018 |publisher=Jessica Kingsley Publishers |isbn=9781784504816}}</ref>
'''Sapphic''', sometimes known as '''women loving women''' ('''WLW'''),<ref name="Autostraddle: Why Sapphic Is Back In Style">{{Cite_web |url=https://www.autostraddle.com/why-sapphic-is-back-in-style-definition-meaning-trend |title=Why 'Sapphic' Is Back In Style |author=Chandra |date=2021-08-09 |work=[https://www.autostraddle.com Autostraddle] |archivedate=20210813161334}}</ref> or '''sapphist''',<ref name="Alpennia: Sapphist">{{Cite_web|url=https://alpennia.com/lhmp/lhmp-misc/sapphicsapphist|title=Sapphic/Sapphist|author=}}</ref> refers to a woman or woman-aligned person of any [[sexual orientation]] who is attracted to other women and/or women-aligned individuals.<ref name="Autostraddle: Why Sapphic Is Back In Style" /><ref name="PFLAG: National Glossary of Terms">{{Cite_web |url=https://pflag.org/glossary |title=National Glossary of Terms |author=[[PFLAG]] |archivedate=20220125043743}}</ref> Another definition is specifically inclusive of [[non-binary]] people.<ref name="Autostraddle: Why Sapphic Is Back In Style" /> It is an [[umbrella term]] for many identities, including those who are [[lesbian]], [[pansexual]], [[bisexual]], or [[queer]].<ref name="PFLAG: National Glossary of Terms" /> It is used to promote solidarity among women and non-binary people of all identities who are attracted to those who are women and woman-aligned. It may also be used as an identity, and may be found particularly useful for individuals who know they are attracted to women but may be uncertain if they are attracted to other [[gender]]s.<ref>{{Cite_web |url=https://queerintheworld.com/what-does-sapphic-mean |title=What Does Sapphic Mean? + Other Sapphic Information |author=Queer in the World}}</ref> It can also be used to describe a relationship between two women.<ref name="5 Reasons Why">{{Cite_web |url=https://medium.com/sexography/5-reasons-why-i-recommend-being-in-a-sapphic-relationship-f4d1a7fec680 |title=5 Reasons Why I Recommend Being in a Sapphic Relationship |author=The Sex and Secrets Column}}</ref><ref name="Etymonline: Sapphic">{{Cite_web |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/Sapphic#etymonline_v_22727 |title=Etymology, origin and meaning of sapphic |author=etymonline |work=[https://www.etymonline.com Online Etymology Dictionary]}}</ref>
 
   
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{{Stub}}
The complementary, or male-to-male equivalent of sapphic, is [[Achillean]].
 
   
 
==Etymology==
 
==Etymology==
  +
The term xenogender was proposed on June 24, 2014, by Baaphomett, a user on Tumblr.<ref name="Tumblr: Baaphomett" /> The prefix ''xen-'' or ''xeno-'' means strange, foreign(er), guest, or not the host.<ref name="Merriam-Webster Dictionary">{{Cite_web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/xen-|title=Definition of xen-|author=Merriam-Webster Dictionary}}</ref> The word "xenine" has been used to mean "of or pertaining to xenogenders", with "xenity" as a noun form.<ref name="Xenine">{{Cite_web |url=https://momma-mogai-sphinx.tumblr.com/post/183175311934/im-sort-of-new-to-al-of-this-what-exactly-does |title=What exactly does 'xenine' mean? <small>(Untitled response)</small> |author=momma-mogai-sphinx |date=2019-03-02 |archivedate=20220123163425}}</ref>
''Sapphic'' as an adjective came into during the 16th century in reference to [[Sappho]], poetess of the isle of Lesbos c. 600 BCE. The word was used especially in reference to the characteristic meter of her poetry, and it was not until the 1890s that it gained its meaning of "pertaining to sexual relations between women";<ref name="Etymonline: Sapphic" /> the noun "sapphism", meaning "homosexual relations between women", also originated in the 1890s.<ref name="Etymonline: Sapphism">{{Cite_web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/Sapphism#etymonline_v_48332|title=Etymology, origin and meaning of sapphism|author=etymonline|work=[https://www.etymonline.com Online Etymology Dictionary]}}</ref> "[[Lesbian]]" and its meanings are similarly derived from Lesbos, the isle associated with Sappho.<ref name="Etymonline: Lesbian">{{Cite_web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/lesbian|title=Etymology, origin and meaning of lesbian|author=etymonline|work=[https://www.etymonline.com Online Etymology Dictionary]}}</ref>
 
   
 
==Community==
 
==Community==
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Xenogender is part of the [[MOGAI]] community;<ref name="Tumblr: Masterpost">{{Cite_web|url=http://purrloinsucks.tumblr.com/post/95720973644/masterpost-of-genders-coined-by-baaphomett|title=masterpost of genders coined by baaphomett|archivedate=20211024044910}}</ref> MOGAI is an acronym for Marginalized Orientations, Gender Alignments, and Intersex,<ref name="MOGAI FAQ">{{Cite_web |url=https://cisphobeofficial.tumblr.com/mogaifaq |title=MOGAI FAQ |author=cloud (as cisphobeofficial) |archivedate=20210909221419}}</ref> and serves as an alternative to [[LGBTQIA+]] as an [[umbrella term]] for people who are not [[cisgender]] and/or [[heterosexual]].<ref name="Feraday: Thesis">{{Cite_web |url=https://rshare.library.ryerson.ca/articles/thesis/For_lack_of_a_better_word_neo-identities_in_non-cisgender_non-straight_communities_on_Tumblr/14648067 |title=For lack of a better word: neo-identities in non-cisgender, non-straight communities on Tumblr |author=Feraday, Christine |publisher=Ryerson University |date=2015-12-31 |format=PDF}} <small>(graduate thesis)</small></ref>
===History===
 
The term sapphic is derived from the Greek poet [[Sappho]], who lived on the isle of Lesbos. The sexual identity of Sappho has been long debated and continues as such to this day. Some interpret her poems as meaning she had relationship with women. Her new style of poetry was called a "sapphic stanza". Her songs often mentioned various emotions to her susceptibility to women, which later, derived the terms sapphic and [[lesbian]].<ref>https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/03/16/girl-interrupted</ref>
 
   
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The Neuroqueer Survey was an informal survey of adults who identified as both autistic and [[transgender]]. One of the fifty-five respondents identified as xenogender.<ref name="Neuroqueer Survey">{{Cite_print |author=Gratton, Finn V. |title=Supporting Transgender Autistic Youth and Adults: A Guide for Professionals and Families |publisher=Jessica Kingsley Publishers |date=2019-10-21 |isbn=9781784508302}}</ref>
Because the term [[bisexual]] did not come into popularity until the 1950s, the words "sapphic"<ref name="Autostraddle: Why Sapphic Is Back In Style" /> and "lesbian" were used to describe a potentially romantic relationship between two women.<ref name="Autostraddle: Why Sapphic Is Back In Style" /><ref name="Etymonline: Lesbian" /> In the mid-20th century, "lesbian" and "sapphic" were often synonyms, meaning they meant the same thing. In the 21st century, it has become an umbrella term used to describe any romantic relationship between women or between non-binary people. The uptick in searches for the term sapphic have increased since 2014.<ref name="Autostraddle: Why Sapphic Is Back In Style" />
 
  +
  +
There are many specific [[microlabel]]s which count as xenogenders.<ref name="LGBTQ Nation Xenogender">{{Cite web|url=https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/03/need-know-xenogender/|title=What you need to know about xenogender|author=LGBTQ Nation|work=[https://www.lgbtqnation.com/ LGBTQ Nation]|date=2022-03-02|archivedate=20230324130351}}</ref> Examples of these microlabels include, but are not limited to, the following:
  +
*'''Digigender''': A gender that can be "compared to digital concepts such as files, viruses, and malware".<ref name="LGBTQ Nation Xenogender" />
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*'''Ethegender''': An ethereal gender which has an essence that "cannot be contained by human understandings".<ref name="LGBTQ Nation Xenogender" />
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*'''Firegender''': A gender that is "fluid and in a constant state of change, just like fire".<ref name="LGBTQ Nation Xenogender" />
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*'''Gendervoid''': A gender that can be compared to emptiness or a void. It can also be compared to being [[Agender|genderless]].<ref name="LGBTQ Nation Xenogender" />
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*'''Seagender''': A gender that can be compared to "certain aspects of the sea, particularly its vastness and incomprehensibility".<ref name="LGBTQ Nation Xenogender" />
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The annual Gender Census is an online, international survey of people who do not strictly identify with the gender binary. It had 44,583 respondents in 2021.<ref name="Gender Census">{{Cite_web |url=https://gendercensus.com/results/2021-worldwide |title=Gender Census 2021: Worldwide Report |author=Cassian |date=2021-04-01 |archivedate=20211216173620}}</ref> Of those respondents, 0.8209% identified themselves specifically with the term xenogender,{{#tag:ref|366 out of 44,583 respondents. The manually inputted responses coded as xenogender, in descending order of uses, were: "xenogender", "xenogendered", "xenogender(s)", "xeno", "xenic/xenogender", "xénogender", "xenogender - uncommon nonbinary genders that are harder to explain", "xenogender (also: transxenine)", "xenogender (category)", "xenogender (possibly)", "xenogender (sometimes)", "xenogender femme - gender that's femininity is beyond the construct and not defined by concepts of woman", "xenogender user", "xenogender/xenic", "xenogender/xenine", "xenogender/neurogender", "xenogenderfluid", "xenogenderqueer", "xenogenders", "xénogenre".|group=note}} while at least 3.3937% of the respondents identified with one or more xenogender identities,{{#tag:ref|At least 1513 out of 44,583 respondents; data processing is currently incomplete.|group=note}} including xenogender itself. The most frequent of those terms were related to gendervoid and catgender.<ref name="Raw data">Data processing and analysis performed on unprocessed responses: {{Cite_web |url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nKhWA3pW1ibG2HD2KqUlDn4QKbmV2OBUKl1KEDHqoko/edit#gid=0 |title=[GC2021] Worldwide Raw Data - DO NOT EDIT |format=Google Sheets}}</ref>
   
 
===Flag===
 
===Flag===
[[File:Original sapphic flag.png|left|thumb|right|200px|The original sapphic flag with a more realistic violet]]
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[[File:Xenogender Flag Symbol.svg|thumb|right|150px|The astronomical symbol for asteroid 7 Iris, as it appears in Roswell's xenogender flag designs]]
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Multiple xenogender flags have been proposed. On DeviantArt, Roswell (under the username Pastelmemer) created two flag options on January 15, 2017. Both use the same seven stripe colors, which are described as common shades from iris flowers. The central yellow stripe symbolizes genders that have no relation to the gender binary. The symbol in the center of the designs is the astronomical sign for the asteroid 7 Iris, which is named after the deity associated with rainbows;<ref name="DeviantArt: Pride-Flags 1">{{Cite_web |url=https://www.deviantart.com/pride-flags/art/Xenogender-1-656548427|title=Xenogender (1) |author=Roswell/Pastelmemer |date=2017-01-15 |work=[https://www.deviantart.com/pride-flags Pride-Flags] |archivedate=20201223004826}}</ref><ref name="DeviantArt: Pride-Flags 2">{{Cite_web |url=https://www.deviantart.com/pride-flags/art/Xenogender-2-656548421 |title=Xenogender (2) |author=Roswell/Pastelmemer |date=2017-01-15 |work=[https://www.deviantart.com/pride-flags Pride-Flags] |archivedate=20210826005225}}</ref> this symbol is white in the first design<ref name="DeviantArt: Pride-Flags 1" /> and black in the other.<ref name="DeviantArt: Pride-Flags 2" />
Two sapphic flags have two pink stripes on the top and bottom, symbolizing love, with a lavender center stripe. The center of the lavender stripe depicts a flower. In one version, a pair of violets in the center symbolizes love between two women;<ref name="R29">{{Cite web|url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-ca/lgbt-symbols#slide-10|title=Violets, Bi-Angles, And Double Moons: A Guide To LGBTQ+ Symbols|author=Smith, Erika|publisher=Refinery29|date=2019-06-20}}</ref> the second version has a single simplified violet instead.
 
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[[File:Alternate Xenogender Flag.svg|thumb|150px|left|Alternate xenogender flag by Mod Hermy and an anonymous user]]
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Another flag was created on February 17, 2017, using stripes by an anonymous user and a symbol by Mod Hermy from Pride-Flags. Its stripes are seven shades of blue-purple, and it has a central symbol in yellow and light purple that is designed to resemble an iris flower.<ref name="DeviantArt: Pride-Flags 3">{{Cite_web |url=https://www.deviantart.com/pride-flags/art/Xenogender-3-664036257 |title=Xenogender (3) |work=[https://www.deviantart.com/pride-flags Pride-Flags] |date=2017-02-17 |archivedate=20201223004833}}</ref>
   
 
===Distinction===
 
===Distinction===
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'''Xenic''', also known as '''xeno-aligned''', is similar to xenogender; however, they are not meant to be equivalent. It was proposed by Tumblr user abandonedabandoned to explain a gender alignment that is neither male- or female-aligned, nor non-aligned. The definition of xenic or xeno-aligned is: "when your gender experience (gender, desired/current presentation, dysphoria, other expressions) doesn't fit the human binary of gender alignments. Instead of male or female aligned, one would feel like they're more aligned with animals, plants, things, and/or concepts. These terms were made with alterhumans and xenogender individuals in mind, but any nonbinary person who feels xenic fits their identity may use it."<ref name="Xenic">{{Cite_web |url=https://abandonedabandoned.tumblr.com/post/167995310867 |title=Xenic/Xeno-Aligned |author=abandonedabandoned |date=2017-11-29 |archivedate=20210718015202}}</ref>
The word "sapphic" is often confused for "lesbian" or thought to be the same thing. They historically were equivalent, but because they have accumulated multiple definitions, their meanings are ambiguous without specifying which definitions are used.<ref name="Autostraddle: Why Sapphic Is Back In Style" />
 
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===Perceptions and discrimination===
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Christine Feraday, who researched Tumblr's queer identity language for her master's thesis, wrote that xenogenders are examples of what she calls "[[Microlabel|neo-identities]]",<ref name="Feraday: Thesis" /> new words that are a reaction to rigid, [[Norm|cisheteronormative]] conceptions of identity. One of these is monstergender, which she defines as "a gender that feels monstrous in some way". Feraday suggests that neo-identities are emerging now partly as a reaction to dominant cultural ideas about what it means to be gendered and what it means to experience desire; in doing so, they threaten cisheteronormativity.<ref name="Feraday: Chapter">{{Cite_print |author=Feraday, Christine |titlepart=Making a Name for Yourself: Neo-identities and Tumblr |title=Youth Mediations and Affective Relations |contributor=Susan Driver and Natalie Coulter (eds.) |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |date=2018 |isbn=9783319989716}}</ref>
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People with neo-identities may be targeted for criticism, shaming, ridicule, harassment, or accusations of being a "faker". Neo-identities are regularly criticized as being a new phenomenon created by young people looking for attention. Pejoratives like "Tumblrina", "Tumblr special snowflake", and "genderspecial" are all words to describe LGBT+ Tumblr users using uncommon identity labels to describe themselves. Feraday notes that some identity words that are now well-known (such as [[butch]], [[femme]], and [[boi]]) could be conceived as the "neo-identities" of an earlier time period. The experiences being described by neo-identities are not necessarily new, and these identities are also influenced by the historical and cultural context within which they emerge. <ref name="Feraday: Chapter" />
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Staying in the closet by not openly identifying as a neo-identity becomes a form of self-protection against the risks of coming out. However, not engaging in identity exploration can interrupt the process of identity formation<ref name="Feraday: Thesis" /> and lead to using an inaccurate identity label that does not truly fit. The discomfort of feeling one is something "other" than the mainstream labels sometimes becomes a feeling of being "invalid" or "abnormal". Neo-identities can be life-saving and life-affirming by reassuring people that they are not "broken" or "wrong" for better relating to other words.<ref name="Feraday: Chapter" />
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Because they require explanation and conversation since they are not well-known, neo-identities are in many ways considered too conspicuous. Criticisms of neo-identities can be wrapped in pretend acceptance and false concerns about "legitimate" non-cis, non-straight people, from the standpoint that people using neo-identities are undermining the legitimacy of other non-cis and non-straight people.<ref name="Feraday: Chapter" />
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The online [[transgender]] community (primarily North American) and some of the offline trans community (such as in France) has been heatedly debating the inclusion of xenogender identities in trans support networks and political activism. Trans activism is largely concerned with self-determination for trans people, as well as ending state-sponsored and state-sanctioned violence against trans people. In online spaces, xenogender individuals have expressed that they do not feel included in the political discourses and support networks of non-xenogender trans rights activists. Members of the latter group have argued that people with xenogender identities are not oppressed for those identities in the same way that a non-xenogender trans person is oppressed, sometimes to a life-endangering extent, for being transgender.<ref name="EGO HIPPO">{{Cite_print |author=Morin, Florentin Félix |titlepart=EGO HIPPO: The Subject as Metaphor |title=Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities |number=vol. 22, issue 2 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |date=June 2017 |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/0969725X.2017.1322822}}</ref>
   
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A counseling reference book related to gender diversity states in its description of xenogender that some research suggests these forms of non-binary identity may be linked to synesthesia, a condition where someone's senses are experienced as linked to each other; for example, the individual may perceive certain sounds as linked to specific colors. It is possible that non-binary people with synesthesia or synesthesia-like perceptions may experience their gender identity and describe it in terms that other people do not attribute to gender, such as time, light, shape, size, or sensory characteristics like texture or sound.<ref name="Counselling Skills" />
For instance, when lesbians are defined as women who are [[Monosexual|exclusively attracted]] to women only, although that is sometimes not the case,<ref name="TLP: Lesbian">{{Cite_web |url=https://translanguageprimer.com/lesbian |title=Lesbian |author=[[The Trans Language Primer]] |work=[https://translanguageprimer.com The Trans Language Primer] |archivedate=20211022172812}}</ref> it would not include those with [[multisexual]] orientations or non-binary identities. When using that definition, sapphic could then be distinguished as an umbrella term by including all sexualities in which women are attracted to other women, by explicitly including non-binary identities, or both. Under those specific definitions, pansexual and non-binary would be mutually exclusive with lesbian, but a pansexual non-binary individual could be sapphic.<ref name="Autostraddle: Why Sapphic Is Back In Style" /> However, although lesbian is often regarded as an exclusive term, it likewise has definitions inclusive of non-binary<ref name="Autostraddle: Why Sapphic Is Back In Style" /><ref name="TLP: Lesbian" /> and/or multisexual lesbians.<ref name="Autostraddle: Why Sapphic Is Back In Style" />
 
   
== Media==
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==Notes==
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<references group="note" />
===Literature===
 
*[https://beyondabookshelf.co.uk/2021/the-ultimate-sapphic-masterlist-2021/ The Ultimate Sapphic Masterlist of 2020] - All these books have moments in the text where it is shown a character is WLW, however, some characters use a specific label (i.e., lesbian, bi, pan) to identify themselves. Others use the term "sapphic" to describe themselves or their relationship(s).
 
*[[Wikipedia:Sapphic stanza|Sapphic stanza]]
 
*''Katie Met Cassidy'' by Camille Perri
 
*''The Well of Loneliness'' by Radclyffe Hall
 
   
 
==References==
 
==References==
{{Reflist}}
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{{Scroll|{{Reflist}}}}
   
[[es:Safismo]]
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[[Category:MOGAI]]
[[de:Sapphisch]]
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[[Category:Non-binary]]
[[pt-br:Sáfica]]
 
   
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[[de:Xenogender]]
[[Category:Romantic orientation]]
 
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[[es:Xenogénero]]
[[Category:Sexual orientation]]
 
 
[[pt-br:Xenogênero]]
[[Category:Umbrellas and spectrums]]
 

Revision as of 17:16, 14 August 2023

Xenogender is defined 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".[1] Xenogender individuals may use ideas and identities outside of the gender binary to describe themselves and avoid binary gendered identifiers, such as using only their first name or the name of an animal.[2] They may feel they cannot place a label on themselves,[3] or feel as though they lack the terms to fully express their gender or identity, something that derives from a lexical gap.[note 1][5] The term "xenogender" itself was designed to help fill the lexical gap by using terms not typically associated with gender or describing gender with metaphors.[5] Since it is a gender identity that is outside the binary concepts of masculinity and femininity, xenogender is a non-binary identity.[2]

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Etymology

The term xenogender was proposed on June 24, 2014, by Baaphomett, a user on Tumblr.[1] The prefix xen- or xeno- means strange, foreign(er), guest, or not the host.[6] The word "xenine" has been used to mean "of or pertaining to xenogenders", with "xenity" as a noun form.[7]

Community

Xenogender is part of the MOGAI community;[8] MOGAI is an acronym for Marginalized Orientations, Gender Alignments, and Intersex,[9] and serves as an alternative to LGBTQIA+ as an umbrella term for people who are not cisgender and/or heterosexual.[10]

The Neuroqueer Survey was an informal survey of adults who identified as both autistic and transgender. One of the fifty-five respondents identified as xenogender.[11]

There are many specific microlabels which count as xenogenders.[12] Examples of these microlabels include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Digigender: A gender that can be "compared to digital concepts such as files, viruses, and malware".[12]
  • Ethegender: An ethereal gender which has an essence that "cannot be contained by human understandings".[12]
  • Firegender: A gender that is "fluid and in a constant state of change, just like fire".[12]
  • Gendervoid: A gender that can be compared to emptiness or a void. It can also be compared to being genderless.[12]
  • Seagender: A gender that can be compared to "certain aspects of the sea, particularly its vastness and incomprehensibility".[12]

The annual Gender Census is an online, international survey of people who do not strictly identify with the gender binary. It had 44,583 respondents in 2021.[13] Of those respondents, 0.8209% identified themselves specifically with the term xenogender,[note 2] while at least 3.3937% of the respondents identified with one or more xenogender identities,[note 3] including xenogender itself. The most frequent of those terms were related to gendervoid and catgender.[14]

Flag

Xenogender Flag Symbol

The astronomical symbol for asteroid 7 Iris, as it appears in Roswell's xenogender flag designs

Multiple xenogender flags have been proposed. On DeviantArt, Roswell (under the username Pastelmemer) created two flag options on January 15, 2017. Both use the same seven stripe colors, which are described as common shades from iris flowers. The central yellow stripe symbolizes genders that have no relation to the gender binary. The symbol in the center of the designs is the astronomical sign for the asteroid 7 Iris, which is named after the deity associated with rainbows;[15][16] this symbol is white in the first design[15] and black in the other.[16]

Alternate Xenogender Flag

Alternate xenogender flag by Mod Hermy and an anonymous user

Another flag was created on February 17, 2017, using stripes by an anonymous user and a symbol by Mod Hermy from Pride-Flags. Its stripes are seven shades of blue-purple, and it has a central symbol in yellow and light purple that is designed to resemble an iris flower.[17]

Distinction

Xenic, also known as xeno-aligned, is similar to xenogender; however, they are not meant to be equivalent. It was proposed by Tumblr user abandonedabandoned to explain a gender alignment that is neither male- or female-aligned, nor non-aligned. The definition of xenic or xeno-aligned is: "when your gender experience (gender, desired/current presentation, dysphoria, other expressions) doesn't fit the human binary of gender alignments. Instead of male or female aligned, one would feel like they're more aligned with animals, plants, things, and/or concepts. These terms were made with alterhumans and xenogender individuals in mind, but any nonbinary person who feels xenic fits their identity may use it."[18]

Perceptions and discrimination

Christine Feraday, who researched Tumblr's queer identity language for her master's thesis, wrote that xenogenders are examples of what she calls "neo-identities",[10] new words that are a reaction to rigid, cisheteronormative conceptions of identity. One of these is monstergender, which she defines as "a gender that feels monstrous in some way". Feraday suggests that neo-identities are emerging now partly as a reaction to dominant cultural ideas about what it means to be gendered and what it means to experience desire; in doing so, they threaten cisheteronormativity.[19]

People with neo-identities may be targeted for criticism, shaming, ridicule, harassment, or accusations of being a "faker". Neo-identities are regularly criticized as being a new phenomenon created by young people looking for attention. Pejoratives like "Tumblrina", "Tumblr special snowflake", and "genderspecial" are all words to describe LGBT+ Tumblr users using uncommon identity labels to describe themselves. Feraday notes that some identity words that are now well-known (such as butch, femme, and boi) could be conceived as the "neo-identities" of an earlier time period. The experiences being described by neo-identities are not necessarily new, and these identities are also influenced by the historical and cultural context within which they emerge. [19]

Staying in the closet by not openly identifying as a neo-identity becomes a form of self-protection against the risks of coming out. However, not engaging in identity exploration can interrupt the process of identity formation[10] and lead to using an inaccurate identity label that does not truly fit. The discomfort of feeling one is something "other" than the mainstream labels sometimes becomes a feeling of being "invalid" or "abnormal". Neo-identities can be life-saving and life-affirming by reassuring people that they are not "broken" or "wrong" for better relating to other words.[19]

Because they require explanation and conversation since they are not well-known, neo-identities are in many ways considered too conspicuous. Criticisms of neo-identities can be wrapped in pretend acceptance and false concerns about "legitimate" non-cis, non-straight people, from the standpoint that people using neo-identities are undermining the legitimacy of other non-cis and non-straight people.[19]

The online transgender community (primarily North American) and some of the offline trans community (such as in France) has been heatedly debating the inclusion of xenogender identities in trans support networks and political activism. Trans activism is largely concerned with self-determination for trans people, as well as ending state-sponsored and state-sanctioned violence against trans people. In online spaces, xenogender individuals have expressed that they do not feel included in the political discourses and support networks of non-xenogender trans rights activists. Members of the latter group have argued that people with xenogender identities are not oppressed for those identities in the same way that a non-xenogender trans person is oppressed, sometimes to a life-endangering extent, for being transgender.[20]

A counseling reference book related to gender diversity states in its description of xenogender that some research suggests these forms of non-binary identity may be linked to synesthesia, a condition where someone's senses are experienced as linked to each other; for example, the individual may perceive certain sounds as linked to specific colors. It is possible that non-binary people with synesthesia or synesthesia-like perceptions may experience their gender identity and describe it in terms that other people do not attribute to gender, such as time, light, shape, size, or sensory characteristics like texture or sound.[2]

Notes

  1. A lexical gap is a word that does not exist in a particular language, although it could exist according to that language's rules.[4]
  2. 366 out of 44,583 respondents. The manually inputted responses coded as xenogender, in descending order of uses, were: "xenogender", "xenogendered", "xenogender(s)", "xeno", "xenic/xenogender", "xénogender", "xenogender - uncommon nonbinary genders that are harder to explain", "xenogender (also: transxenine)", "xenogender (category)", "xenogender (possibly)", "xenogender (sometimes)", "xenogender femme - gender that's femininity is beyond the construct and not defined by concepts of woman", "xenogender user", "xenogender/xenic", "xenogender/xenine", "xenogender/neurogender", "xenogenderfluid", "xenogenderqueer", "xenogenders", "xénogenre".
  3. At least 1513 out of 44,583 respondents; data processing is currently incomplete.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Baaphomett: "Untitled post" (2014-06-24). baaphomett.tumblr.com. (Archived on July 1, 2014). (content no longer online)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Beattie, Michael; Lenihan, Penny; and Dundas, Robin. Counselling Skills for Working with Gender Diversity and Identity. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2018. ISBN 9781784504816.
  3. Archer, Katherine: "LGBTQ+ Youth and the Search for Labels: Identity Exploration Online" [PDF]. proquest.com. Arizona State University. Meân, Lindsey; Cayetano, Catalina; and Taylor, Jameien (graduate supervisor committee). (graduate thesis; approved November 2021)
  4. "LEXICAL GAP (noun)". Macmillan Dictionary.
  5. 5.0 5.1 "Demixenogender" (2021-02-24). Pride-Flags. (Archived on January 25, 2022).
  6. Merriam-Webster Dictionary: "Definition of xen-". merriam-webster.com.
  7. momma-mogai-sphinx: "What exactly does 'xenine' mean? (Untitled response)" (2019-03-02). momma-mogai-sphinx.tumblr.com. (Archived on January 23, 2022).
  8. "masterpost of genders coined by baaphomett". purrloinsucks.tumblr.com. (Archived on October 24, 2021).
  9. cloud (as cisphobeofficial): "MOGAI FAQ". cisphobeofficial.tumblr.com. (Archived on September 9, 2021).
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Feraday, Christine: "For lack of a better word: neo-identities in non-cisgender, non-straight communities on Tumblr" (2015-12-31) [PDF]. rshare.library.ryerson.ca. Ryerson University. (graduate thesis)
  11. Gratton, Finn V.. Supporting Transgender Autistic Youth and Adults: A Guide for Professionals and Families. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2019-10-21. ISBN 9781784508302.
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 LGBTQ Nation: "What you need to know about xenogender" (2022-03-02). LGBTQ Nation. (Archived on March 24, 2023).
  13. Cassian: "Gender Census 2021: Worldwide Report" (2021-04-01). gendercensus.com. (Archived on December 16, 2021).
  14. Data processing and analysis performed on unprocessed responses: "[GC2021 Worldwide Raw Data - DO NOT EDIT]" [Google Sheets]. docs.google.com.
  15. 15.0 15.1 Roswell/Pastelmemer: "Xenogender (1)" (2017-01-15). Pride-Flags. (Archived on December 23, 2020).
  16. 16.0 16.1 Roswell/Pastelmemer: "Xenogender (2)" (2017-01-15). Pride-Flags. (Archived on August 26, 2021).
  17. "Xenogender (3)" (2017-02-17). Pride-Flags. (Archived on December 23, 2020).
  18. abandonedabandoned: "Xenic/Xeno-Aligned" (2017-11-29). abandonedabandoned.tumblr.com. (Archived on July 18, 2021).
  19. 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 Feraday, Christine. "Making a Name for Yourself: Neo-identities and Tumblr". Youth Mediations and Affective Relations. Susan Driver and Natalie Coulter (eds.), Palgrave Macmillan, 2018. ISBN 9783319989716.
  20. Morin, Florentin Félix. "EGO HIPPO: The Subject as Metaphor". Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities. vol. 22, issue 2, Taylor & Francis, June 2017. (web archive)