Xenogender

About

Xenogender is an umbrella term for non-binary gender identities that cannot be properly defined using typical gender-related concepts. Instead, they are described using things that a person may identify deeply with, such as food, animals, plants, objects and abstract concepts. The term was coined in 2014 by Tumblr user Baaphomett and inspired numerous xenogenders over the following years, seeing an increase in interest around 2021. Notably, identifying as xenogender does not mean the person identifies as the subject of the gender, only that they identify an aspect of their gender identity through the subject. Xenogenders include their own pronouns relating to the gender's subject.

Origin

On August 25th, 2014, now-inactive Tumblr user mogai-archive made a post listing a number of gender identity-related terms coined by now-inactive Tumblr user baaphomet, including the term "xenogender," 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." It was reposted by Tumblr^[1] user Purrloinsucks, and gained over 630 notes in seven years (shown below). It is unknown when baaphomet coined it prior to this.

Spread

A large number of xenogenders have been coined since the term was coined in 2014, many of which are documented on gender identity wikis like nonbinary.wiki^[2] and lgbta.wiki.^[3] There are various subcategories of xenogenders to organize the various identities, such as GamerGender for gaming-related xeno genders and PurrGender for cat-related ones.

MemeGender

The term's open-ended definition seemingly allows anything to be the defining feature of the gender, resulting in a number of genders based on memes under the category "MemeGenders."^[11] This includes genders like AmongUsGender, SusGender, FloppaGender based on the Big Floppa meme, and TrollGender based on Trollface.

For example, "AmongUsGender" and "AmogusGender" have both been given entries on lgbta.wiki,^[4][5] where they're defined as being for "neurodivergent people and autistic people who have a different experience with their gender." A number of flags have been uploaded for both (Among Us Gender flag left, Amogus Gender right). There is also a page^[6] for "SusGender," which describes people who are obsessed with Among Us memes.

CatGender

One of the most popular xenogenders on lgbta.wiki is CatGender, a gender "in which someone feels an extremely strong connection to cats or other felines, either strongly identifying with them or simply wanting to incorporate them into their gender to better understand their identity" (flag shown below).

Continued Spread

In July 2021, Twitter^[9][10] page @xenogndrhourly began making posts showcasing various xenogenders along with their flags, often what each color represents, and crediting the users who coined the terms (examples of posts shown below, left and right).

On August 3rd, 2021, TikToker^[7] @xenogenderzz posted their first video showcasing the "Chocogender," a xenogender for people who identify with chocolate described on lgbta.wiki^[8] as a "somewhat sweet, comforting, and tasty" gender. The video gained over 236,00 views in six days (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References