The Transgender Dictionary
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Genderfluid

(also: nonbinary)

Table of Contents

Genderfluid

A gender identity wherein the gender changes over time. It is a gender that is not fixed. The frequency of the changes in one's gender may vary from person to person. These changes may occur occasionally, weekly, hourly, monthly, or daily. These variations in gender identity may not be consistent in either frequency, nor the genders involved. Genderfluid is a term which falls under the multigender umbrella. Genders which fall under the genderfluid umbrella include but are not limited to genderfae, genderfaun, genderflux, and genderflor.

The earliest known mention of genderfluidity is in the book "Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and the Rest of Us" written in 1994 by author Kate Bornstein.

Genderfluidity is mentioned in the 1996 anthology titled "The Second Coming: A Leatherdyke Reader" in the section titled "Boundaries: Gender and Transgenderism" written by Michael M. Hernandez. Michael wrote "Gender-fluid means that their gender identity and/or expression encompass both masculine and feminine. Gender fluidity is becoming commonly known as transgenderism: the ability to transcend gender, whether biological, emotional, political, or otherwise; truly mixing male and female."

The genderfluid flag consists of 5 horizontal stripes. This flag was designed and submitted for use by tumblr user "lostinthoughtsandspacefantasies" in August of 2012. This flag is used to represent the diversity among those who are genderfluid, and to unite the genderfluid community.

The pink stripe in the genderfluid flag represents femininity.

The white stripe in the genderfluid flag represents a lack of gender.

The purple stripe in the genderfluid flag represents a combination of femininity and masculinity.

The black stripe in the genderfluid flag represents all other genders, including third genders.

The blue stripe in the genderfluid flag represents masculinity.

Click to jump to external resources regarding the gender identity known as genderfluid.

Genderfae/Genderdoe/Genderthil

Genderfae is a variant of genderfluid where one's gender never encompasses masculine or man-aligned genders. The gender of someone who is genderfae can fluctuate between any feminine genders, neutral genders, woman-aligned genders, or neutral-aligned genders.

The term genderfae was coined at some point in 2014 on a now defunct tumblr blog known as mogai-archive by an anonymous user. The opposite of genderfae is genderfaun.

In mid-2020, there were claims made on TikTok regarding the term "genderfae" being considered offensive to Celtics. The primary argument being presented is that describing oneself as a "fae" is cultural appropriation. These claims are muddied by the term "fae" being of old French origin, those identifying as "genderfae" not literally identifying as mythical fae, and the term "genderfae" itself being largely unrelated to paganism. I have been unable to find any substantial evidence that the term "genderfae" is genuinely offensive to Celtics, and even the original TikToks claiming that it is appear to have been deleted.

Regardless, the terms "genderdoe" and "genderthil" have been presented as "less offensive" alternatives to the term "genderfae." The idea that using the term "fae" to describe one's gender is offensive has also resulted in decreased popularity of the nounself pronouns fae/faer.

The original seven-stripe genderfae flag was created anonymously. No official meaning was provided other than the mention that the flag deliberately does not contain the color blue (as blue is often used to represent masculinity). The original flag was posted on the social media platform known as DeviantArt in January of 2017. In the comments of this post, the user known as "SEGASister" proposed meanings for these stripes, which will be utilized here.

The light green stripe represents nature and growth.

The chartreuse stripe represents curiosity and playfulness.

The yellow stripe represents androgyny and gender non-conformity.

The white stripe represents having a unique relationship with gender and womanhood.

The pink stripe represents femininity and intuition.

The lilac stripe represents love and beauty.

The lavender stripe represents magic and spirit.

Click to jump to external resources regarding the gender identity known as genderfae.

Genderfaun/Genderfawn/Gendermars

Genderfaun is a variant of genderfluid where one's gender never encompasses feminine or woman-aligned genders. The gender of someone who is genderfaun can fluctuate between any masculine genders, neutral genders, man-aligned genders, or neutral-aligned genders.

The term "genderfaun" was coined by the DeviantArt user "Shadowofthedude" in 2017 as a counterpart to the label genderfae. It was also created as an alternative to the label "gendermars" - a term with similar meaning, but does not include neutral genders in its definition. Little is known about the term "gendermars" as it was not widly used, and most definitions from the time that it was created have since been deleted. The earliest definition that I could find for gendermars was posted to tumblr in Feburary of 2016 on a now-deleted blog known as "mogai-lexicon" though the original coining is still unknown.

"Genderfawn" is a proposed alternative spelling to "genderfaun" though it is unknown who originally came up with this alternate spelling.

The genderfaun flag was designed in 2017. The flag has seven horizontal stripes. There is no official meaning for the genderfaun flag, only that the flag deliberately does not contain the colors pink and red, as these are colors often associated with femininity.

Click to jump to external resources regarding the gender identity known as genderfaun.

Genderflor/Genderdae/Wyvegender

Genderflor is a variant of genderfluid where one's gender never encompasses masculine or feminine genders. The gender of someone who identifies as genderflor can alternate between any range of nonbinary genders, unaligned genders, or genderlessness. Someone who identifies as genderflor never identifies as a binary man or binary woman.

The term genderflor was coined by a tumblr anon and posted to the blog "beyond-mogai-pride-flags" in March of 2018. The term genderdae was coined and posted to the site uncommongenders in April of 2018. These terms were created close in time to one another, most likely in response to the rising popularity of the similar terms genderfae and genderfaun and a need for a similar identity dedicated to neutral genders.

The term wyvegender, while having a nearly identical meaning to genderflor, was coined as a subgender to genderflor with an emphasis on having no connection to masculinity or femininity whatsoever. Regardless of the intended distinction, this is often listed as a synonym of genderflor. Wyvegender was coined on May 5, 2021 by Fandom user "Stormqi."

The original genderflor flag was created was created by the now deleted tumblr user "obscure-dare" in July 2018. The flag has nine stripes and is asymmetrical in color.

The top purple stripe of the genderflor flag represents being feminine, but not female.

The two bold black lines in the genderflor flag are inspired by the genderfluid flag.

The two thin black lines in the genderflor flag represent a mysterious/other/”unplaceable” gender.

The thick white line in the center of the genderflor flag represents the absence of gender.

The bottom green stripe of the genderflor flag represents being masculine, but not male.

Click to jump to external resources regarding the gender identity known as genderflor.

Genderflux

Genderflux (and related identities) refer to when the intensity of one's own perception of their gender identity varies over time. The rate at which the connection that a genderflux person has to their gender may strengthen or weaken can be random, gradual, or rapid. These changes are usually consistent, but not always. The changes in a genderflux identity are similar to that of someone who is genderfluid. Genderflux can be used on its own as a gender identity, or it can be used as a modifier for other identities.

Genderflux (and related identities) operate similar to a dial, thermometer, or sliding scale of gender intensity; typically between gendered and non-gendered. The following example is regarding the identity boyflux, however the same principle can be applied to other "-flux" identities. For someone who is boyflux, on a low-intensity or 0% gender day, they may identity as agender. On a medium intensity or 50% gender day, they may identify as a demiboy. On a full intensity or 100% gender day, they may identify as a man.

The word "flux" can be used to mean "continuous change, passage, or movement." When used as a suffix to the word gender, together the meaning becomes "a gender that is continuously changing."

The first proposed origin of the word genderflux comes from page 4, volume 12 of a 1994 newsletter titled "Queer Pagans" where author Treitner, Richard J. allegedly mentions the word in question with similar meaning to how it is used today. While I have found multiple sources referencing this, I have been unable to find the actual original newsletter in question. Most sources referencing this cite Dictionary.com - which does not provide any sort of link to or copy of the original newsletter. The Dictionary.com explanation of "genderflux" also references a clothing brand knows as "Gender Flux" which appears to have been announced, but never actually launched.

I have, however, been able to find a copy of volume 15 of "Queer Pagans" (click that underlined bit to read it), which was released in October of 1994. The final paragraph of page 3 reads as follows "A final note: aplogizes to many of you for the poor quality of reproduction in last month's QP. The printer really goofed up, and hopefully this issue is much cleaner and neater." The issue which alledgedly contains mention of the word "genderflux" may very well have also been subject to technical difficulties. Page 3 of volume 15 also references the previous gathering of members to have consisted of about 25 people. This was a very small newsletter for a very small organization, and it is possible that I may never find volume 12.

The second proposed origin of the word genderflux comes from a tumblr blog that was at one point known as "deergoths" at another point known as "bigendeer" and at another point deleted entirely. Numerous sources attribute the coining the word "genderflux" with its modern usage to this blog and the year 2014. I theorize that both of these origins are true with the 2014 coining developing independantly of the original 1994 version; and the now-deleted tumblr user taking inspiration from the more popular label genderfluid. Until I am able to get ahold of a copy of either of these versions, I am unable to confirm for sure.

The genderflux flag was posted on Deviant Art in July of 2015 by the user known as "Pride-Flags" who skeptically credits the original creation of the flag to tumblr user "pride-flags-for-us" which at some point rebranded to a psy fan blog and has deleted all mentions of topics related to gender. The flag has six stripes. The meanings that I will be providing regarding these stripes were proposed (or at least mentioned) by tumblr user "genderfluxthings" in May of 2016.

The pink stripe in the genderflux flag represents being female-aligned.

The light pink stripe in the genderflux flag represents being a demigirl.

The gray stripe in the genderflux flag represents being agender.

The light blue stripe in the genderflux flag represents being a demiboy.

The blue stripe in the genderflux flag represents being male-aligned.

The yellow stripe in the genderflux flag represents being nonbinary.

Click to jump to external resources regarding the gender identity known as genderflux.