Intergender: Difference between revisions

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    {{uncommon identity}}
    {{infobox identity
    {{infobox identity
    | name = Intergender
    | flag = intergender.png
    | flag = intergender.png
    | related = [[intersex]], [[neutrois]], [[bigender]], [[androgyne]]
    | related = [[Bigender]], [[Androgyne]], [[Ipsogender]], and [[Amalgagender]]
    | percentage = 0.20
    | umbrella = [[Nonbinary]]
    | frequency = 0.1%
    | gallery_link = Pride Gallery/Intergender
    | gallery_link = Pride Gallery/Intergender
    }}
    }}
    [[Intergender]] is a [[gender identity]] under the [[nonbinary]] and [[transgender]] [[umbrella terms]]. Intergender people have a gender identity that is in the middle between the [[binary gender]]s of female and male, and may be a mix of both. The word "intergender" has been independently coined by different people at different times, resulting in two main differences in meaning:
    This term has two separate and conflicting definitions<ref>https://gender.fandom.com/wiki/Intergender</ref>. The word "intergender" has been independently coined by different people at different times, and the meaning has been different.


    1. Some of them have given it as an identity label that any person can use, even if they are not [[intersex]] ([[dyadic]]) themselves. This definition seems to have been coined earlier, at least in the 1990s.<ref>Donna Lynn Matthews, “What is intergendered?” 1998-10. http://cydathria.com/ms_donna/intergen.html</ref>
    # [[Intergender]] is a [[gender identity]] under the [[nonbinary]] and [[transgender]] [[umbrella terms]]. Intergender people have a gender identity that is in the middle between the [[binary gender]]s of female and male, and may be a mix of both.  
    # [[Intergender]] refers to a [[gender identity]] that is influenced by or directly tied to a person's experience being [[intersex]].


    2. Others have said that "intergender" can only by used by people who are intersex, and that intergender is an identity only for intersex people.<ref>Aeshling. "Intergender." ''Mogai-Archive.'' http://mogai-archive.tumblr.com/post/92026280519/intergender</ref> Intersex people need words for gender identities that correlate only with intersex bodies. In that case, dyadic nonbinary people should respect intersex people by taking up a different label than intergender for themselves, such as [[androgyne]] or [[bigender]].
    Many people within the intersex community believe this word should only by used by people who are intersex, and that intergender is an identity only for intersex people.<ref name="Aeshling_Mogai">Aeshling. "Intergender." ''Mogai-Archive.'' 2014. http://mogai-archive.tumblr.com/post/92026280519/intergender {{dead link}}</ref> However, the identity label had already been in use for at least sixteen years as something that was open to people of any birth sex.<ref name="Matthews_Intergendered">Donna Lynn Matthews, “What is intergendered?” 1998-10. http://cydathria.com/ms_donna/intergen.html [https://web.archive.org/web/20230607030918/http://cydathria.com/ms_donna/intergen.html Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref><ref name="Matthews_Genderqueer">Donna Lynn Matthews, “Being genderqueer – What it means for me.” 2006-10. http://cydathria.com/ms_donna/genderqueer.html [https://web.archive.org/web/20230321220818/http://cydathria.com/ms_donna/genderqueer.html Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref> This is not a unique situation, as many intersex exclusive terms are often co-opted by [[Dyadic|perisex]] (non-intersex) people. It is unclear whether the term originated among the intersex community due to a lack of surviving intersex history.


    On the other hand, dyadic people who identified as intergender before this rule was created may be no less entitled to it. There is also the matter that some nonbinary people who were born dyadic describe their [[transition]] as one that will make their body more intersex, and call themselves female-to-intersex or male-to-intersex transsexuals.<ref>Raphael Carter, "Angel's Dictionary." 1996-07-14. [http://web.archive.org/web/20050308185631/http:/www.chaparraltree.com/raq/angels.shtml]</ref> (However, some intersex people have said they were uncomfortable with this.) Either way, both definitions agree that "intergender" means a gender identity between female and male, which may be a mix of both.
    ==History==
     
    During the 1990s, usenet newsgroups were informal public discussion groups on the Internet that were oriented around topics of interest, such as hobbies, fandoms, and LGBT issues. Starting sometime before 1998, people who identified as intergender created a discussion group in the alt.support.intergendered newsgroup, which was created by an intergender and non-intersex person named Donna Lynn Matthews.<ref name="Matthews_Genderqueer"/> The [http://cydathria.com/ms_donna/asig_charter.html charter (last updated in 1998) for that newsgroup] explains its purpose, and what intergendered means: 
     
    <blockquote>
    "The intent of this newsgroup is to provide a supportive, informative and friendly environment for intergendered individuals. Intergendered individuals do not gender themselves as 'men' or 'women', but somewhere inbetween, as a mix of both masculine and feminine qualities. Others gender themselves as neither 'men' nor 'women' ([[agender|agendered or non-gendered]]), thus placing themselves 'outside' of the gender 'spectrum' completely. Given this, intergendered individuals tend to present (to varying degrees) in a non-descript