Agender

Agender, also called genderblank, genderfree, genderless, gendervoid, non-gendered, or null gender, is an identity under the nonbinary and transgender umbrella terms. Agender individuals find that they have no gender identity, although some define this more as having a gender identity that is neutral.

Agender flag

History

In 2014, agender was one of the 56 genders made available on Facebook.

In 2015, Dictionary.com added an entry for "agender," which it defined as "a person who does not have a specific gender identity or recognizable gender expression."

Agender as gender identity or lack of gender identity

Some agender people feel that they have no gender identity, while others feel that agender is itself a gender identity. This is similar to and overlaps with the experience of being gender neutral or having a neutral gender identity.

As some agender people have no gender identity, it is important to not talk about nonbinary or transgender people's experiences only in the sense of gender identity.

Difference between genderless and neutrois

There is little agreement about the difference between terms such as agender, genderless, non-gender, gender neutral, and neutrois. These terms are often used interchangeably, or defined differently by individual writers in ways that don't necessarily match the self-definitions of others using those terms.

It is often said that non-gender or genderlessness is the experience of having no gender identity at all, whereas gender neutral or neutrois is the experience of having a gender identity, a gender identity which is not male or female, but neutral. However, these statements don't match the experiences of everyone who has taken up these identities as their own. This is a problem of a difference between word definitions that are prescriptivist (telling everyone how they should use a word, and saying that many people use it wrong) and descriptivist (describing how people have actually been using a word, without telling them to change).

Non-gendered as an umbrella term

It can be difficult to describe and name a gender identity that involves a lack of inner gender identity. In order to do so, some people see the need to make new names for that gender identity, or to distinguish between different but similar genderless identities.

External links

• Neutrois Nonsense: On the difference between agender, genderless and neutrois
• Genderqueer Identities: Genderqueer identities and terms list
• Nonbinary Tumblr: When activists don't represent, Christie Elan-Cane and Gender Identity