Otherkin: Difference between revisions

'''Otherkin''' are a subculture of real people who identify as not entirely human. Each individual comes up with their own reasoning for how and why they are otherkin, and what kind of being they are.<ref name="scribner simple">Orion Scribner. "A simple introduction to otherkin." ''Orion Scribner'' (personal site). Created September 16, 2013. Updated May 19, 2014. Accessed July 22, 2020. https://frameacloud.com/nonfiction/introduction-otherkin/</ref> Most otherkin believe they are nonhuman in a spiritual way, or otherwise somehow non-physical, such as from reincarnation, psychology, trans-species dysphoria, or metaphor.<ref name="fieldguide"/> All otherkin know that they are physically human, in that they look like humans, were born like humans, and live in the way that most humans do. However, some otherkin believe their own bodies are different from most human bodies, such as having genes from supernatural ancestors.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Psychic Vampire Codex: A Manual of Magick and Energy Work |year=2004 |publisher=Weiser Books |isbn=1-57863-321-4 |author=Michelle Belanger |author2=Father Sebastiaan}}</ref> Joseph P. Laycock, assistant professor of religious studies at Texas State University, considers the belief to be religious,<ref name=laycock>Joseph P. Laycock. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/nr.2012.15.3.65 “We Are Spirits of Another Sort”: Ontological Rebellion and Religious Dimensions of the Otherkin Community]. ''Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions''. Vol. 15, No. 3 (February 2012), pp. 65–90. University of California Press</ref> but otherkin firmly disagree with being classified as a religion.<ref name="scribner simple" />

 

Otherkin largely identify as mythical creatures,<ref>{{cite book |title=Vampires in Their Own Words: An Anthology of Vampire Voices |year=2007 |publisher=Llewellyn Worldwide |isbn=0-7387-1220-5 |author=Michelle Belanger |page=25}}</ref> with others identifying as creatures from fantasy or popular culture. Examples include: angels, demons, dragons, elves, fairies, aliens,<ref name=reale>{{cite book |title=Real Energy: Systems, Spirits, And Substances to Heal, Change, And Grow |year=2007 |publisher=Career Press |isbn=1-56414-904-8 |author=Isaac Bonewits |author2=Phaedra Bonewits |pages=196–197}}</ref><ref name=villagevoice>{{cite news| title=Elven Like Me: Otherkin Come Out of the Closet |first=Nick |last=Mamatas |newspaper=The Village Voice|location=New York |date=February 20, 2001 |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2001-02-13/news/elven-like-me/}}</ref><ref name="ascensionmagic">{{cite book |first=Christopher |last=Penczak |title=Ascension Magick: Ritual, Myth & Healing for the New Aeon | publisher=Llewellyn Worldwide |pages=416–417; 441 |year=2007 |isbn=0-7387-1047-4}}</ref> and cartoon characters.<ref name=kirby>{{cite book |title=Exploring Religion And The Sacred in A Media Age |year=2009 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=0-7546-6527-5 |author=Kirby, Danielle |editor=Christopher Deacy; Elisabeth Arweck |chapter=From Pulp Fiction to Revealed Text: A Study of the Role of the Text in the Otherkin Community |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/exploringreligio0000unse_q7d1 }}</ref> Many otherkin believe in the existence of a multitude of parallel universes, and their belief in the existence of supernatural or sapient non-human beings is grounded in that idea.<ref name=questing />

 

With regard to their online communities, otherkin largely function without formal authority structures, and mostly focus on support and information gathering, often dividing into more specific groups based on kintype.<ref name=questing>{{cite book |title=Through a Glass Darkly: Collected Research |year=2006 |publisher=Sydney University Press |url=http://ojs-prod.library.usyd.edu.au/index.php/SSR/article/view/259/238 |author=Kirby, Danielle |editor=Frances Di Lauro |chapter=Alternative Worlds: Metaphysical questing and virtual community amongst the Otherkin |isbn=1920898549}}</ref> There are occasional offline gatherings, but the otherkin network is mostly an online phenomenon.<ref name=questing />

 

Some otherkin claim to be especially empathic and attuned to nature.<ref name=villagevoice /> Some claim to be able to shapeshift mentally or on the astral plane, meaning that they experience the sense of being in their particular form, while not changing physically.<ref name=fieldguide /><ref>{{cite book |title=Shadow Magick Compendium: Exploring Darker Aspects of Magickal Spirituality |year=2008 |publisher=Llewellyn Worldwide |isbn=0-7387-1318-X |author=Raven Digitalis |page=178}}</ref>

 

The therianthrope and vampire subcultures are related to the otherkin community, and are considered part of it by most otherkin, but are culturally and historically distinct movements of their own, despite some overlap in membership.<ref name=fieldguide />

 

"Otherkin" as an adjective was defined in the ''Middle English Dictionary'' (1981) as "a different or an additional kind of, other kinds of".<ref>{{cite book |title=Middle English Dictionary: O.3, Volume 0 |year=1981 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=0-472-01153-7 |author=Sherman M. Kuhn |page=344}}</ref> The earliest recorded use of the term ''otherkin'', in the context of a subculture or people who identify as other than human, appeared in July 1990. The variant ''otherkind'' was recorded as early as April 1990.<ref name="fieldguide" /> The word "otherkind" was initially coined from the word "elfinkind", to refer to non-elf others who joined the communities.<ref name="timeline">{{cite web |url=https://frameacloud.com/nonfiction/otherkin-timeline-abridged/ |title=Otherkin Timeline: The Recent History of Elfin, Fae, and Animal People, Abridged Edition |last=Scribner |first=Orion |website=Orion Scribner |date=2013-02-27 |access-date=2020-07-10}}</ref>

That said, some otherkin do think of their gender identity as part of, influenced, or best described with their otherkin identity. For example, a [[nonbinary]] person who has decided that the best way to describe their gender identity is to say, "My gender is elf." (There are also people outside of the otherkin community who use similarly non-gender-related concepts and archetypes to describe their nonbinary genders; see [[xenogender]].) The word "men" can mean people who are male, or it can mean humans, so some otherkin-- especially the earliest of them, the Silver Elves-- have enjoyed playing with denying that they are either of those things. An anecdote told before 2000 by the Silver Elves, who are an otherkin group which formed in the 1960s, and includes many transgender and gender nonconforming people, goes like this:

"We were early at the party [...] when a beautiful woman arrived who was quite accustomed therefore of getting her way with men. She sat near them very quietly at first then suddenly she sighed and said, 'It sure would be nice if some man built us a fire.' [...] Then Zardoa, looking to Feral said, 'Do you see any men about?' And Feral Faun peering around said, 'Not a one.' The woman gaped astonished while we faerie folke chuckled quietly among ours'elves [sic]."<ref name="silver elves true tale">"True Tales of the Elves." Retrieved May 29, 2000. https://web.archive.org/web/20000529201548/http://www.jps.net/elve/trutal.html</ref>

The equivocation and denial of both "human" and "male" in this anecdote is more than wordplay. Zardoa had also written that he had spent much of his youth "trying very hard to be a 'man' even though he knew in his heart that he was not a 'man', could never be a 'real man' [...] and succeed in the world of men but never felt accepted there," until a spiritual experience in meditation made him realize that "elf" was a better description of who he was at heart than either meaning of "man."<ref>The Silver Elves. "A brief history of the silver elves in this lifetime thus far..." Retrieved August 18, 2000. https://web.archive.org/web/20000818010501/http://www.jps.net/elve/history.html</ref> The Silver Elves were one of the earliest otherkin groups, dating back to the 1960s. Many of them were transgender as well as considering themselves as elves or other mythological beings, so much so that when they released a music album, they described it as trans-elven rock.

Some otherkin who are transgender describe themselves as "trans species," saying that their gender and the otherkin aspects of their identity feel connected and similar.<ref>[https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/yvwknv/what-does-it-mean-to-be-trans-species “What It Means to Be Trans Species“ by Eliza Graves-Browne, VICE Apr 17 2016]</ref>

[[File:Kingender.png|thumb|Kingender pride [[flags|flag]], for individuals whose gender identity is closely related to their otherkin type. Term and flag created by Tumblr user aroacehawkeye. The stripe color meanings follow the conventions of other pride flags: yellow for [[genderless]]ness, blue for [[male]], purple for mixed female/male nonbinary gender identities ([[androgyne]], etc), and pink for [[female]].<ref>"Kingender pride." ''Pride Archive'' (blog). [http://pridearchive.tumblr.com/post/91215568026/kingender-pride http://pridearchive.tumblr.com/post/91215568026/kingender-pride]</ref> The seven-pointed star has been a symbol for otherkin since the 1990s, and for elf people since the 1960s.<ref name="fieldguide">{{cite book |author=Lupa | title=A Field Guide to Otherkin | publisher=Immanion Press | pages=25–26, 50, 52 | year=2007 | isbn=978-1-905713-07-3 }}</ref>]]

* '''Name(s):''' Kingender (from otherkin + gender)

* '''Origin:''' Kingender was coined by Tumblr user SadVaporWaveBabe (who also posted under SSailorSenshi, and who deleted their blogs later that year), in a submission on or before July 25, 2014 to the [[MOGAI-Archive blog]] (which was also deleted later that year by one of its moderators).<ref name="SadVaporWaveBabe">Untitled post. ''bye (SadVaporWaveBabe)'' (blog). Retrieved August, 12, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140812075603/http://sadvaporwavebabe.tumblr.com/</ref><ref name="kingender coin">Archive of a reblogged version of the since-deleted post to the ''MOGAI-Archive'' blog post where this term was coined. Retrieved April 2, 2019. http://archive.is/uEbAK#selection-373.0-373.16</ref> The Pride Archive blog instead says that Tumblr user AroAceHawkEye coined the term kingender.<ref name="kingender pride archive">"Kingender Pride." ''Pride Archive'' (blog). https://web.archive.org/web/20180902205218/https://pridearchive.tumblr.com/post/91215568026/kingender-pride</ref>

* '''Meaning:''' Kingender was defined by SadVaporWaveBabe as simply "the only thing defining your gender is your kintype (this gender is otherkin specific)."<ref name="kingender coin" /> SadVaporWaveBabe (or possibly someone else who took over their blog) later posted a note admitting that they had submitted this and other content to the MOGAI-Archive blog to make fun of trans, neurodivergent, and otherkin communities, which they later regretted, and apologized for doing.<ref name="SadVaporWaveBabe"/> The other person claiming to have coined it, AroAceHawkEye, defined kingender as "a catch-all term for individuals whose gender is closely related to their kintype."<ref name="kingender pride archive" />

* '''Keywords:''' genders about things other than connection to female or male, nonbinary, otherkin, [[xenogender]]

* '''Demographics:''' Kingender is the only specifically otherkin gender identity to turn up in the Gender Census. In the 2019 Worldwide Gender Census, two respondents called themselves kingender.<ref name="2019 Gender Census">"Gender Census 2019 - the worldwide TL;DR." ''Gender Census.'' March 31, 2019. Retrieved July 5, 2020. https://gendercensus.com/post/183843963445/gender-census-2019-the-worldwide-tldr Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20200118084451/https://gendercensus.com/post/183843963445/gender-census-2019-the-worldwide-tldr</ref>