Neutrois
 Meaning White is for neutral, unidentified, or questioning gender. Dark chartreuse green (the inverse of lavender, the mix of pink and blue) is for nonbinary gender that isn't female or male. Black is for agender or genderless. | |
| Related identities | Gender neutral and Transneutral |
|---|---|
| Under the umbrella term | Nonbinary |
| Frequency | 0.5% |
| Click here to see alternative flags! | |
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Neutrois is a gender-neutral identity under the nonbinary and transgender umbrellas. Some people consider neutrois to be inherently tied to gender dysphoria and a desire to make a physical transition to a gender neutral presentation—but as a result of the diversity of people who identify as neutrois, some of them say they don't have one or more of those traits, and are no less neutrois for it.[2] A person of any cultural or ethnic background can call themself neutrois, and a neutrois person may use any pronouns they like.
Etymology[edit | edit source]
The word "neutrois" was created by a neutrois person named H. A. Burnham in 1995.[3] The word "neutrois" is presumably made from French neutre, meaning "neutral" or "neuter," and French trois, "three," as in third gender. Because French trois has sounds that are difficult to Anglicize, some pronunciations of neutrois in use are new-TWA,[4] new-TRAW, new-TROY, new-TROYS, new-TROSS, new-TROZ, or new-TROYZ.[5]
History[edit | edit source]
In 1995, the word "neutrois" was created by a neutrois person named H. A. Burnham, who described it in public posts to Internet newsgroups for transgender people.[3]
The 2013 text Sexuality and Gender for Mental Health Professionals: A Practical Guide mentioned neutrois as one of many valid nonbinary identities.[6]
In 2014, neutrois was one of 50 genders made available on the social networking site Facebook.[7]
In 2018, Washington state began to allow "X" gender markers on official documents[8], with the law stating that
| « | "X" means a gender that is not exclusively male or female, including, but not limited to, intersex, agender, amalgagender, androgynous, bigender, demigender, female-to-male, genderfluid, genderqueer, male-to-female, neutrois, nonbinary, pangender, third sex, transgender, transsexual, Two Spirit, and unspecified.[9] | » |
Transition[edit | edit source]
In 2000, the site Neutrois Outpost defined neutrois as a nonbinary identity that requires physical transition: "A Neutrois is someone who identifies as being non-gendered and seeks to lose the major physical signifiers that indicate gender to others (breasts, facial and body hair, crotch bulges, etc). Neutrois are not androgynes, but do pursue an androgynous appearance. They are uniquely bound by their gender dysphoria in that they find both male and female orientations wrong. Because of this, transitioning from an assigned gender, to either male, or female identities is not an acceptable solution. [...] Neutrois are trying to lose gender traits, not gain new ones."[2]
Similarly, Micah of Neutrois Nonsense defines neutrois as an identity that moves away from familiar gender markers: "Transition is a process of subtraction: a neutrois wishes to get rid of any and all gendered characteristics so as to achieve as neutral a body as possible. Physical transition may consist primarily in the removal of primary and/or secondary sex characteristics, such as genitals or breasts and body hair. Because the concept and identity of neutrois is relatively new, not all neutrois have undergone surgery, or even seriously want to undergo surgery or physical transition yet."[10]
Neutrois people can have had any gender assigned at birth. As such, some neutrois transition in a direction that is female-to-neutrois (FTN), and others are male-to-neutrois (MTN).[2] A self-described FTN neutrois person can be seen using these terms in a newsgroup post in 1997, while talking about their gender dysphoria and their physical transition plans.[11]
Other uses of neutrois[edit | edit source]
Some people who have adopted it, or defined it, have given it additional definitions that are different than, or at odds with, its original and main use.
According to Neutrois.com, there are currently two main definitions of neutrois: 1. Neutrois people use the word to mean that they have a gender identity that is neither male nor female, but neutral.[12] 2. Other neutrois people use the word to mean that they have no internal sense of gender identity. In this latter definition, it's a synonym for agender or genderless.[12]
Some consider neutrois to be a form of transsexuality. Some neutrois people feel gender dysphoria, and some don't. Some neutrois people seek to physically transition to an ambiguous, androgynous, or neutral gender expression, whereas some don't seek this.[12][10]
Some use the word neutrois as a synonym of agender or genderless, whereas others say these words mean completely different things, and are not interchangeable words.[12] For more information on this dispute, see Difference between genderless and neutrois.
Similar genders[edit | edit source]
According to Neutrois Outpost, neutrois isn't another word for androgyne, and the difference between neutrois people and androgynes is gender dysphoria: "While Neutrois seek an androgynous appearance, androgynes aren't Neutrois because being Neutrois involves gender dysphoria. Androgynes don't necessarily have any difficulties with their gender identities."[3] The origin of the word androgyne means "male-female," such as a person who is a mix of male and female. For this reason, some neutrois people don't want to also be called androgynes, because their gender identity is an absence of male and female, not a mix of both male and female. Neutrois Nonsense says, "Neutrois is not androgyne, it's quite the opposite. Androgyny is a combination of female and male characteristics, while neutrois is an elimination of them."[10]
While these are only some definitions for androgyne, which itself has many meanings that are not agreed upon, this still highlights that people adopt the word "neutrois" for themselves because they feel the word "androgyne" has meanings that don't suit them.
Depending on which definition a person uses for neutrois, some other gender identity labels have a similar meaning. If one defines neutrois as having a gender identity that is not female or male, it can mean much the same as aporagender or maverique. However, these have their own nuances of meaning.
Symbols[edit | edit source]
These are some symbols that have been used or proposed for neutrois.
