Cool, cool, cool, got a new beer. Gonna jump right
back into the last video.
[INTRO] *stops*
No, no, no there's not even time for the intro.
Previous video Ashley, where were we?
So now that we know that gender
identities can exist outside the binary,
let's explore that more. Ah, that's right! Ok
so now that we know that gender
identities can exist outside the binary,
let's explore that more.
Kaitlyn, can you tell me more about terms
like gender queer, gender-fluid,
androgynous, and demi-girl and demi-guy? So
I want to start off by saying gender can
be confusing. It was for me, it was a huge
process, it was years in the making for
me to figure out exactly why it was I
wasn't comfortable with the way that
identified, and that's okay.
It's just something that comes with the
territory. I'm going to talk about the
two things that I personally identify as.
That is
gender queer, androgynous. So genderqueer
is anything that doesn't fall into the
traditional gender roles or gender
binary. Gender queer is kind of thought
to be synonymous with non-binary, but you
can identify as non-binary and not
identify as being genderqueer. They're
not automatically grouped together.
You're not automatically falling under
this umbrella term, which is what it is.
I could just be androgynous without
identifying as genderqueer, but
genderqueer is something that I like to
identify with. The same way as anybody
within lesbian, gay, bisexual spectrum, can
identify as queer, because it all falls
under the queer spectrum, or you can not
identify as queer. Totally up to you.
So yeah. And the discussion of gender
queer brings me to androgyny which is
where I fall comfortably in my identity.
So physical androgyny is when you mix
like female and male characteristics. You'll often
hear it talked about, um, people in
androgynous fashion, androgynous clothing.
It's kind of a middle line which is how
I'd like to look at it. Psychological androgyny can mean that you identify
somewhere between the male and female
range of gender, or that you don't fit
into either category. That is totally
fine, and that is where i sit in the gender
discussion.
I feel very comfortable in the middle
ground and I've always been very
comfortable with that.
Gender fluid refers to someone whose
gender varies and isn't fixed.
Situational gender fluidity means that
if you're working out you feel very
masculine and your gender changes while
you're in that particular situation.
It could mean one day you feel 70% male,  one day you feel 70%
female. Changes on a day-to-day
basis.
One of the other major ones that I came
across when I was researching gender
identities trying to figure myself, was
demi girl or demi guy.
Now I'm going to talk about this all
wrapped in one package because the terms
are pretty similar.
So when somebody is a demi girl or
guy, it means that they only partially
identify with a gender, but don't
necessarily identify with another gender.
My example could be a female assigned
at birth who doesn't fully identify with
being female,
but doesn't feel a dysphoria attached
to it.
That is so cool! I didn't know this word
before this video, but I love it,
I felt it, and I'm happy it's an identity
that others connect to as well.
I personally have never felt like a man,
but I definitely have had moments where
I've lacked a really strong connection
to a female identity. I'm fluid in this
way, sometimes feeling like a woman,
sometimes feeling kind of genderless and
sometimes feeling like a combination of
those two things. So demi girl.
Cool, I love it. Moving on, Olivia, I hear
you know a bit about the terms agender,
gender neutral, gender variant, and neutrois.
Biological sex is also a spectrum and
the term intersex is used to describe
anyone's body that doesn't fit the socially
accepted characteristics of male or
female anatomy.
But remember that sex and gender are
different things, so people who are born
intersex can have any gender identity.
Gender variant is a term used to
describe anyone who doesn't conform to
the stereotypical gender roles of their
society.
So even though the term is sometimes
used interchangeably with transgender or
non-binary, not all gender variant people
feel that their gender identity doesn't
align with their sex assigned at birth.
A good example of this would be a tomboy
who identifies as female but expresses
gender in stereotypically masculine ways.
So the prefix "a" in agender implies lack
of a gender and that's how some agender
people define the term, and others will
define it as more gender neutral; and
it's important to note that gender is a
super personal thing, so the way that
these labels are defined can vary from
person to person and identity to
identity.
So I'm constantly figuring out my gender,
which is totally fine by the way. But
right now I feel most comfortable
labeling it as agender or gender
neutral which I define as neither male
or female.
Neutrois is another non-binary gender
identity that is commonly defined as
gender neutral, genderless, or neither
male or female.
Many, but not all people who identify as neutrois, often feel the need to transition
to a neutral gender so that their body
physically reflects their gender
identity. Transition meaning anything
from pronouns, hairstyles, and clothes, to
hormones or surgery. And of course
transitioning to a neutral gender is not
just for people who identify as neutrois.
So I think it's also important to note
that besides robots and shapeshifters,
much of the mainstream representation of
non-binary individuals is of people like
me.
Androgynous kids with undercuts,
basically.
And while it's completely fine to
identify and express gender like this,
it's also important to note that some
people's gender identities and
expressions don't line up, and expressing
gender in stereotypically masculine or
feminine ways doesn't make anyone less
trans or less non-binary. Wow
to be honest, I am
learning a ton, but most of these words i
have heard before.
What about some really, REALLY unique
gender identities? Like bigender,
trigender, third or other gender, & two-spirit.
Chase? Two spirit individuals is become an
umbrella term in the indigenous North
American community mostly, and that
basically describes anybody who's gender
variant. So people who don't identify
themselves as male or female, and they're
strictly in the indigenous communities.
So if there's somebody who's in this
community and identifies as something
completely different than male and female,
then they would be identified as two
spirit or they would identify themselves
as two-spirit. When looking at
definitions online and looking at people
who have talked about their experiences
who are in this community and who identify
themselves as two-spirit, there's a lot
of difference in the community. So
there's some people who either dress
male and female and assume the roles of
both genders,
there's some that are just masculine
females, uh, masculine males but identify
themselves as two-spirit. There's some
feminine men and feminine women and it's
like all over the gender spectrum,
and these individuals can identify
themselves as two-spirit no matter where
they stand as long as their gender
variant, like as long as they identify
themselves as gender variant. Bigender is
when an individual goes between feminine
and masculine traits and roles, and they
move towards them so they can identify
themselves as bigender because they're
not, they don't strictly identify as one,
even if they are female and they can, uh,
you know, dress feminine in the way
society sees femininity.
They can still identify as bigender, as
long as they are, like, they identify
themselves as bigender, and that is you
really usually the process of an
individual just moving towards both
traits and both identities and just
navigating that entire spectrum. Trigender is much like bigender. So it's an
individual that moved between feminine
and masculine traits and roles, but tri-
gender includes another gender. So, it
could include a third gender or just
"other" as a gender, so it's a mix of bigender and it's a mix of third gender. So
those two together make trigender. So
it's an individual who can either
identify as male, female, or other and who
navigates all of these different
identities and moves through these
traits and through these roles that you know,
society and culture has constructed for
us.
Okay I think I get it. Bigender people
identify with or move between both ends
of the gender spectrum. Third or other
gender people identify with a totally
different gender, and trigender people
identify with or move between all three
of these things.
Wow. Is there just an umbrella term I can
use for all of this, for everything that
isn't cis? Non-binary is one of the most
common
used terms for people who are gender
variant. Non-binary has become an
umbrella term which encompasses many of
the identities that we've talked about
here. So we can identify and and include
people who are bigender, people who are
gender variant, people who are androgynous,
trigender, and everything else that goes
under there.
Usually it goes like non binary, and then
there's trans people. So some trans
people do identify as non-binary, some
non-binary people identify as trans,
which is completely fine. Just usually
non-binary includes all of the other
identities that, the individual might not identify themselves as
trans, but they know that within them
they're not, they don't identify as one
strict gender. So they either move beyond genders, between genders, around genders,
different genders, and all of those great
identities are under that non-binary
umbrella. Whoo! So much learning
I'm a little exhausted, but I love it. I
think the moral in all of this is
diversity is an infinite thing, and
labels are fantastic, but they can mean
totally different things to different
people, because identity is hella
personal. If you think anything of the
series is misrepresented or misexplained,
please leave a comment. And as for future
ABCs of LGBT episodes,
let me know what you would like to learn
about. And fun fact, next time you see me
in a video the background will be
different, because i'm moving in a few days.
Okay bye! Follow me on twitter!
*sings* I have been asked on behalf of Ashley, to
have you subscribe and like.
Pretty please for me,
like I mean,
please like for me.
Pretty please
for me,
i'll give you fake money! *music ends*
Hey Ashley! First off, just want to say a
quick hi and thank you for inviting me
to be part of this awesome series of
videos and watch the first one, because
i'm kind of a fan of you.
So that's weird.
