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Gender Definitions Master List Draft


Heart

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Hey all. I have, at long last, a new proposal for the definitions master list. It's not perfect, but I think it's a good update from our old one. I will keep this open for discussion for a few weeks, in case there is still feedback.

Firstly, thank you to everyone who did give feedback. I tried to incorporate as much of it as I could, and I'm sure I'll keep working on it. If you gave feedback and don't see the changes here, please accept my apologies! It's possible I couldn't think of how to do it, it's possible I misinterpreted what you said, but no matter what, I want to make this as good as I can so please let me know.

So the following is my proposed new definitions list. I have some things I'm still working on, but if there is anything more I can do to make it better, please feel free to comment and let me know, or to message me as well!

Voila:

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Gender: Though gender is often described as what one "feels like inside", this is referring not to an emotion. Rather, the word feel is used to denote a kind of sense; one feels like a gender much the same way that one may feel like a sexual orientation. Sometimes gender is the sex that one feels like one should be. Sometimes it is referred to as the non-physical identity. The definition of gender is hard to write down, and you'll find that there is a lot of debate on how to actually define such a concept as gender. This may have nothing to do with one's physical sex or one's gender presentation, though sometimes these things are correlated.

 

Man or Boy: Identifying as a man or boy as per traditional societal definitions of that term in the individual person's culture.

Woman or Girl: Identifying as a woman or girl as per traditional societal definitions of that term in the individual person's culture.

Genderqueer or Non-Binary: An umbrella term for anyone who does not identify as a binary gender (ie man or woman).

Bigender: 1) Identifying as both a man and a woman, or a boy and girl. This may be simultaneous, or "flip" between one and the other, but does not express on a spectrum (for example, a bigender person usually does not experience adrongynous or neutrois gender between man and woman).

2) Identifying as any two genders, but only two. For example, identifying as a demiboy and woman, or neutrois and man. This may be simultaneous or by "flipping" between the two.

Androgyne: Identifying as a combination of man and woman. This does not have to be exactly half and half, but can be any combination. However, a person identifying as androgyn typically does not experience fluctuations between man and woman, but is rather both at the same time.

Transmasculine: A person who identifies as masculine but not a man.

Transfeminine: A person who identifies as feminine but not a woman.

Pangender: Identifying as all genders. This may be identifying as all genders simultaneously or alternating between them. In the later case, sometimes the person identifies as genderfluid, see below.

Genderfluid: Identifying as more than one gender, in a way such that one "flows" between genders, or experiences a change in gender in some way. A fluctuating or shifting gender. This may be between all genders or any subset of genders. It is often different from bigender in that a genderfluid individual may experience slow gradual changes as well as abrupt flips, whereas bigender people tend to only experience "all or nothing" flips, and no "in-between" period.

Neutrois or Third Gender: Experiencing a gender that is neither man nor woman, nor a combination of the two. Rather, neutrois people often describe it as a "third" gender completely, or a "neutral" gender. However, this is a gender, and is not to be confused with genderless or agender (below).

Genderless or Agender: A state of not identifying with any gender; a person with no conscious gender identity. Such an individual may or may not experience dysphoria about their body, or a desire to transition or express their gender in a non-binary way.


Demigirl: 1. Someone who feels but the barest association with being a woman or girl, but not a significant enough association to identify as a woman or girl. The association with the female gender is not strong enough to identify as female, but the dissociation is not strong enough to create physical discomfort or dysphoria if referred to as female rather than genderqueer, neutral or male.
2. someone who is feminine or transfeminine but not wholly binary-identified, so that they feel more strongly associated with "female" than "male" or "non-binary," socially or physically, but not strongly enough to justify an absolute self-identification as "woman."

Demiguy: 1. Someone who feels but the barest association with being a man or boy, but not a significant enough association to identify as a man or boy. The association with the male gender is not strong enough to identify as male, but the dissociation is not strong enough to create physical discomfort or dysphoria if referred to as male rather than genderqueer, neutral or female.
2. someone who is masculine or transmasculine but not wholly binary-identified, so that they feel more strongly associated with "male" than "female" or "non-binary," socially or physically, but not strongly enough to justify an absolute self-identification as "man."

Demigender: The state of feeling loosely attached to a gender (any specific gender, or gender as a generality), but not attached enough to identify as having a gender. A demigender person may feel some association with a gender, but not enough to fully identify as that gender. They may also feel some association with a gender-less identification.

Cis-genderless: The state of being in which one identifies as what they were assigned at birth (usually male or female, though sometimes intersex) without having feelings or concepts pertaining to gender. A genderless individual with no dysphoria.

Genderweird: A term used to describe those whose gender cannot be described by any existing label, or cannot be pinned down as such.

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Sex: Though this typically refers to sex characteristics of a person, such as having a penis or vagina, these things are not always binary. While some babies have a clear penis or vagina, there is a lot of variation, and some babies are born with genitalia that are ambiguous. Also, a person's sexual characteristics may change over the course of their lives for various reasons, including surgeries and hormone therapies. As such, one's "sex" is not a clear concept. The below terms focus on what doctors assigned a person when they were born, the sex on their birth certificate, rather than physical characteristics.

Like everything to do with humans, sex is probably much more complicated than anyone can even know.

AFAB, FAAB, DFAB: An acronym for "Assigned Female At Birth", "Female Assigned At Birth" and "Designated Female At Birth" respectively, referencing biological sex at birth.

AMAB, MAAB, DMAB: An acronym for "Assigned Male At Birth", "Male Assigned At Birth" and "Designated Male At Birth" respectively, referencing biological sex at birth.

Intersex: Intersex is when an individual has some variation in their sex characteristics, for example genitalia or chromosomes, from what is traditionally defined as female or male. Some intersex variations are found at birth, others don't appear until later in life, and some are never found until after the person has passed away.
Note: Hermaphrodite, as a term, has a history of being used in a discriminatory manner. Strictly speaking, hermaphrodite means having the reproductive system of both a male and female; while this happens in very rare cases in humans, most intersex people are not in fact hermaphrodites. Please avoid labelling people as such unless they themselves use the term to refer to themselves.

Transitioned: A person who has undergone surgery and/or taken hormones to make their body resemble a sex other than their birth sex. This may mean transitioning to a male body, a female body, or a non-binary body. Sometimes, one may transition to a neutral body in which the goal is to have no sex characteristics, or an androgynous body in which one has characteristics from both male and female sexes. There is no one way to transition.

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Gender Expression: Gender expression refers to how one presents oneself in terms of gender and/or sex to the world via clothing, mannerisms, etc. This can have no correlation whatsoever to one's gender or sex. The above terms may be mixed in any combination with the ones below. And one does not have to have a consistent gender expression; this may change as often as one cares to.

Masculine: Dressing and presenting in a typically manly manner. This may include, but is not limited to, wearing suits and ties to formal events, using men's washrooms, and participating in male-only events (such as a "boy's night out").

Feminine: Dressing and presenting in a typically womanly manner. This may include, but is not limited to, wearing dresses and make up to formal events, using women's washrooms, and participating in women-only events (such as a "girl's movie night").

Androgynous: A gender expression whose goal is to appear both manly and womanly in equal measure. There are as many ways to do this as there are people, but some examples include: appearing to have both breasts and a bulge at the crotch, wearing clothing that leaves the body shape and/or sex of a person ambiguous, or mixing jewelery with a suit and tie, or a dress with a masculine hair cut.

Neutral: A gender expression whose goal is to appear neither manly nor womanly. The goal is to suppress all sex characteristics. This may include but is not limited to: wearing a binder to hide the appearance of having breasts, or compression underwear to hide the appearance of having a penis; using gender-neutral washrooms or avoiding public washrooms completely; using neutral pronouns.

Genderfuck: A gender presentation/expression with very gendered elements coming from both masculine and feminine gender presentation/expression in a goal to subvert gender.

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Other Terms:

Gender Binary: An outdated model of gender based on sex, which assumes people can all be grouped into male or female based on what they were assigned at birth (which is, in turn, usually based only on the appearance of their genitals at birth).
 
Binary's Bitch: A state of being in which the individual is ambivalent about their relationship with the binary. On the one hand, they feel restricted and confined by its limits, but on the other find it inescapable. In some respects it is the opposite of agender; rather than having no gender, the Binary’s Bitch has far too much gender going on for their own comfort. A specific subset of androgyne.
 
Cisgender: A person whose gender matches the sex that they were assigned at birth.
 
Transsexual: 1. a person who is/will/would transition/ing from one sex to another; 2. Someone who is medically transitioning, usually within the biological sex binary, although some intersexed people will transition to a binary biological sex, and some people will transition to non binary genders, such as neutrois.
 
Transgender: 1. umbrella term for a person whose gender and sex do not match up; 2. specifically an MtF (male to female), FtM (female to male), FtN (female to neutral), or MtN (male to neutral) transgender person; 3. MtF or FtM who lives openly but without any surgical transition (as opposed to transsexual)
-Trans: originally a shortened form of "transgender," sometimes used as an umbrella term for all non-cisgender people
-Transyada: 1. (loosely) a person who identifies outside the gender binary (i.e., not strictly as male or female); 2. Those which don't fit into the gender binary, and who hang out in the 'transwhatever' thread or their own Yada Forum.
-Transman/FtM: a person born female who identifies as male
-Transwoman/MtF: a person born male who identifies as female
 
Transition: 1. for a trans person of any gender to come out and live openly according to that gender; 2. when one undergoes surgery/ies and/or hormone therapies to make one's body better conform to one's gender, including but not limited to sex reassignment surgery (SRS)

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These are the definitions that we, as a community, have come up with to help with your time here. They are not necessarily perfect, and if you have a problem understanding, then please feel free to say so! We're always happy to help.

Links: The old master definitions thread, the preliminary consultation for suggestions.

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Great job, Heart! This is wonderful!! : )) Such hard work! :cake::cake::cake:

I do have an edit for androgyne, though, if that's ok! I think it'd be better to use male/female or masculine/feminine instead of man/woman in the definition, just because I know for me I don't like using the words man or woman..there's something uncomfortable about those terms. Of course, some might be fine with them. :P But just a thought.

Also, some androgynes do not feel as if they are a combo of both at the same time, but rather somewhere in between male and female. (There's also a spectrum of androgyne! From the more masculine [butchandrogyne] to more of a balance/neutral [neutrandrogyne] to more feminine [femandrogyne]. That info can be found here.)

Thank you so much! Fantabulous job organizing all of our input. : )

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butterflydreams

Lovely work, Heart! :cake:

Is it weird that after all my time here, all the reading and thinking I've done, some of this stuff still confuses me? :P

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allrightalready

the term Intersex is in the process of being replaced with "Difference of Sex Development (DSD)" some might use "Disorder of Sex Development (DSD)" though many find that offensive.

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Lovely work, Heart! :cake:

Is it weird that after all my time here, all the reading and thinking I've done, some of this stuff still confuses me? :P

Is it weird that it still confuses me? This is taking forever for a reason :P

And thanks allrightalready and kelico! I'll log these suggestions for later so I don't lose them :)

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I'd probably would also add cis-gender, but in there, I'd point that these individuals have a concept of gender or feeling of gender which match their assigned sex.

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OM MAH GOD!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GwjfUFyY6M

i'll probably on this thread alot, haha.

also I have some definitions that might helpful;

gender; a system of demarcation of and classification ( John Money got the word gender in 1945 ( I believe) from the word grammar gender (wiki here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_gender(its a c rated article so I wouldn't really bother checking it out)) the word (gender) coming from ancient french word genre, which came form a Latin stem ( as many ancient French words do) genus, there's more here: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=gender so you see the concept of gender isn't that different from that of the concepts of genre/s in that in the outdated gender binary there is the "masculine" and "feminine" genre, ( just had to put those in quotation marks because of how ridiculous I find the gender binary to be))).

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OM MAH GOD!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GwjfUFyY6M

i'll probably on this thread alot, haha.

also I have some definitions that might helpful;

gender; a system of demarcation of and classification ( John Money got the word gender in 1945 ( I believe) from the word grammar gender (wiki here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_gender(its a c rated article so I wouldn't really bother checking it out)) the word (gender) coming from ancient french word genre, which came form a Latin stem ( as many ancient French words do) genus, there's more here: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=gender so you see the concept of gender isn't that different from that of the concepts of genre/s in that in the outdated gender binary there is the "masculine" and "feminine" genre, ( just had to put those in quotation marks because of how ridiculous I find the gender binary to be))).

So many nested parentheses!! But thank you for the feedback :)

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DigitalBookDust

Hmmm, not sure under your new definition whether I'm agender or neutrois. I definitely feel FtN and transgender (or transyada), though. I'm not an androgyne, despite my handle. I don't feel like a male or female. I generally present neutrally, though will occasionally genderfuck.

Great job, Heart!

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I'm glad I could help/confuse you more :P

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just some terminology for the ever-growing master definitions list.

Epicene:

Third Gender

twospirit

Igender

trigender

Can you help me understand the definitions for some of these? I have been avoiding things like two spirit, since I myself am not a part of the Native American culture, so I don't feel well equiped to comment about their cultural terms and history. The others are ones I just don't know.

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just some terminology for the ever-growing master definitions list.

Epicene:

Third Gender

twospirit

Igender

trigender

Can you help me understand the definitions for some of these? I have been avoiding things like two spirit, since I myself am not a part of the Native American culture, so I don't feel well equiped to comment about their cultural terms and history. The others are ones I just don't know.

Ig is a prefix to imply some degrees of ignorance, though it also implies a philosophy involving the needs for coherence of a idea in a position or a idea itself. Igender is a term that's inspired by the word igtheism and the debates on how to define gender and whether gender is actually coherent. That's it. Not that complicated to understand igender.

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OK. So maybe igender is something for the "other" category then? As per your most recent thread, I see that it is a philosophy moreso than a gender identity?

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RaisedByHippies98

This list has helped SO much, thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I'm so happy I could help! I cannot express how validated I feel in my work, to know it's appreciated :wub:

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Reptilian summed up the igender thing pretty well, and the two spirit things is understandable:

epicene definition having characteristics of both sexes or no characteristics of either sex; of indeterminate sex.

also from the gender wiki:

  1. Lacking gender distinction, often specifically due to lack of either the masculine or the feminine.
  2. Effeminate (male with unusually strong female characteristics).
  3. (biology) Androgynous, hermaphrodite (having both male and female characteristics).
  4. (biology) Asexual (having neither male nor female characteristics).
  5. (linguistics) Having only one form of the word, which serves as both masculine and feminine, even for either male or female referents.

and here is a trigender definition:a non-binary gender identity in which one shifts between or among the stereotypical behaviors of male, female, and a third gender (genderless, non-gender, polygender, a mix of male and female, or any other variety of genderqueer identities).

whuch is interesting because its similar to bigender but the only difference being that it is a composite of three genders, ( all of which can be binary or non-binary, according to the gender wiki)

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Igenderism can go into 'other'. Any update?

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Igenderism can go into 'other'. Any update?

Still working quietly on it in the background, don't worry! I'm working full time right now at the LHC, and with the beam going back up, things are hectic. I would rather putter away slowly at this and do it properly than get it done quickly, so I really appreciate everyone's patience!!

Thanks once again for the feedback everyone. Because I'm slow, you still have time to give me feedback, I'll keep taking things into consideration right up until I have the next draft ready.

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  • 3 weeks later...
WhoNeedsLabels?

:cake: This is so awesome :D Glad to see pangender on here because it's so often forgotten :'(

Thank you for doing this.

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No problem :D

The next iteration is in the works, but likely won't be hugely different.

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Progress is "still in progress"...

The last draft took a long time, this one will too. I'm quite busy, but I promise that it hasn't slipped my mind. And I promise I'll update everyone when this happens ;)

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Dumb qustion coming shortly..

I was reading this list and found "feminine"....

Feminine: Dressing and presenting in a typically womanly manner. This may include, but is not limited to, wearing dresses and make up to formal events, using women's washrooms, and participating in women-only events (such as a "girl's movie night").

If someone like cleaning and washing dishes house work and the sort.. Does this make him feminine?

Aslo ...

Demigirl: 1. Someone who feels but the barest association with being a woman or girl, but not a significant enough association to identify as a woman or girl. The association with the female gender is not strong enough to identify as female, but the dissociation is not strong enough to create physical discomfort or dysphoria if referred to as female rather than genderqueer, neutral or male.
2. someone who is feminine or transfeminine but not wholly binary-identified, so that they feel more strongly associated with "female" than "male" or "non-binary," socially or physically, but not strongly enough to justify an absolute self-identification as "woman."

This could be me.. :ph34r:

I think most people would freak out if I use any label with "girl" in it... But that is life. :wacko:

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AvengedVampyre

This topic is has been really helpful. I think I finally know which words to use when describing my gender =]

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Dumb qustion coming shortly..

I was reading this list and found "feminine"....

Feminine: Dressing and presenting in a typically womanly manner. This may include, but is not limited to, wearing dresses and make up to formal events, using women's washrooms, and participating in women-only events (such as a "girl's movie night").

If someone like cleaning and washing dishes house work and the sort.. Does this make him feminine?

Aslo ...

Demigirl: 1. Someone who feels but the barest association with being a woman or girl, but not a significant enough association to identify as a woman or girl. The association with the female gender is not strong enough to identify as female, but the dissociation is not strong enough to create physical discomfort or dysphoria if referred to as female rather than genderqueer, neutral or male.

2. someone who is feminine or transfeminine but not wholly binary-identified, so that they feel more strongly associated with "female" than "male" or "non-binary," socially or physically, but not strongly enough to justify an absolute self-identification as "woman."

This could be me.. :ph34r:

I think most people would freak out if I use any label with "girl" in it... But that is life. :wacko:

I think that, if in your culture the woman's gender role is to do the house work and someone likes doing housework, that could be seen as that person being feminine. However, "feminine" is also about presentation, so it could be argued that someone doing the housework is feminine, whether or not they like it :P Or drawing pleasure from the act of doing housework, or just from seeing a clean house. Or maybe even just from having higher standards than the stereotype of the "messy bachelor".

It's important to remember though that anyone can be feminine. There are plenty of feminine men, feminine non-binary folk, and even feminine women (surprise surprise ;) ). Feminine is an adjective. And as such, it can also describe the entirety of a person, or just aspects of them. Most people have both feminine and masculine aspects, and sometimes one outweighs the other, and sometimes not.

And you know what? Screw those people who freak out if your identification has the word "girl" in. You just don't have to tell them, but it's nice to have a private word to describe yourself sometimes, even if it stays on AVEN ;)

:cake:

This topic is has been really helpful. I think I finally know which words to use when describing my gender =]

I'm so glad I could help :D

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Dumb qustion coming shortly..

I was reading this list and found "feminine"....

Feminine: Dressing and presenting in a typically womanly manner. This may include, but is not limited to, wearing dresses and make up to formal events, using women's washrooms, and participating in women-only events (such as a "girl's movie night").

If someone like cleaning and washing dishes house work and the sort.. Does this make him feminine?

Aslo ...

Demigirl: 1. Someone who feels but the barest association with being a woman or girl, but not a significant enough association to identify as a woman or girl. The association with the female gender is not strong enough to identify as female, but the dissociation is not strong enough to create physical discomfort or dysphoria if referred to as female rather than genderqueer, neutral or male.

2. someone who is feminine or transfeminine but not wholly binary-identified, so that they feel more strongly associated with "female" than "male" or "non-binary," socially or physically, but not strongly enough to justify an absolute self-identification as "woman."

This could be me.. :ph34r:

I think most people would freak out if I use any label with "girl" in it... But that is life. :wacko:

I think that, if in your culture the woman's gender role is to do the house work and someone likes doing housework, that could be seen as that person being feminine. However, "feminine" is also about presentation, so it could be argued that someone doing the housework is feminine, whether or not they like it :P Or drawing pleasure from the act of doing housework, or just from seeing a clean house. Or maybe even just from having higher standards than the stereotype of the "messy bachelor".

It's important to remember though that anyone can be feminine. There are plenty of feminine men, feminine non-binary folk, and even feminine women (surprise surprise ;) ). Feminine is an adjective. And as such, it can also describe the entirety of a person, or just aspects of them. Most people have both feminine and masculine aspects, and sometimes one outweighs the other, and sometimes not.

And you know what? Screw those people who freak out if your identification has the word "girl" in. You just don't have to tell them, but it's nice to have a private word to describe yourself sometimes, even if it stays on AVEN ;)

:cake:

In most of the would feminine people must be "pretty" .. Which totally leaves me. My body is not feminine never will be.. my beard does not allow for that. I guess for some in this world I will never be feminine. While I will never truly be masculine. So that leaves me at the same place I started. I am just that person.. Who most will never truly understand. I used to believe that to be feminine I needed to do a lot of stuff. But, now most of those things are not options.

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In most of the would feminine people must be "pretty" .. Which totally leaves me. My body is not feminine never will be.. my beard does not allow for that. I guess for some in this world I will never be feminine. While I will never truly be masculine. So that leaves me at the same place I started. I am just that person.. Who most will never truly understand. I used to believe that to be feminine I needed to do a lot of stuff. But, now most of those things are not options.

Presentation =/= gender, remember ;) If demigirl is you, then demigirl is you. Some demigirls rock their beards, and honestly? I think that's great!

The world sees one person, the one you present to it. But you, deep down, are you, not the person they see. In fact, a lot of demigirls I know identify as such while not being particularly feminine. A lot of women I know aren't particularly feminine either... I think I know about equal numbers of men and women that like housecleaning, and that includes the trans ones ;)

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I know men who are much more feminine than masculine and women who are much more masculine than feminine (it reminds me of that old TV program called (if I translate) "my wife is a real guy", it was a good example of it). And people who are in between, or unclassifiable to the point of being neither !

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In most of the would feminine people must be "pretty" .. Which totally leaves me. My body is not feminine never will be.. my beard does not allow for that. I guess for some in this world I will never be feminine. While I will never truly be masculine. So that leaves me at the same place I started. I am just that person.. Who most will never truly understand. I used to believe that to be feminine I needed to do a lot of stuff. But, now most of those things are not options.

Presentation =/= gender, remember ;) If demigirl is you, then demigirl is you. Some demigirls rock their beards, and honestly? I think that's great!

The world sees one person, the one you present to it. But you, deep down, are you, not the person they see. In fact, a lot of demigirls I know identify as such while not being particularly feminine. A lot of women I know aren't particularly feminine either... I think I know about equal numbers of men and women that like housecleaning, and that includes the trans ones ;)

*Giggle really :O* I do not know any demigirls.. Well, most people around me look down on anyone who does not fit into social norms or the sort.

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