Nonbinary Nomenclature, Continued

 

The Gender Census in an annual survey of people who have a gender that falls outside the gender binary.

More than 40,000 people from around the world took part in the 2023 Gender Census.

In the survey, respondents were asked, “Which of the following best describe(s) in English how you think of yourself?”

Participants could select as many checkbox terms as they wanted, and they could also submit write-in responses.

Eleven checkbox entries were chosen by more than 20% of respondents.

I discussed the top five terms in a previous article. 

In this article, I will discuss the remaining six.

 

The 11 most popular terms are listed in the table below.

  

Identity                                         Percent

 

1. Nonbinary                                    63%

2. Queer                                          55%

3. Trans                                           47%

 

4. A person/                                    43%

human/[my name]/

“I’m just me”

 

5. Transgender                                40%

6. Gender non-conforming              39%

7. Genderqueer                               35%

8. Enby                                            32%

9. Transmasculine                           29%

10. Genderfluid/Fluid gender          26%

11. Agender                                    24%

 

 

Primary Source: Gender Census 2023, Worldwide Report

 

 

I created a bar graph, using Flourish, to illustrate the top identity words from the 2023 Gender Census.                             

 

 

 Now, let’s continue where we left off.

 

 

6. Gender non-conforming, 39%

 

Personally, I view gender non-conformity as a separate and distinct concept from identifying as transgender or nonbinary.

These ideas are related and can intersect, but I do think of them as separate concepts.

As a stand-alone phrase “gender non-conforming” doesn’t signify what someone’s gender is, or to which gender they are not conforming.

I define gender non-conforming to refer to someone who has interests, personality traits, or engages in gender expression, often based on their how they dress, that is different than the social expectations associated with their gender.

Most people are familiar with the concept of a tomboy, a woman or girl whose clothing, interests, or behaviors is more masculine than social expectations of how women generally behave.

Until recently, there was no mirror concept for feminine men.

In recent years, the term femboy has been increasingly used to refer to a feminine boy or man.

A femboy might engage in behavior traditionally associated with women, such as wearing feminine clothes, make-up, or painting their nails, while still identifying as a man.

I consider tomboys to be gender non-conforming women, and femboys to be gender non-conforming men. 

Personally, I would prefer that people who don’t identify as exclusively male or female advocate that people think of them as a distinct gender, such as nonbinary, rather than as simply someone who is gender non-conforming relative to their birth gender. 

 

I would not select “gender non-conforming” if I was completing the the Gender Census.

That being said, many nonbinary people do use the phrase “gender non-conforming” to describe themselves.

I’m just not one of them. 

 

 

7. Genderqueer, 35%

 

Genderqueer refers to someone whose gender identity or expression falls outside the boundaries of what is typically considered male or female. 

The term genderqueer reflects a rebellious and confrontational attitude toward traditional, binary, and transphobic beliefs about gender.

This confrontational attitude is exhibited by genderqueer people who resist attempts to make them conform to gender norms they find oppressive and limiting.

Genderqueer is often used as a synonym for nonbinary, and I’ve used the terms interchangeably in much of my previous coverage of gender identity.

But some people with a binary gender also describe themselves as genderqueer.

Someone with a binary gender could refer to themselves as genderqueer if they engage in gender expression in a non-conforming way, like femboys and tomboys do.  

 

 

I’m quite surprised Genderqueer isn’t higher on this list.

Far more respondents identified as Nonbinary (63%), than Genderqueer (35%), which is a similar term. The difference between these options is 28%.

Considerably more participants identified as Queer, “in relation to gender,” (55%), than Genderqueer (35%), even though these options are, linguistically, nearly identical. The difference between these options is 20%.

 

 

I own a Genderqueer button, bumper sticker, and magnet, each of which have the same design. 

 

 

 

I identify as Genderqueer, and I would select the term if I was completing the Gender Census.

 

 

 

8. Enby, 32%

 

Nonbinary can be shortened to NB. Once those letters are pronounced aloud, you get Enby.

 

Enby can be a particularly useful word, because there isn’t a convenient stand-alone noun to refer to nonbinary people.

Man, woman, boy, and girl are nouns.

If you want to use a noun to use to describe someone who is nonbinary, your options are limited.

Let’s say Jon is nonbinary.

You can use nonbinary as an adjective, as it’s used in the sentence above.

Jon is a nonbinary person.

Is there a noun we can use for nonbinary people without having to use the word “person”?

That’s where enby comes in.

Jon is an enby.

Problem solved.

 

Enby is a cutesy word, and not all nonbinary people use the term to describe themselves.

About half as many respondents identify as an enby (32%), as compared to nonbinary (63%).

 

Personally, I love cutesy words.

I would use enby to describe myself.

I would especially enjoy being called an enby by a romantic partner or close friend.

Considering its informal nature, enby has comparatively less utility in a work or professional setting.

 

Cassian, the administrator of the Gender Census, discussed the origin of "enby," and attitudes among nonbinary people regarding the word, in an essay available on their website. 

 

I would select enby if I was completing the Gender Census. 

 

 

 

9. Transmasculine, 29%

 

Transmasculine refers to transgender men, and nonbinary people who were assigned female at birth, but identify with a more masculine gender.

Transfeminine refers to transgender women, and nonbinary people who were assigned male at birth, but identify with a more feminine gender.

 

Some nonbinary people don’t like these terms, because they indirectly reference their gender assigned at birth, rather than their chosen gender.

But as a nonbinary person myself, I love these terms.

They are ways for transgender people to describe experiences that are common to binary trans people and similarly situated nonbinary people.

These terms are also a way of making nonbinary people feel included and seen during discussions of transgender topics.  

 

Almost three times as many respondents identified as transmasculine, 29%, than identified as transfeminine, 10%.

This implies there are likely more nonbinary people who were assigned female at birth than assigned male at birth.

 

Collectively, 39% of Gender Census participants identified as either transmasculine or transfeminine, if you assume the number of participants identifying with both terms is negligible.

So less than half of participants identify with either term, suggesting that many nonbinary people either dislike or are ambivalent to this framework.

But, taken together, transmasculine/transfeminine would appear 6^th on this list, after transgender, and before gender non-conforming.

That indicates this framework is relatively popular compared to other ways of describing nonbinary identity.

 

If I was completing this survey, I would identify as transfeminine, and not transmasculine.

 

 

 

10. Genderfluid / Fluid Gender, 26%

 

Genderfluid refers to someone whose gender identity changes over time.

Some genderfluid people have a strong perception of their gender identity at all times, others do not.

Many genderfluid people experience fluctuations in their gender identity between male and female. Others are fluid between other genders, such as female and nonbinary, or male and nonbinary.

Many genderfluid people would like to change their gender presentation back and forth and have other people’s perception of their gender reflect their gender presentation.

Genderfluid can also refer to someone whose gender presentation changes over time, regardless of whether their gender identity changes over time.

 

I came out as genderfluid on my blog in Dec. 2015.

I strongly identify as genderfluid.

I would love to be able to change my gender presentation to present sometimes as female and sometimes as male, and to have people’s perception of my gender, and the words they use to describe me, change from day to day.

I realize that’s not going to happen, but it’s what I would like to happen, and genderfluid does a good job describing that gendered experience.

 

 

The first specific nonbinary gender identity, genderfluid, is the tenth most popular entry on this list.

The first nine are umbrella terms.

 

 

As society, hopefully, becomes more accepting of transgender and nonbinary people, I believe nonbinary people and our allies should help more people understand the terms nonbinary people, like me, use to describe ourselves.

The most common words are umbrella terms, so our efforts should start there.

There are two specific nonbinary identities, genderfluid and agender, that are relatively common.

Ideally, allies should be familiar with the umbrella terms and these two specific identities.

Nonbinary people who use less common terms are welcome to do so, but they will have to explain what those terms mean, if they're talking to someone who is unfamiliar with them.

 

 

I would happily select genderfluid if I was completing the Gender Census.

 

 

 

11. Agender, 24%

 

An agender person feels they don’t have a gender.

Someone who is agender may dress or present themselves in a way that is traditionally seen as masculine or feminine, but to them, these are simply things they do because they enjoy them, rather than because they view these things as representing an underlying gender identity.

 

Agender is the second-most-common specific nonbinary identity.

It is also the final term that more than 20% of participants selected in the survey.

 

After years of uncertainty surrounding my gender, I finally learned about the experiences of people like me in 2015.

Those nonbinary YouTube creators described themselves as genderfluid and agender.

Those were the two specific nonbinary genders I highlighted in an article about nonbinary people that I published in 2015.

I find it fascinating that these two identities remain the most common specific nonbinary genders, eight years later.

I further discussed genderfluid and agender identities in an article I wrote in October.

Both of these articles include videos where nonbinary people share their experiences.

 

 

I don’t identify as agender, but I am very glad agender is one of the most common nonbinary genders.

I wouldn’t select agender if I was completing the Gender Census.

 

 

Next, let’s examine the identity words that received less than 20% in the Gender Census.

 

 

 

 

12. Fag, 18%

 

Faggot is an insulting slur used against gay men and men rightly or wrongly perceived to be gay.

Fag is a shortened version of faggot.

Many slurs against LGBT people have been reclaimed.

Thus far, faggot is not one of them.

 

I have only been called an anti-LGBT slur once in my life.

A male classmate called me a faggot when I was in middle school.

I could tell he meant the term as an insult from his tone of voice and body language, but I didn’t know what it meant.

I had to ask my mom what a faggot was after I got home from school.

 

I can only imagine one circumstance where I might want someone to call me a fag.

If I was in bed with a lover, and we were calling each other naughty words, I might enjoy being called a fag.

 

Many anti-LGBT slurs have been reclaimed, but there are a few, like fag or faggot, that still pack a punch.

Please don’t call someone a fag or faggot without their explicit permission ahead of time.

That being said, some nonbinary people identify with the term. 

 

I would not select fag if I was completing the Gender Census. 

 

 

 

Other identities

 

Here are all of the checkbox options that received less than 20% in the Gender Census.

 

    Fag, 18%

    Man, 16%

    Questioning or Unknown, 15%

    Woman, 15%

    Dyke, 12%

    Transfeminine, 10%

    None / I do not describe myself, 5%

    Cisgender, 3%

    Binary, 2%

 

The only term on this list that I would select is transfeminine, which I discussed in the section on “transmasculine.”

 

Here is a bar graph that Cassian, the administrator of the Gender Census, created to display the results of the identity question. 

 

 

 

 

Bigender wasn’t a checkbox option this year, but it received enough write-ins to be included as a checkbox in next year’s Gender Census.

I would select bigender as a checkbox option, and I would write it in, if I remembered to do so, if it wasn’t.

 

 

Bigender refers to someone who identifies with two genders. A bigender person could experience these genders simultaneously, or be fluid between them.

Many bigender people are both male and female, like I am. 

Other bigender people identify with another set of two genders, such as female and nonbinary, or male and nonbinary. 

Bigender is itself a nonbinary gender identity.

 

 

A beautiful crossdresser who I followed years ago on Deviant Art described themselves as bigender. That was the first time I encountered the term.

They have subsequently deleted their account.

I hope you’re doing well, Bittersweet Butterfly.

 

I am quite fond of the term bigender.

 

 

Bigender is a relatively rare nonbinary identity.

It is a near synonym of genderfluid, a considerably more common term.

Some people, like myself, identify as both genderfluid and bigender.

 

 

Bigender last appeared as a checkbox on the 2022 Gender Census, where it was selected by 5.5% of respondents.

This year, 2.3% of respondents submitted bigender as a write-in.

Bigender is the term that received the most write-ins this year.

 

 

 

And that concludes my analysis of nonbinary identities in the 2023 Gender Census.

I believe it’s important to understand how nonbinary people describe themselves, and which nonbinary identities are the most common.

The Gender Census is one of the best tools we have to better understand the nonbinary community.

And I believe its results can guide advocates and allies as we continue our work to build a future where nonbinary people are more widely accepted and understood.