Genderqueer

First widely used in the late 1990s, genderqueer is an identity adopted by individuals who characterize themselves as neither female nor male, as both, or as somewhere in between. Although genderqueers describe and express their identities differently and may or may not consider themselves to be transgender (a general term for people whose gender identity or expression differs from the gender assigned to them at birth), they commonly understand themselves in ways that challenge binary constructions of gender and traditional images of transgender individuals. Genderqueer is an identity more frequently embraced by younger gender nonconforming people, ensuring that the crossing and blurring of gender lines will continue to become more visible and likely more accepted.

The concept of genderqueer has its genesis in the development of a queer movement in the 1990s that redefined queer as a term of empowerment and confronted heteronormativity and the conformist ideologies of many lesbian and gay organizations. In a similar way, the term genderqueer challenges gender normativity and the common assumption, even among many transgender people, that everyone is either male or female. A genderqueer identity challenges the traditional transsexual paradigm that individuals who feel themselves to be a gender different from the one assigned to them at birth will seek to express that different gender completely through changing their bodies and presenting unambiguously as that gender.

Undermining this binary gender expectation, genderqueer individuals express their gender identities in a variety of ways. Some partly or entirely transition to a gender different from their birth gender through hormones, gender reassignment surgeries, or altering their bodies in other ways, such as by having electrolysis or bodybuilding, to look more androgynous or more like a gender different from their birth gender. Others do not change their bodies, but dress and present in ways that destabilize gender categories, such as by wearing a combination of clothing considered appropriate only for women or men, or by completely cross-dressing. But not all genderqueers are able to or feel the need to express a gender nonconforming identity, so appearance alone cannot be used as an indication of a genderqueer identity.

Genderqueer individuals also make different choices about how they want to be referred to by others. Some accept the pronouns compatible with their assigned gender, but others ask to be described with the pronouns of a gender different from their birth gender. Still others seek to use “they” and “them” as singular pronouns or want to be identified by gender-neutral pronouns—typically “ze” or “sie” instead of “he” or “she” and “zir” or “hir” instead of “her” or “him.” A few reject pronouns altogether, preferring to be called only by their first names. Some genderqueers also adopt androgynous names, combine traditionally male and female names, or assume names that are more typical for someone assigned a gender different from themselves.

Genderqueer identities are much more prevalent among youth, many of whom feel constricted by traditional gender and transgender categories. Gender nonconforming individuals growing up in the early 21st century have access to information and can meet others like themselves on the Internet, see an increasing number of transgender images in popular culture, and benefit from the political and social gains made by previous generations of transgender activists. As a result, they often can take advantage of a greater range of options for defining and expressing their gender identities than was available to transgender individuals who came out between the 1960s and 1990s.

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