Demigender is an umbrella term for non-binary gender identities that feel a partial, but not full, connection to a particular gender. Anyone can be demigender regardless of what gender they were assigned at birth, and demigender individuals may identify as another gender in combination with their demigender identity.[1]
Etymology[]
"Demigender" is derived from the prefix demi-, meaning "half" or "partially". The prefix is derived from the Old French word demi, meaning "half", which was derived from the Latin word dimidius.[2]
Community[]
Identities under the umbrella[]
The prefix demi- can be added onto various gender labels to denote a person who has "a partial connection to the gender(s) in question".[3] Demigender identities include, but are not limited to, the following examples.
Demigirl[]
Demigirl: A person who is partially girl;[4] someone who partially, but not entirely, identifies as a woman or otherwise feminine.[5][6] Alternative terms for this label include demiwoman[6], demilady, demifemale,[5][7] and demigal.[6][8] June 21st is Demigirl Pride Day.[5]
Demiboy[]
Demiboy: A person who is partially boy;[4] someone who partially, but not entirely, identifies as a man or otherwise masculine.[6][9] Alternative terms for this label include demiman[6], demimale,[8] and demiguy.[6][8][10] June 22nd is Demiboy Pride Day.[11]
Demifluid[]
Demifluid: A person whose gender is fluid through other demigenders; a person with multiple genders, some static and some fluid.[12][13]
Demiflux[]
Demiflux: A person who has multiple genders, some static and some fluctuating in intensity.[12][13]
Deminonbinary[]
Deminonbinary or deminon-binary[3]: A person whose gender is partially non-binary.[14][15]
Demiandrogyne[]
Demiandrogyne: A person whose gender is partially androgyne.[15]
Demiagender[]
Demiagender: A person whose gender is partially agender.[14][15]
Demineutrois[]
Demineutrois: A person whose gender is partially neutrois.[14]
Flag[]
Salem, an artist from New York, created their flag designs for deminonbinary, demigirl, and demiboy (as well as agender) at a time when they said Tumblr "was seeing a huge influx of identities, pronouns, and other means of personalizing one's identity. A lot of people were overwhelmed with what to acknowledge and what to brush off as a short-lived online fad". Their deminonbinary pride flag was posted sometime in 2014[16] and has seven stripes: two outer stripes in gray, two in lighter gray, and two in yellow with one white stripe in the center. This design was reuploaded on July 4, 2015 to the DeviantArt account Pride-Flags and attributed to @transrants (Salem's Tumblr account).[17]
Since then, others have been using Salem's deminonbinary design as a general demigender flag instead of that specific label.[6][18] Other people have also assigned meanings to the colors used and say the yellow represents non-binary gender,[13][18] the two shades of gray represent the absence of gender, and the white represents "the experience of partial identification with a specific gender".[18]
Demigirl pride flag
Demiboy pride flag
The demigirl and demiboy/demiguy flag proposals were posted together by Salem on February 18, 2014 without any description for the designs or their color meanings. The demigirl flag has pink stripes and demiboy/demiguy has blue.[19] The flag designs were reuploaded on July 4, 2015 to Pride-Flags without assigning color meanings.[20][21] Others have decided pink represents femininity/feminine genders and blue represents masculinity/masculine genders, and they have observed that the blue or pink stripes take the place of the yellow ones used in the deminonbinary/demigender flag.[13]
Demifluid pride flag
The demifluid flag was designed and posted on February 18, 2015, by the Tumblr user @pride-flags-for-us.[22] Pride-Flags reuploaded it on August 24, 2015, with credit to the designer.[23] No particular meanings were specified for the design in these postings.
Demiflux pride flag
The demiflux flag was reuploaded on August 23, 2015 to Pride-Flags, with no further description on the flag's symbolism and credit given to @pride-flags-for-us for the design. Pride-Flags did not provide a creation date and the link given as the source is for the demifluid/demigenderfluid post, not for demiflux.[24]
Distinction[]
Agender[]
- Main article: Agender
Agender and demigender are both under the non-binary umbrella, but there are differences between the two identities. Agender people typically feel like they have no gender at all, with some defining their gender as being neither a man nor a woman. Demigender people, on the other hand, still feel a partial connection to certain genders, and may feel tied to being a man or woman in some way, like demigirls and demiboys. However, because demigender people may identify as another gender in combination with demigender, a demigender person can still partially identify with the agender identity.[25]
Genderfluid[]
- Main article: Genderfluid
Genderfluid and demigender are both considered non-binary identities, but genderfluidity often gets confused with being demigender. Genderfluid people feel like their gender fluctuates and changes over time, causing them to move between different genders; they can feel like a certain gender one day and another gender the next day. Demigender people, however, are always tied in some way to a particular gender, while other aspects of their gender identity may be fluid or in flux.[9][26]
Demisexual[]
- Main article: Demisexual
Demisexual and demigender, although they share the same prefix, are two completely different terms. Demisexuality is a sexual orientation, while demigender is a gender identity. A demisexual person is someone who does not experience sexual attraction to others until they form a strong emotional bond with someone first. Even though these terms are not related, someone who is demigender may also be demisexual and vice versa.[27][28]
References[]
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