Xenogender: Meaning, Non-Binary Identity, Metaphors, and Pronouns

Instead, a person may compare their gender to:

• stars or outer space;
• forests, oceans, or weather;
• animals or plants;
• colors, sounds, or textures;
• emptiness, movement, or light;
• emotions or imagined concepts.

Simple examples include:

• A xenogender person may describe their gender as calm and ocean-like.
• A xenogender identity may use metaphor rather than traditional gender language.
• A person may identify with one xenogender or several xenogenders.
• A xenogender person may use ordinary pronouns or neopronouns.
• A xenogender identity does not determine sexual orientation.

The comparison helps the person communicate an internal experience that conventional gender words may not express clearly.

• a xenogender;
• one xenogender;
• several xenogenders;
• identify with a xenogender.

It may also describe a person or community:

• xenogender person;
• xenogender identity;
• xenogender community;
• xenogender terminology.

Examples include:

• They identify with a xenogender connected to outer space.
• The article explains several xenogender identities.
• Her xenogender is difficult to describe through binary language.

Common Usage Patterns

The term often appears in phrases such as:

• identify as xenogender;
• xenogender identity;
• xenogender person;
• xenogender label;
• xenogender flag;
• xenogender pronouns;
• xenogender community;
• xenogender experience.

Xenogender falls within the broader non-binary spectrum for many people. However, not every non-binary person is xenogender.

A non-binary person may describe their gender as:

• partly male or female;
• between woman and man;
• gender-neutral;
• fluid or changing;
• absent;
• outside conventional categories;
• connected to a xenogender concept.

Xenogender is therefore one possible way of experiencing or communicating a non-binary identity.

Many xenogender people consider themselves transgender because their identity does not match the gender they were assigned. Others may prefer only xenogender, non-binary, or another label.

A person does not need to:

• medically transition;
• change their appearance;
• use hormones;
• undergo surgery;
• change legal documents;
• experience gender dysphoria;

to identify as xenogender or transgender.

Gender identity is based on the person’s internal understanding of themselves, not on medical treatment.

For example, someone might describe their gender as:

• bright and shifting like a flame;
• distant and vast like outer space;
• soft and changing like clouds;
• deep and difficult to define like an ocean;
• empty or without clear boundaries.

These comparisons do not necessarily mean that the person believes they are literally a flame, planet, cloud, or animal.

Metaphor is common in ordinary language. People describe emotions as heavy, personalities as warm, or thoughts as cloudy. Xenogender language may apply a similar method to gender.

Examples may include:

• stargender: a gender described through stars or space;
• voidgender: a gender associated with emptiness, absence, or a void;
• faunagender: a gender described through an association with an animal or group of animals;
• floragender: a gender described through plants or plant-like qualities;
• aesthetigender: a gender connected to an aesthetic, sensory quality, or artistic concept;
• neurogender: a gender understood as connected with a person’s neurodivergence.

Definitions may differ between individuals. Knowing the label does not automatically reveal exactly what the gender means to a particular person.

Examples may include:

• xe/xem;
• ze/hir;
• ey/em;
• noun-based pronouns chosen by an individual.

Some xenogender people use neopronouns because those pronouns feel connected to their gender. Others use:

• they/them;
• she/her;
• he/him;
• mixed pronouns;
• no pronouns;
• their name instead of pronouns.

Xenogender does not automatically mean neopronoun user. Pronouns should be learned from the individual rather than guessed.

A neurodivergent person may feel that:

• ordinary gender terms are too abstract;
• sensory comparisons communicate gender more clearly;
• their neurotype affects how they understand gender;
• gender cannot be separated from another part of their mental experience.

However, xenogender is not a diagnosis, and not every xenogender person is neurodivergent. Similarly, neurodivergence does not automatically make someone xenogender.

Xenogender concerns gender.

Otherkin or alterhuman identity concerns a broader sense of self or being.

A person may identify as both, and one experience may influence the other. However:

• not every xenogender person is otherkin;
• not every otherkin person is xenogender;
• describing gender through an animal metaphor does not necessarily mean identifying as that animal.

The person’s own explanation should be followed.

They may appear:

• feminine;
• masculine;
• androgynous;
• gender-neutral;
• different at different times;
• conventional for the gender assigned at birth.

Clothing and appearance do not prove or disprove a xenogender identity.

A person does not need to dress like the animal, color, season, or concept used in their gender description.

A xenogender person may be:

• heterosexual;
• gay;
• lesbian;
• bisexual;
• pansexual;
• asexual;
• queer;
• questioning;
• another orientation.

Gender identity concerns who a person is. Sexual orientation concerns whom they may be romantically or sexually attracted to.

The gender of a xenogender person may also affect which orientation words feel accurate. Some use broader terms such as queer because conventional orientation labels may feel too limited.

Helpful practices include:

• using the person’s chosen name;
• using their stated pronouns;
• allowing them to explain their identity in their own words;
• avoiding jokes about animals, objects, or fictional characters;
• not demanding proof of the identity;
• keeping the identity private when requested;
• asking relevant questions respectfully.

General guidance for supporting transgender and non-binary people emphasizes believing people when they describe their gender and avoiding assumptions based on appearance or assigned sex.

A person may change labels as they develop better language for their experience. This does not automatically mean the earlier identity was dishonest.

Some confusion comes from interpreting metaphorical descriptions literally. Other disagreements concern how broadly the word gender should be used.

People do not have to adopt xenogender terminology for themselves. However, disagreement does not justify:

• harassment;
• deliberate misgendering;
• unwanted outing;
• ridicule;
• threats;
• denial of ordinary dignity.

Respect can include using someone’s name and pronouns even when their internal experience is unfamiliar.

• friends;
• partners;
• family;
• online communities;
• healthcare professionals;
• no one outside a trusted group.

Coming out may involve emotional or social risks. No one should reveal another person’s xenogender identity without permission.

An online identity page, pronoun profile, or private conversation does not automatically give permission to share the information elsewhere.

Every non-binary person is xenogender.
Xenogender is one part of the broader non-binary spectrum.

Every xenogender person uses neopronouns.
They may use any pronouns.

Xenogender is a sexual orientation.
It concerns gender identity, not attraction.

Xenogender is a medical diagnosis.
It is a self-chosen identity term, not a disorder.

A xenogender identity determines appearance or anatomy.
People with any body or style may identify as xenogender.

1. Xenogender is an umbrella term for genders described outside conventional gender categories.
2. A xenogender person may use metaphors involving nature, space, sensation, or emotion.
3. Does xenogender mean that someone literally believes they are an animal or object?
4. A xenogender identity may fall within the non-binary and transgender umbrellas.
5. A xenogender person may use she/her, he/him, they/them, or neopronouns.
6. The student explained that their xenogender was easier to describe through colors than through masculinity or femininity.
7. A xenogender identity does not determine anatomy or sexual orientation.
8. No one should reveal another person’s xenogender identity without permission.
9. The person changed their xenogender label after finding language that fit more accurately.
10. Respecting a xenogender person includes using their chosen name, pronouns, and identity terms.

A xenogender identity does not determine sexual orientation, anatomy, fertility, sexual behavior, or preferred sexual role. Xenogender people may have any relationship style and may be sexually active, asexual, or somewhere in between.

Accurate sexuality education treats xenogender as a form of self-described gender experience rather than a diagnosis or sexual preference. Respect includes correct names and pronouns, privacy, consent, and allowing individuals to explain their identities without ridicule or forced disclosure.