#xenity

Can you imagine a gender experience that is not feminine, masculine, neutral, epicene, outherine, or even genderless? What if, instead of any of those categories, you used far more unconventional ways to explain your gender? The concept of atrinary identities was explained in a previous essay, but I also briefly mentioned the experience of being xenine - that is, any gender quality outside of the human scope of genderedness. Instead of using human concepts to explain gender, xenity exists in the realm of the abstract and the other. Xenine identities may also be called  xenic.

Xenity can be experienced in a number of ways - through concepts based on emotions, colors, textures, plants, animals, media, sensations, and so much more. Some xenine identities might feel like a cool early morning while some might be related to a specific character from a TV show or movie. Others might be more like the deep dark ocean. And others might be best described as something eldritch and unknowable. Like any other gender experience, it really depends on the individual who uses the label. Genders that are inherently xenine are typically called xenogenders.

While these experiences don’t use human categorizations of gender, they do not inherently indicate a nonhuman experience such as otherkinity or therianthropy either. However, that may actually be the experience for some members of those communities. If someone is more animalistic, they may view their own gender as something an animal might experience - or, at least, an animal in a human’s body. It gets even more complex when that person isn’t human or animal, or even anything of this world. If they’re some sort of mythical creature, a spirit, an alien, or even the embodiment of an abstract concept, their xenine experience might be more suited to that form of nonhumanity.

Other folks - not otherkin or therian - may feel a connection to music or other forms of media, which means their xenic experience will reflect that. Xenogenders based on specific songs or albums, on video game characters, on physical pieces of technology, or even the nostalgic feeling of interacting with these types of media exist to fit this type of gendered experience.

Another way someone may experience xenity is through -coric identities, which are based on specific core aesthetics. Goblincore, cottagecore, horrorcore, and fairycore can all be xenogenders - goblincoric, cottagecoric, horrorcoric, and fairycoric respectively. While an aesthetic-based identity sounds like it may play into one’s gender expression more than anything, these are actually more often literal genders. Xenogenders may also be based on other types of aesthetics, anywhere from lolita to gothic to pastel to neon. Aesthetics can be just as flexible as genders.

Xenity doesn't just have to relate to xenogenders. Since it's a gender quality, it can be applied to any other existing gender or lack thereof. You can be a xenic man, a xeno-aligned agender person, or someone who is demixenogender with a connection to other genders. Your presentation or expression can also be xenic. What does that look like? Like any other type of gender expression, it is variable and individualistic - it depends on how that person chooses to express themselves! There are no rules for gender expression or how a gender quality might affect our gendered experiences.

Today's Gender of the Day is: Infinixenic! (coined by me)

Infinixenic is the experience of having every single existing xenogender as well as xenogenders not yet discovered. This can be an infinitely shifting and expanding experience, or the feeling of being each individual xenogender statically. It is an extension of panxenic.

An infinixenic experience may also include an infinite number of xenic presentations, expressions, or alignments that either fluctuate, flow, or remain static depending on the individual.

Today's Gender of the Day is: Xenogender!

Xenogender is a gender that cannot be contained by human understandings of gender; more concerned with crafting other methods of gender categorization and hierarchy such as those relating to animals, plants, abstract concepts, characters in fictional media, nature, and much more. People who are xenogender don't tend to adhere to the idea of male, female, agender, nonbinary, multigender, or anything that references the gender binary and the human idea of gender categories.

Xenogender people can be called xenic (which is the xenogender counterpart to terms like feminine and masculine) and some may consider themselves to be xeno-aligned. Xenogender people may also be feminine, masculine, neutral, epicene, or other. They may also have a fluid or fluctuating xenic experience, or have more than one xenogender.

Many concepts can be tied to one's xenohood (or xenity) such as cats - "catgender" - or neurodivergence - "neurogender". "Genderflora" refers to those whose genders bloom and change based on weather or atmosphere while "astergender" is bright, celestial, and radial like a star. There are an unlimited number of different xenogenders that currently exist and can potentially exist - too many to list all at once. This list is a good representation of xenogenders you may see in this community.

It's important to note that many types of xenogenders are also fitting for the alterhuman community to describe their gender experience - alterhumans can include system headmates, otherkin, therians, starseeds, vampires, elves, and others.

While xenogender refers to something outside of human understanding of gender, many xenogender people may be partly binary. Xenovir refers to someone who is a man and xenogender at the same time, a male-aligned xenogender person, or a xeno-aligned man. Its female counterpart is xenoera.

All of these experiences are valid and I highly recommend learning about a new gender today, something far outside of conventional categorization of gender. You might even realize that you relate to these experiences!