A Question About Gender Terminology?

[cinema_babe]

So a question that I'm sure one of you savvy people on my LJ can answer.....

What the heck is gender queer and how is it different from what I used to refer to as androgyny?

Comments

[silvester10528.livejournal.com]

I was married to the daughter of a post-operative trans-gender and another ex-wife is bi and in a relationship with a gender dysphoriac..

And this is new to me!!

[cinema-babe.livejournal.com]

Just how many ex-wives do you have and what is gender dysphoriac?

I'm such an old fuddy-duddy!

[silvester10528.livejournal.com]

How many ex-wives? TOO many!!!
D's mother is #1
Weather Angel is #2
Abnormal Apathy is #3
I've basically given up on marriage at this point!

Gender Dysphoria is the psychological term for people who perceive their gender as something other than what they biologically are. Most transgender people have or had gender dysphoria. Abby's SO percieves himself as a female named Lydia, but Lydia is a lesbian... or at least when they were doing coke on a regular basis, that is who he fealt, I think he feels differently now that he is clean.

[tactisle.livejournal.com]

Way I learned it, "androgyny" just described people whose gender presentation was ambiguous or verging on neutral, like Bowie as the classic example. But I think "genderqueer" is more like somebody who considers their gender identity something outside the continuum of masculine/feminine, or incorporating strongly-gendered traits of both ends of the spectrum instead of being "between the poles".

Then again, Wikipedia seems pretty undecided on the subject of what it means, exactly. Including this note: "Some people see 'genderqueer' as a more consciously politicized version of the term androgyne...."

So... *shrug* Personally, I think the word probably only has meaning insofar as people get discriminated against for refusing to conform to their prescribed gender roles. Which does happen, though not as obviously as it used to.

I wouldn't be surprised if the term got started (as Wikipedia suggests in an unattributed section) among a group of FtM transsexuals who felt that they were still being discriminated against as (genetic) women by mainstream society, but also abandoned by the women's rights movement for "selling out" by becoming men. If I was in their shoes, I'd sure as hell see the queer-rights movement as my next place to look for sanctuary, even if I identified as hetero...

[cinema-babe.livejournal.com]

This makes a bit of sense. I was talking to someone today who was trying to convince me that Bowie,Jagger and and whole glam rock thing was gender queer and I took the position that call it what you want, as far as I was concerned it was androgyny.

Needless to say the whole thing got quite confusing.

Merci Boucoups!

[onecrazymother.livejournal.com]

I'm used to the term, and at times have even identified that way. I think it includes a wide range of anything that is contrary to cultural gender norms.

have you heard the term "straight queer"? --- that's for het people so kinky that they're pretty sure that if the neighbors knew what they're up to, they'ld take a nice gay or lesbian couple any day of the week.

And it all gets rolled in with everything else into the "alt-sex community".