Stage Gender

A Stage Gender is a gender which one presents as, uses, or identifies with in the context of performance, especially when they don't use or identify with it otherwise. This typically refers to when one has a specific character or persona that they play the part of, and that character or persona has a gender identity different from their own. For example, individuals who participate in drag may present as, use, or identify with different genders depending on whether they are performing or not. Depending on the individual, a stage gender may be a mutogender in which one's identity changes depending on the situation, or it may purely be performance and have no bearing on one's identity.

This term is not intended to be used by cisgender actors who play transgender roles, especially if the actor is a cisgender man playing the part of a transgender woman, a cisgender woman playing the part of a transgender man, or a binary cisgender person playing the part of a non-binary character. Transgender individuals deserve to play the roles of the characters meant to represent them; transgender identity is not a performance.

History
Stage gender was coined by wiki user Wemrotung on July 19, 2021. The term is inspired by "stage name," which is a term for pseudonyms used by performers or entertainers, often for professional purposes.