Bigender

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The original bigender flag by no-bucks-for-this-doe (controversial).

Bigender is a non-binary gender identity in which someone has two distinct gender identities. One could feel both genders at the same time or be fluid between them, in which case they may also identify as genderfluid. Bigender individuals can experience any two genders, including binary and non-binary genders. For example, a bigender individual could be male and neutrois or neutral. Those who are bigender do not have to experience both genders in equal amounts. One or both of their genders could be fluid or fluctuating, in which case they may identify as bigenderfluid, bigenderflux, and if they identify as both bigenderfluid and bigenderflux, they may identify as bigenderfluix.

Bigender should not be confused with androgyne or femache, which is a term used for those who strictly identify as male and female, in their gender identity, presentation, or both. Bigender individuals identify as two genders, and those two genders do not have to be binary male and female.

Bigender individuals may also identify as transgender or non-binary, if they wish to. Those who experience more than two genders may identify as trigender, quadgender, multigender, etc.

Bigender individuals don't necessarily feel as if their gender is in-between the genders they have, which is classified as a centrigender experience.

History

One of the first recorded instances of bigender being used comes from a trans organization called the Human Outreach and Achievement Institute in the 1980s which defined "bigenderist" as a type of androgyne, with the latter being defined as "a individual who can comfortably express either alternative gender role in a variety of socially acceptable environments."^[1]^[2]

The more modern definition of bigender comes from Gary Bowen who, in his 1995 publication Dictionary of Words for Masculine Women, defined being bigender as "having two genders, exihibiting cultural characteristics of male and female roles".^[3]

A 1997 paper concerning the "gender continuum" in International Journal of Transgender Health noted that "a individual who feels or acts as both a woman and a man may identify as bi-gendered."^[4] A 1999 survey conducted by the San Francisco Department of Public Health observed that, among the transgender community, less than 3% of those who were assigned male at birth and less than 8% of those who were assigned female at birth identified as bigender.^[5]

Flags and Symbol

The original bigender flag was created by no-bucks-for-this-doe. The date of creation is unknown but it existed before July 30, 2014^[6]. Blue represents masculinity, pink represents femininity, and purple represents being non-binary. The placement of the pink and blue stripes on opposite ends of the flag are to represent a sense of separation, yet coexistence between masculinity and femininity. Although widely used, the flag is controversial due to allegations of the creator being abusive and transphobic.^[7]^[8]^[9]

The most popular alternate bigender flag was created by an unknown individual and was created on or before August 23, 2015.^[10] It also has unconfirmed color meanings. The colors likely mean the same as the original flag, but with a yellow stripe likely representing non-binary genders.

The alternate flag by pastelflowers was created on or before January 9, 2015.^[11] Purple (in general) represents those who are non-binary. Dark purple leans more towards blue, representing those who identify partially as male. Light purple leans more towards pink, representing those who partially identify as female. Grey represents those who partially identify as a non-binary gender. White represents genderfluidity.

A bigender flag was first posted and created by Tumblr user asteri-sympan on April 16th, 2015. No meanings were listed other than that it was inspired partially by the bisexual pride flag.^[12]

Reddit user u/KYmicrophone posted their design on subreddit r/QueerVexillology July 6, 2019. No meanings were listed.^[13]

Milith Rusignuolo posted an alternative Bigender flag design on July 13th, 2015. Secondary colours were used, which represent a blend between two colours. The plus sign symbol comes from the stylized spelling of the word as "bi+gender", as well as representing putting two things together. The yellow, white, and blue were added for aesthetic reasons.^[14]

An additional bigender flag was proposed by Tumblr user lestis on August 31st, 2019, with the following meanings expanded upon.^[15]

Red represents feminine or feminine-aligned identities, alternating from the cisnormative pink to express and acknowledge the alternative expression that many bigender individuals experience.
Red-orange represents combination and fluidity, for multiple identifications of gender that may both change through time or that may coexist alongside each other.
Pear represents community and allyship, as many bigender individuals identify as bigender but also identify with other genders independently.
Yellow is a common color in flags used to represent non-binary communities, which reflects the community aspect as well. White represents non-binary identities, mimicking the original bigender flag and the trans flag in its meaning.
Yellow-green represents presentation, and is meant to highlight the diverse presentation of bigender individuals. Yellow is also a common color in flags used to represent nonbinary communities, and the green is associated with nature and growth.
Blue represents masculine or masculine-aligned identities, the color is deeper to express the connection that many bigender individuals have that differs from cis identification to masculinity.

Tumblr user zombifisgender posted their flag at an unknown date, and reposted it to their new blog mogaiphobic on April 12, 2020. Pinks mean femininity, going from a dark to light pink to show different levels (strong - low) of connection to being feminine/female. Blues mean masculinity, going from dark to light blue to show different levels (strong - low) of connection to being masculine/male. Yellow represents neutrality, and having a non-binary gender. Purple represents genders mixing/co-existing. White represents the non-binary nature of the gender.^[16]

Instagram user double_gender published their redesign on April 8, 2021. It was intended to keep the original flag's colors, but with a different order. The "rose of the winds" in the center was placed to represent "total freedom over which of these two genders you can live," and was designed to resemble a compass.

Another alternate flag was created by FANDOM user Mylieok on September 23, 2021.^[17] The dark blue represents masculinity, the lighter blue represents having 2 genders, the orange represents change, the purple represents gender neutral identities, and the pink represents femininity.

Another alternate bigender flag was created by FANDOM user MercyBot77 on November 5, 2021.^[18] It has no confirmed meanings.

Many alternate flags exist, many of them have no or unknown color meanings, though meaning can be assumed to be similar to the original flag.

There is also an intersex flag that is often incorrectly called a bigender flag. This is due to the creator claiming the flag was a bigender flag when originally posted, but later saying that the flag was actually intended to be an intersex flag.

The most common bigender symbol is a mix of female (Venus) symbol and male (Mars) symbol. The symbol is most commonly associated with bigender but it is also sometimes used to represent intersex or transgender. It can also be interpreted as representing heterosexuality. It is the botanical symbol for hermaphrodite.