bigender

Bigender (bi+gender) is a tendency to move between masculine and feminine gender-typed behaviour depending on context, expressing a distinctly "en femme" persona and a distinctly "en homme" persona, feminine and masculine respectively. It is a subset of transgender.

While an androgynous person retains the same gender-typed behaviour across situations, the bigendered person consciously or unconsciously changes their gender-role behaviour from primarily masculine to primarily feminine, or vice versa. It is worth noting that this concept emerged from within the transgender community itself, rather than being adopted after it was created by another sub-culture (for example, transsexual was defined first by the mental health community).

Expression

Some express their bigender identity through crossdressing or performing as a drag king/drag queen; others may adopt a strictly masculine, feminine, or androgynous appearance and experience the shift between genders on a purely mental, or only subtly physical, level.

Bigender in Popular Culture

While performers such as David Bowie and Boy George are known for combining masculine and feminine aspects, performers who switch between a primarily masculine or feminine image, such as Eddie Izzard and Annie Lennox, better fit the bigender label. It is good to keep in mind, however, that crossdressing is not always related to gender identity, as it can be a purely erotic act.

See also

• List of transgender-related topics

	Transgender series
	Transgender · Androgyny · Bigender · Cross-dressing · Drag king · Drag queen · Genderqueer · Third gender · Transsexualism · Transvestism · Transsexual sexuality
Attitudes	LGBT history · Transphobia · Homosexuality and transgender · Gynephilia and androphilia · Transgender in film and television
Legal issues	Legal aspects of transsexualism · Access to amenities
Lists	Transgender-related topics · LGBT films · Transgender people
Categories	Category:Transgender
LGBT Portal

Donate to Wikimedia