Bigender


Bigender (bi+gender) is a tendency to move between masculine and feminine gender-typed behaviour depending on context, expressing a distinctly male persona and a distinctly female persona, and 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.

Bigenders 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.

See also