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ENTITY reports on agender.

The discussion around the differences between gender and sex can definitely get confusing. And when terms like agender and genderqueer also come into play, things just get a lot more complicated.

To make it simple for you, though, agender folk don’t subscribe to a specific gender in the traditional gender binary.

Still lost? Let ENTITY break it down for you.

What’s the difference between sex and gender?

Thanks to the popularity of transgender celebrities such as Laverne Cox and Caitlyn Jenner, the discussion around sex and gender is slowly increasing.

According to The Trevor Project’s website, gender is defined as “an idea created by society (aka a social construct) that tells us what certain genders are ‘supposed’ to be like, based on a group of emotional, behavioral and cultural characteristics (like how we express our feelings or how we dress).”

Sex, on the other hand, is defined by your physical anatomy, chromosomes and hormones.

So while your gender is a social construct, your sex is a sum of biological parts. The two aren’t interchangeable. Your gender identity can align with your sex or they can be “opposite.” A biological female can identify as a man (gender) because that’s how he feels, dresses or behaves.

Essentially, the LGBTQ community is pushing to promote the belief that gender is nonbinary. This means, gender doesn’t always have to be associated with what’s considered conventionally “masculine” or “feminine.” These binaries have been damaging because it has pushed people into corners and forced unwanted labels on them.

This is a problem when a lot of people don’t identify with either of these labels, such as agender people. To help you understand the agender community a little more, here’s a breakdown of the gender identity.

1 Agender pronouns

ENTITY reports on agender

When we subscribe to a certain gender, we tend to also subscribe to certain pronouns. People who identify as female tend to go by the pronouns she and her. People who identify as male tend to go by the pronouns him and he.

Agender people, on the other hand, go by gender-neutral terms such as they and their. Although these two terms have traditionally been used as plural pronouns, in the LGBTQ community, they can refer to one person. Other possible, but less popular, pronouns include “zee,” pronounced like the letter z, and “hir,” pronounced like the word “here.”

Before you assume someone’s gender identity, ask how they would like to you to refer to them.

2 Agender flag

ENTITY reports on agender.

The agender flag was created in 2014 and has seven stripes.

The black and white stripes represent the lack of gender. The grey stripes represent people who are semi-genderless, which falls in between identifying with a gender and being agender. And last, the green stripe represents a nonbinary gender because green is the inverse of purple, which, in the genderfluid flag, represents both masculinity and femininity.

3 Agender clothing

Unfortunately, we also live in a society where clothing is divided into two gender variations: clothes for men and clothes for women.

If you don’t identify as either gender, it can be difficult to go shopping. People who are agender don’t choose clothing based on labels. Instead, they choose clothes based on what’s most comfortable and their personal styles.

Thankfully, clothing brands such as One DNACharlieBoy and 69 are going against the grain and creating unisex clothes for everyone. This way, people don’t have to feel pressured to shop in the “women’s section” because they’re biologically female.

4 Agender celebrities

ENTITY reports on agender

Photo via Instagram/angxlhxze

Rapper and singer Angel Haze is an agender cultural icon who told BuzzFeed that they don’t identify as a girl. Because of this, Haze’s pronounces are they and their. Writer Tyler Ford also identifies as agender and was the first transgender contestant on “The Glee Project” in 2012.

Although sometimes gender labels corner people into an identity that makes them uncomfortable, we’ve progressed enough so that there are gender and sex identities that most everyone can feel comfortable in. Hopefully this article helps you understand your agender friends and coworkers at a little bit better. And in the long run, hopefully our language continues to change to include even more types of people.

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