(CNN)Washington state residents who don’t identify as male or female will soon be able to choose X as their gender on birth certificates.
Starting January 27, they will be able to identify as male, female or X on birth certificates. The policy lets Washingtonians change existing documents; it does not apply to new ones.
The rule, announced Thursday by the state Department of Health, defines X as the following:
A gender that is not exclusively male or female, including, but not limited to, intersex, agender, amalgagender, androgynous, bigender, demigender, female-to-male, genderfluid, genderqueer, male-to-female, neutrois, nonbinary, pangender, third sex, transgender, transsexual, Two Spirit, and unspecified.
To examine Gender (as opposed to Sex) I use a more specific definition than is typically used. Gender is broken down into three aspects based on the Physical, Personality and Preferences that the individual person exhibits. Each of these categories is then further broken down into three options: Male, Female and Androgynous. From these combinations of attributes, a persons gender can be identified with much more precision than previously available.
SUMMARY:
Due to different combinations of Male and Female attributes, people tend to naturally gravitate to using either Yin or Yang energy depending on their gender. However, “gender” is a much broader array of attributes than most people realize. Through the practice and use of using both Yin and Yang energies, you can increase the power and flexibility of your magical workings.
LECTURE:
Much conflict in modern social development is centered around the concept of there being two genders and that “allowed” combinations of those two. If there were more than just two genders, this conflict would not be nearly as polarized as it is today.
Well, you’re in luck, because I say there are a lot more than two genders. I say that even in a fairly simple system of identifying genders, there are at least Sixty-Three (63) gender combinations.
Because gender is more specific than simply the genetalia attached to your body, which is normally referred to define your “sex”,
To examine Gender (as opposed to Sex) I use a more specific definition than is typically used. Gender is broken down into three aspects based on the Physical, Personality and Preferences that the individual person exhibits. Each of these categories is then further broken down into three options: Male, Female and Androgynous. From these combinations of attributes, a persons gender can be identified with much more precision than previously available.
The Physical aspect is the most obvious: The typical Male body, the typical Female body, and the Androgynous body, which may display a fairly even mix of attributes of both Male and Female physical genders.
An Androgynous physical aspect is, in its most extreme form the Intersexual (the new preferred term for “Hermaphrodite”), which has both male and female genitalia, and in its other extreme as a person with no genetalia at all. In its most common form, it is a person with either male or female genitalia that is not easily distinguishable as being either male or female without intense scrutiny. If you look at someone and can’t tell if they’re male or female, that is a Physically Androgynous person. There are also rare cases of people born with either both male and female genetalia or none at all. These would also be classified under the Androgynous physical aspect. An Androgynous physical attribute is now often referred to as being “Intersexual”.
The Personality aspect is descriptive of their typical behavior in life, either typically male pursuits (Male Personality) and interests, typically female ones (Female Personality) , or an unusually even mix of both (Androgynous Personality).
The Preference aspect is descriptive of is how they express themselves emotionally, romantically, and/or sexually. Specifically, are they sexually and/or emotionally attracted to men, women or both (or possibly neither).
Here is a breakdown listing each combination of Physical, Personality and Preferential groups:
Key:
Phys = Physical Aspect, Pers= Personality Aspect, Pref = Preference Aspect M = Male, having male reproductive organs/genitalias F = Female, having female reproductive organs/genitalias H = Hermaphrodite (Intersexual) having both or neither male and female reproductive organs/genitalias AS = Asexual / Non-sexual (not shown on this chart) A = Androgynous, near-equivalent traits of male and female AM / Andromale = Physically Androgynous w/ Male Genitalia AF / Androfemale = Physically Androgynous w/ Female Genitalia HA / Androdite = Physically Androgynous Hermaphrodite HM / Hermaphromale = Hermaphrodite with Male features / appearance HF / Hermaphrofemale = Hermaphrodite with Female features / appearance Masculine = “Typically” Male, as determined by the surrounding culture Feminine = “Typically” Female, as determined by the surrounding culture Androgine = Exhibits Androgynous Behavior (Equally Male and Female), as determined by the surrounding culture
This is the simplest and most “accessible” version of the Gender categories as I have broken it down. However, there are some expansions that would make it more complete, but would lose some value in the added complexity.
I will be putting up a another chart in the future that will include an additional “asexual” category. I have not been able to find any examples of asexuality in human physicality, personality, though a complete lack of attraction to others may constitute an asexual personality type.
Additionally, the Preferences category is simplified, including only options for Male, Female and Androgynous. To be complete, I would also break out the Preference category to have separate options for each of the 63 genders defined (any gender may be attracted to any other gender). However, this would end up with a chart with nearly 4000 genders, which, while technically accurate and complete, would be rather large for this page. If I get time, I will write a program to list all 4000 or so of them, but as I have written this page by hand, I’m not going to break them out myself manually (yet).
As you can see, this view of Gender provides much more flexibility in providing labels (when you want to use them). It also illustrates that there is a gender diversity, even within the typically view of “two genders”. It is my hope that this might help in some way making discrimination based on gender less of a problem. It is easy to discriminate when there are only two possible gender options in your world-view. However, when you consider that there are many more than that, it makes the whole idea of discrimination against one group or another a bit sillier and more arbitrary-seeming.
Gender, Energy and Magic
Yang energy is traditionally viewed as Male, and Yin as Female. While most people tend to use one form or the other, you can become proficient in the use of both forms of energy by practicing working with them. Each energy is better suited for different things, and by developing your skill in working with both forms, you increase the power and flexibility available in your magic.
LAB:
Where do you find yourself on this chart?
Think of the people you know. How many different genders can you check off on this list from the circle of people you know.
Do you typically use Yang or Yin energy (or something else) in your personal magical workings?
Can you identify and work with the other energy?
How do you do it?
Which do you feel stronger with?
Try doing the things you use your natural energy with the other form, and identify any differences you find.
Source: http://www.apath.org/rede/23.html
For more info - http://methastra.livejournal.com/
