#epicenic

[your-bigender-big-brother]

What Exists Within the Gender Trinary?

(An essay under the cut.)

The gender trinary is typically viewed as consisting of femininity, masculinity, and neutrality. In a previous essay, I talked about what gender neutrality is, and before that I explained what identities lie outside of the trinary. Now, let’s take a step back and talk about what exists within the gender trinary and how complex it can actually be.

The gender trinary is simply made up of femininity, masculinity, and neutrality - however, you may see gender terms that refer to qualities that are not trinary nor in between anything within the trinary. What does “in between'' refer to in this context? We’re already familiar with the concept of androgyny (also called epicenity), which is the experience of being between masculine and feminine in some way - some people may lean one way or the other, some may be in the dead center, and others may see themselves as being a perfect blend of both. Keep in mind that this isn’t an inherently multigender experience, but often an experience of gender expression or presentation (depending on who you ask.)

In-between qualities don’t just exist within the binary of feminine and masculine. If you imagine the trinary as a literal triangle with each main quality sitting right on its points, you can draw a line between all three to complete the shape. Along these lines are your in-betweens. You can be in between masculinity and neutrality, or femininity and neutrality - called neutromme and neutremme respectively. You can even be right in the center of the entire triangle and consider yourself as being in between every single gender quality (some people might call this neutrandrogynous or something similar, but it doesn’t really have a word.)

Additional identities within the trinary aren't just the in-betweens. Words like “masculinity” and “femininity" are actually umbrella terms for more specific identities, such as fluid or fluctuating genders, masc- or fem-aligned genders, proximal genders, and genders related to atrinarity while still being within the trinary.

Many people also view the trinary as male, female, and neutral - genders rather than gender qualities. In this case, a lot of identities that can fall within this trinary are demigenders - demiboy, demigirl, demineutral - or multigender identities such as bigender or trigender (though multigender identities can also encompass atrinarity and beyond depending on the individual.) Neutrois and similar niaspec genders can fall under the trinary as well as “compound” genders like boygirl, manwoman, neutramale, and neutrafemale. Aporagender also falls under the trinary, as it can include neutrality.

As you can see, the gender trinary includes far more than just three gender qualities. These three are more like gender quality categories, where any one of them may encompass several other gender qualities. Remember, just about any gender term can be an umbrella term for more specific labels, and any attempt to put genders into strict categories will always be met with exceptions. It may be a trinary, but there's plenty of wiggle room for even more.

[gender-jargon]

[Image ID: the Trinteri pride flag by Gent of Gender-Jargon. The Trinteri flags consists of three down-pointing chevrons of the same size, with negative space above, between and to the left and right bottom corner of the flag. The top negative space is very light green. The left-botton negative space is very light pink. The right-bottom negative space is very light blue. The chevrons from top to bottom are indigo, grey and teal with very very light grey space in between. ./. End ID]

Trinteri: a gender amidst the Gender Trinary; a gender that is centered in the middle of the Male-Female-Neutrois trinary.

[PT: Trinteri: a gender admist the Gender Trinary; a gender that is centered in the middle of the Male-Female-Neutrois trinary. ./. End PT]

Etymology

[PT: Etymology ./. End ID]

From Latin, "Tri-", a prefix meaning "Three" + "Inter" meaning "Between" + "-i", an English neologistic suffix indicating genderness. Literally "between the three". Coined by Gent (Gender-Jargon) (link) in March 2024.

Elaboration

[PT: Elaboration ./. End ID]

Trinteri was created as a result of this post (link) by @your-bigender-big-brother (link). The post posed the question, "what gender quality is right in the center of the trinary?". Most replied, including myself, neutrangity, while others cited epicenity or neutrœmmity, but the more I thought about it, the more I began to feel like these suggested designations were only approximate and didn't quite get to the root of the question.

As Stormy said emself in eir essay (link) ey wrote, the Gender Trinary contains qualities aside from masculinity, femininity and androgyny. Aside from these three, some others are effeminacy, femmulinity, epicenity, neutrommity, neutremmity, neutrœmmity, gynxemity, androxulinity, gyndroxity, neutrangity, tomboyishness and janegirlishness, to name a couple. This got me thinking, which lead me to coin Trinteri as a centrigender that includes the entire Gender Trinary.

Here is the graphic that Stormy included with eir question, which I edited to add Trinteri in the center for reference:

[Image Id: a graphical representation of the Gender Trinary. It is a down-pointing triangle with the left corner labeled "masculine", the right corner labeled "feminine" and the downward-facing point labeled "neutral". Between masculine and feminine, feminine and neutral and masculine and neutral are double-pointing arrows. In the left corner, there is a point labeled "Man". In the right corner, there is a point labeled "Woman". In the downward-facing point, there is a point labeled "Neutrois". Between "Man" and "Woman" is a point labeled "Androgyne". Between "Neutrois" and "Man" is a point labeled "Neutromme". Between "Neutrois" and "Woman" is a point labeled "Neutremme". In the very center, circled and pointed to by a large arrow is a point labeled "Trinteri", which is located at the very center of the diagram. ./. End ID]

I propose the term trinterinity to refer to the quality of gender that is located in the very center of the Gender Trinary. I would be very interested to hear about Stormy's thoughts on this post to see if ey agree, if I missed the mark or if ey have any other kind of feedback for me.

Trinteri is can be considered a midtrinary aporagender. Trinteri is:

a single, specific non-binary identity.

located in the very center of the Gender Trinary of Male-Female-Neutrois.

a centrigender of all trinary gender qualities.

[PT: a single, specific non-binary identity. located in the very center of the Gender Trinary of Male-Female-Neutrois. a centrigender of all trinary gender qualities. ./. End PT]

Trinteri is quite similar to, but distinct from Neutrangi, Neutrœmme and Epicene:

[PT: Trinteri is quite similar to, but distinct from Neutrangi, Neutroemme and Epicene: ./. End PT]

Neutrangi

[PT: Neutrangi ./. End PT]

Neutrangi and Trinteri are both in between Male, Female (rationalized as Androgyne) and Gender-Neutral, but Trinteri is also centered/in between all other trinary genders.

Neutrœmme

[PT: Neutroemme ./. End PT]

Neutrœmme and Trinteri are both in between Male, Female (rationalized as Femache) and Gender-Neutral, but is also centered/in between all other trinary genders.

Epicene

[PT: Epicene ./. End ID]

Epicene is a gender related to Male-Female indeterminance, having characteristics of both Maleness and Femaleness and/or having no characteristics indicative of Maleness or Femaleness. Epicene is a relatively complicated identity, as it can be considered masculine, feminine, androgynous, neutral and a sort of genderless all-in-one.

Both Trinteri and Epicene encompass experiences of masculinity, femininity, androgyny and neutrality, but Trinteri involves all other trinary identities as well. Trinteri is explicitly a centrigender, where as Epicene is generally considered not to be. Epicene is definitively indeterminate with regards to the Male-Female binary, but Trinteri may or may not be indeterminate in it's nature.

Pride Flag

[PT: Pride Flag ./. End PT]

The Trinteri pride flag was created by the coiner at the same time of the term (Gent, GJ, 3/24). The flag consists of three down-pointing chevrons of the same size, with negative space above, between chevrons and to the left and right bottom corner of the flag. The top negative space is very light green. The left-botton negative space is very light pink. The right-bottom negative space is very light blue. The chevrons from top to bottom are indigo, grey and teal with very light grey in between. The colors have the following meanings:

The very light-green negative space represents neutrinity.

The very light-pink negative space represents femininity.

The very light-blue negative space represents masculinity.

The purple chevron represents androgyny.

The grey chevron represents neutremmity.

The teal chevron represents neutrommity.

The very light grey negative space between the chevrons represents the center of the Gender Trinary.

[PT: The very light-green negative space represents neutrinity. The very light-pink negative space represents femininity. The very light-blue negative space represents masculinity. The purple chevron represents androgyny. The grey chevron represents neutremmity. The teal chevron represents neutrommity. The very light grey negative space between the chevrons represents the center of the Gender Trinary. ./. End PT]

[epiceneandroid]

what being epicene means to me

so, hi! i'm epiceneandroid: a tumblr user defined by my identity as an epicene, well, android.

epicene has a lot of meanings, both personal to me and others and dictionary definition. its dictionary definition has a plurality of meanings, including, but not limited to:

-has characteristics of both male and female but is neither gender;

-has characteristics of both masculine and feminine but is neither;

-has both and neither masculine and feminine characteristics;

-has both and neither male and female characteristics;

-genderless or sexless;

-gender indeterminate;

-androgynous;

-gender neutral or neuter;

-unisex;

or a gender like male or female, but is neither.

of course, an epicene person can relate to any, multiple, or even all of those meanings, and still be epicene, and no two epicenes, just like no two women or men, will define their gender the same way.

however, i see my epicenity, as i've grown up over the years, beyond just "has characteristics of both male and female, but is neither" and "gender indeterminate".

think of those gender spectrum charts, like say, a circle. on one end is male, on one end is female, on one end is neutrois, on one end is aporagender, etc...the very center of the circle, in the middle of + having aspects of every gender but not BEING every gender like pangender, is epicene to me, i've discovered.

so it's a gender that has aspects of male, female, androgyne, femache, neutrois, aporagender, maverique, agender, really, countless genders, without being exactly all of those genders and being sort of its own thing. it's kind of like an aporagender that is simultaneously NOT an aporagender. it's kind of a schrodinger's abinary sort of thing, as it has aspects of genders that have nothing to do with binary masculinity/maleness or femininity/femaleness, but also has aspects of genders that HAVE relation to masculinity/maleness and femininity/femaleness at the same time. but, again, it's only ASPECTS of it, not exactly the exact gender. so epicenity is sort of like an abinary/midbinary combination, or a nontrinary gender, on the surface, but moreso...to me, an anonbinary experience.

so yeah. this is how i view my own epicenity. i wonder if other epicene people view their gender the same way.

[moonturtlephilosophy]

I usually don't look at people (like, to an extend that it is a real problem) so I don't know if it happened before, but yesterday I witnessed for the first time how someone entered the restroom, stopped dead in their tracks when they saw me, looked around confused, took a step back to look at the sign on the door and then entered.

I could've never predicted the amount of gender euphoria, guys. It's insane. I am still riding high on that.

[isobug]

Exoangi

"An androgynous/androgyne exobinary identity; an androgyne/androgynous gendered folk relating to having experiences of genders that are completely outside of or independent of the binary.

(example experiences can include: nymangis, some interpretations of epicene gender identity, frannchlens, people who have multigenders/centrigenders of androgynous genders and abinary genders, etc)"

A flag requested by @epiceneandroid, who also defined the term for me, made by combining my Exobinary flag ( used for eyestrain reasons ) and this Androgyne flag. Free to use by anyone anywhere as always!

Taglist - @radiomogai, @revenant-coining

[mogai-headcanons]

icon id: 2 icons in a pair. both have the listed flags in order in the background and the left has an image of the listed character with a white outline and a black shadow.

banner id: a 1500x150 teal banner with the words ‘please read my dni before interacting’ in large white text in the center. end id.

Kinito from KinitoPET is an autistic bisexual bikenolux epicene genderglitch borderfluid autigender axolotl with ADHD, OCD, HPD, and BPD!

dni link | requested by @epiceneandroid

[mourningmogaicrew]

Neogender stamps! Abinary, ambonec, quoigender, graygender/greygender, ipsogender, and epicene.

IDs in alt text.

[gender-buddies]

Gender Buddy: Epicene (121/180)

Level: 1 Element: Plant FRND: 89 PWR: 52

Abilities: Bounce: Lets the Buddy bounce up high to get a better view. Cottonseed Spread: Seeds are blasted in all directions where they will eventually grow into beautiful new flowers.

Bio: On clear and breezy days, this Buddy works hard to spread seeds all over the ground so they’ll grow into beautiful flowers. It can bounce up really high into the air and use its big leafy arms to catch the breeze and float around effortlessly. The flowers it grows are all kinds of colors and smell wonderful. If you bring it some nectar to snack on, it will be friends with you for a long time!

[theyre-gay-because-i-say-so]

Today's LGBT+ Headcanon is;

Dan Hibiki from the Street Fighter Series-Genderfluid, Xenogender, Epicene, Pansexual/Panromantic, Quoisexual, and Grayromantic

Species: Human

Requested by the God of Dan Hibiki, @sunkern-plus

Status: Alive

[beyond-mogai-pride-flags]

Promiscuous Pride Flag

Promiscuity or promiscuousness: having or characterized by many transient sexual relationships; demonstrating or implying an undiscriminating or unselective approach; indiscriminate or casual; adulterine or libertine; epicene.

It's considered the opposite of chastity, and may be reclaimed by polyerosous, or otherwise nonmonoerosous, individuals. Note that some use this in a moralist way through condemning glances.

[your-bigender-big-brother]

Would epicenic mean epicene-aligned? Like xenic vs xeno-aligned

Epicenic can simply refer to the experience of being epicene, much like xenic simply refers to xenity (Not specifically alignment. It can refer to anything related to xenogenders.)

I personally use epicene as it is without changing it to epicenic, which I've never heard of as a term. But the usage is up to the individual!

- 💙💚

[the-busy-ghost]

I don’t have a very strong accent so I’ve been used to southern English folk saying, often in surprise, that I don’t sound Scottish (haha) or that I sound posh.

 HOWEVER I’ve also heard them claim that they still don’t understand me and while I could interpret that as people with a lazy ear being rude, or perhaps they have a few understandable auditory processing issues (look comprehending speech is DIFFICULT, I struggle with it myself though not usually because of the speaker’s accent, just the speed at which you’re expected to consume ideas). However I’ve come to another conclusion lately- it might also be the grammar.

Apparently saying ‘I’ll not be a minute’ to some people is just as unintelligible as the deepest Doric and I really think we need to have a better appreciation for the quiet Scotticisms as much as the loud ones.

[epiceneandroid]

so. way too self indulgent to put on my main blog, but...

ranpo edogawa from bungo stray dogs is an quoiromantic quoisexual unlabeled sexuality epicene genderlight pxngender neutralight person, edgar allan poe is an unlabeled sexuality and gender person, and the two of them are in a diamoric wavership together fluxing from amari, qpp, soft romo, doraric attraction, and romantic and sexual attraction! thanks to @isobug for creating the unlabeled flag i personally use!

[ulfgbohlin]

Parisian Loft by Interior Design Studio Epicéne – Founded in 2018 by Isabelle Heilmann - trendland.com.

[isobug]

Transepicene Flags

A term used to describe a transgender individual who identifies fully or partially with an epicene gender. It can be considered umbrella term for individuals who transition to an epicene identity.

The first flag follows the most common format for trans- flags, and the second is the newer format

Plain/without the symbol flags here!

anon request

[epiceneswagpoll]

welcome to the epicene swag poll!

(note: although ai sada and kanade yoisaki are the blog’s mascots, being two characters the blog creator sees as epicene, they probably won’t be on the poll)

first off: what IS epicene, anyway?

epicene is a word with many descriptors and connotations, such as to femininity in men and unfeminine behavior in women (less commonly), asexuality, unisex-ness, and other such things.

however, i’m not talking about the word’s strict definition. i’m talking about the word as it’s commonly used as a gender identity.

so, what is epicene, as a gender identity?

epicene, as a gender identity, often seems to mean one of four things:

1.) lacking gender distinction, due to a lack of both masculine and feminine traits;

2.) neutrality across masculinity and femininity altogether (may not necessarily be gender neutral across other points);

3.) a gender that has male and female aspects, but is neither;

or

4.) a gender that has masculine and feminine aspects, but is neither.

and here’s the form where you can submit any character you headcanon as epicene, because really, there’s not really any canon epicene characters or even characters coded as epicene, at least that i know of.

anyway, have fun!