gender nonconforming
Beyond binary norms
Gender nonconforming describes people whose appearance, behavior, or identity doesn't align with conventional expectations for their assigned sex.
Someone gender nonconforming might dress, speak, or present themselves in ways typically associated with another gender—or with no gender in particular: Their gender nonconforming child prefers they/them pronouns.
The term is broader than transgender, encompassing anyone who departs from gender norms without necessarily identifying as a different gender.
- nonbinaryOutside male-female categories
- genderqueerOutside the two-category system
- androgynousNeither distinctly male nor female
- fluidSubstance that flows
- queerUnusual or non-normative
trans · butch · femme · they/them · chosen name · expression · identity · spectrum · presentation · masc · tomboy · sissy · drag · binding · tucking · pronouns · visibility · pride
- gendermale, female, masculine, feminine, man
- identityidentity, personal identity, self, selfhood, self-expression
- gender expressionandrogynous, androgyny, butch, femme, feminine
- sexual identitiesgay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer
- gender presentationsfemme, butch, masculine, feminine, androgynous
- gender identitiesmale, female, man, woman, men
gender nonconformingcisgender
Birth-sex-identified
heteronormative · traditional · conformist · orthodox · mainstream
gender nonconformingunremarkable
Not worthy of comment
passing · blending in · unmarked · default
gender, nonconforming, genders, gendered, gendering, genderless, conform, conforming, conformity