Pangender
Having many genders, or all of the ones available to you.
Pangender means having many genders, often described as all of them. The usual qualification, made by pangender people themselves, is that it means all the genders available within one's own cultural context rather than every gender that has ever existed.
That qualification matters, because claiming all genders universally would include closed identities such as Two-Spirit, which belong to specific peoples. Pangender communities have been explicit about this for years.
It is a plural identity rather than a fluid one. The genders are held rather than cycled through, although many pangender people are also fluid.
Pangender does not include closed identities
Read literally, all genders would sweep in identities that belong to specific peoples and are not open to outsiders, Two-Spirit being the clearest case.
Pangender communities have consistently said the word means all genders available to the person within their own culture. That limit is part of the definition, not a concession.
Saying it well
Say this
- I am pangender.
- Many, or all of the ones that are mine to hold.
- Pangender, which does not include closed identities.
- Pangender and genderfluid both.
Not this
- So you are every gender ever
- That includes Two-Spirit then
- So you are nothing in particular
- Pick a few
Questions people actually ask
What does pangender mean?
Having many genders, or all of those available within one's own cultural context.
Does pangender include Two-Spirit?
No. Two-Spirit is specific to Indigenous peoples of North America and is not open to anyone else.
Is pangender the same as genderfluid?
No, though many people are both. Pangender is about plurality, genderfluid about movement.