Overview
What egogender means.
Ask an egogender person what their gender is and the honest answer is their own name. Not like a man. Not somewhere between. Not a colour or a season. The record on the LGBTQIA+ Wiki defines it as a gender where the only way to describe one's gender is simply as oneself — unique to that person, with nothing outside to point at.
That is either a very small claim or a very large one, depending on how you hear it. Small: every gender is lived by one person at a time. Large: this is a gender with no borrowed description at all, not even a metaphor. The prefix is ego-, self. Charagender, probably from character, is the other name, and the two are used for the same thing.
It is not novigender, though the two sit close. Novigender says my gender exists and no word reaches it: a report about vocabulary. Egogender says the word is me: the person is the description. And it is not vanity — nobody is claiming to be the centre of anything, only that comparison fails. The record credits the word to a Tumblr user in July 2014, inspired by a list of prefixes. No research, no history beyond that, no count of users.
A gender describable only as oneself, with no external reference.
Egogender in one line
Origin
Where the word comes from
Egogender was coined in July 2014, according to the LGBTQIA+ Wiki, as part of the same burst of MOGAI-community gender coinages as many other identity words from that period; the wiki does not name an individual coiner. The alternate name "charagender" circulated alongside it.
The word combines "ego-" (Greek/Latin for "I" or "self") with "-gender" to describe a gender defined purely by reference to oneself, with no outside comparison possible — not a colour, not a metaphor, not a position on a spectrum, only the person's own name for their own experience.
Signs people describe
Common experiences
None of these is a test. Most people recognise a few and shrug at the rest.
When someone asks what your gender is, you want to say your name and know it would sound like a dodge. It is not one.
Every label you tried fitted a slice.
None fitted the whole, and the whole was not vague. It was specific, and it was you.
Metaphors feel worse than nothing.
Calling it a colour or a season would be borrowing someone else's description.
You have thought "my gender is just me" and then wondered whether that was cheating.
Non-binary on a form is fine — but it says where you are not, and you know exactly where you are.
You do not feel unnameable.
You feel already named.
Pronouns
Pronouns
Nothing follows about pronouns. People who use this word use he, she, they, neopronouns, or their name and nothing else. Name-only is more common here than elsewhere, for an obvious reason: if your gender is you, your name already does the job.
Consider another path
This might not be your word if…
- 1There is a word that fits and you do not like the people who use it. That is a feeling about a community, not a description of your gender.
- 2You can describe your gender as near something — nearly a woman, mostly neutral. Then it has a reference point, and novigender or aporagender will serve you better.
- 3There is nothing there when you look. Agender is the word for a blank, and this is not a blank.
- 4What you mean is "I don't want to be categorised". That is a stance, and pomogender was made for it.
Close by
Related identities
Novigender
Something specific, no word for it. Novigender reports that the language is missing. Egogender reports that no outside description was ever the point. People move between the two.
ReadMaverique
A gender of its own, with real content, unrelated to male or female — and shared: maverique people recognise each other's. Egogender is not a shared category. By definition there is one of yours.
Read
Xenogender
Describes gender through things outside gender: a texture, an animal, a light. Egogender declines every outside thing, including those. The record notes it can be xenic or not, depending on the person.
ReadAporagender
A strong, specific gender that is not male, female or nothing. Close, and some use both. Aporagender sits in a named region; egogender sits in a region of one.
ReadNon-Binary
The umbrella, and the word most people here use out loud. Non-binary says where you are not. Egogender adds where you are, which is here.
ReadQuestions people ask
Frequently asked questions
Is egogender the same as charagender?+
Yes. The wiki lists charagender as the alternative name for the same gender, and suggests the chara- prefix comes from character. Ego- means self. Use whichever sounds like the inside of your head.
Isn't every gender just "me" in the end?+
In one sense, yes, and that is why the word is easy to mock. The difference is that most people can describe their gender by reference to something shared — man, woman, between, none. Egogender is for the case where every reference fails and only the person is left. If a shared word reaches yours, you have a cheaper option and should probably take it.
Is there an egogender flag?+
The wiki records a primary flag posted by a DeviantArt user by August 2015 and an earlier one from November 2014, with the colour meanings of both unknown. An alternate from August 2019 assigns purple to individuality, blue to peace and understanding, and yellow to clarity.
Sources
- Egogender — LGBTQIA+ Wiki Definition, the charagender alternative name, the July 2014 coinage, the etymology and flag history.
Still figuring things out?
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