Librafluid and Agender (A complete guide)

In this blog post, we will explain the following gender identities: Librafluid, agender and non-binary gender. We will also answer the following questions: What is gender; what is gender identity and expression; what is biological sex and sexual orientation.

What does Librafluid mean?

A Librafluid person is agender, but who still feels a strong connection with some gender or with some gender equality. This means that:

• A Librafluid person can be a gendered person who has a preference for an appearance (clothes, accessories, makeup, etc.) that that person associates with a certain gender;
• A Librafluid person can be an agender person who has a preference for being treated with language that associates with a certain gender;
• Librafluid person can be an agender person who feels that his experiences are connected with those of some kind, even without being of that kind;
• A Librafluid person can be a person who does not feel totally agender, being mostly agender, but still feeling like having a gender;

Most of the time, a person who claims to identify with a certain gender – such as androgynous gender, male gender, or female gender – fits the description of gender.

However, a person can also be Librafluid- that is, be either gender or mostly gender, but still have a connection with some gender, only that gender changes from time to time. Librafluid identity is also often referred to as Genderflow.

The word Librafluid was coined around 2014 by cisphobic terezi on Tumblr (blog probably moved to another address). The prefix libra comes from the sign Libra, but people of any sign can be Librafluid.

The sign Libra is associated with a scale, and in the case of Librafluid people, it would be a scale (gender) with one side weighing more than the other (male in the case of Libramasculine people, maverique in the case of Libramaveriquine people, etc.).

Cisphobicterezi also created the flags libramasculin and libra feminin, which are flags with the light green colour exchanged for colours associated with the genres with which the Librafluid people associate.

What is gender?

It refers to the aspects socially attributed to an individual, differentiating the masculine from the feminine, based on their biological characteristics. In other words, it is what societies expect someone to think, feel and act because they are male or because they are female. 

For example, it is said that “men do not cry” or that “women like clothes”. Thus, gender conditions the roles, possibilities, actions, physical appearance and expression of people’s sexuality.

What is gender identity?

It is the way each person feels their gender. Therefore, it may or may not correspond to the sex assigned at birth. In other words, it is the gender that each person feels, regardless of whether they were born male or female. A person who was born a man may feel that his gender identity is feminine and vice versa.

What is gender expression?

It is how we show our gender to the world: through our name, how we dress, behave, interact, etc.

What is biological sex?

It is the set of biological characteristics that determine what is a male or a female in the human species. At birth, people are assigned a sex according to these characteristics.

What is sexual orientation?

It is the physical, emotional, affective and spiritual attraction that we feel towards another person. This attraction can be towards people of the same gender (lesbian or gay), the opposite gender (heterosexual), both genders (bisexual) or people regardless of their sexual orientation, identity and/or gender expression (pansexual). Throughout life, it is possible to change sexual orientation.

Agender

Agender is a term, which can be interpreted as “genderless”. You have two ways of interpreting it:

• As a non-binary gender identity
• As a declaration of not having a gender identity.

And this, in turn, has its ways of describing itself, which can vary between:

• No gender or lack thereof
• Gender-neutral, which can say that despite not being a man or a woman, you still have a gender
• Neutrois
• Do not align with other genres; have an indefinable or unknown gender
• Having no other word that fits your gender
• That gender identity doesn’t matter or you don’t want or need a label

Someone Agender prefers to avoid gender language, not belonging to any of the binaries and not having a general way of referring to. Of course, this does not always happen, some do not care about the fact of being called by “she” or “he”.

Agender is  a person who does not identify himself as a man or a woman or who considers himself lacking a gender identity.

The physical appearance has little or nothing to do with the mentality, on the outside it can be said “is a man” or “is a woman” but in his conception, the person may not feel empathy for them. 

The “lack of sexual identity” usually generates a state discomfort for third parties, since many consider that it is impossible not to be within the “man/woman” convention, and it becomes more complicated when trying to establish the possibility of more archetypes, since agender, by definition would be literally “genderless” or “no gender” and has nothing to do with intersex.

Agender is usually related to androgynous since he tries to demonstrate his disagreement by having to choose between one and the other (feminine/masculine), making his exterior appearance identify with the interior. 

There are also those who make the connection with transgender, not agreeing with the gender received at birth, but this position makes controversy again when trying to designate a gender.

What is a non-binary gender?

Our society is designed to understand these concepts in a binary way and, by extension, it is also easier for our minds to conceptualize these realities as opposite categories. This is why any new term that departs from traditional options is so difficult to be understood and accepted by society.

A non-binary person is a person who does not identify with either of the two classical genres that have traditionally been associated with the two classical sexes: masculine for men and feminine for women. On the contrary, they identify with identities that go beyond these concepts, within which are identities such as gender minorities, gender, pan-gender, fluid gender, and infinity more that you can find in the article on gender identity.

Until now, gender has not only been a social construction, but also an imposition. An imposition in which if you did not fit you were an object that could be branded as mentally ill, more likely to suffer psychological stress and suffer mental disorders such as depression or anxiety. Here you will find more information about what depression and anxiety are.

Now, as awareness of the reality that a person is not born with gender is becoming more and more, the possibilities of identification multiply and more and more generations are getting rid of the old impositions of gender to allow themselves to be and feel freer, more authentic, more like themselves. 

Living as a non-binary person

As I’m sure you’ve already guessed, being non-binary can come with its challenges. Many people do not understand exactly what it is and some even refuse to acknowledge that it exists.

For these reasons, non-binaries can change your whole life. Once you realize exactly what it means, you will be faced with challenges that other people will never think of. 

Truth is, in the beginning, people don’t believe in it. This changes your life for many different reasons. For one, people who don’t believe you when you say you’re not a man or a woman will only make it hard for you and make you feel bad.

They usually raise their eyebrows in confusion and give their day as if you were just excusing the nonsense of not identifying either sex. This will make you feel upset and you will avoid telling people – which suffocates your need to be understood.

People will think you just want attention. This is one of the most annoying things about society today. They believe that anyone who claims not to be binary is just looking for attention because it is a hot topic in today’s world of controversy.

Some people think it’s just a phase. This is another thing that will stop you to the end. People will more or less ignore you when you try to tell them that they are non-binary because they will think that it is just something you are going through now and not a serious problem.

Some may have the courage to tell you that it is just a phase and you will get out of it. Those people don’t have to be in your life. Therefore, you may end up cutting some people in your life who choose not to recognize who you are.

You will feel misunderstood. This is the biggest challenge. If all your life you have managed to reach people and talk to them about everything and be understood and then come out as non-binary, suddenly no one really understands you.

Being non-binary can be very difficult because for the rest of your life you have been dropped into a certain category and you can’t even choose any of the categories as one “because it’s not what you feel”.

This can make you feel like you don’t belong, and that’s a little life-changing because when you don’t feel like you’re included in life, you feel alone and left out. It can make you withdrawn and less likely to engage with other people.

However, being non-binary is not something that someone chooses, but rather it is at a deeper level. It has the ability to change your life in many ways!

Conclusions

In this blog post, we explained gender identities: Librafluid, agender and non-binary gender. We also answered the following questions: What is gender; what is gender identity and expression; what is biological sex and sexual orientation.

Gender refers to the aspects socially attributed to an individual, differentiating the masculine from the feminine, based on their biological characteristics. In other words, it is what societies expect someone to think, feel and act because they are male or because they are female. 

A Librafluid person is agender, but who still feels a strong connection with some gender or with some gender equality. Agender is a person who does not identify himself as a man or a woman or who considers himself lacking a gender identity. The physical appearance has little or nothing to do with the mentality, on the outside it can be said “is a man” or “is a woman”.

If you have any questions or comments on the content, please let us know!

Further reading

Exploring the Dimensions of Human Sexuality, by  Jerrold S. Greenberg

Diversity in Couple and Family Therapy: Ethnicities, Sexualities, and Socioeconomics, by Shalonda Kelly

Identities and Inequalities: Exploring the Intersections of Race, Class, Gender, & Sexuality (B&b Sociology) by David Newman 

Just Your Type: Create the Relationship You’ve Always Wanted Using the Secrets of Personality Type, by Paul D. Tieger 

References

Asexuality.org

Apa.org

nonbinary.wiki/