Decoded: Demigender vs bigender

Gender identities are layered and complex; one can’t look at them in binaries. The vocabulary expands to accommodate a range of identities. Take demigender, for instance. It refers to an individual who feels a partial connection with a specific gender.

The other part of their identity could be another gender, genderless or neutral as well. A demigirl, in that sense, is someone who identifies as female partially, irrespective of gender that’s assigned at birth.

A demiboy is an individual identifying partially as a man/boy. When it comes to the pronouns that demigender individuals are likely to use, there is no specific set, and their use is an individual choice. 

What then is the difference between bigender and demigender? While a bigender identity means experiencing two distinct genders simultaneously or separately, an individual who identifies as demigender experiences different gender identities partially. The intensity of experience in a demigender identity is partial while in a bigender identity, it is complete (at the same time or at different times). 

The prefix demi essentially means half (think demigod, half divine, half human, for instance). The term demigender refers to an individual’s gender identity and is distinct from demisexual, which refers to sexual attraction.

A demisexual person doesn’t feel sexually attracted to others until they form an emotional connection. 

(Decoded demystifies gender concepts and breaks them down into easy-to-understand language.)