pangender

[ pan-jen-der ]

adjective

1. Also pan·gendered. noting or relating to a person whose gender identity is not limited to one gender and who may feel like a member of all genders at the same time.

noun

1. a person who is pangender.

Word History and Origins

Origin of pangender¹

pan- + gender ¹

About This Word

What does pangender mean?

Pangender refers to a person whose gender identity is not limited to one gender and may encompass all genders at once.

Where did the term pangender come from?

Not to be confused with pansexuality (“attraction to people regardless of their gender”), pangender is “a gender identity not limited to one gender.” A person with this identity may feel their identity encompasses all possible genders at once. This includes traditional binary genders (male and female) and nonbinary genders. The prefix, pan-, comes from a Greek root meaning “all” (cf. pantheism).

Pangender itself falls within the realm of nonbinary gender identity, and those that are pangender might use gender-neutral pronouns like they/them, among others.

Evidence for pangender dates back to the 1980–90s. 1990s Usenet posts, for instance, discussed a pangender- and pansexual-friendly event and described a book as pangender in topic. It was defined on Urban Dictionary in 2006, and has since gained prominence in more mainstream discussions of gender and sexuality in the 2010s, given growing inclusion and visibility of nonbinary gender identities in culture.

Since 2015, Pangendering has been a popular Tumblr blog and resource on many gender-related subjects.

How to use the term pangender

Since gender is different from sexual attraction, one could identify as pangender and pansexual, though it’s important not to confuse the two.

Pangender is often used as a self-identifier and is common on social-media platforms like Tumblr and Twitter. It is also discussed in such popular publications as CNN, NPR, and Vice educating audiences about gender diversity.

Also, nb folks, whether you're agender, bigender, pangender, non-binary male, non-binary female, genderfluid, genderqueer, whatever, can explain your gender totally, can't explain it a bit, use nonsense metaphors to explain it, you're all valid here. I will fight for all y'all

— Fiona the Devil's Lesbian Lover (@GayestTiefling) September 27, 2018

More examples of pangender:

“Seemingly drowning in sexual excess and describing himself as genderless, he sings about women, threesomes, and strip club pussy. He’s committed to black awareness but is also eager to make sure his music caters to the white girls he believes he needs to make his career pop off. If he sounds like a strutting oxymoron, let it be known that Isiah also hasn’t strayed far from gospel music and his traditional church roots. Simply by being his provocative self, he manages to press Christian aesthetics and God worship in service of a progressively pansexual, pangender, panracial, pan-everything sensibility.”
—Jason King, Pitchfork, November 2018

Note

This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the term’s history, meaning, and usage.