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Quoigender

Quoigender — from the French "quoi" — describes someone for whom the concept of gender simply does not apply. An identity that, in its definition, refuses to be an identity. Paradoxical, and therefore revealing: a creed that debunks its own logic and yet is included in the catalogue as if it adds something.

Definition according to proponents

A gender identity in which someone considers the concept of gender not applicable to themselves. Not "no gender" (agender), but "the question of gender means nothing to me." The self-classification is paradoxical: by naming oneself, one enters the catalog that one claims not to accept.

Origin: Tumblr, aro-ace-context

On Tumblr since 2014, analogous to "quoiromantic" in aroace communities. Small and niche. No clinical literature, no demographic data, no mention in DSM-5-TR or ICD-11. Part of the explosive proliferation since 2010. In the Gender Census survey, quoigender is listed under the rare labels (less than half a percent).

Criticism: refusal is not an identity

Quoigender is the most explicit signal that the concept of gender identity does not function universally. Anyone who considers the question unanswerable undermines the premise that everyone has a gender identity. The trick to avoiding this is: "even no-answer is an answer, so quoigender is also an identity." But then the concept becomes so elastic that it excludes nothing anymore. A textbook example of unfalsifiability and circular reasoning . There is no marker ; only self-reporting within a belief system.

Philosophically, quoigender is a quasi-Wittgensteinian position: the question is wrongly posed. Kathleen Stock (2021) employs this same argument against the broader identity catalogue — when a construct excludes nothing, it describes nothing either. Joyce (2021) points out the practical consequence: policy based on such labels lacks an effective distinguishing criterion. That is precisely the criticism leveled against the entire construct of gender identity . Anyone who points out this logical self-undermining is silenced and dismissed as a hater.

Levine (2022) clinically notes that a self-classification that is not testable due to its logic cannot serve as a diagnostic basis for medical interventions. Hruz (2020) concurs: without an objective marker, an intervention trigger is arbitrary.

Damage: umbrella, then intervention

Quoigender referrers rarely appear in clinical records; the term is categorized as non-binary and thereby gains access to hormones and surgery. Specific outcome data are lacking. Cass (2024) identifies such proliferation as an obstacle to evidence-based care: subgroups become too small to be studied, and their differences disappear under umbrella labels. Transition does not cure — see detransition research .

Related identities

• Agendar — other absence claim.

• Non-binary — umbrella.

• Maverique — autonomous category.

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