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Neutrois

'Neutrois' is an identity label for people who experience themselves as sex-neutral and — unlike agender — often have a pronounced preference for a 'neutral' physical presentation. The term was coined in 1995 by H.A. Burnham and has been circulating in non-binary circles since the 2000s.

What is meant by it?

Those who call themselves neutrois describe an inner experience without a masculine or feminine gender, often linked to the desire to be seen as neither a man nor a woman. In the English-language literature, neutrois persons sometimes consider medical steps that move towards an 'androgynous' or sexless body presentation — for example mastectomy in AFAB persons — without pushing through transition towards the other sex.

Distinction and overlap

Neutrois lies close to agender, but the emphasis differs: agender mainly describes the absence of an inner sense of gender, neutrois emphasises the desire for a neutral outward presentation. In practice some use the terms interchangeably.

Social and practical context

The term is not very common in the Netherlands and does not appear in formal systems. Medical pathways aimed at a 'neutral' body presentation — without full transition — are contested within transgender care, because they are incompatible with guidelines that assume a transition towards the other sex.

Critical perspectives

A 'neutral' human body does not exist biologically: every body is male or female. Striving for bodily neutrality through major, partly irreversible surgery is therefore a major step with a questionable outcome. See also figures on detransition: a considerable proportion of people who take non-binary transition steps later reverse them.