gender continuum, in the study of human sexuality, the thesis that gender is not “binary,” or limited to the specific genders “man” and “woman” (or “boy” and “girl”), but continuous, forming a spectrum of differing degrees and combinations of the mental, emotional, behavioral, and biological traits commonly possessed by or attributed to members of the male or female sex. Such characteristics include gender identity (one’s self-conception as a man, woman, or other gender or genders); sexual orientation; scalable personality traits such as assertiveness, inquisitiveness, empathy, and kindness (see also five-factor model of personality); the observance of culturally defined behaviours such as dress, social interaction, and social roles; and the physical traits associated with biological sex—including external genitalia, sex chromosomes, sex-related gene expression, sex hormones, and brain structure and activity—which vary along a continuum ranging from male to intersex to female.
In addition to single and combined genders, the gender continuum thesis also recognizes genders that involve a regular alternation between man and woman or between other genders within the continuum, as well as genders that fall outside of the continuum altogether. Genders within both of these categories are variously named and often overlapping, as indicated in the terms bigender (having a gender that combines man and woman), third gender (having a gender that is neither man nor woman), pangender (having all genders or more than one gender), genderqueer (having a gender that is not solely man or woman), and agender (having no particular gender).