Senszen: an identifier and method of description that evaluates the physical qualities of one’s gender identity using the senses of taste, smell, touch, sight and/or hearing.
A senszen is a identifier that uses a specific type of xenine description. Rather than describing your gender identity using social constructs, it is a method of evaluation employing introspective meditation to “observe” the physical qualities you personally associate with your identity and then describing any stimulus those qualities invoke.
Etymology
This term lacks a purposeful etymology, but was inspired by the English word “sense”, meaning “a bodily faculty that perceives external stimulus”. The suffix “-szen” lacks an etymology entirely has no meaning beyond indicating that a word is a type of senszen. Coined by Gent (Gender-Jargon), 2022.
Flag
The flag was created at the same time as the term by the coiner. This flag has seven horizontal stripes of the same size. From top to bottom, the colors charcoal grey, violet, dusty rose, jade green, peach, scarlet and charcoal grey. The colors represent the following meanings:
- The charcoal grey stripes represent stimulus that cannot be perceived, a lack of stimulus or an inability to assess the physical qualities of one’s gender identity.
- The violet stripe represents auditory stimuli.
- The dust rose stripe represents gustatory stimuli.
- The jade green stripe represents olfactory stimuli.
- The peach stripe represents tactile stimuli.
- The scarlet stripe represents visual stimuli.
This is going to be a super long post, so there is a lot more info beneath the cut discussing 1) how to name a senszen, 2) some resources to help you coin a senszen and 3) related terminology informed by this line of thought.
Content below the cut:
Coining a Senszen
How would you describe you gender using only your senses? For a moment, forget about constructs like masculinity, femininity, androgyny, neutrality and other anthroine qualities normally used to describe gender. Ask yourself, what color do you associate with your gender identity? If you touch it, what does it feel like? Does it have a shape? Does it have a scent or sound it makes? What senses does your gender identity invoke when you think about it? These perceptions can be used as a basis for a senszen.
Below, I will outline how to name and coin a senszen. I created a method of naming to allow for unique terms, manageable word lengths and pronunciations and, due to the method, a way of representing the selected sensory adjectives through the name.
List of Sensory Adjectives
This is a non-exhaustive list of words describing various sensations to help you get started if you are unsure where to begin.
Taste & Smell
- Astringent
- Acidic
- Alkaline
- Ashy
- Earthy
- Burnt
- Buttery
- Stale
- Fresh
- Rancid
- Citrus
- Chemical
- Medicinal
- Herbal
- Vegetal
- Fruity
- Floral
- Metallic
- Sulfurous
- Leguminous
- Pungent
- Sweet
- Lactic
- Lipidic
- Malty
- Musty
- Piquant
- Phenolic
- Resinous
- Smokey
- Tangy
- Tart
- Yeasty
- Acrid
- Balsamic
- Sour
- Bitter
- Spicy
- Savory
- Umami
- Salty
- Dulcet
- Gamy
- Honeyed
- Vinegary
- Saccharine
- Fishy
- Bland
- Musky
- Tasteless
Touch
- Hard
- Soft
- Fluffy
- Fuzzy
- Bushy
- Rubbery
- Coarse/Rough/Abrasive
- Doughy
- Farinaceous
- Sticky
- Grainy
- Gritty
- Gummy
- Leprose
- Mushy
- Glassy
- Smooth
- Tacky
- Velvety/Satiny/Silky
- Pointy/Sharp/Prickly
- Thick/Viscous
- Thin
- Wet
- Moist
- Dry
- Burning
- Soothing
- Cold
- Hot
- Temperate
- Slimy
- Crunchy
- Tingling
- Numb
- Nothing
- Hurt/Pain
- Shocking
- Pressure/Singularity
- Expand/Spread
Sight
- Geometric
- Organic
- Psychedelic
- Minimalistic
- Linear
- Non-Linear
- Symmetrical
- Asymmetrical
- Big
- Small
- Short
- Tall
- Proportional
- Thin
- Fat
- Angular
- Rounded
- Beautiful
- Ugly
- Distorted
- Bright
- Dark
- Colorful
- Monochromatic
- Neon/Glowing
- Pastel
- Saturated
- Dull
- Shiny
- Matte
- Dewy
- Blurry
- Intricate
- Deep
- Shallow
- Narrow
- Wide
Sound
- Loud
- Quiet
- Discordant/Dissonant/Harsh
- Gentle
- Glaring
- Harmonious/Melodic
- High-pitched
- Low-pitched
- Musical
- Silent
- Percussive
- Raspy
- Raucous
- Shrill
- Squeaky
- Tranquil
- Thunderous
Syntax
This is how the name of a senszen is determined. An example is provided below.
Grammatical Rules:
- You can use as many or few adjectives as you would like.
- Take note of the vowel-consonant units in your selected adjectives.
- Take note if any of the vowel-consonant units that share a vowel appear more than once across the your selected adjectives. These units may be compounded with another vowel-consonant pair with the same vowel if desired.
- If the vowel appears only once across all pairs, the vowel-consonant unit should remain unchanged.
- Combine the resulting units in any fashion.
- Revise if necessary. Consonants may be dropped sparingly throughout the process to shorten the term and/or make it easier to pronounce.
- If desired, the suffix -szen may be used.
- These rules are not strict/absolute.
An Example Situation
“My gender reminds me of a wildflower. It tastes vegetal, smells floral, has velvetly petals and a smooth stem. If I were to pick it, it would make a snapping sound”.
The keywords describing the senses invokved are:
- Floral, Vegetal, Velvety, Smooth and Snapping.
For my vowel-consonant pairs to represent each words, I came up with “Flo” for floral, “Veg” for vegetal, “Vel” for velvety, “Smo” for smooth and “Sna” for snapping.
- “Flo” and “Smo” both share “o” as a vowel. Flo and Smo can be compounded to create “Floso”. Dropping consonants to create a better sounding combination is acceptable.
- “Vel” and “Veg” both share “e” as a vowel. The can be compounded to create “Velg”.
- “Sna” does not share vowels with any other word chunks. These remain unchanged, as they cannot be compounded.
Now, we have the word parts “Floso”, “Velg” and “Sna”. From here, we can create our word. These parts can be arranged in any manner, and the original vowel-consonant pair may still be used in the name is desired. From here, I reduced “Sna” to “Sa” and combined it with “Floso” to create “Flosa”. “Velg” was reduced to “Ve”. The suffix -szen was added. Combining these two units and the suffix, I came up with the term “Flosaveszen” to describe the gender that is floral, vegetal, velvety, smooth and creates a snapping noise, due to, but not limited to, being like a wildflower.
There isn’t really a right or wrong way to do this, so different individuals may name the same thing differently.
Related Terminology
Here is some is some related terminology regarding senszens.
- Pamnisenzec: an identity that stimulates all of the senses in every way possible.
- Asenzec: an identity that does not stimulate any of the senses.
- Otrasenzec: an identity that invokes perceptions outside and/or beyond what is considered perceivable by humans.
- Opposenzec: an identity that is unable to be assessed using the senses.
- Omisenzens: an umbrella term for all senszens affected by disabilities affecting one’s sensory experience.
Notes
- If you make a senzen, feel free to tag me in the coining post! 🙂
- Don’t stress out about the grammar rules. Just try your best.
- A senzen isn’t a gender, but a (meta)physical evaluation and subsequent qualitative interpretation of said evaluation. Individuals with the same gender may have different senzens.
- There are no wrong answers in this situation, so use your imagination!
– Gent
Archive of Post: https://archive.md/iyK69
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