(CNN) -- For some people, gender isn't just about being male or female; In fact, the way one identifies can change every day or even every few hours.

Gender fluidity, when gender expression oscillates between masculine and feminine, can manifest itself in how we dress, express and describe.

Each person's gender exists on a spectrum, according to Dot Brauer, director of the LGBTQA Center at the University of Vermont. Progressive gender expression is the norm at the university, which offers gender-neutral bathrooms and allows students to use their preferred names.

"If you imagine the specter and imagine the most feminine expression you've ever seen and the most masculine you've ever seen, imagine where you stand," Brauer said.

Brauer, who identifies as gender-queer and prefers the pronoun "they," said gender identification is about what feels good to the person.

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Information is fluid

"In my generation, all the information that came to me was filtered through very limited perspectives and limiting languages. So, for example, if I was going to educate myself about gender, I was going to do it through health class in a curriculum set by the Board of Education," Brauer said.

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Since millennials grew up with the Internet, millennials can easily find information on topics such as gender expression, added Brauer, 58.

Lee Luxion, who is 26 and also prefers the pronoun "they," can wake up as a man or a woman, sometimes as both and sometimes as neither.

"The way I express it is usually how I dress, how I comb my hair. But then my gestures change. The way you speak can also change a bit," says Luxion.

Luxion agrees that the internet, along with the emergence of gender-fluid celebrities like Ruby Rose of "Orange Is the New Black," has made millennials more comfortable expressing their gender.

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"There shouldn't be a sense of what's normal and what's not," Luxion said. "And (with) more representation of transgender or gender fluid or non-binary people, we're more likely to feel confident about being transgender or gender fluid or non-binary as well."

There are many misconceptions about gender fluidity, according to community members. Gender fluidity does not determine a person's sexual preference.

Gender fluidity is not equivalent to transsexuality, in which a person's gender identity is different from the one assigned to them at birth.

Luxion rejects the idea that gender fluidity is not a valid genre, a refrain they've heard over and over again.

"Gender fluidity is much more than saying 'oh, I want to highlight the feminine traits I have' or 'I want to highlight the masculine traits I have.' It's a physical, mental and, for me, emotional change in the way I interact with the world."

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More than appearance

Theresa "TDo" Do, 37, was born in San Francisco and grew up female, but she never felt that way. She appears androgynous with a short haircut and expresses her gender fluidity in the way she behaves.

In situations where Do feels challenged, she says, she feels more masculine and expresses herself that way.

"The tone of my voice changes. It's a little more direct. My voice drops a bit," he explains. "I've been told that I walk very masculinely and inflate my chest when walking."

When she feels like she's in a safer place, she becomes more feminine.

"My voice rises a little bit. I drop my shoulders. I let people get closer to me emotionally and physically," Do explains. "For me in particular, when I'm in touch with my feminine side, I feel soft."

Brauer says that perceptions of others and each person's interpretation of their own gender influence how it is transmitted.

"There is a constant exchange. Identity is this rare thing that exists between us. It's like a perception, a space of thought, between ourselves and others," they explain.

Thomas Webb, 33, identifies as gender fluid and feels masculine "two-thirds" of the time. Webb's fluid gender expression alternates from masculine to feminine with his way of dressing, from suits to skirts.

"When I was in high school, I don't remember words like that existing. I didn't know the word 'gender-queer' until I was 20. He used terms like 'transvestite' or 'drag' to describe me, because it was the only thing I knew at the time," they explain.

Raising a gender-fluid child

Franki Davis, 14, identifies as a gender-fluid "demiboy" and uses the pronoun "they."

"Demiboy" means that a person partially identifies as male.

Franki has bright green hair and an androgynous and neutral appearance. Like any teenager, he enjoys going to concerts, taking pictures and Skype with his friends.

Franki discovered her gender identity during adolescence. And when he publicly acknowledged himself as a demiboy, his mother, Kristen Shaw, began homeschooling Franki because of the anxiety he suffered from at school.

"My biggest concern was that I was going to be more isolated and the limited friendships they have socially," Shaw said.

Shaw said he would tell a parent of a child like his to understand that it's important to let them grow.

"Before our children were born, the most important thing was that we proclaim that all we wanted was a healthy baby. And if we're lucky enough to have it, then we just go from there. It's a one-day-at-a-time process. Our job is to encourage them in life and set them up for success," he says.

Opinion and intersectionality

Brauer writes in an article titled "Gender: It's Complicated" that younger generations view identity through "the lens of intersectionality," which includes age, sex, location, socioeconomic class, and other factors.

"I could be perceived as having female sex to be quite masculine by the gender standards of femininity that exist" in the mid-Atlantic, Brauer said. "But here in Vermont, the standards of gender and femininity are different. So here they wouldn't see me as overly masculine or overly feminine."

When Do is in the office, she says, she gets stares from clients as she expresses her gender fluidity.

"In a business meeting, I may have to work a little harder to earn the respect of others," he says. And when he comes out of the "San Francisco bubble," he feels more tension.

Webb, who lives in Southern California, said she hasn't felt discriminated against because she stopped publicly wearing women's clothing and now dresses androgynous. In his opinion, it is easier to dress as a man than as a woman.

"People confuse personality and gender. My personality is not stereotypically female. So even when I'm wearing a skirt and everything, people see me as a man in a skirt, for better or worse. ... I don't think I'm treated like they would a lot of trans people or other gender-fluid people who act more feminine," Webb says.

For Luxion, telling someone their gender identity can elicit hurtful responses.

"When I get negative responses or people telling me my gender isn't valid or wrong, it's frustrating and hurtful, but it actually saddens me that people still aren't willing to take a step back," Luxion said. "It doesn't hurt anyone. So I don't understand why they are so opposed."

LGBTQ Fluid Gender