:Androgyny#Gender identity

The term derives from {{langx|grc|ἀνδρόγυνος}}, from {{lang|el|ἀνήρ}}, stem {{lang|el|ἀνδρ}}- (anér, andro-, meaning man) and {{lang|el|γυνή}} (gunē, gyné, meaning woman) through the {{langx|la|androgynus}}.{{cite web |title=Online Etymology Dictionary: androgynous |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=androgynous&allowed_in_frame=0 |access-date=13 July 2013 |archive-date=20 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420172524/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=androgynous&allowed_in_frame=0 |url-status=live }}

{{See also|Sexuality in ancient Rome#Hermaphroditism and androgyny}}

Androgyny is attested from earliest history and across world cultures. In ancient Sumer, androgynous men were heavily involved in the cult of Inanna.{{cite book|last=Leick|first=Gwendolyn|title=Sex and Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=978-1-134-92074-7|location=New York City, New York|orig-year=1994|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WKoWblE4pd0C&pg=PA64|access-date=26 May 2020|archive-date=21 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321210620/https://books.google.com/books?id=WKoWblE4pd0C&pg=PA64|url-status=live}}{{rp|157–158}} A set of priests known as gala worked in Inanna's temples, where they performed elegies and lamentations.{{rp|285}} Gala took female names, spoke in the eme-sal dialect, which was traditionally reserved for women, and appear to have engaged in sexual acts with men.{{cite book|last1=Roscoe|first1=Will|last2=Murray|first2=Stephen O.|date=1997|title=Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature|location=New York City, New York|publisher=New York University Press|isbn=0-8147-7467-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Zw-AAAAQBAJ&q=Gordon%201959%20gala&pg=PA65|pages=65–66|access-date=9 October 2020|archive-date=21 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321210624/https://books.google.com/books?id=6Zw-AAAAQBAJ&q=Gordon%201959%20gala&pg=PA65|url-status=live}}

In later Mesopotamian cultures, kurgarrū and assinnu were servants of the goddess Ishtar, Inanna's East Semitic equivalent, who dressed in female clothing and performed war dances in Ishtar's temples. Several Akkadian proverbs seem to suggest that they may have also engaged in sexual activity with men. Gwendolyn Leick, an anthropologist known for her writings on Mesopotamia, has compared these individuals to the contemporary Indian hijra.{{rp|158–163}} In one Akkadian hymn, Ishtar is described as transforming men into women.

The ancient Greek myth of Hermaphroditus and Salmacis, two divinities who fused into a single immortal, provided a frame of reference used in Western culture for centuries. Androgyny and homosexuality are also seen in Plato's Symposium, in a myth where, according to Aristophanes, humanity started as three sexes: male-male people that descended from the sun, female-female people who descended from Earth, and male-female people who came from the Moon.{{Cite book |last1=Plato |title=The Symposium and The Phaedrus: Plato's erotic dialogues |last2=Cobb |first2=William S. |date=1993 |publisher=State Univ. of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-1617-4 |series=SUNY series in ancient Greek philosophy |location=Albany, NY}} The androgynous humans were spherical and had four legs, four hands and two heads. They were also extremely powerful and dared rebel against the Greek pantheon. "Plato cites the ancient tale of Otus and Ephialtes who rebelled against the gods and drove them from Mount Olympus. Not satisfied with this, they tried to set Mount Ossa atop Mount Olympus, and Mount Pelion atop of Ossa, that they might attack the gods in heaven itself."{{cite book |last1=Rothenberg |first1=Naftali |title=The Wisdom of Love: Man, Woman and God in Jewish Canonical Literature |date=2019 |publisher=Academic Studies Press |isbn=978-1-61811-098-5 |page=14 |url=doi.org/10.1515/9781618110985-006 |chapter=In the Midrash: Androgynous Adam}}

The gods, angered, divided the primordial humans in two and scattered them across the Earth. The divided searched for their other halves. The women who sought another woman and the men who sought another men were homosexuals.{{Cite web|language=it|url=https://www.lastampa.it/opinioni/buongiorno/2012/12/21/news/io-sto-con-platone-1.36354166/|title=Io sto con Platone|publisher =La Stampa|date=2012-12-21|access-date=2025-03-03|archive-url =

https://archive.today/20250303164727/https://www.lastampa.it/opinioni/buongiorno/2012/12/21/news/io-sto-con-platone-1.36354166/|archive-date =March 3, 2025|url-status=live}}

The Mishnah, a foundational text of Rabbinic Judaism from 2nd century Syria Palaestina, uses the term androgynos 32 times. It also recounts the creation of humanity in the Genesis creation narrative in Platonic terms. Genesis Rabbah, a midrashic text written some time after the Mishnah, explains, "Adam, who was created alone and thus embodies all of mankind, was androgynous, i.e. a bi-sexual being, male and female bound together in a single male-female body: 'He created him androgynous . . . He created him double-faced.'"{{cite book |last1=Rothenberg |first1=Naftali |title=The Wisdom of Love: Man, Woman and God in Jewish Canonical Literature |date=2019 |publisher=Academic Studies Press |isbn=978-1-61811-098-5 |page=23 |url=doi.org/10.1515/9781618110985-006 |chapter=In the Midrash: Androgynous Adam}} It is one of four additional legal categories of transgressively sexed individuals in the text, alongside the ayelonit, tumtum, and saris. In one mention, Rabbi Meir describes the androgynos as "a creation of its own type, which the sages could not decide whether is male or female".{{cite web|title=Mishnah Bikkurim 4:5|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Bikkurim.4.5|access-date=2021-08-10|website=www.sefaria.org|archive-date=10 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210810194946/https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Bikkurim.4.5|url-status=live}}

Philosophers such as Philo of Alexandria, and early Christian leaders such as Origen and Gregory of Nyssa, continued to promote the idea of androgyny as humans' original and perfect state during late antiquity."van der Lugt, Maaike, "Sex Difference in Medieval Theology and Canon Law," Medieval Feminist Forum (University of Iowa) vol. 46 no. 1 (2010): 101–121 In medieval Europe, the concept of androgyny played an essential role in both Christian theological debate and alchemical theory. Influential theologians such as John of Damascus and John Scotus Eriugena continued to promote the pre-fall androgyny proposed by the early Church Fathers, Other clergy expounded and debated the proper view and treatment of contemporary hermaphrodites.

Aristophanes' and Plato's conception are found in theosophy of Neoplatonism and Neo-Pythagoreanism, and Gnosticism. In particular, it was important to Islamic and Jewish philosophy, Kabbalah, and alchemy through the Renaissance and Romanticism.

The figure of the Androgyne as an archaic formulation of the coexistence of all attributes, thus including sexual attributes, in the divine unity and perfect man of originsJ.Chevalier, A. Gheerbrant Dizionario dei simboli Milano 1986 according to Mircea Eliade depicts the coincidentia oppositorum or unity of opposites: in a variety of creation myths, the unique androgynous being appears before the separation of things.Mircea Eliade, Mefistofele e l'androgino Rome 1971, page 74.{{ISBN|9788827206478}}.

Western esotericism's embrace of androgyny continued into the modern era. A 1550 anthology of alchemical thought, De Alchemia, included the influential Rosary of the Philosophers, which depicts the sacred marriage of the masculine principle (Sol) with the feminine principle (Luna), producing the "Divine Androgyne," a representation of alchemical Hermetic beliefs in dualism, transformation, and the transcendental perfection of the union of opposites.{{Cite book|title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to Alchemy|last=Hauck|first=Dennis William|date=2008|publisher=Alpha Books|isbn=9781592577354|location=New York|oclc=176917711}}

The symbolism and meaning of androgyny was a central preoccupation of the German mystic Jakob Böhme and the Swedish philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg. The philosophical concept of the "Universal Androgyne" (or "Universal Hermaphrodite") – a perfect merging of the sexes that predated the current corrupted world and/or was the utopia of the next – is also important in some strains of Rosicrucianism{{Cite book|title=The Secret Doctrine of the Rosicrucians|last=Atkinson|first=William Walker|date=2012|publisher=Weiser Books|isbn=9781578635344|editor-last=Marsh|editor-first=Clint|location=San Francisco, CA|pages=52–61|oclc=792888485}}{{cite web|url=https://www.rose-croix.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/rosicrucian_prophecies.pdf#page=4|title=Rosicrucian Prophecies|last=Rosicrucian Order|first=AMORC|date=13 December 2011|website=rose-croix.org|language=en-US|access-date=2017-12-04|archive-date=15 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215120054/http://www.rose-croix.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/rosicrucian_prophecies.pdf#page=4|url-status=live}} and in philosophical traditions such as Swedenborgianism and Theosophy.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} Twentieth century architect Claude Fayette Bragdon expressed the concept mathematically as a magic square, using it as building block in many of his most noted buildings.Ellis, Eugenia Victoria (June 2004). "Geomantic Mathematical (re)Creation: Magic Squares and Claude Bragdon's Theosophic Architecture". Nexus V: Architecture and Mathematics: 79-92.

In the mid-18th century, the macaronis of the Georgian era of England were a wealthy subculture of young men, known for androgynous gender expression.{{Cite journal |last=Rauser |first=Amelia |date=2004 |title=Hair, Authenticity, and the Self-Made Macaroni |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30053630 |journal=Eighteenth-Century Studies |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=101–117 |doi=10.1353/ecs.2004.0063 |jstor=30053630 |issn=0013-2586}} Their unusually large wigs, lavish fashion, and sentimental behavior prompted backlash from conservative generations of the time. In 1770, the Oxford Dictionary declared, "There is indeed a kind of animal, neither male nor female, a thing of the neuter gender, lately started up among us. It is called a macaroni."{{Cite book |last=Shipley |first=Joseph Twadell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zCx4r72uVKQC&pg=PT328 |title=The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European Roots |date=2001-07-01 |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=978-0-8018-9643-9 |language=en |access-date=3 April 2022 |archive-date=21 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321210658/https://books.google.com/books?id=zCx4r72uVKQC&pg=PT328 |url-status=live }} An example is portrait artist Richard Cosway, referred to as "the Macaroni artist."{{Cite book |last=McNeil |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IW9yDwAAQBAJ&q=richard+cosway |title=Pretty Gentlemen: Macaroni Men and the Eighteenth-century Fashion World |date=2018-01-01 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-21746-9 |language=en |access-date=13 April 2022 |archive-date=21 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321210623/https://books.google.com/books?id=IW9yDwAAQBAJ&q=richard+cosway |url-status=live }}

{{expert needed|psychology|section|reason=This article describes personality attributes, but not underlying principles|date=December 2018}}

In psychological study, various measures have been used to characterize gender, such as the Bem Sex Role Inventory and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire.{{Cite book|title=Psychological Androgyny|last=Cook|first=Ellen Piel|publisher=Pergamon Press|year=1985|isbn=0-08-031613-1|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/psychologicaland0000cook}}

Masculine traits are categorized as agentic and instrumental, dealing with assertiveness and analytical skill. Feminine traits are categorized as communal and expressive, dealing with empathy and subjectivity.{{Cite book|title=The Androgynous Manager|last=Sargent|first=Alice G.|publisher=AMACOM|year=1981|isbn=0-8144-5568-9|location=New York|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/androgynousmanag0000sarg}} Androgynous individuals exhibit behavior that extends beyond what is normally associated with their given sex.{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/androgyny|title=Androgyny|last=Rogers|first=Kara|date=February 6, 2009|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=November 4, 2019|archive-date=30 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630034018/https://www.britannica.com/topic/androgyny|url-status=live}} Due to the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics, androgynous individuals have access to a wider array of psychological competencies in regards to emotional regulation, communication styles, and situational adaptability. Androgynous individuals have also been associated with higher levels of creativity and mental health.{{Cite journal|last1=Gartzia|first1=Leire|last2=Pizzaro|first2=Jon|last3=Baniandres|first3=Josune|title=Emotional Androgyny: A Preventive Factor of Psychosocial Risks at Work?|journal=Frontiers in Psychology|year=2018|volume=9|page=2144|doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02144|pmid=30534094|pmc=6275296|doi-access=free}}{{cite web|url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/blurred-lines-androgyny-and-creativity/|title=Blurred Lines, Androgyny and Creativity|last=Kaufman|first=Scott Barry|author-link=Scott Barry Kaufman|date=September 1, 2013|website=Scientific American Blog Network|language=en|access-date=2019-10-10|archive-date=22 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190922210628/https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/blurred-lines-androgyny-and-creativity/|url-status=live}}

The Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) was constructed by the early leading proponent of androgyny, Sandra Bem (1977).Santrock, J. W. (2008). A Topical Approach to Life-Span Development. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies. 007760637X {{page needed|date=November 2019}}{{Cite web |title=Sandra Lipsitz Bem |url=http://faculty.webster.edu/woolflm/sandrabem2.htm |access-date=2023-06-20 |website=faculty.webster.edu}} The BSRI is one of the most widely used gender measures. Based on an individual's responses to the items in the BSRI, they are classified as having one of four gender role orientations: masculine, feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated. Bem understood that both masculine and feminine characteristics could be expressed by anyone and it would determine those gender role orientations.{{Cite book|title=Gender in Communication|last=DeFrancisco|first=Victoria L.|publisher=SAGE Publications|year=2014|isbn=978-1-4522-2009-3|page=11}}

An androgynous person is an individual who has a high degree of both feminine (expressive) and masculine (instrumental) traits. A feminine individual is ranked high on feminine (expressive) traits and ranked low on masculine (instrumental) traits. A masculine individual is ranked high on instrumental traits and ranked low on expressive traits. An undifferentiated person is low on both feminine and masculine traits.

According to Sandra Bem, androgynous individuals are more flexible and more mentally healthy than either masculine or feminine individuals; undifferentiated individuals are less competent. More recent research has debunked this idea, at least to some extent, and Bem herself has found weaknesses in her original pioneering work.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}} Now she prefers to work with gender schema theory.

One study found that masculine and androgynous individuals had higher expectations for being able to control the outcomes of their academic efforts than feminine or undifferentiated individuals.Choi, N. (2004). Sex role group differences in specific, academic, and general self-efficacy. Journal of Psychology, 138, 149–159.

The Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ) was developed in the 70s by Janet Spence, Robert Helmreich, and Joy Stapp. This test asked subjects to complete a survey consisting of three sets of scales relating to masculinity, femininity, and masculinity-femininity. These scales had sets of adjectives commonly associated with males, females, and both. These descriptors were chosen based on typical characteristics as rated by a population of undergrad students. Similar to the BSRI, the PAQ labeled androgynous individuals as people who ranked highly in both the areas of masculinity and femininity. However, Spence and Helmreich considered androgyny to be a descriptor of high levels of masculinity and femininity as opposed to a category in and of itself.

{{See also|Sex differences in humans}}

Historically, the word androgynous was applied to humans with a mixture of male and female sex characteristics, and was sometimes used synonymously with the term hermaphrodite.{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/androgyny|title=Androgyny | psychology|access-date=18 April 2019|archive-date=30 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630034018/https://www.britannica.com/topic/androgyny|url-status=live}} In some disciplines, such as botany, androgynous and hermaphroditic are still used interchangeably.

When androgyny is used to refer to physical traits, it often refers to a person whose biological sex is difficult to discern at a glance because of their mixture of male and female characteristics. Because androgyny encompasses additional meanings related to gender identity and gender expression that are distinct from biological sex, today the word androgynous is rarely used to formally describe mixed biological sex characteristics in humans.{{cite web|url=http://www.isna.org/faq/what_is_intersex|title=What is intersex? | Intersex Society of North America|access-date=18 April 2019|archive-date=10 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110143819/http://www.isna.org/faq/what_is_intersex|url-status=live}} In modern English, the word intersex is used to more precisely describe individuals with mixed or ambiguous sex characteristics. However, both intersex and non-intersex people can exhibit a mixture of male and female sex traits such as hormone levels, type of internal and external genitalia, and the appearance of secondary sex characteristics.

{{Transgender sidebar}}

An individual's gender identity, a personal sense of one's own gender, may be described as androgynous if they feel that they have both masculine and feminine aspects. The word androgyne can refer to a person who does not fit neatly into one of the typical masculine or feminine gender roles of their society, or to a person whose gender is a mixture of male and female, not necessarily half-and-half. Many androgynous individuals identify as being mentally or emotionally both masculine and feminine. They may also identify as "gender-neutral", "genderqueer", or "non-binary".{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}{{Cite web |title=Advanced Trans* Terminology |url=https://wou.edu/wp/safezone/files/2014/07/Advanced-Trans-Terminology.pdf |access-date=May 6, 2023 |archive-date=24 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240824010323/https://wou.edu/wp/safezone/files/2014/07/Advanced-Trans-Terminology.pdf |url-status=dead }} A person who is androgynous may engage freely in what is seen as masculine or feminine behaviors as well as tasks. They may have a balanced identity that includes the virtues of both men and women and may disassociate the task with what gender they may be socially or physically assigned to. People who identify as androgynous typically disregard which traits are culturally constructed specifically for males and females within a society, and rather focus on what behavior is most effective within the situational circumstance.{{Cite journal|last1 = Woodhill|first1 = Brenda|date = 2004|journal = Journal of Gender Studies|doi = 10.1080/09589236.2004.10599911|first2 = Curtis|last2 = Samuels|title = Desirable and Undesirable Androgyny: A Prescription for the Twenty-First Century|volume = 13|pages = 15–28|s2cid = 146597061}}

Some non-Western cultures recognize additional androgynous gender identities, called third genders.

File:Louisebrooks1.jpg exemplified the flapper. Flappers challenged traditional gender roles and had boyish hair cuts and androgynous figures.[https://books.google.com/books?id=_VgLtO4Lby4C&pg=PA253 New world coming: the 1920s and the making of modern America]. New York: Scribner, 2003, p. 253, {{ISBN|978-0-684-85295-9}}.]]

Gender expression that includes a mixture of masculine and feminine characteristics can be described as androgynous. The categories of masculine and feminine in gender expression are socially constructed, and rely on shared conceptions of clothing, behavior, communication style, and other aspects of presentation. In some cultures, androgynous gender expression has been celebrated, while in others, androgynous expression has been limited or suppressed. To say that a culture or relationship is androgynous is to say that it lacks rigid gender roles, or has blurred lines between gender roles.

The word genderqueer is often used by androgynous individuals to refer to themselves, but the terms genderqueer and androgynous are neither equivalent nor interchangeable.{{cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/genderqueer|title=Definition of Genderqueer|access-date=18 April 2019|archive-date=18 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418215636/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/genderqueer|url-status=live}} Genderqueer, by virtue of its ties with queer culture, carries sociopolitical connotations that androgyny does not carry. For the association with homosexuality, some androgynes may find the label genderqueer inaccurate, inapplicable, or offensive. Androgyneity is considered by some to be a viable alternative to androgyn for differentiating internal (psychological) factors from external (visual) factors.{{cite web |url=http://androgyne.0catch.com/psych.htm#androgyneity |title=Psychological Androgyny -- A Personal Take |access-date=13 July 2014 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232231/http://androgyne.0catch.com/psych.htm#androgyneity |url-status=dead }}{{Unreliable source?|date=May 2023}}

An alternative to androgyny is gender-role transcendence: the view that individual competence should be conceptualized on a personal basis rather than on the basis of masculinity, femininity, or androgyny.Pleck, J. H. (1995). "The gender-role strain paradigm". In R. F. Levant & W. S. Pollack (Eds.), A new psychology of men. New York: Basic Books.

In agenderism, the division of people into women and men (in the psychical sense), is considered erroneous and artificial.{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/bodiesthatmatter00butl |url-access=registration |title=Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of 'Sex' |first=Judith P. |last=Butler |year=1993 |access-date=12 October 2014 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bodiesthatmatter00butl/page/2 2]–3|isbn=9780415903660 }} Agendered individuals are those who reject gender labeling in conception of self-identity and other matters.{{cite book|last1=Galupo|first1=M. Paz|last2=Pulice-Farrow|first2=Lex|last3=Ramirez|first3=Johanna L.|title=Identity Flexibility During Adulthood |chapter="Like a Constantly Flowing River": Gender Identity Flexibility Among Nonbinary Transgender Individuals |year=2017|pages=163–177|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-55658-1_10|isbn=978-3-319-55656-7}}{{cite web|author1=Johanna Schorn|title=Taking the "Sex" out of Transsexual: Representations of Trans Identities in Popular Media|url=http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/critical-issues/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/schornglpaper.pdf|website=Inter-Disciplinary.Net|publisher=Universität zu Köln|access-date=6 February 2017|page=1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025012342/http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/critical-issues/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/schornglpaper.pdf|archive-date=25 October 2014|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}{{cite journal|last1=Galupo|first1=M. Paz|last2=Henise|first2=Shane B.|last3=Davis|first3=Kyle S.|title=Transgender microaggressions in the context of friendship: Patterns of experience across friends' sexual orientation and gender identity.|journal=Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity|date=2014|volume=1|issue=4|page=462|doi=10.1037/sgd0000075|citeseerx=10.1.1.708.6228}}{{cite journal|last1=Sumerau|first1=J. E.|last2=Cragun|first2=R. T.|last3=Mathers|first3=L. A. B.|title=Contemporary Religion and the Cisgendering of Reality|journal=Social Currents|date=2015|volume=3|issue=3|page=2|doi=10.1177/2329496515604644|s2cid=148049302|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283188192}} They see their subjectivity through the term person instead of woman or man.{{r|towson|page=p.16}} According to E. O. Wright, genderless people can have traits, behaviors and dispositions that correspond to what is currently viewed as feminine and masculine, and the mix of these would vary across persons. Nevertheless, it does not suggest that everyone would be androgynous in their identities and practices in the absence of gendered relations. What disappears in the idea of genderlessness is any expectation that some characteristics and dispositions are strictly attributed to a person of any biological sex.{{cite book|author1=Erik Olin Wright|editor1-last=Axel Gosseries, Philippe Vanderborght|title=Arguing about justice|date=2011|publisher=Presses universitaires de Louvain|location=Louvain|isbn=9782874632754|pages=403–413|chapter-url=http://books.openedition.org/pucl/1851|access-date=6 February 2017|language=en|chapter=In defense of genderlessness (The Sex-Gender Distinction)|archive-date=22 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422034545/http://books.openedition.org/pucl/1851|url-status=live}}

{{Main article|Androgyny in fashion}}

File:Luisa Capetillo wearing Mens Clothing.jpg wearing men's clothing]]

Throughout most of twentieth century Western history, social rules have restricted people's dress according to gender. Trousers were traditionally a male form of dress, frowned upon for women.{{Cite book|title=History of Twentieth Century Fashion|last1=Ewing|first1=E.|last2=Mackrell|first2=A.|publisher=Quite Specific Media Group Ltd|year=2002|location=LA}} However, during the 19th century, female spies were introduced and Vivandières wore a certain uniform with a dress over trousers. Women activists during that time would also decide to wear trousers, for example Luisa Capetillo, a women's rights activist and the first woman in Puerto Rico to wear trousers in public.{{Cite book|title=Luisa Capetillo, Pioneer Puerto Rican Feminist: With the collaboration of students from the Graduate Program in Translation, The University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, Spring 1991|last=Valle-Ferrer|first=Norma|date=1 June 2006|publisher=Peter Lang Publishing Inc.|isbn=9780820442853|language=en}}

File:Yves St Laurent le smoking at deYoung Museum San Francisco.jpg, the tuxedo suit "Le Smoking", created in 1966]]

In the 20th century, starting around World War I traditional gender roles blurred and fashion pioneers such as Paul Poiret and Coco Chanel introduced trousers to women's fashion. The "flapper style" for women of this era included trousers and a chic bob, which gave women an androgynous look.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qfl0AQAAQBAJ|title=A Social History of Late Ottoman Women: New Perspectives|last1=Köksal|first1=Duygu|last2=Falierou|first2=Anastasia|date=10 October 2013|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004255258|language=en}} Coco Chanel, who had a love for wearing trousers herself, created trouser designs for women such as beach pajamas and horse-riding attire. During the 1930s, glamorous actresses such as Marlene Dietrich fascinated and shocked many with their strong desire to wear trousers and adopt the androgynous style. Dietrich is remembered as one of the first actresses to wear trousers in a premiere.{{cite web|url=https://www.barnebys.co.uk/blog/article/1293/|title=Harriet Fisher|website=The Queen of Androgyny – Marlene Dietrich – Blog|access-date=2016-05-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616200113/https://www.barnebys.co.uk/blog/article/1293/|archive-date=16 June 2016|url-status=dead}}

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the women's liberation movement is likely to have contributed to ideas and influenced fashion designers, such as Yves Saint Laurent.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/21/opinions/kohn-seventies-sexual-revolution/index.html|title=The Seventies: The sex freakout|first=Sally|last=Kohn|website=CNN|date=21 July 2015|access-date=2016-05-22|archive-date=22 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160522233145/http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/21/opinions/kohn-seventies-sexual-revolution/index.html|url-status=live}} Yves Saint Laurent designed the Le Smoking suit and introduced it in 1966, while Helmut Newton's erotized androgynous photographs of the suit made it iconic and a classic.{{cite web|url=https://sophmoet.wordpress.com/2014/05/01/352mc-27/|title=Androgyny and Feminism|last=Moet|first=Sophie|date=1 May 2014|website=Sophie Moet|access-date=2016-05-22|archive-date=12 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012201207/https://sophmoet.wordpress.com/2014/05/01/352mc-27/|url-status=live}}

Elvis Presley introduced an androgynous style in rock'n'roll.{{cite web|url=http://observer.com/2016/01/elvis-never-gets-credit-for-one-of-his-greatest-gifts-to-rock-n-roll/|title=Elvis Never Gets Credit for One of His Greatest Gifts to Rock 'n Roll|date=8 January 2016|website=Observer|language=en-US|access-date=2016-05-23|archive-date=11 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160511162942/http://observer.com/2016/01/elvis-never-gets-credit-for-one-of-his-greatest-gifts-to-rock-n-roll/|url-status=live}} His pretty face and use of eye makeup often made people think he was a rather "effeminate guy",{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/lostrevolutionss00dani|url-access=registration|title=Lost Revolutions: The South in the 1950s|last=Daniel|first=Pete|date=1 January 2000|publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press|isbn=9780807848487|language=en}} When the Rolling Stones played London's Hyde Park in 1969, Mick Jagger wore a white "man's dress" designed by Michael Fish.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150331-womens-clothes-for-men|title=His or hers: Will androgynous fashion catch on?|last=Baker|first=Lindsay|website=www.bbc.com|date=31 March 2015 |access-date=2016-05-22|archive-date=13 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513121944/http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150331-womens-clothes-for-men|url-status=live}} Fish was the most fashionable shirt-maker in London, the inventor of the Kipper tie, and a principal taste-maker of the peacock revolution in men's fashion.{{cite news|last1=Elan|first1=Priya|title=Peacock revolution back with label that dressed Mick Jagger and David Bowie|url=https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2016/mar/13/peacock-revolution-david-bowie-mick-jagger-mr-fish|work=The Guardian|date=13 March 2016|location=London|access-date=11 December 2016|archive-date=10 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161210061917/https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2016/mar/13/peacock-revolution-david-bowie-mick-jagger-mr-fish|url-status=live}} His creation for Mick Jagger was considered to be the epitome of the swinging 60s.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/10129974/Mick-Jaggers-white-dress-cast-him-as-a-romantic-hero.html|title=Mick Jagger's white dress cast him as a romantic hero|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=2016-05-22|archive-date=8 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180508124540/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/10129974/Mick-Jaggers-white-dress-cast-him-as-a-romantic-hero.html|url-status=live}}

File:Boy George 1995.jpg (pictured) and Annie Lennox appeared on the front cover of Smash Hits magazine in December 1983 in identical makeup, followed by the cover of Newsweek in January 1984 to mark a second British Invasion.{{cite news |title=Boy George, The Man |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/11/15/boy-george-the-man/59944def-e309-4cfc-828d-449410acd5f4/ |access-date=14 November 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post |quote=Newsweek put Boy George and Eurythmic Annie Lennox on a cover heralding a second British Invasion, pop's gender benders |archive-date=28 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228003931/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/11/15/boy-george-the-man/59944def-e309-4cfc-828d-449410acd5f4/ |url-status=live }} Music journalist Sue Steward wrote that the Smash Hits cover "begged the question, 'Which one is the boy?'"{{cite book |last1=Steward |first1=Sue |title=Signed, Sealed, and Delivered: True Life Stories of Women in Pop |date=1984 |publisher=South End Press |page=51}}]]

In 1972, David Bowie presented his alter ego Ziggy Stardust, a character that was a symbol of sexual ambiguity when he launched the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and Spiders from Mars.{{cite web|url=http://wsimag.com/fashion/91-androgyny-in-the-fashion-world|title=Androgyny in the fashion world|last=Lalovic|first=Itana|date=19 November 2013|website=Wall Street International|language=en-US|access-date=2016-05-22|archive-date=25 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160525172101/http://wsimag.com/fashion/91-androgyny-in-the-fashion-world|url-status=live}} Marc Bolan, the other pioneer of glam rock, performed on the BBC's Top of the Pops in 1971 wearing glitter and satins, with The Independent stating his appearance "permitted a generation of teeny-boppers to begin playing with the idea of androgyny".{{cite web |url-status=live |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/gary-glitter-written-out-of-glam-rock-history-in-favour-of-no-l-coward-8911627.html |title=Box-set billed as the definitive guide to Seventies music genre has further ostracised its disgraced former star |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200102011533/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/gary-glitter-written-out-of-glam-rock-history-in-favour-of-no-l-coward-8911627.html |archive-date=2 January 2020 |website=The Independent |access-date=15 September 2017 |date=29 October 2013 |first1=Adam |last1=Sherwin }} The 1973 West End musical The Rocky Horror Show also depicted sexual fluidity.{{Cite news |date=25 September 2015 |title=We Live in the World 'Rocky Horror' Created |language=en-US |work=Flavorwire |url=http://flavorwire.com/539534/we-live-in-the-world-rocky-horror-created |first1= Judy |last1=Berman |access-date=22 May 2017 |archive-date=14 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014034415/http://flavorwire.com/539534/we-live-in-the-world-rocky-horror-created |url-status=live }}

Continuing into the 1980s, the rise of avant-garde fashion designers like Yohji Yamamoto,{{Cite journal|title=Global Influences: Challenging Western Traditions|journal=London: Berg}} challenged the social constructs around gender. They reinvigorated androgyny in fashion, addressing gender issues. This was also reflected within pop culture icons during the 1980s, such as Grace Jones, Prince, Annie Lennox and Boy George.{{cite news|author=Andrew Anthony|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/oct/10/annie-lennox-eurythmics-christmas-cornucopia-universal-child|title=Annie Lennox: the interview|work=The Observer|access-date=2 October 2012|location=London, UK|date=10 October 2010|archive-date=23 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101023210318/http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/oct/10/annie-lennox-eurythmics-christmas-cornucopia-universal-child|url-status=live}}

File:Yoshiki Hayashi.jpg founder Yoshiki is often labelled androgynous, known for having worn lace dresses and acting effeminate during performances.{{cite book|title=Global Glam and Popular Music: Style and Spectacle from the 1970s to the 2000s|pages=203–205|publisher=Routledge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RY-PCwAAQBAJ&q=X%20Japan%20androgynous%20look&pg=PA204|editor=Ian Chapman, Henry Johnson|year=2016|isbn=9781317588191|access-date=9 October 2020|archive-date=21 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321210627/https://books.google.com/books?id=RY-PCwAAQBAJ&q=X%20Japan%20androgynous%20look&pg=PA204|url-status=live}}]]

Power dressing for women became even more prominent within the 1980s which was previously only something done by men in order to look structured and powerful. However, during the 1980s this began to take a turn as women were entering jobs with equal roles to the men. In the article "The Menswear Phenomenon" by Kathleen Beckett written for Vogue in 1984 the concept of power dressing is explored as women entered these jobs they had no choice but to tailor their wardrobes accordingly, eventually leading the ascension of power dressing as a popular style for women.{{Cite journal|title=The Menswear Phenomenon.|journal=Vogue; Conde Nast}} Women begin to find through fashion they can incite men to pay more attention to the seduction of their mental prowess rather, than the physical attraction of their appearance. This influence in the fashion world quickly makes its way to the world of film, with movies like "Working Girl" using power dressing women as their main subject matter.

Japanese designers began popularizing androgynous fashion in the 1980s, as seen in the work of Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo, who brought in a distinct Japanese style that adopted a distinctively gender ambiguous theme. These two designers consider themselves a part of the avant-garde, reinvigorating Japanism.{{Cite journal|title=Global Influences: Challenging Western Traditions.|journal=London: Berg.}} Yamamoto has expressed the lack of necessity behind gender distinctions, stating "I always wonder who decided that there should be a difference in the clothes of men and women" {{Cite web |date=2015-12-13 |title=How Japanese designers pioneered gender-neutral dressing |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/how-japanese-designers-pioneered-genderneutral-dressing-a6769676.html |access-date=2024-05-02 |website=The Independent |language=en}}

Also during the 1980s, Grace Jones, a singer and fashion model, gender-thwarted appearance in the 1980s, which startled the public. Her androgynous style inspired many and she became an androgynous style icon for modern celebrities.{{cite web|url=http://www.highsnobiety.com/2015/05/14/androgynous-fashion-moments/|title=Androgynous Fashion Moments|date=14 May 2015|website=Highsnobiety|access-date=2016-05-23|archive-date=28 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200528155546/https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/androgynous-fashion-moments/|url-status=live}}File:G-Dragon in 2012.jpg is often noted for his androgynous looks.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/move-over-psy-here-comes-gdragon-style-9673768.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/move-over-psy-here-comes-gdragon-style-9673768.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Move over, Psy! Here comes G-Dragon style|date=17 August 2014|access-date=2015-04-05|work=The Independent}}{{cbignore}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2014/mar/03/k-pop-music-a-beginners-guide-south-korea-sxsw|title=K-pop: a beginner's guide|work=The Guardian|access-date=2015-04-05|date=3 March 2014|archive-date=31 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150331031356/http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2014/mar/03/k-pop-music-a-beginners-guide-south-korea-sxsw|url-status=live}}]]

Androgyny has been gaining more prominence in popular culture in the early 21st century.{{cite web |url=http://uniorb.com/RCHECK/RAndrogyny.htm |title=Androgyny becoming global? |publisher=uniorb.com |access-date=17 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226022658/http://uniorb.com/RCHECK/RAndrogyny.htm |archive-date=26 December 2010 |url-status=dead }} Both the fashion industry{{cite news |url=http://www.torontosun.com/life/fashion/2010/10/04/15572956.html |title=Androgynous look back for spring |first=Astrid |last=Wendlandt |newspaper=Reuters |access-date=17 December 2010 |archive-date=6 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101006174728/http://www.torontosun.com/life/fashion/2010/10/04/15572956.html |url-status=live }} and pop culture have accepted and even popularized the "androgynous" look, with several current celebrities being hailed as creative trendsetters.

The rise of the metrosexual in the first decade of the 2000s has also been described as a related phenomenon associated with this trend. Traditional gender stereotypes have been challenged and changed since the 1960s, which included the hippie movement and flower power. Artists in film such as Leonardo DiCaprio sported the "skinny" look in the 1990s, a departure from traditional masculinity, which resulted in the fad "Leo Mania".{{cite web |url=https://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/2005-02-24/entertainment/17359092_1_leonardo-dicaprio-titanic-fan |title=The teenage fans from 'Titanic' days jump ship as Leonardo DiCaprio moves on |date=24 February 2005 |author=Peter Hartlaub |publisher=sfgate.com |access-date=17 December 2010 |archive-date=11 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511093209/http://articles.sfgate.com/2005-02-24/entertainment/17359092_1_leonardo-dicaprio-titanic-fan |url-status=live }} Musical stars such as Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, Andre 3000, and the band Placebo have used clothing and makeup to popularize androgynous and genderqueer aesthetics throughout the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s.{{cite book|last1=Cavendish|first1=Marshall|title=Sex and Society, Vol 1|date=2010|publisher=Paul Bernabeo|page=69}}

While the 1990s unrolled and fashion developed an affinity for unisex clothes, there was a rise of designers who favored that look, including Helmut Lang, Giorgio Armani, and Pierre Cardin. Men in catalogues started wearing jewellery, make up, visual kei, and designer stubble. These styles have become a significant mainstream trend of the 21st century, both in the Western world and in Asia.{{cite news |url=http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/featured/nfw2/stories.php?id=416 |title=Androgynous look catches on |newspaper=The Himalayan Times |date=13–16 September 2010 |access-date=17 December 2010 |archive-date=19 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119170230/http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/featured/nfw2/stories.php?id=416 |url-status=live }} Japanese and Korean cultures have featured the androgynous look as a positive attribute in society, as depicted in both K-pop, J-pop,{{cite web |url=http://www.tokyo-top-guide.com/Harajuku_Girl.html |title=Harajuku Girls Harajuku Clothes And Harajuku Gothic fashion Secrets |publisher=Tokyo Top Guide |access-date=17 December 2010 |archive-date=30 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630041452/http://www.tokyo-top-guide.com/Harajuku_Girl.html/ |url-status=live }} in anime and manga,{{cite web |url=http://www.jpopasia.com/profiles/405/kagerou.html |title=Profile of Kagerou |publisher=jpopasia.com |access-date=17 December 2010 |archive-date=27 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127025152/http://www.jpopasia.com/profiles/405/kagerou.html |url-status=live }} as well as the fashion industry.{{cite news |url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20051113x1.html |title=Japan Fashion Week in Tokyo 2005. A stitch in time? |first=Martin |last=Webb |date=13 November 2005 |newspaper=The Japan Times |access-date=17 December 2010 |archive-date=26 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426040059/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20051113x1.html |url-status=live }}

File:"nonbinary" in Google Trends.png

The 21st century additionally saw global conversations around gender identity which helped further the presence of androgyny in fashion. In the mid-2010s, online searches for the word "nonbinary" skyrocketed, and young people began to see themselves as nonbinary or gender nonconforming.{{Cite web |last1=Wilson |first1=Bianca D.M. |last2=Choi |first2=Soon Kyu |last3=Herman |first3=Jody L. |last4=Becker |first4=Tara L. |last5=Conron |first5=Kerith J. |date=December 2017 |title=Characteristics and Mental Health of Gender Nonconforming Adolescents in California |url=https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/gnc-youth-ca/ |website=UCLA Williams Institute}} Actor Lachlan Watson, who uses they/them pronouns, posted a photo on Instagram wearing a t-shirt saying "Gender is Over," a riff on the John Lennon and Yoko Ono "War is Over" poster.@instagram (24 November 2018). [https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqk3o6SHq7h/ "Gender is Over"] Retrieved 21 November 2024 – via Instagram.

Singer Billie Eilish has also openly called gender roles "ancient."{{Cite web |last=Garvey |first=Meaghan |title=Who's Billie Eilish? |url=https://www.thefader.com/2019/03/05/billie-eilish-cover-story |website=The Fader}} Since her musical debut in 2016, Eilish has worn both traditionally masculine and feminine silhouettes, wearing a Marilyn Monroe inspired Oscar de la Renta gown to the Met Gala in 2021 to being referred to as a "hey mamas" lesbian after an appearance on Chicken Shop Date in 2024 where she wore an oversized tee, bandana, and backwards cap.{{Cite web |last=Zhang |first=Cat |title=What's Up With Billie Eilish's Style? |url=https://www.thecut.com/2024/07/billie-eilish-queer-style-analysis.html |website=The Cut|date=24 July 2024 }}{{Cite web |last=López |first=Quispe |title=What Is a "Hey Mamas" Lesbian and Why Are They All Over TikTok? |url=https://www.them.us/story/hey-mamas-lesbians-meaning-tik-tok-trend |website=them|date=26 April 2024 }}

In the ancient and medieval worlds, androgynous people and/or hermaphrodites were represented in art by the caduceus, a wand of transformative power in ancient Greco-Roman mythology. The caduceus was created by Tiresias and represents his transformation into a woman by Juno in punishment for striking at mating snakes. The caduceus was later carried by Hermes/Mercury and was the basis for the astronomical symbol for the planet Mercury and the botanical sign for hermaphrodite. That sign is now sometimes used for transgender people.

Another common androgyny icon in the medieval and early modern period was the Rebis, a conjoined male and female figure, often with solar and lunar motifs. Still another symbol was what is today called sun cross, which united the cross (or saltire) symbol for male with the circle for female.William Wallace Atkinson, The Secret Doctrines of the Rosicrucians (London: L.N. Fowler & Co., 1918), 53-54. This sign is now the astronomical symbol for the planet Earth.{{cite web|url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/680/solar-system-symbols|title=Solar System Symbols|website=Solar System Exploration: NASA Science|date=30 January 2018 |access-date=December 31, 2018|archive-date=20 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211220171351/https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/680/solar-system-symbols/|url-status=live}}

File:Chambers 1908 Caduceus.png|The caduceus

File:Mercury symbol.svg|Mercury symbol derived from the caduceus

File:Rebis Theoria Philosophiae Hermeticae 1617.jpg|A rebis from 1617

File:Earth symbol.svg|"Rose and Cross" androgyne symbol

File:Wheel cross.svg|Alternate "rose and cross" version

{{div col|colwidth=22em}}

• List of androgynous people
• List of transgender-related topics
• Epicenity
• Futanari
• Gender bender
• Gender dysphoria
• Gender neutrality
• Gonochorism
• Gynandromorphism
• Gynomorph
• Postgenderism
• Sexual orientation hypothesis
• Soft butch
• Third gender
• True hermaphroditism

{{div col end}}

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{Commons category|Androgyny}}

• {{Wiktionary-inline}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Human appearance

Category:Fashion aesthetics

Category:Intersex topics in society