Androgyne

Who we are, our history, our flags, and more resources about us.

Who Are We?

Androgyne is a term under the transgender and non-binary umbrella in which a person "has a gender identity that can be a blend of both of the binary genders." It can be described as "man-woman/boy-girl", "being between male and female" and being simply "in-between". It is androgynous (a mix of masculine or feminine) and does not experience to have equal feminine and masculine parts. Due to it being an androgynous gender, it fits under almost every sexuality label (except gender exclusive attractions, like polygendersexual).

How old is this identity?

The term androgyne dates back to the 18th century, as it was first used alongside bisexual to mean intersex in a medical sense, but it was first used in a gendering light in 1918. In 1918, Jennie June published Autobiography of an Androgyne, which has since been described as "a centrepiece for queer, trans, and gender studies of twentieth-century America" and is the first known usage of the term in terms of gender.

What does it mean?

The word androgyne is derived for the Greek-Latin words for man/masculine (andras/andro) and woman/feminine (gune/gyne). It literally means man-woman. Some people who call themselves an androgyne may identify with androgyny as a gender presentation, or have or wish to obtain an androgynous, 'in between', or neutral body, others see this as only a matter of gender identity and may express their androgynous gender through their personality or activities such as crossdressing, however they do not have to.

The Oldest NB Identity

In 1918, Jennie June published Autobiography of an Androgyne, which has since been described as "a centrepiece for queer, trans, and gender studies of twentieth-century America." This was the first time androgyne was not used as a medical term for intersex but as a term to describe gender. This is the earliest known term for a gender outside of the binary, thus making androgyne the oldest non binary identity.

Around this time the word androgyne was also being used to describe masculine women and feminine men, and the word androgynous was more used to describe looks rather than sex characteristics. The flapper style was described as such, as well as Coco Chanel's 1920's clothing lines for women.

Historically Medical

In the 18th century, the word androgyne was used to mean intersex along with the word bisexual in the 19th century. This usage of the word is long outdated. Most people believe that the gender term androgyne should only be used for intersex individuals and that is not true. The term is no longer exclusively intersex, and it has not been for 110 years. If an intersex person chooses to identify with their AGAB (assigned gender at birth), then they can call themselves an androgyne, or ipsogender, a gender specifically designed for intersex people to assign themselves their AGAB.

If it the same for all old terms, only intersex people could call themselves bisexual, which is not the case. Meanings of words change over time, and culture has evolved with it. The term intersex was developed, and androgyne is a term for gender identity.

Androgyne Vs Bigender

Androgyne and Bigender can be described as similar, but they are not the same. Androgynes experience a mix of the binary genders as one gender identity, like having a blend of pink and blue paint in one pot. Bigender people have two separate genders existing at once. These genders do not have to be man and woman, they can be any two genders, including androgyne. Bigender has two separate pots of two separate paints. This is not really a similar experience. They both share similar colours of paint, but not the similar usage of it.

Androgynes experiences with gender are not extremely similar to Bigender people's experience with gender, so they are not interchangeable. They are not the same.

Types of Androgyne

Being an androgyne is very different experience for everyone who uses the label, and some people has created different terms for different androgyne experiences. These terms are microlabels. I will list them here, and their flags will be in the flag section of this Carrd. There are also some terms to do with androgyny, but not that being an androgyne is not the same as being androgynous

  • Femandrogyne - A term for androgynes who feel a that their femininity outweighs their masculinity within their gender experience as an androgyne. This term may not fit under every sexuality label, as it is more feminine aligned than androgynously aligned

  • Mascandrogyne - A term for androgynes who feel a that their masculinity outweighs their femininity within their gender experience as an androgyne. This term may not fit under every sexuality label, as it is more masculine aligned than androgynously aligned.

  • Neutandrogyne - A term for androgynes who feel an "almost perfect" neutrality within their androgyne experience. They may feel like a "50/50" split of masculinity and femininity. This term fits under every sexuality label, as it is androgynously aligned.

  • Versandrogyne - A term for androgynes who feel like the amounts of masculinity and femininity within their gender experience fluctuates. They may sometimes feel more feminine than masculine, vice-versa or more more neutral.

  • Transandrogynous - A term for those who have transitioned to a more androgynous gender identity

  • Androgxne - A term for people who are an androgyne or androgynous whilst also having a genderless/agender identity. This maybe due to fluctuation of gender intensity, or being agender with an androgynous alignment.

  • Demiandrogyne - A term for people who are partially an androgyne. This could be because a person has such a complex gender and androgyne is the only simple part, or only partially identify with the androgyne label.

Sources, Recourses

This is all the sources used to create this Carrd, and some resources you should check out to learn more about androgynes!

  • https://nonbinary.wiki/wiki/Androgyne#cite_ref-7

  • https://nonbinary.wiki/wiki/PrideGallery/Androgyne#citenote-1

  • https://lgbta.fandom.com/wiki/Androgyne

  • https://lgbta.fandom.com/wiki/Gendersaros

  • https://lgbta.fandom.com/wiki/Versandrogyne

  • https://lgbta.fandom.com/wiki/Neutrandrogyne

  • https://lgbta.fandom.com/wiki/Mascandrogyne

  • https://lgbta.fandom.com/wiki/Femandrogyne

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listofandrogynous_people

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androgyny

  • https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/downloads/8g84mm373

  • https://nonbinary.wiki/wiki/Jennie_June