Androgyne

See also: Androgyny

Androgyne

Meaning The red symbolises woman and the blue symbolises man, and they are separated by purple (a mix of them both), yellow (representing non binary-ness) and grey (representing neutrality).
Related identities	Bigender
Under the umbrella term	Nonbinary
Frequency	0.7%
Click here to see alternative flags!

Androgyne symbol. In 1996, self-identified androgyne Raphael Carter proposed taking up this ambiguous geometric shape, the Necker Cube, as a symbol for androgynes, "because it is either concave or convex depending on how you look at it."

A mix of the male (Mars) and female (Venus) gender symbols. A symbol for androgyne, hermaphrodite, or intersex. Sometimes shown pointing in any different direction. Also the alchemist symbol for iron sulfate. Unicode: U+26A8 ⚨

The flag described above

Androgyne(Latin from Greek, andras- "man" + gune "woman", pronounced AN-druh-jin, IPA: ˈan-dɹə-ˌdʒīn), androgyn or androgynous gender, is an identity under the nonbinary and transgender umbrellas. Some writers use androgyne as an umbrella for many nonbinary genders. Androgynes have a gender identity that can be a blend of both or neither of the binary genders. They may describe this as being between female and male, between man and woman, between masculine and feminine or simply 'in between.' They can also identify as neither feminine or masculine, or neither female and male. The symbol ⚨ is used to represent this gender identity.

History

Historically, there have been some instances of people using the term bisexual to refer to androgynes, androgynous people, or intersex people. An example of the use of this word, found in pop culture, is in the 50th episode of the 2nd season of Star Trek, "The Trouble with Tribbles", where Dr. McCoy refers to the tribbles (an alien species) as bisexual. The term was also historically used to refer to feminine gay men, with its masculine lesbian equivalent being gynander, around the late 19th century and early 20th century.

The glossary in a 2003 anthology of essays on diversity of sex and gender defined "androgyne" as "someone who considers themselves to be both male and female. It can also mean someone who identifies as neuter."

"Androgyne" has also been used as an umbrella term similar to nonbinary, as in this quote from a 2010 encyclopedia:

«

Androgyne refers to individuals who assume or possess characteristics of both genders to feel emotionally complete. [...] An androgyne is a person who does not fit cleanly into the typical gender roles of his or her society. Androgynes may identify as beyond gender, between genders, moving across genders, entirely genderless, or any combination or all of these. Androgyne identities include pangender, bigender, ambigender, nongendered, agender, gender fluid, or intergender. Androgyny can be either physical or psychological; it does not depend on birth sex and is not limited to intersex people.

»

In 1918, Jennie June published Autobiography of an Androgyne, which has since been described as "a centerpiece for queer, trans, and gender studies of twentieth-century America."

In the 1980s, a trans-focused organization called the Human Outreach and Achievement Institute defined androgyne as "a person who can comfortably express either alternative gender role in a variety of socially acceptable environments."