Androgyne

The androgyne flag.

Androgyne is a gender identity under the non-binary umbrella. It describes an individual whose gender identity is simultaneously male/masculine and female/feminine, or in between male/masculine and female/feminine, or whose gender identity is androgynous.

Androgyne individuals may also identify as bigender, with one masculine/male gender identity and one feminine/female gender identity. Others may identify with a single gender identity which is somewhere in between masculine/male and feminine/female (a form of centrigender). Androgyne individuals may feel a connection to androgyny or neutrality.

Androgyne should not be confused with bigender, which is a term used for individuals who experience two gender identities and is not limited to male and female gender identities. Androgyne individuals strictly identify as male/masculine and female/feminine in some way whether that is simultaneously, a mix, or in between female/feminine and male/masculine.

Androgyne individuals may not necessarily feel equal connection to masculinity and femininity. For example, one could feel 80% feminine and 20% masculine and still be androgyne. For some androgyne individuals the amount of masculinity and femininity they feel can be fluid.

Historically androgyne and androgynous were used interchangeably with intersex. Androgyne is not exclusive to intersex individuals and intersex individuals do not necessarily identify as androgyne. Some individuals may erroneously use androgyne interchangeably with non-binary or genderqueer. Intergender should not be confused with androgyne.

Androgyne should not be confused with androgynous. Androgynous is a term describing a gender quality or an individual's gender presentation which combines masculine and feminine presentations, but is not a gender identity. Not all androgyne individuals present androgynously, and not all individuals who present androgynously are androgyne.

Androgyne Subsets

• Femandrogyne: Feminine leaning androgyne.
• Mascandrogyne: Masculine leaning androgyne.
• Neutrandrogyne: Equally masculine and feminine androgyne.
• Versandrogyne: Androgyne with changing amounts of masculinity and femininity.
• Fluandrogyne: Androgyne with fluid aspects making up one's gender identity.

History

It is uncertain who coined the term androgyne and when, however the term has been around since as early as 1918 or before. Brochures about transgenderhood and transgender identities from the 1980s define the term androgyne as "A person who can comfortably express either alternative gender role in a variety of socially acceptable environments".

Flags and Symbols

The androgyne flag has three vertical stripes, pink representing femininity and womanhood, blue representing masculinity and manhood, and purple representing androgyny, a mix of the two. The flag was created by Tumblr user saveferris (now saveferris-blog) on March 29, 2011.

The alternate androgyne flag was created by DeviantArt user Pride-Flags on August 24, 2015. Black and white represent how androgyne, while it is a non-binary gender, is somewhat more binary than other identities. It weaves between male and female comfortably, and doesn’t tend to stray beyond the binary, unlike other identities. Blue represents masculinity, be it identity-wise or aesthetically. It represents the masculine traits that androgyne individuals possess, as well as those who are on the more masculine side of the identity. Pink represents femininity, identity-wise or aesthetically. It represents the feminine traits that androgyne individuals possess, as well as those who are on the more feminine side of the identity. Purple represents a comfortable blending of masculinity and femininity to make the unique identity that androgyne individuals are. Purple also represents androgyne being a non-binary identity.

Another alternate androgyne flag was created by Milith Rusignuolo on July 2, 2015. Raspberry and green represents androgyne individuals whose position on the gender spectrum changes, or who use the term interchangeably with other terms. Mulberry represents femandrogyne individuals, or androgyne individuals who are more feminine than masculine. Purple represents versandrogyne or neutrandrogyne individuals, who are neither more feminine nor more masculine. Blue represents mascandrogyne individuals, or androgyne individuals who are more masculine than feminine.

Another alternate androgyne flag was created by wrennnnnnnnn and post on r/QueerVexillology on June 19, 2020. Orange is used as a lesser known masculine color, one that doesn't play off of the pink vs. blue aesthetic. Purple, similarly, is an alternate feminine color. The white in the middle represents an absence of gender, same as on the genderqueer and non-binary flags. The Necker Cube is used in the middle as an androgyne symbol. The teal is a mixture of two colors, both gendered on opposite sides of the binary.

Another androgyne flag was created by emsydacat on August 1, 2021. There are two thinner stripes of equal size, which are pink, representing femininity, and blue, representing masculinity, and one thick purple stripe, representing a mix of the two, as well as neutrality. Emphasis is put on the purple stripe through the difference in size to represent how androgyne individuals fall between masculine and feminine, rather than being one or the other.

The sixth androgyne flag was created by FANDOM user you don't know so don't ask on the 3rd of January 2021.

The seventh flag was created by an unknown user on or before the 11th of November 2021.

Other symbols of androgyny include the the Necker Cube. In was proposed as a symbol in 1996 by an androgyne individual, Raphael Carter, due to it's ambiguous geometric shape. Carter says "because it is either concave or convex depending on how you look at it."

Another androgyne symbol is a mix of the male (Mars) and female (Venus) gender symbols (U+26A8 ⚨). This symbol is most commonly sighted as the androgyne symbol, but it is sometimes used for intersex. It can be shown pointing in any direction (U+26A6 ⚦ or U+26A9 ⚩), and the direction is sometimes used to distinguish androgyne and intersex. It is unknown who created this symbol and when. It is also the alchemical symbol for iron sulfate.

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  An alternate androgyne flag.

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  An alternate androgyne flag by Milith Rusignuolo

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  An alternate androgyne flag by wrennnnnnnnn

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  An alternate androgyne flag by emsydacat on Discord.

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  Another alternate androgyne flag

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  The seventh androgyne flag

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  The Necker cube

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  The androgyne symbol. Unicode: U+26A8 ⚨

Etymology

Androgyne is a combination of the Greek words "andro-" meaning male, and "-gyne", meaning female.