The androgyny it is a characteristic possessed by organisms that have both male and female traits. In the case of humans, they would be people who either do not have a defined sex, or do not clearly appear to belong to the gender with which they were born..
The term first appeared in Plato's "The Banquet." In this work, the philosopher spoke of the myth of androgynes, beings that had a body that was half a woman and half a man. From this moment on, and throughout history, androgyny has been present in most cultures.
Today, in Western civilization, the term androgyny has been largely replaced by others such as "transgender," "queer," or "non-binary." People with these characteristics are usually included within the LGBT + community. This is because their identity does not correspond to the most common socially.
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Androgyny has been present throughout history in all human cultures. In ancient Sumeria, androgynous men and hermaphrodites were directly related to the cult of the goddess Inanna. It was a kind of priests known as "gala".
These Gala, despite being men, used female names and spoke in a dialect normally used only by women. In addition, according to some historical records, they had homosexual relationships with each other. Their job was to lead the worship of the goddess, and they enjoyed a certain respect among the population..
In Mesopotamia, on the other hand, the goddess Ishtar (equivalent to Inanna) also had androgynous people among her priests. In this case, they were men who dressed as women and performed dances in honor of the deity..
Again, it is believed that they had homosexual relationships; In popular culture at the time, Ishtar was said to be capable of transforming men into women.
But the concept of androgyny did not emerge as such until the arrival of the Hellenic civilization. There are several myths that speak of this phenomenon in ancient Greece.
Thus, for example, we can find the story of Hermaphroditus, a mythological being that had both male and female characteristics..
Hermaphroditus was the illegitimate son of Hermes and Aphrodite (hence his name, which mixes those of these two divinities). His mother, feeling guilty, abandoned him to the care of the nymphs of Mount Ida, where the boy grew up to be a handsome young man..
While touring the Greek lands, one day he decided to bathe in a lake to cool off its heat. However, the naiad (a water spirit) who lived in the lake fell in love with him, and asked the gods to join their bodies into one so that they could never be separated..
According to myth, the gods granted the naiad's wish, and fused their bodies. Thus, Hermaphroditus became a being that combined the male and female sexes.
Upset, the young man asked his parents that any man who bathed in the lake should suffer the same fate. According to the story, the place was cursed, and was capable of stealing the virility of anyone who got into the water.
On the other hand, Plato coined the term "androgynous" in his work The Banquet. In this myth, he described people with characteristics of both sexes as the most powerful and complete among all humans..
After the Ancient Ages, many disciplines were concerned with the concept of androgyny. Thus, the existence of people with characteristics of both sexes interested thinkers of currents as different as alchemy, Christianity or astrology.
In many of these disciplines, androgynous people were viewed as complete beings. This is because, in most of them, nature is understood as the opposition of two poles: Sun and Moon, light and dark, day and night, male and female..
Androgynous people, therefore, would be people capable of harboring within them the two poles of nature, turning them into complete beings. For some theologians, even androgyny would have been the natural state of the human being before the expulsion from Paradise.
Today, the term androgyny has been replaced by others such as "intersex" or "non-binary sex." These words are sometimes used to describe people who were born with characteristics of both sexes due to a genetic disorder..
Sometimes, however, they can also serve to refer to individuals who are not comfortable with the sex of their birth and wish to make a gender change..
In this case, we would be talking about transsexual, "gender - queer" or "non-binary" people. In recent years, the visibility of this phenomenon has increased enormously.
The myth of the androgyne first appeared in "The Banquet", a work by Plato in which the philosopher collected several different myths and teachings. History tells that, thousands of years ago, the world was inhabited by beings whom he called androgynous.
These androgynes were made up of two joined parts, so they had four legs, four arms, and two heads. Some of them came from the union of two men; others, of two women. But the most powerful of them were those who united in one body a man and a woman.
These beings were above the rest. However, their power went to their heads; therefore they tried to conquer Mount Olympus, home of the gods. As punishment, Zeus divided all the inhabitants of the planet in two, condemning them to wander their entire lives in search of their other half..
This myth is also the basis for what has become known later as "Platonic love." In it, the philosopher explained that we all have a "better half"; the other half from which the gods separated us.
Interestingly, for Plato not everyone has a better half of the opposite sex. In their myth, some of the original androgynous had two parts of male or female. Thus, with this legend, the philosopher tried to explain homosexuality as something normal.
Plato, therefore, believed that we all have one half within us, and that we need to complement it with the other to be complete..
This squares with some other theories, which consider that couple relationships are formed due to an attraction of opposite energies..
Next we will see some of the most common characteristics of androgynous people. However, it is important to remember that it is not a homogeneous group..
For this reason, not all androgynous people will have all the characteristics; and those who do, not to the same degree.
In general, the appearance of an androgynous person is not typical of someone of their gender. Thus, an androgynous man will appear much more feminine than usual, and vice versa..
This can occur naturally, or be a conscious effort on the part of the person. Thus, some individuals believe that the characteristic image of their sex does not represent them. In these cases, we would be talking about a “gender queer” person.
In the modern world, people who consider themselves androgynous (such as non-binaries or gender queers) reject gender stereotypes outright..
Thus, they consider that there should be no behavioral differences between men and women based only on their sex.
Therefore, these people usually present behaviors characteristic of both genders at the same time. This can translate into ways of dressing, behaviors, hobbies, ways of thinking, or ways of relating.
In general, masculine people show a series of traits encompassed within the term “competence”. Thus, they tend to be more assertive, independent, dominant, competitive, ambitious and capable of making decisions with ease..
Feminine people, on the other hand, have characteristics that could be summarized as "expressiveness". These individuals tend to express their feelings more easily, are more emotional, better in their interpersonal relationships and better able to live in the present..
Androgynous individuals would be halfway between both types of characteristics. Thus, they usually present a mixture of competence and expressiveness traits..
On the other hand, they are usually able to adapt to each situation, so their capacities tend to be more versatile..
Finally, in some cases androgyny is caused by genetic or biological problems. On these occasions, the person who presents characteristics of both sexes usually requires medical intervention..
We must learn to differentiate, then, between the cases in which androgyny is a personal choice, and those in which it is a symptom of a biological or genetic disorder. The way to act in each of these situations must be totally different.
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