The quality of having both male and female characteristics, either in appearance, behavior, or identity.
From Late Latin androgynos combined with the suffix -ia (state or condition). Derived from Greek andros (man) + gyne (woman). The concept became particularly prominent in psychological and sociological studies during the 20th century.
Psychologist Sandra Bem revolutionized how we think about gender in the 1970s by showing that androgyny—being both assertive AND nurturing—might actually be psychologically healthier than being stereotypically masculine or feminine. This challenged decades of assumptions about what healthy people should be like.
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