Androgyny
(an·drog·y·ny)
n.
1)Showing characteristics of both sexes (WordNet)
2)Union of both sexes in one individual (Webster's)
3)Having both female and male characteristics (The
American Heritage(r))
Androgynous
(an·drog·y·nous)
adj.
1) Being neither distinguishably masculine nor feminine,
as in dress, appearance, or behaviour. (The American Heritage(r))
3) Having both masculine and feminine characteristics, as
in attitudes and behaviours that contain features of stereotyped, culturally sanctioned
sexual roles of both male and female. (CancerWEB Medical)
So our goal is to become androgynous?
"It is not a goal. You already are. You only need to
realize it. It is alright if you place emphasis upon maleness or femaleness.
There is nothing wrong with this. You only need know that your soul essence is
neither." - St. Germain - Twin Souls & Soulmates
Androgyny
What is the cultural significance of experimentation with
gender online? What are implications of these forms of role-playing for
identity in the postmodern era? Is androgyny becoming a more viable cultural
option? Can we actually entertain the vision of a future with some genuine
release from the tyranny of gender?
Many prominent components of 20th-century fashion, e.g.,
jeans and other types of pants, T-shirts, hats, short hair cuts and either very
light makeup or no makeup at all for women, and longer hairstyles and earrings
for men, the preference for a slim, boyish body shape for women, and so on,
have greatly contributed to the cultivation of an androgynous look. One has
only to think of Michael Jackson as cultural hero: with his light skin color,
makeup, long hair, and costumes, he is neither black nor white, neither male
nor female. At the same time, despite this fascination with androgyny,
heterosexual individuals, if not homosexual ones, rarely wish to be perceived
as truly neither male nor female, as unequivocally neuter.
The body, of course, includes the ego consciousness. Most
human societies impose a male or female image upon the ego consciousness of
their members. As we grow up, we learn to play either the male or female role
depending upon our genitals. At this base level the body acts as a shaping
power upon the soul, for the soul experiences the world through the body and
its ego. But the soul is non-sexual, that is, androgynous. The word
"androgynous" comes from the Greek, andros man and gyne woman. In
popular usage the term denotes sexual duality; the soul, however, is a
non-sexual unity that can play either role. It is the male partner of the body
and the female partner of spiritual power.
By living totally in either the male or female image, we
warp our soul, making it one-sided and rigid. No doubt, the present day
rejection of subjectivity demonstrates the weakness in such one-sidedness.
Perhaps we should carefully examine the social sexual images and determine
whether they are too distorted or not. What is true maleness and femaleness?
Again think back to the preadolescent period when our ego was more androgynous.
During adolescence the body, going through drastic chemical changes, reforms
the ego. And for most of us this is how we play out the remaining years. At
times we wonder about what we have lost, but usually we shrug our shoulders,
saying what was done is done.
