Androgyny Is On The Rise & Changing The World

All humans are androgynous and must possess a balance of yin and yang. We have masculine AND feminine qualities and features and must embrace our androgyny.

Androgyny is becoming more and more common and people of all genders and sexualities are embracing it. Slowly but surely, the stigma around androgyny is fading away. And I for one am glad. Androgyny has existed throughout history and as far as fashion goes, I am all for freeing the fashion. If you have a body, and you have a garment that you want to wear and you are physically able to wear it and it is a good, comfortable fit, then it was made for you. End of.

What do you think androgyny means?

While many would recognise androgyny in fashion and makeup, many haven’t heard of the word and simply don’t understand the concept. We are all a mixture or masculine and feminine, yin and yang. How we present ourselves and which way we lean towards in our style and identity differs, but we are all a balance of both. The imbalance happens when a person renounces one or the other. Femininity is often used as an insult and that is ridiculous all on its own. There is nothing bad or shameful about being feminine. We all have feminine traits and we are all feminine in some way, shape or form.

Androgyny to me is about a sacred balance of masculine and feminine. Discarding neither and honouring both equally. For there to be an actual balance, one cannot ignore either. Both must be embraced and nurtured. The interaction between the masculine and feminine in a person’s character is beautiful and meaningful.

We must move against the stigma

There’s still stigma when someone masculine shops in the women’s section and vice versa, but there’s less every day. Sure you may meet someone who is a bit behind when it comes to gender exploration and the true meaning of fashion, and they may ask, “Is it a gift for your partner?” Or something similar. All you have to do is smile and say, “No, it’s a gift for myself.”

The more comfortable we are with ourselves, and the more we live our lives without feeling the need to make excuses or explain ourselves, the less stigma we’ll face in the world.

Why do we have different sections?

Well, as sad as it is, our society is still very unequal. The different sections create a bigger divide between two of the genders and further lead people to believe they have no choice but to conform to the toxic and limiting gender roles. But no one has to do that. We are so much more than a gender. We are so much more than who we are attracted to. Society is still very behind on this, but we can all do our part to let society know how we feel.

Clothing for children

All children should have the same play-friendly clothes available so that they get to be children. We don’t need the cinched garments, smaller sizes, absurdly short shorts, low-cut tops and huge amounts of frills and gender-degrading statements that are offered nowadays in the girls’ section. Girl parents globally have had to either start sewing their own child’s clothes or head to the boys’ section instead. We also don’t need the degrading statements, colour void, boring, boxy clothes that are offered in the boys’ section.

We need to stop thinking of girls as pretty, fragile people who only want to look pretty and be praised. We also need to stop thinking of boys as fashion-hating, colour-hating, wild creatures that need to be reminded 24/7 to be strong and masculine. Children need to be allowed to be children, outside of the confines of gender roles.

Close the divide

As far as fashion for teens and adults go, a lot of dysphoria and body shame would disappear if we had more styles – the same styles – and more sizes available to all human beings. People should not have to be subjected to feeling shame and insecurity because their size isn’t offered to their gender, or because the clothes they want to wear aren’t. They should have access to the sizes and the styles they want to wear.

We as adults and our teens and our kids should get to wear what we like, and not have their bodies be genderised, sexualised or painted into a corner.

People who like to wear bright colours should get to do so. People who like crop tops and heels should be able to find them in their size, and without any labels attached to them. Dresses and skirts have been worn by all for thousands of years. It is only in the last 100 years or less that we started to use them as gender dividers.

Why do we even bother with gender roles anymore?

Only in the first few months of a person’s life is the fashion fairly neutral. There are no sections for babies. But once they are a few months old, the gender divide begins and into the roles they are pushed. The fashion for boys is dark and often sturdy while the girl’s fashion is all cute, pink and frilly, and almost always, completely unsuitable for playtime.

Gender-aware parent groups are forming to free fashion from its bounds and erase the boundaries. Boys want to be princesses and girls want to be princes. Genderless parenting is becoming more and more of a thing and not disclosing their child’s physical gender is not uncommon anymore. More and more people want to give their children the right to play with gender and find their own identity. 

Let us degenderise fashion

Fashion has no gender. That is my firm belief, and that is why I started a fashion magazine that started as a blog many years ago. It was called Fashion A, short for Fashion Androgyny. The only reason I walked away from it was because I could no longer stand fast fashion and all of the misery it stood for. Environmentally, for the animals and for the people involved in creating it.

However, my love for fashion and creativity has not dimmed. I still believe that fashion is art and just like art, not everyone will understand or like it. But that doesn’t make it any less valid or any less amazing. It is a wonderful form of self-expression that can heal you to your very core and I think we all need that.

Exploring your style outside of the confines of genderised fashion is healing and an excellent way to give your inner child room to roam, grow and heal. We all need play in our lives, and fashion can be just that. Fashion is fun, and that should never cease to be the case.

Times are changing

The world is changing. More and more people in the world are growing tired of society’s strict gender roles and people want the restrictions to be removed, for themselves and their families. We are slowly but surely becoming more aware that gender is what we feel it is, not what we dress like, what our interests are or what sexual organ we were born with. Gender is a social construction designed to keep us controlled and divided. Much like segregation once did.

We want our children to have the opportunities to be themselves without living in fear of what other people may do to them because of it. Being a feminist, believing in equality is becoming starting to be less stigmatised and people are starting to agree that this is what we want. Not counting the anti-abortion people.

In fashion today, those who are seen as the most appealing in the entertainment world, are the ones who are in balance. Those who express their masculinity AND their femininity equally. Androgyny has become the new ideal.

Minds are opening

People are starting to expand their views of what femininity and masculinity truly mean. As well as why we allow our assigned genders to dictate whether or not we are allowed to express ourselves by mixing them up. But as some minds open further, others do their utmost to keep their minds shut.

With the ongoing witch hunt for LGBTQIA, feminine men are hated and people call them gay or transgender, as if either of those terms is bad. Masculine women are also hated and they are also called gay or transgender, whether they are or not. People who identify as a third gender, as both genders, as neither gender and so forth, are told they must choose. An equally ridiculous notion. Androgyny should be celebrated and people should let people live their lives without raining hate on them.

Our voices deserve to be heard

In a nutshell, we are ALL being urged, forced, to change and adapt to the small and uncomfortable boxes that society dictates are “okay” and “safe”. We are told that it is okay to hate, that it is bad to be different and that love comes with restrictions. Many people hate while hiding behind their religion. More people murder while hiding behind status and legal loopholes. And too many parents throw their children out or shun them because they’re LGBTQIA.

The world today is not yet a safe place for people who are different, regardless of where their differences lie. People have become so warped, cynical and narrow-minded that all they see is black and white when in truth there is no black or white. We need to realise that the world is one big grey area where people deserve to be who they are. We are all different, we all think differently and no one should be punished for being true to themselves. Androgyny is not a dirty word.

The balance is returning

All is not lost. With the rise of androgyny, slowly but surely, the balance is returning. Even though it might not seem like it with all the current madness in the world.

Now in the 21st century, more people are mixing masculine and feminine freely, both in terms of personality and fashion. The lines are blurring and that is a good thing. The truth is that masculine and feminine bodies aren’t that different. And the parts that do differ rarely get in the way of style.

On social media, you can see more masculine people wearing makeup, and heels and buying the clothes they want to wear, labels, sections and sizes be damned. Fashion is being reclaimed by the creatives as an art form, something to be enjoyed, and I am for one am here for it.

Change begets change

The further we step away from the gender roles, the toxic masculinity as well as femininity, the better. We should start empowering each other and raising each other up rather than judging each other to the point of destruction. If you look in shops like ASOS today, you’ll find multiple unisex brands and what you find in the women’s section, you’ll find in the men’s section as well. All that differs are the size ranges.

This begs the question, why not offer all sizes to all genders? Surely there are men and masculine people with smaller feet and women and feminine people with larger feet. Or wider vs leaner shoulders. Long vs short legs. Wide vs small waists. Those things don’t have to do with gender as much as they have to do with the fact that all bodies are unique and beautiful in their own way.

Body positivity for all

No one should be shamed for what they wear or what size they wear. Sizes are just numbers that someone somewhere decides. There is no shame in going up a size or going down a size. We need to shake the belief that certain sizes mean a person is overweight and certain sizes mean a person is underweight. Better yet, why not stop body-shaming each other completely? There is no benefit to body shaming others, nor is there any benefit to body shaming yourself.

All bodies are beautiful and all bodies should be celebrated. Your body loves you and does everything to keep you going out of love for you, day in and day out. No matter what our bodies look like, we should celebrate them and thank them. Take care of them, like they take care of us.

Fashion androgyny in the past

Some form of androgyny has existed throughout each season of fashion, but some seasons had more of it. Or decades, rather. The twenties were very androgynous on both sides. They had the low waists and straight, often skinny figures. Looking like a boy – or what one considered to be more boyish – was very in. That was achieved both with the shape and design of the garments, the hair and the makeup. And the beauty ideals have at times steered more toward straight, shapeless bodies.

1960s

The sixties were of course also androgynous with both sides blurring the lines between what was masculine and what was feminine. Women were finding their freedom and their activist spirit. The boyish beauty ideals came back for women, while there were more feminine ideals for men. Most garments were loose, rectangular and at times, quite short. Of course, nowhere near as short as garments were in the 90s and onward.

1970s

In the 70s, fashion wasn’t that different from the late sixties. Shirts had large collars and large, colourful patterns. People were high waisted bottoms, tie dye, crochet, other handmade clothes and a lot of denim. Long hair, large glasses and big jewellery, often with peace signs.

1980s

In the 80s we had the shoulder pads, the inverted triangle body shape and the big hair.

1990s

In the 90s, the hair remained big and it was styled with snatched waists, crop tops, a lot of denim, oversized shirt jackets, grunge makeup – the list goes on. Both sides were quite similar in the 90s, further confirming that androgyny has always been there.

Fashion androgyny today

The fashion trends now in 2023 are quite similar to those of the 90s and 70s. Crop tops for all genders, bell bottoms, cargo pants, large patterns, colourful designs, big collars, shoulder pads, high waists and a lot of denim. Shoes with heels, dresses, skirts and tights for all. Which is quite logical and expected if you think about it.

Most fashion trends that are deemed feminine today, began as men’s fashion. Heels, makeup, tights, long dress-like garments, nightgowns, long hair, wigs – the list goes on. At one point in history, only boys could wear pink, as it was a sort of diluted version of red, and red was a strong colour only for men, at the time. Girls on the other hand were supposed to wear blue, as it was seen as a calm and soft colour.

All trends will come back, and all that was seen as something exclusively for one gender will someday come back as a trend for the opposite gender. Trends do not matter. We should all dress up our souls and wear what makes us feel good. Don’t limit yourself to one section.

Dress your soul and wear what your body feels comfortable in. No matter what the stores or society has labelled that as beforehand. Fashion is for all, and it is something to be enjoyed and played with and it is meant to be used as a form of expression. Not as a cloak to hide our true selves, or to act as shackles to prevent us from soaring.

Conclusion:

More and more people find comfort within androgyny and prefer an androgynous lifestyle outside of the binaries. Such a life gives you more freedom and fewer expectations. It allows you to live your life without making gender the most important fact about yourself. Gender roles no longer apply, fashion is no longer divided and nothing is reserved for a certain gender anymore. You can wear anything, enjoy anything and do anything you want, without being confined by gender roles.

It is no wonder androgyny is spreading throughout the world. After all, we all search for such freedom, do we not? Freedom to be ourselves, to live freely, to love freely. Freedom to escape the bounds of society and the notions of how things “must be”.