The Androgynous Male

Language and Culture

WTUC

Dec. 2006

Androgyny

• Androgyny is a term derived from the Greek words andras (άνδρας) (meaning man) and gyne (γυνή) (meaning woman) that can refer to two concepts regarding the mixing of both male and female genders or having a lack of gender identification.

What’s in the mix?

• The first is the mixing of masculine and feminine characteristics, be it the example of the loud fashion statements of musicians, like…

Group Discussion

• Think of popular movie/television icons (stars) that you know who have androgynous characteristics.

David Bowie

Annie Lenox

Michael Jackson

Grace Jones

• balance of "anima" and "animus" in Jungian psychoanalytic theory.

• The second is in describing something that is neither masculine nor feminine, for example the Hijras of India who are often described as "neither man nor woman".

• There are two ways of being a hijra. The first is to be born as an intersexual or hermaphrodite, the second is to be born with a male body but with a feminine gender identity. In both cases the person is "born as a hijra". You don`t become a hijra, you are a hijra "because Allah created you that way", as muslim hijras might add. (BBC news)

http://jolo.jmk.su.se/students/global04/other/individual/hijrawayofliving.htm

Androgynous Traits

• Androgynous traits are those that either have no gender value, or have some aspects generally attributed to the opposite gender.

Physiological Androgyny

• Physiological androgyny which deals with physical traits

Behavioral androgyny

• which deals with personal and social anomalies in gender

Psychological Androgyny

• psychological androgyny, which is a matter of gender identity

• A psychologically androgynous person is commonly known as an androgyne, although there is a politicized version known as genderqueer.

• To say that a culture or relationship is androgynous is to say that it lacks rigid gender roles and that the people involved display characteristics or partake in activities traditionally associated with the other gender.

• The term androgynous is often used to refer to a person whose look or build make determining their gender difficult but is generally not used as a synonym for actual intersexuality, transgender or two-spirit people.

Anime and Manga

• Japanese products in particular such as anime and manga tend to be the most prominent source in recent times for the display of an

drogynous characters.

AnimeManga

• Examples include Envy from Fullmetal Alchemist,

• Haku and Deidara from Naruto,

• Yuki Sohma from Fruits Basket, Luppi from Bleach,

• Akame Nisei from Loveless, Sailor Uranus from Sailor Moon,

Video Games

• There are multiple examples of androgynous characters in video games as well. One example is Bridget from the Guilty Gear video game series.

• There are also many androgynous characters in the Final Fantasy video game series, such as Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII).

• Raiden of Metal Gear Solid 2 was given an androgynous appearance on purpose so that both male and female players could relate to him and draw themselves deeper into the experience.

• This form of "beautiful boy" androgyny is known as bishōnen. Similar reasoning was behind the choice to make NiGHTS, the main character in the Sega Saturn game NiGHTS into Dreams, androgynous.

Nintendo 64

• In the Nintendo 64 game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the fictional character "Sheik" could also be labeled androgynous, because it is in fact Princess Zelda disguising herself as a man.

Pop Culture

• The movie Orlando follows the young nobleman Orlando, who lives through four centuries in Britain and changes sex on the way, ending up as an androgynous being.

Movie “Stargate”

• In the movie Stargate, the Egyptian god Ra is portrayed as an androgynous figure.

Star Trek

• In the episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled The Outcast, The Enterprise helps an androgynous race.

http://www.startrekdb.se/avsnitt/tng_bilder/the_outcast_4.jpg

Saturday Night Live

• Saturday Night Live's popular character "Pat" played by Julia Sweeney, was portrayed as an androgynous figure.

http://www.planetout.com/images/misc/kiosk/popcornq/movienews/julia_sweeney.jpg

Group Discussion

• Think of religions or religious gods that you know who have androgynous characteristics.

• Describe their characteristics.

In Religious Beliefs

In keeping with the non-dual views of reality in Hindu, Buddhist and Taoist philosophy it is a common in their iconography to depict in every male some feminine aspect, and in every female some masculine aspect.

Hinduism

In Hinduism the god Shiva is often shown as half male and half female.

http://gallery.shaivam.org/image/shiva/shiva_lingam1.jpg

Taoist

• In the Taoist Yin-Yang circle there is a small yang "eye" in the yin and a small yin ‘eye" in the yang.

Buddhism

• In Vajrayana Buddhism this is depicted as the Yab-Yum figure or the female sitting on the lap of the male in a coital embrace (maithuna). East Asian Buddhism has its own versions of this sexual or gender non-duality.

http://www.laborlimae.it/wp-content/yabyumamplessocosmico.jpg

Mi-LoThe Chinese Maitreya (Mi-lo) is actually a v

ery hermaphroditic figure. His symbolically pregnant belly, his enlarged breasts, and the fact that he is often depicted as surrounded by children is one reason why Chinese women have traditionally prayed for children to this feminized figure. At the same time Mi-lo’s laughing expression announces his delight in, hence validation of, the world, which is a characteristic of Feminine Religion.

http://www.horne28.freeserve.co.uk/hot1.jpg

Kuan-Yin

• Kuan Yin, the East Asian goddess of mercy was originally the Indian male deity Avalokiteshvara. Her former gender is still hinted at by her being depicted as extremely flat-breasted and often as having a slight moustache.

http://www.salves.com.br/grav/tnk-avalokiteshvara.jpg

http://www.fengshuidesigns.com/htm/white%20kuan%20yin.jpg

Faces of Buddha

• Finally, the faces of the various Buddhas can be decidedly feminine; sometimes their lips are even colored red to emphasize their feminine quality.

Tibet

http://museum.oglethorpe.edu/BuddhasGallery/LivingBuddha-WTibet.jpg

Himalayas

http://www.adventure-india-tour.com/leh-ladakh-himalayas-guide/gifs/ladakh-buddha.jpg

Question to Ponder

• Was Adam androgynous?

• Discuss with your group mates and share your opinions in class.

• Only in rare cases are humans born with both male and female sexes. Estimates reveal that approximately 1% of the population is born with these traits.

Societal Norms about Gender

• Throughout most cultures the dominant view of gender is either male or female not both. This is the interpretation, especially in the western cultures according to Judeo-Christian tradition, which is "the arbiter of "natural" behavior of humans (p. 1)."

Abnormal

• Now any possibility of human gender other than male or female in this mindset is considered abnormal. Thus, the birth of androgyny in these cultures was abnormal.

• A child that has both sexes faced many problems. Growing and development is the first problem. But the greater problem is facing and living in a society which has its own set of values and norms, where everyone is either male or female.

• In most cultures this represents a great psychological shock to the parents of the child. In past western cultures, especially Europe, these children were usually given up to the Church.

• in some cultures androgyny are seen as bad omens and the children are usually killed. This occurs where societies are superstitious.

• Dr. Lee argues “The irony of this situation is the profound ignorance that mankind, especially Christians who are supposed to have some knowledge of the scriptures, has of this phenomenon. The rejection of the androgyny shows that they have no understanding. Had the Christians understood Adam with Eve in him (Gn. 1:27), then they would treat androgyny with love and explain their purpose for being created.”

Science can explain

• science can explain what causes androgyny in terms of some abnormality in the male and female sex chromosomes. Many people believe that androgynes are freaks of nature.

http://www.knowledgene.com/public/gene_school/your_gene.php3

http://www.knowledgene.com/public/view.php3?db=gene_school&uid=24

http://www.knowledgene.com/public/view.php3?db=gene_school&uid=24

http://www.knowledgene.com/public/view.php3?db=gene_school&uid=24

http://www.knowledgene.com/public/view.php3?db=gene_school&uid=24

http://www.bellaonline.com/misc/quiz/female/

• Are you a male, or a female? To find out, take this scientific quiz:

• Your department is on a tight deadline for developing a big sales proposal, but you've hit a dispute on a key point. You want to go one way; a co-worker named Bob strongly disagrees. To break the deadlock, you:

a. Present your position, listen to the other side, then fashion a workable compromise.

b. Punch Bob.

• 2. Your favorite football team is about to win the championship, but at the last minute, the victory is stolen away by a terrible referee's call. You:

a. Remind yourself that it's just a game, and that there are far more important things in your life.

b. Punch Bob again

• HOW TO SCORE: If you answered "b'' to both questions, then you are a male. I base this statement on a recent article in The New York Times about the way animals, including humans, respond to stress. According to the article, a group of psychology researchers have made the breakthrough discovery that -- prepare to be astounded -- males and females are different.

• The researchers discovered this by studying both humans and rats, which are very similar to humans except that they are not stupid enough to purchase lottery tickets. The studies show that when males are under stress, they respond by either fighting or running away (the so-called ``fight or flight'' syndrome); whereas females respond by nurturing others and making friends (the so-called ``tend and befriend'' syndrome).

• We know that if two males bump into each other, they will respond like this:

FIRST MALE: Hey, watch it!

SECOND MALE: No, YOU watch it!

FIRST MALE: Oh yeah?

(They deliberately bump into each other again.)

• Two females, in the identical situation, will respond like this:

FIRST FEMALE: I'm sorry!

SECOND FEMALE: No, it's my fault!

FIRST FEMALE: Say, those are cute shoes!

(They go shopping.)

Male tendency toward aggression

• The females, 97 percent of whom are dressed as either a ballerina or a princess, sit in little social groups and exchange candy.

The males, 97 percent of whom are dressed as either Batman or a Power Ranger, run around making martial-arts noises and bouncing violently off each other like crazed subatomic particles.