Androgynosexuality: This Year's Fastest-Growing Identity Explained
This orientation reflects the increasing acceptance of diverse sexual identities and highlights the importance of representation within the LGBTQ+ community.
Although many people are not familiar with the term "androgynosexual," it has been commonly used by persons who want to characterise their attraction to people who exhibit both feminine and masculine traits. Regardless of the gender they are born with, those who have a sexual, romantic, or emotional attraction to androgynous-looking people are classified as having this sexual orientation.
Androgyny is an integration of qualities which are often viewed as feminine and masculine in the traditional understanding, which can occur on physical and gender expression or behavioral levels. Androgynosexuals feel primarily attracted by the integration of traits.
It is worthy of note that androgynosexuality differs from other sexual orientations, including bisexuality, which defines attraction to more than one gender, or pansexuality, which defines attraction to people without regard to gender.
The appearance of the term "androgynosexual" witnesses a growing awareness and acceptance of diverse sexual orientations. The term offers the language with which individuals can understand and express their unique attractions and, therefore, enhances belonging and self-acceptance for LGBTQ+ individuals.
According to The Metro, Androgyny - a combination of the Ancient Greek 'andro', meaning man, and 'gyne', meaning woman - describes the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics.
Although androgynosexual attraction can encompass identities like bigender, gender neutral, and non-binary, 'the exact limits of what is "androgynous in nature" can be decided by the user.'
As with any orientation, there's no 'one size fits all' policy, and you can distinguish yourself with whatever term you think suits. Some find it easier to use broader descriptors like queer, bi or pan, while others prefer to communicate their specific preference - it's really up to you.
Dr Luke Brunning, lecturers in Applied Ethics at the University of Leeds, told The Metro: 'We desire what is visible, so greater acceptance of non-binary, transgender, and gender non-conforming people may also increase the representation of androgyny, which may in turn shape sexual preferences.'
