Androgyny

Androgyny refers to having both masculine and feminine personality characteristics and gender traits or gender expressions. Scholarly writings on this topic have encompassed three main areas, which are reviewed in this entry: (1) psychological androgyny, (2) androgyny related to gender expression, and (3) androgyny related to the gender identity of androgyne.

Psychological Androgyny

Historically, masculinity and femininity were thought to exist on bipolar extremes of a single continuum, meaning that individuals who had characteristics of both masculinity and femininity were not recognized in theory or research. During the 1970s, the study of androgyny became more common, especially due to the work of Sandra Bem, who created the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), which measured psychological androgyny (in addition to femininity and masculinity). The BSRI was one of ...

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