Defining androgyny is a bit complicated, but it is traditionally defined as a person's whose biological sex is not readily apparent. Although sometimes true, this definition could also be applied to other labels, so I will define androgyny as such: A person who is gender fluid both physically and psychologically. Recently, physical androgyny has become more and more common in our society, but this is nothing new. One of the earliest embodiments of androgyny can be found in Greek mythology, through the story of Hermaphroditus (the son of Hermes and Aphrodite who was united with a water nymph). Also, it is believed that androgyny was quite common during Shakespeare's time, but it became more popular in
the 70s and 80s with musicians like David Bowie, Boy George, Patti Smith and Annie Lenox. They challenged gender stereotypes by popularizing and celebrating physical androgyny. It was a way to express creativity, but also a visual representation of their own psychological androgyny.
There has been an insurmountable amount of research looking into how creative people think, and their habits, but not much on their mindset. However, a team of scientists published a study in Social Behavior and Personality that found a correlation between psychological androgyny and creativity. The study conducted at Karlstad University in Sweden showed that people who placed androgynous scored higher than others on creativity, optimism and graffiti scrawling. The study specifically points to psychological, not physical androgyny to being the key to creative success, which is something that seems to have been lost on most artists today. The study conducted in Sweden has not been the first in connecting psychological androgyny and creativity. There have been many more studies, the earliest being published in 1963 by Ellis Paul Torrance. He showed that creative males have more feminine characteristics and creative females are seen as more masculine compared to other women. He quotes,
"Creativity, by its very nature, requires both sensitivity and independence."
However, androgyny and creativity are not directly linked, but rather embedded together along with other factors like environmental history and personality. Additionally, in Harrington and Anderson's 1981 study, it was found that psychological masculinity was associated as positive, whereas psychological femininity was negative (which was again proven in 2001 by Jonsson and Carlsson).
Unfortunately, society often doesn't encourage non-conforming behavior, but research supports that psychological androgyny has its benefits beyond the realm of art. In the 1970s, psychologist Sandra Bem wrote several books evaluating androgynous behavior and found that individuals who were more androgynous had higher self-esteem, optimism, cognitive complexity and overall well-being. Even Virginia Woolf in her novel, "A Room of One's Own," makes the realization that the artist's mind must be both masculine and feminine in order to create.
Art should not be prescriptive but rather universal, and in order for that to happen we must allow for freedom and cultivate tolerance. Nevertheless, we should allow people to express themselves however they choose and learn how to get past the physical shock that usually happens. So embrace your androgynous side!
