Androgyny has always been a part of human culture, becoming very prominent with the rise of LGBT acceptance. The intrigue with it is everywhere: in fashion, music, movies, and the daily lives of some individuals. It has evolved over time, through eras and decades. Researcher Ellis Paul Torrance established in 1963 that creative boys and girls tend to be more psychologically androgynous than their peers. In fact, a lot of famous artists have explored physical androgyny, including, but not limited to, David Bowie, Patti Smith, Boy George, Brian Molko, and Lady Gaga.

     Many people think of the 1980s when they think of famous androgynous individuals. Since Ronald Reagan was President of the United States and Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the time, both influential western countries were under considerably conservative governments. With the Cold War in full swing and racial tensions rising in the United States, many people felt the need to rebel against the government and society by standing out. The fall of the decadent 60s and 70s led to people proving themselves and defining their own ideas of gender. 

    Artists and musicians tend to find androgyny very intriguing. “The lipstick, the earrings, the grace of manner, the hauntingly beautiful good looks yet also the hint of five o'clock shadow under the thin layer of foundation. Boy, girl, boy, girl?... I intrigue people,” said singer Brian Molko in a 1998 issue of “Melody Maker." Lady Gaga designates Bowie and Grace Jones as inspirations for her own persona, “I love Grace Jones and David Bowie because they both played with gender and with what ‘sexy’ means,” Gaga said in a Maxim article in 2009. Gaga created her own drag king persona, as a man called Jo Calderone, who made his first appearance in her video for “You and I."

       Are androgynous aesthetics more popular now than ever? Actor and rapper Jaden Smith, a cisgender male, modeled for Louis Vuitton’s women's wear collection in 2016. Smith stated, “I'm just expressing how I feel inside.”

      Reporter Nicholas Ghesquiere responded to him fronting the campaign, “He represents a generation that has assimilated the codes of true freedom, one that is free of manifestos about gender.”

    Rapper Young Thug has also been known to blur gender lines by wearing dresses, and while participating in a 2016 Calvin Klein ad he stated, “I feel like there's no such thing as gender.” 

     Only 3.8 percent of adult Americans identify as LGBT+. As you can see, the community is still very small. The gender binary (boy-girl) is engraved into society, and the idea of mixing stereotypes and physicalities of both sexes is often seen as taboo or interesting. An anonymous American Apparel employee commented, “Androgyny is someone's own gender expression.”

     In response to the question of androgyny being more trendy in the present day, they said, “I think so. In times of political unrest like terrorism and uncertainty in the election people want to push boundaries.”

     A Superdry employee stated, “I think a lot of people are fascinated with [androgyny], but a lot of people aren't ready for it…It's becoming more accepted because of people coming out as transgender, but a lot of people aren't ready for that.” 

     Androgynous models have always been involved with the fashion world. Today, this includes transgender and nonbinary models Hari Nef and Rain Dove. Dove explained when describing different photo shoots, “We shouldn't be thinking of it as menswear or womenswear, it should be clothing for all people.” Dove believes that there is no true way to be a woman, and considers her modeling to be a form of activism by displaying a more masculine body in women's clothes.

   Many brands, such as GAP and Uniqlo, are now trying to take advantage of the trend of androgyny by releasing unisex clothing lines. Model Hari Nef said, “Fashion is having a moment with trans aesthetics, not trans issues.”

     Trans models like Nef and Andreja Pejic have been at the forefront of today's fashion. Pejic’s most recent credits include Dior’s S/S collection and walking the runway for Marc Jacobs. Pejic has said she doesn't want her gender to be the only thing about her, but it is important to be public about it when you're in the public eye.

    In 2011, the estimated number of transgender identifying people in the U.S was 700,000, though experts assume that there were probably more. The term ‘genderqueer’ was coined in the 1990s, and in the 2000s it evolved to ‘non binary’. People are now fighting to get the government to recognize genders other than men and women, and the first non binary person to be recognized by the government was recognized this year, in 2016.