Ann Chwatsky

http://www.annchwatskyphoto.com/androgyny.html

"ANDROGYNY SERIES

I am interested in the blending of genders and in exploring what identity is today. These photographs explore the shifting boundaries between conventional gender distinctions. Their aim is to investigate the unique sensuality of the androgynous experience from the point of view of the aesthetic, rather than socio-political: I am concerned with the beauty and eroticism inherent in this redefinition, rather than with ideologies of sexual preference."

ideas

sources to check out

* Gender Queer. Voices From Beyond the Sexual Binary, Joan Nestle, Clare Howell, Riki Wilchins (2002) Alyson Books, New York.

* The Transgender Studies Reader Susan Stryker, Stephen Whittle (2006) Routledge, New York.

wiki

Genderqueer and intergender are catchall terms for gender identities other than man and woman. People who identify as genderqueer may think of themselves as being both male and female, as being neither male nor female, or as falling completely outside the gender binary. Some wish to have certain features of the opposite sex and not all characteristics; others want it all. The term may apply to appearance, social behavior or a combination of the two...

Some genderqueer people see their identity as one of many possible genders other than male or female, while others see "genderqueer" as an umbrella term that encompasses all of those possible genders. Still others see "genderqueer" as a third gender to complement the traditional two, while others identify as genderless or agender. Genderqueer people are united by their rejection of the notion that there are only two genders. The term "genderqueer" can also be used as an adjective to refer to any people who transgress gender, regardless of their self-defined gender identity.

People who identify outside the usual binary genders may use any or all of the following terms to describe themselves:

* Androgyne
* Intergender
* Bigender
* Multigender
* Third gender
* Neuter/Neutrois/Agender
* Gender-fluid
* Post-gender
* Omnigender
* Supragender
* Megaqueer
* Megagender

Some genderqueer people identify as transgender, using the word "transgender" as an umbrella term for a broad range of people who identify as a gender other than the expected gender for their assigned sex, and some do not. (This usage is only one of multiple conflicting definitions of the term "transgender" in use.) The terms "transgender" and "genderqueer" are not synonymous, but there is some overlap between people who identify as transgender and people who identify as genderqueer.

Like transgender people, genderqueer people may transition physically with surgery, hormones, electrolysis, and other practices, or they may not choose to alter their bodies by these means. They may also transition socially, or they may continue to dress and go by the pronouns of their assigned gender.

Alternate meanings

The term genderqueer is also sometimes used in a broader context as an adjective to refer to any person who challenges gender roles and binary notions of gender. This is similar to the way homosexual, bisexual, and other people may identify as queer as a broader, umbrella term. However, because genderqueer also refers to a more specific gender identity, the terms gender-variant, gender-transgressive, or gender-nonconforming are applied more broadly to refer to the wide range of people whose gender identity or expression transgress societal expectations.