Androgyny

Androgyny is the combination of masculine and feminine characteristics. Sexual ambiguity may be found in fashion, gender identity, sexual identity, or sexual lifestyle. It can also refer to biological intersex physicality, especially with regard to plant and human sexuality. It can also refer to one's singing or speaking voice.

Etymology

The term derives from the Latin: androgynus, derived from Ancient Greek: ἀνδρόγυνος, from ἀνήρ, stem ἀνδρ- (anér, andr-, meaning man) and γυνή (gunē, gyné, meaning woman).

History

Androgyny and homosexuality are seen in Plato’s Symposium in a myth that Aristophanes tells the audience. People used to be spherical creatures, with two bodies attached back to back who cartwheeled around. There were three sexes: the male-male people who descended from the sun, the female-female people who descended from the earth, and the male-female people who came from the moon. This last pairing represented the androgynous couple. These sphere people tried to take over the gods and failed. Zeus then decided to cut them in half and had Apollo stitch them back together leaving the navel as a reminder to not defy the gods again. If they did, he would cleave them in two again to hop around on one leg. Plato states in this work that homosexuality is not shameful. This is one of the earlier written references to androgyny. Other early references to androgyny include astronomy, where androgyn was a name given to planets that were sometimes warm and sometimes cold.

Jeffree Star

Jeffree Star (born Jeffrey Lynn Steininger on November 15, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter, make-up artist, fashion designer and model from Orange County, California. He started his music career on MySpace with over 25 million plays on his self-released music. After releasing two extended plays, Star released his debut album, Beauty Killer (2009), under Popsicle Records. In 2014, he launched his own cosmetics brand called Jeffree Star Cosmetics. Star is also known for his fashion line, Beauty Forever, and transgressive, gender-bending appearance and persona.

Early life

Jeffree Star was born in Los Angeles County, California. His father died when Star was 6 years old; subsequently he was raised solely by his mother, a model who frequently went on assignments. As a child, Star regularly began experimenting with his mother's makeup and convinced her to let him wear it to school when he was in junior high. He moved to Los Angeles following his graduation from high school, supporting himself with various makeup, modeling, and music jobs. He later recalled spending his time on weekends "using a fake ID to attend Hollywood clubs dressed in mini dresses and nine inch high heels where celebrities would contract [Star] for makeup work at their homes", or "hiring [Star] as a model." Star reports that his weekend socializing at clubs and the makeup advice he offered eventually led to his modeling career.

Miley Cyrus

Miley Ray Cyrus (born Destiny Hope Cyrus; November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Born and raised in Franklin, Tennessee, she held minor roles in the television series Doc and the film Big Fish in her childhood. Cyrus became a teen idol for her portrayal of the starring character Miley Stewart in the Disney Channel television series Hannah Montana in 2006; her father Billy Ray Cyrus additionally starred in the show. Cyrus subsequently signed a recording contract with Hollywood Records; her debut studio album Meet Miley Cyrus (2007) was certified quadruple-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for exceeding four million shipments. Cyrus released her second album Breakout and launched her film career as a voice actress in the animated film Bolt in 2008.

Cyrus starred in the feature film Hannah Montana: The Movie and began cultivating a maturing image with her EP The Time of Our Lives in 2009. In 2010, she released her third album Can't Be Tamed, which stands as the lowest-selling record of her career, and starred in the coming-of-age film The Last Song. During production of the movie, she began an on-again, off-again relationship with her co-star Liam Hemsworth. Cyrus focused on her acting career with several television and film appearances in 2011 and 2012. Her sexually explicit behavior generated widespread controversy while promoting her fourth album Bangerz (2013), her first under her recording contract with RCA Records. Cyrus' independently-released fifth studio album Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz (2015) deviated from her traditional pop style for more psychedelic experimentation.