Are people afraid of/threatened by androgyny?

Question

It seems like anytime a man or woman defies these culturally defined laws of what men and women should look or behave like, people take issue with it.

examples: Women with shaved heads, Men in make-up. What's

Answer 1

I rather like androgyny in both men and women, but maybe I'm weird. And no, I'm not g*y!

Funny, because in the last week or so, I've been noticing people who I've been mentally nicknaming "Pat" meaning I can't tell if that person who just walked by is a man or woman. And these folks are not flamboyant, usually they are just small-to-medium sized humans with shortish hair, flattish chests, and hips and shoulders that are neither broad or narrow, wearing something androgynous like gym clothes or jeans and a T-shirt. I don't find it threatening. Some men might.

Answer 2

It's all about rockin' the boat. People don't like their boats rocked, they don't like their long established cultural conventions defied. This goes for pretty much everybody, on some level. Meaningful change generally takes a lot of effort from a lot of people, and they generally do better when they have a dynamic hero/leader figure.

So the short answer is that people get freaked out over stuff like this because they are not used to it. Simple as that. I don't know if you can expect people to just accept, immediately, glaring changes in the culture they grew up in and are used to. I felt differently when I was a teenager, of course, but age (and  my anthropology background) has brought with it some cultural perspective. Time is the main factor here. You have to give a society time to change.

Answer 3

Good question , no direct answer but their are so many other cultures were the men ware makeup not the kind we have available but they do wear it . Also women in other cultures shave their heads. I is just so burned in our heads from society that if a man wears makeup he is g*y. But if it shows off his eyes or hides some blemishes why not use it. The same with girls hair has to be long to be beautiful or if it's to short seen maybe as a L*****n. Its all wrong but if a famous guy would come out with a line of makeup for men. Then things probably would slowly change and the more women in Hollywood get their hair cut off that would change and I think it is slowly changing. I myself think women with ultra short hair are beautiful. Crazy but all these thinks have to be changed in Hollywood in order to be accepted by the public.

Answer 4

yes ignorance is bliss.

and the norm is what is accepted..

if most of society is wearing pink than another large percent is going to follow but there will always be us people who would wear whatever we wanted.......and they would look down on us cause were not like "them"

its a complex that happens with alot of things not just men wearing makeup--which has actually gotten kind of popular--and woman with shaved heads......it can pertain to anything that's not the norm...

Answer 5

The sheep are afraid of many things, including change.

The men with make up are funny because they're just repeating what has already happened.

Tight clothes, long hair, and make up.  Go look in a history book.

I've never laughed at a girl with a shaved head because its so rarely seen I have to appreciate it.

Answer 6

Why is this ignorance of men and women's evolved heritage in the anthropology section; the discipline that fancies itself a science.

Young lady. You must learn all human behavior is normally distributed and people like doing as they do. They do not need " culturally defined " laws to act like human beings.

As far as people taking issue with " tail of the distribution " behavior, yes, they need to be more accepting, but, do not expect the tail to wag the dog.

The distribution of male/female behaviors is world wide and has much to do with our evolved heritage. You forget, as many anthropologists do, that man engenders culture, culture does not create man.

Answer 7

Nature makes animals copy one another. It's really a type of communication process.  When one animal sees an enemy come within range, it runs, the others copy and run too.  It has created what is called a norm. What most people do becomes the rule. Others that don't follow this rule are considered strange. This norm makes it easier to for people to be involved with each other because everyone has an underlying understanding of "the rules." Humans have gotten away from this a little in that there are "trend setters" or people who start others into different rules.  Studies have said that people in the middle of the gender scale are better prepared for old age because people toward the ends base their egos on the physical which decline with age.