But what does it mean?<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Black Han Sans|||on|||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_font=”|||on|||||” header_4_text_align=”center” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]
Words by Lydia Spencer-Elliot<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/01\/imago792117725-scaled.jpg” alt=”Miley Cyrus” title_text=”82nd Annual Golden Globe Awards – Arrivals” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] Many words were thrust to the forefront of our collective vocabularies in 2024. Demure (being very cutesy, very mindful), brat (of Charli XCX fame), and brain rot (deteriorating your intellectual state by spending too much time on TikTok) to name a few. And already 2025 is no different – there\u2019s a new term to get familiar with: androgynosexual, which was the fastest-growing sexuality of last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to new data from Feeld \u2013\u00a0 a booming dating app for the sexually adventurous \u2013 the number of people identifying as androgynosexual has increased by 250 per cent since last year. Androgynosexual people feel sexual, romantic and\/or emotional attraction to those with both masculine and feminine features. Not to be confused with androsexual, which means being primarily attracted to masculinity.\u00a0<\/p>\n So, how come there\u2019s been a rise in the number of people identifying as androgynosexual?\u00a0<\/p>\n The increase in people who identify as androgynosexual could simply be down to those who feel attracted to androgynous people finally having the terminology to describe how they feel, says Dr\u00a0Natasha McKeever, Lecturer and Co-Director of The Centre for Love, Sex and Relationships (CLSR) at the University of Leeds. \u201cIt could be that many people have been attracted to others who were androgynous in the past, but there wasn’t a word to describe this kind of attraction,\u201d she explains.\u00a0\u201cHaving more words to describe who we think we are and what we like really helps with [making communication easier].\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”Libre Bodoni|||on|||||” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#333333″ header_2_font_size=”40px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”] Recently, when one Reddit user asked members of the r\/bisexual community whether anybody felt \u201cridiculously attracted to\u201d androgynous people, they received many positive and assured responses: \u201cI just had a serious AH-HA moment,\u201d one user replied. \u201cThis is exactly what I\u2019m into and I never realised,\u201d another person added. \u201cDude, yes. So much\u2026 You\u2019re definitely not alone there,\u201d said a third.<\/p>\n \u2028Dr McKeever adds that being able to see those who don\u2019t subscribe to gender norms on an increasingly regular basis may be shifting what we find sexy. \u201cThere is more representation and acceptance of people who don’t conform to gender stereotypes, and of people who are gender ambiguous,\u201d she says of the societal shift towards non binary gender. \u201cAnd what we see around us influences our desire.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n When we say \u2018people with\u00a0masculine and feminine features\u2019 – what exactly does that mean?\u00a0 Game of Thrones\u00a0star\u00a0Gwendoline Christie, Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton and \u201cFlowers\u201d singer\u00a0Miley Cyrus have all openly discussed their androgyny. \u201cI\u2019m just equal,\u201d Cyrus told Billboard in 2015. \u201cI\u2019m just even. It has nothing to do with any parts of me or how I dress or how I look. It\u2019s literally just how I feel.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/01\/imago473051679-scaled.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″ alt=”Gwendoline Christie” title_text=”Celebrities attend the 2024 Met Gala Celebrating \u0098Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion\u0099 at The Metropolitan Museum of”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″] \u201cEach person\u2019s definition of androgynous can and will vary \u2014 what one person considers to be significantly masculine or feminine characteristics may be different than what another person considers,”\u00a0Dr McKeever says.\u00a0\u201cJust as what heterosexuals are attracted to (appearance, demeanour, genitalia etc) vary from person to person, I’d expect to also see variation in what androgynosexuals are attracted to as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr McKeever points out that identifying as androgynosexual may not happen in a lightbulb moment like it has for some on Reddit. \u201cI don’t know if being androgynosexual is something you would necessarily ‘discover’ about yourself,\u201d she says. \u201cResearch hasn’t been done on androgynosexuality yet, so we know little about it. It could be that a person might be androgynosexual for a period of time, rather than for their whole life. But essentially, if someone found that they were predominantly attracted to others who had a gender-ambiguous appearance or demeanour, then they might want to identify as androgynosexual.\u201d<\/p>\n Why is the rise in androgynosexual identification important?<\/p>\n Like many other more recently recognised sexual identities, dating coach and relationship expert James Pearce says androgynosexuality may allow for a far freer dating experience, and can sometimes go alongside identifying as bisexual or pansexual, as androgynosexuality isn\u2019t about being attracted to a certain gender. \u201cAndrogynosexuality allows for the exploration of personality, experience, and emotional connection before biological matters intervene,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd for many, that\u2019s deeply attractive because there is nothing more appealing than the complete self-confidence that comes from truly being yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n Prior to having the terminology to describe androgynosexuality, many people were left feeling lost when trying to identify their desires. \u201cI am primarily attracted to androgynous-presenting individuals,\u201d one 35-year-old woman told the\u00a0r\/genderqueer Reddit forum of her \u201crelatively recent revelation\u201d, which led to her current partner grilling her about what exactly this meant. \u201cI tried to come up with a specific thing that I liked and it was hard to do,\u201d she stressed. \u201cI like both male-bodied individuals whose style is more feminine and female-bodied individuals whose style is more masculine.\u201d<\/p>\n To a group of hundreds of strangers online, who did their best to reassure her, the woman worried she would be judged for her unarticulable type: \u201cIt isn\u2019t a specific characteristic or attribute that I am attracted to,\u201d she said. \u201cThe truth is\u2026I don\u2019t know why I desire the people I am attracted to….I like what I like.\u201d<\/p>\n Pearce points out that the more terms we have to describe our ever-evolving sexual preferences, the better: \u201cHaving the right language to describe one\u2019s orientation can lead to greater self-awareness, confidence, and healthier relationships,\u201d he says. \u201cOnce you understand who you are and what matters to you, it\u2019s easier to identify and connect to the people around you who can best help you to be happy.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a coach, I believe that whenever singles seek partners on a deeper level \u2013 personality, values, emotional connection \u2013 rather than cosmetics and perceived gender norms, they become far more successful at finding lasting partners,\u201d he adds. \u201cAndrogynosexuality could play a large part in that.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ divider_position=”center” divider_weight=”2px” module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-texts” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|||on|||||” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”] Photo: <\/b>IMAGO<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Miley Cyrus and Gwendoline Christie have both spoken about it before.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":5959,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"guestgrazia","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5955"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5963,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5955\/revisions\/5963"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}‘Happy birthday to the most beautiful super bad iconic muse inspirational talented artist masters degree in architecture 140 IQ’<\/h2>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]
\u2028Androgyny is the combination of the Ancient Greek \u2018andro\u2019 (man) and \u2018gyne\u2019 (woman). Although androgynosexual attraction can include identities like gender neutral, non-binary, and bigender, the exact definition of what an androgynous person looks like will be different depending on who you\u2019re talking to. And, as always, the way someone dresses doesn\u2019t define their gender or orientation.\u00a0<\/p>\n