Opening up with a question.

[Pneumonica]

Good evening, all.  I've left a post in the general introductions board, but I feel I should probably lay out some territory here, since this seems to be most in my territory.  I'm still feeling out the system here - although most forum softwares are 95% identical, this one's expression is a little odd.

Question - Is androgyne taken as an appropriated term?  (Like "gay", I mean.)  I was once referred to as that when I was fourteen, and it wasn't in a nice context, and most literature I've read (mostly science fiction) used the term as a term of ignorance.  Is "genderless" considered bad these days?  I was taken off-guard when I was told not to call a friend of mine "hermaphroditic" (and so was s/he, for that matter - neither of us had heard the term "intersex" before).

[Pica Pica]

Are you sure the word you read was androgyne? Or was it androgynous?
The two may have the same origins but here (at least) they have different meanings. 

[Pneumonica]

Granted, it was probably "androgene" rather than "androgyne".  Why?

EDIT:  I don't think it's a bad term even if appropriated.  I was asking mostly from curiousity.

[Pica Pica]

Mmmm odd, be interested to hear about what these books are. As far as I know, it is a word that has a slightly spiritual/psychological usage but is used very rarely. I don't know of it being a bad term, that is until people actually meet us.

[Kaelin]

Androgyne is not especially "standardized," if that's what you mean.  Roughly, our construct encompasses two things:

1) Having a *gender identity* that does not adhere to the traditional binary model.  Intersex people who do not "choose" a gender can also fall into this category.

2) Having a *gender expression* (sufficient to trigger our definition "Transgender") that does not adhere to gender norms.  Admittedly, this one can end up covering a broad chunk of people depending how strictly you define "gender norms."

Something worth noting is that two things can happen independently of each other.  You can have a mundane expression but unique identity, and likewise a mundane identity with a unique expression.  Don't think one thing has to lead to another.

[Ephilei]

Androgyne is not especially "standardized," if that's what you mean.  Roughly, our construct encompasses two things:

1) Having a *gender identity* that does not adhere to the traditional binary model.  Intersex people who do not "choose" a gender can also fall into this category.

2) Having a *gender expression* (sufficient to trigger our definition "Transgender") that does not adhere to gender norms.  Admittedly, this one can end up covering a broad chunk of people depending how strictly you define "gender norms."

Something worth noting is that two things can happen independently of each other.  You can have a mundane expression but unique identity, and likewise a mundane identity with a unique expression.  Don't think one thing has to lead to another.

I take it you mean an androgyne is BOTH of these things?

[Pica Pica]

nah, just the first one, 'cept the intersex people, they get to choose.