Androgyny in pop culture continues to be hugely intriguing to audiences the world over; it inspires fascination, mystery, and release from the ordinary burdens of societal convention. In every day life those who possess certain androgynous characteristics are regarded as artistic, or freakish (depending on the crowd), however certainly never boring. There’s just something about breeching socially taboo boundaries that is both fascinating and frightening to us; the ever present love for the social rebel lives on.

It is the human condition to desire the unattainable, and androgyny represents something elusive and untamable as its very nature is considered by traditional western values to be inconsistent with human nature. However for some celebrated androgynes it is the very desire for a more natural existence unrestrained by societal naiveté which draws the intrepid to defy gender confines (if not for mere entertainment value), and in so doing inspire the timid masses to follow suit or celebrate vicariously. This undeniably seductive nature that androgyny wields in our society has been reincarnated in several celebrated figures throughout time comprising an infinitely long list of individuals such as: Oscar Wilde, Mick Jagger, Rudolph Valentino, George Sand, Johnny Depp, Marlene Dietrich, and David Bowie, just to name a few.

These iconoclastic masters have seduced an infinite number of people for their talents and their charm possessing an irrefutable androgynous and socially deviant nature in their respective times and cultures. To those receptive to such a defiant regard for gender norms, these figures are a source of inspiration offering encouragement to unleash socially taboo feelings that would otherwise be condemned to a mental prison. For those who fear such a radical disregard for convention, these figures inspire fear and hatred, for their flamboyant natures threaten to shatter the commonly accepted and socially constructed ideal of gender as a natural and clear cut binary.

These rock stars of pop culture eternally dazzle and seduce crowds with their cool and rebellious style, is it any wonder they are often adored as modern deities? We follow their forays into uncharted territory with watchful eyes in hopes of a voyeuristic escape from the dullness of social convention. Sometimes all it takes is a little guidance to help us release be unabashed social deviants we are at heart.