Gynomorph is a word used to describe an organism with female physical characteristics.
Mythology
In
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...
and
religion
Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...
, a gynomorph was a bi-gendered god with both masculine and feminine characteristics. Gynomorphs were portrayed as
effeminate
Effeminacy or male femininity is the embodiment of feminine traits in boys or men, particularly those considered untypical of men or masculinity. These traits include roles, stereotypes, behaviors, and appearances that are socially associated wi ...
young males, like
Dionysos
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ) by the Greek ...
, a masculine god who possessed distinctly feminine features. Gynomorphs retained the creative capacity of female divinities: they had cosmic wombs, but they also possessed the inseminating abilities attributed to male divinities.
Biology
In
biology
Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...
, a gynomorph is an organism with female physical characteristics, whereas an Andromorph is an organism with male physical characteristics. For instance, some female
damselflies
Damselflies are flying insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies (which constitute the other odonatan suborder, Epiprocta) but are usually smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the win ...
show colour variations typically found in males. Andromorphs, by resembling males, are thought to benefit from avoiding male harassment. Some authors have proposed that this benefit is offset by a higher probability of detection for andromorphs compared to gynomorphs owing to differences in body colouration.
See also
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Androgyny
Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to Sex, biological sex or gender expression.
When ''androgyny'' refers to mixed biological sex characteristics in humans, it oft ...
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Futanari
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Gynandromorphism
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Hermaphrodite
A hermaphrodite () is a sexually reproducing organism that produces both male and female gametes. Animal species in which individuals are either male or female are gonochoric, which is the opposite of hermaphroditic.
The individuals of many ...
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Sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...
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Shemale
''Shemale'' (also spelled she-male) is a term most commonly used in the pornography industry to describe trans women or other people with male genitalia and female secondary sex characteristics (including breasts) acquired via hormones or surge ...
References
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Androgynous and hermaphroditic deities
Female
Sexual selection
LGBTQ themes in Greek mythology