Our recognition of what constitutes as a man or a woman heavily depends on appearance.

From a young age children are brought up on Barbie dolls wearing pink dresses and high heels, and Action Man in full army getup. Yet in todays society, the ‘boys wear blue and girls wear pink’ rule is lost in the past. With human rights, gay marriages and surgical technology advancing so fast the lines between the sexes continue to blur. Now body form and behaviour cannot clearly define a man or woman.

The Androgynous doll allows children to explore the combinations of genitalia, and so educates them that the reproductive organs do not define a persons gender any more, especially as they have the choice to chop and change.

Dan Chen

Tags: Androgynous, play, subversive