Androdyke

The term androdyke was developed to bridge the gap between the popular descriptive terms for lesbian: lipstick, meaning overly feminine, and butch, meaning overly masculine. An androdyke has both masculine and feminine characteristics that fall somewhere between lipstick and butch lesbians. Both types of androdykes might express their androgyny through their hairstyles, dress, mannerisms, interests, and more.

Androdykes may identify as women yet feel more comfortable presenting outside their gender norms. Alternatively, they may identify as gender diverse, neither feeling strongly drawn to a male or female gender identity.

Identifying as an androdyke can be meaningful and even empowering for some lesbian women. However, others actively shun labels like this and other identifiers.