--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Homosexuality, like androgyny, might be…" description: "\"Homosexuality, like androgyny, might be an instinctive racial response to overpopulation, crowding, and stress. Both flourish when empire reaches its a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05b/edward-abbey-254_androgyny_homosexuality-like-androgyny-might-be-an_1654982.png" --- # Homosexuality, like androgyny, might be an instinctive… ![“Homosexuality, like androgyny, might be an instinctive racial response to overpopulation, crowding, and stress. Both flourish when empire reaches its apogee.” quote by Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05b/edward-abbey-254_androgyny_homosexuality-like-androgyny-might-be-an_1654982.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05b/edward-abbey-254_androgyny_homosexuality-like-androgyny-might-be-an_1654982.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05b/edward-abbey-254_androgyny_homosexuality-like-androgyny-might-be-an_1654982.png) > “Homosexuality, like androgyny, might be an instinctive racial response to overpopulation, crowding, and stress. Both flourish when empire reaches its apogee.” [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author suggests that same and androgyny arise as adaptive responses to societal pressures, especially in expansive empires. **In simple terms:** Sexual traits may adapt to stress. Key Takeaway Consider social pressures on identity. Themes evolution societal stress identity Mood critical thought‑provoking Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - urban planning - public policy - healthcare - education reform Key Concepts population dynamics cultural adaptation Questions to Reflect On - How do cultural factors interact? - What limits this view? A Different Perspective Biological explanations can oversimplify complex social issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Androgyny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/androgyny/) [Androgyny Instinctive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/androgyny-instinctive-694182/) [Empires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empires/) [Homosexuality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/homosexuality/) [Homosexuality Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/homosexuality-like-694181/) [Like Androgyny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-androgyny-694180/) [Might](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/might/) [Overpopulation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/overpopulation/) [Response](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/response/) [Response Overpopulation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/response-overpopulation-694183/) [Stress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stress/) ## Related quotes > [I quite like androgyny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bat-for-lashes/i-quite-like-androgyny/) [Bat for Lashes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bat-for-lashes/) > [I chose to treat the homosexuality like I would treat any other form of sexuality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbet-schroeder/i-chose-to-treat-the-homosexuality-like-i-would-treat-any-other-form/) [Barbet Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbet-schroeder/) > [History shows that male homosexuality, which like prostitution flourishes with urbanization and soon becomes predictably ritualized, always tends toward decadence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/history-shows-that-male-homosexuality-which-like-prostitution/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [What do you mean you don't believe in homosexuality? It's not like the Easter Bunny, your belief isn't necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lea-delaria/what-do-you-mean-you-don-t-believe-in-homosexuality-it-s-not-like-the/) [Lea DeLaria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lea-delaria/) > [It always seemed to me a bit pointless to disapprove of homosexuality. It's like disapproving of rain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-maude/it-always-seemed-to-me-a-bit-pointless-to-disapprove-of-homosexuality/) [Francis Maude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-maude/) > [Homosexuality is like the weather. It just is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sullivan/homosexuality-is-like-the-weather-it-just-is/) [Andrew Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sullivan/) > [Three, community built on androgynous identity will mean the end of transsexuality as we know it. Either the transsexual will be able to expand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/three-community-built-on-androgynous-identity-will-mean-the-end-of/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [“... it is fatal for anyone who writes to think of their sex. It is fatal to be a man or woman pure and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/it-is-fatal-for-anyone-who-writes-to-think-of-their-sex-it-is-fatal/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“What does total androgyny look like, when gender isn't even anything to do with appearance and voice?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oseman/what-does-total-androgyny-look-like-when-gender-isn-t-even-anything/) [Alice Oseman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oseman/) > [We don't have a clue what it is to be male or female, or if there are intermediate genders. Male and female might be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-acker/we-don-t-have-a-clue-what-it-is-to-be-male-or-female-or-if-there-are/) [Kathy Acker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-acker/) > [Wearing one hoop earring and playing with the androgyny - that's who I am. That's what I like to do. And I feel the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lena-waithe/wearing-one-hoop-earring-and-playing-with-the-androgyny-that-s-who-i/) [Lena Waithe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lena-waithe/) > [What was so interesting about the glam era was that it was about bisexuality and breaking down the boundaries between gays and straights, breaking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-haynes/what-was-so-interesting-about-the-glam-era-was-that-it-was-about/) [Todd Haynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-haynes/) > [Androgyny refers to a specific way of joining the 'masculine' and 'feminine' aspects of a single human being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-singer/androgyny-refers-to-a-specific-way-of-joining-the-masculine-and/) [June Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-singer/) > [My style is scruffy with a touch of androgyny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadie-frost/my-style-is-scruffy-with-a-touch-of-androgyny/) [Sadie Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadie-frost/) > [There is a certain androgyny to my appeal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-barkin/there-is-a-certain-androgyny-to-my-appeal/) [Ellen Barkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-barkin/) ## More by Edward Abbey > [A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/a-man-could-be-a-lover-and-defender-of-the-wilderness-without-ever-in/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Apuleius married a rich widow, then wrote \_The Golden Ass\_.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/apuleius-married-a-rich-widow-then-wrote-the-golden-ass/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Except for the scale of the operation, there was nothing unusual about Hitler's massacre of the Jews. Genocide's an old tradition, as human as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/except-for-the-scale-of-the-operation-there-was-nothing-unusual-about/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [By the age of eighteen, a human has acquired enough joy and heartache to provide the food of reflection for a century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/by-the-age-of-eighteen-a-human-has-acquired-enough-joy-and-heartache/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Our institutions are too big; they represent not the best but the worst characteristics of human beings. By submitting to huge hierarchies of power,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/our-institutions-are-too-big-they-represent-not-the-best-but-the/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [No man-made structure in all of American history has been hated so much, by so many, for so long, with such good reason, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/no-man-made-structure-in-all-of-american-history-has-been-hated-so/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Where all pretend to be thinking alike, it's likely that no one is thinking at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/where-all-pretend-to-be-thinking-alike-it-s-likely-that-no-one-is/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Nobody has so many friends that he can afford to lose one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/nobody-has-so-many-friends-that-he-can-afford-to-lose-one/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“But why, the questioner insists, why do people like you pretend to love uninhabited country so much? Why this cult of wilderness? Why the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/but-why-the-questioner-insists-why-do-people-like-you-pretend-to-love/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Civilization is a youth with a molotov cocktail in his hand. Culture is the Soviet tank or L.A. cop that guns him down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/civilization-is-a-youth-with-a-molotov-cocktail-in-his-hand-culture/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [All revolutions have failed? Perhaps. But rebellion for good cause is self- justifying -- a good in itself. Rebellion transforms slaves into human beings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/all-revolutions-have-failed-perhaps-but-rebellion-for-good-cause-is/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Me, I'm living under a sword too, as Jack may have told you. An old wino's disease, which could lay me in the grave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/me-i-m-living-under-a-sword-too-as-jack-may-have-told-you-an-old-wino/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Look here, I want to say, for godsake folks get out of them there machines, take off those fucking sunglasses and unpeel both eyeballs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/look-here-i-want-to-say-for-godsake-folks-get-out-of-them-there/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Reason has seldom failed us because it has seldom been tried.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/reason-has-seldom-failed-us-because-it-has-seldom-been-tried/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“What is the essence of the art of writing? Part One: Have something to say. Part Two: Say it well.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/what-is-the-essence-of-the-art-of-writing-part-one-have-something-to/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) [Explore all 807 Edward Abbey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) ## More Androgyny quotes > [There is a certain androgyny to my appeal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-barkin/there-is-a-certain-androgyny-to-my-appeal/) [Ellen Barkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-barkin/) > [My style is scruffy with a touch of androgyny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadie-frost/my-style-is-scruffy-with-a-touch-of-androgyny/) [Sadie Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadie-frost/) > [Androgyny refers to a specific way of joining the 'masculine' and 'feminine' aspects of a single human being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-singer/androgyny-refers-to-a-specific-way-of-joining-the-masculine-and/) [June Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-singer/) > [What was so interesting about the glam era was that it was about bisexuality and breaking down the boundaries between gays and straights, breaking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-haynes/what-was-so-interesting-about-the-glam-era-was-that-it-was-about/) [Todd Haynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-haynes/) > [Wearing one hoop earring and playing with the androgyny - that's who I am. That's what I like to do. And I feel the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lena-waithe/wearing-one-hoop-earring-and-playing-with-the-androgyny-that-s-who-i/) [Lena Waithe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lena-waithe/) > [We don't have a clue what it is to be male or female, or if there are intermediate genders. Male and female might be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-acker/we-don-t-have-a-clue-what-it-is-to-be-male-or-female-or-if-there-are/) [Kathy Acker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-acker/) > [“What does total androgyny look like, when gender isn't even anything to do with appearance and voice?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oseman/what-does-total-androgyny-look-like-when-gender-isn-t-even-anything/) [Alice Oseman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oseman/) > [“... it is fatal for anyone who writes to think of their sex. It is fatal to be a man or woman pure and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/it-is-fatal-for-anyone-who-writes-to-think-of-their-sex-it-is-fatal/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Three, community built on androgynous identity will mean the end of transsexuality as we know it. Either the transsexual will be able to expand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/three-community-built-on-androgynous-identity-will-mean-the-end-of/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [I was captain of my cheerleading squad in my high school, and I was president of my class and homecoming queen, but I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilarie-burton/i-was-captain-of-my-cheerleading-squad-in-my-high-school-and-i-was/) [Hilarie Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilarie-burton/) > [To recommend that women become identical to men, would be simple reversal, and would defeat the whole point of androgyny, and for that matter,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-recommend-that-women-become-identical-to-men-would-be-simple/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Nothing is more attractive than universal appeal. That is what makes androgyny the peacekeeping persuasion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bauvard/nothing-is-more-attractive-than-universal-appeal-that-is-what-makes/) [Bauvard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bauvard/) > [I quite like androgyny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bat-for-lashes/i-quite-like-androgyny/) [Bat for Lashes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bat-for-lashes/) > [I don't think I look like a boy, but I don't think androgyny is such a bad thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-moennig/i-don-t-think-i-look-like-a-boy-but-i-don-t-think-androgyny-is-such-a/) [Katherine Moennig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-moennig/) > [“It was a rotten time to try to be a man in America. Until Blue came along I’d never even spent time around a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-luckman/it-was-a-rotten-time-to-try-to-be-a-man-in-america-until-blue-came/) [Sol Luckman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-luckman/) [Browse all 37 Androgyny quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/androgyny/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Homosexuality, like androgyny, might be an instinctive racial response to overpopulation, crowding, and stress. 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