Man Or Woman? Androgynous Model Poses As Both To Challenge Gender Stereotypes

Meet Rain Dove – the androgynous model that walks the runway in both menswear and womenswear.

Not to be confused with the modern gender classifications, androgyny is an ancient term, describing a character or a person that has both masculine and feminine characteristics. And as with everything concerning unique looks, androgyny is the next big thing in the fashion industry – from male models looking quite feminine to female models looking quite masculine.

Though Rain didn’t always see herself as androgynous. Instead, she saw herself as an “ugly woman.” “I never had bad feelings about it; I just felt that maybe I was that one girl,” Dove told After Ellen. “It wasn’t until I was wilderness firefighter for a while and that’s when I felt more empowered in my ambiguity and sexuality as far as gender presentation goes.”

Quite frequently, people assume Rain is male, but she doesn’t correct them. Instead, Rain takes advantage of these “misunderstandings.” “When I was a firefighter they thought I was a male and I went with it because I really need a job and I was out in the middle of nowhere in Colorado,” she said. “So I utilized my gender-bending profile as something that had gotten me a bunch of odd jobs from nannying to the landscape .” And that’s when it all started… Now, Rain Dove is an activist, she is pursuing acting, and she is the runway model that turns heads in menswear, womenswear, and fashion photography. “We’re all struggling to be unique, and the unique thing you can be is yourself,” Rain told Buzzfeed. “The gender thing doesn’t exist; it’s a social construct you don’t have to fit into. Some people love you; some people will love you. Some people accept you, and I’m one of them.”