"Androgyny" is a rock, pop, and funk song released by American alternative rock group Garbage as the lead single from their third studio album, Beautiful Garbage. Released worldwide in September 2001, "Androgyny" represented a shift in the group's style, overtly embracing current music elements into their repertoire. Drummer/producer Butch Vig explained: "To me, some of the most cutting edge music out there is in the Top 40. Some of the songs on Beautiful Garbage, like "Androgyny" and "Untouchable" are influenced by Timbaland and Dr. Dre." Promotion for "Androgyny" and its parent album were put on hold in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The mixed reaction from both critics and Garbage's fanbase to "Androgyny" also contributed to its underperformance in Garbage's home markets of the United Kingdom, where "Androgyny" stalled outside the top twenty, and in the United States, where it failed to register on any Billboard charts. Across Europe, however, "Androgyny" gained significant traction at radio and video; "Androgyny" was also a notable success in Australia, where it became their highest-charting single at the time. In 2016, Garbage performed "Androgyny" for the first time in fifteen years in Charlotte, North Carolina to highlight the controversial Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act that was being deliberated in the state at the time. The band are resolutely pro-trans rights. Later that year, band leader Shirley Manson spoke of "Androgyny": "As it turns out, the song was way ahead of its time. The subject matter is now very pertinent. But back then, it was considered a little strange, I guess". Song profile Garbage began the process of writing, recording and self-produced their third album in April 2000 at their own Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin. The sessions for the record would last well into the following year; "Androgyny" becoming realised sometime in January 2001. Garbage had been making rough mixes of their work, and had moved a chunk from one musical piece into another to create what would end up as "Androgyny". A classical guitar part written for another song on the album, "Untouchable", was matched with a sparse drum machine pattern written for "Androgyny" during tracking stages. Although it sounded a little crude, the band felt that the piece had character; the band edited it with Pro Tools software and matched it with a synth melody. "It's really three songs stuck together," guitarist Duke Erikson later recalled, "The way