Third gender: Difference between revisions
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Haaaaa Gayyyyyyyyyyyyyy |
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[[Image:Anna P.jpg|thumb|upright|Anna P., who lived for many years as a man in Germany, was photographed for [[Magnus Hirschfeld]]'s book ''Sexual Intermediates'' in 1922. It is possible that, employing modern terms of identification, Anna would identify as a [[trans man]].]] |
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In other words neither man or woman |
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{{Transgender sidebar}} |
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{{Anthropology of kinship}} |
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The terms '''third gender''' and '''third sex''' describe individuals who are categorized (by their will or by social consensus) as neither [[man]] nor [[woman]], as well as the social category present in those societies who recognize three or more [[gender]]s. The term "third" is usually understood to mean "other"; some [[cultural anthropology|anthropologists]] and [[sociology|sociologists]] have described fourth,<ref>Roscoe, Will (2000). ''Changing Ones: Third and Fourth Genders in Native North America''. Palgrave Macmillan (June 17, 2000) ISBN 0-312-22479-6<br>See also: Trumbach, Randolph (1994). ''London’s Sapphists: From Three Sexes to Four Genders in the Making of Modern Culture.'' In Third Sex, Third Gender: Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History, edited by Gilbert Herdt, 111-36. New York: Zone (MIT). ISBN 978-0-942299-82-3</ref> fifth,<ref name="Graham">Graham, Sharyn (2001), [http://www.insideindonesia.org/weekly-articles/sulawesis-fifth-gender Sulawesi's fifth gender], [[Inside Indonesia]], April–June 2001.</ref> and even ''some''<ref name ="Martin">Martin, M. Kay and Voorhies, Barbara (1975). ''Supernumerary Sexes,'' chapter 4 of Female of the Species (New York: Columbia University Press, 1975), 23.</ref> genders. The concepts of "third", "fourth" and "some" genders can be somewhat difficult to understand within Western conceptual categories.<ref>McGee, R. Jon and Richard L. Warms 2011 Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. New York, McGraw Hill.</ref> |
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Banana where's the fruit, banana where the fruit…….. Eeegg eegg |
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Although [[biology]] usually determines genetically whether a human's biological [[sex]] is [[male]] or [[female]] (though [[intersex]] people are also born), the state of personally identifying as, or being identified by society as, belonging to neither the male or female genders is considered relative to the individual's [[gender role]] in society, [[gender identity]], and [[sexual orientation]]. While some western scholars have sought to understand the term 'third gender' in terms of 'sexual orientation,' several other scholars, especially the native non-western scholars, consider this as a misrepresentation of 'third genders.'<ref>[http://rspas.anu.edu.au/papers/pah/theravada.html Non-normative Sex/Gender Categories in the Theravada Buddhist Scriptures]</ref><ref>[https://jyx.jyu.fi/dspace/bitstream/handle/123456789/7281/URN_NBN_fi_jyu-2005460.pdf?sequence=1 ANCESTORS OF TWO-SPIRITS: REPRESENTATIONS OF NATIVE AMERICAN THIRD-GENDER MALES]</ref> To different cultures or individuals, a third gender may represent an intermediate state between man and woman, a state of being both (such as "the spirit of a man in the body of a woman"), the state of being neither ([[Grammatical gender|neuter]]), the ability to cross or swap genders, another category altogether independent of men and women. This last definition is favored by those who argue for a strict interpretation of the "third gender" concept. In any case, all of these characterizations are defining gender and not the sex that biology gives to living beings. |
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Banana where's the fruit, banana where's the fruit, banana where's the fruit, where's the fruit, where's the fruit….. |
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I heard you bite with them soft lips, yeah it went in your mouth, the square bit of the apple went in, |
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The term has been used to describe [[Hijra (South Asia)|hijra]]s of [[India]], [[Bangladesh]] and [[Pakistan]]<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1177/006996697031002005 | title = Gendered Bodies: The Case of the 'Third Gender' in India | year = 1997 | last1 = Agrawal | first1 = A. | journal = Contributions to Indian Sociology | volume = 31 | issue = 2 | pages = 273–297 }} |
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Then your teeth worked it ouuuutttt uh. Then you ate a white one it came alive like a wild one yea okkaay like a runner bean. |
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</ref> who have gained legal identity, [[Fa'afafine]] of Polynesia, and [[Albanian sworn virgins|Sworn virgin]]s of the [[Balkans]],<ref name="Young">Young, Antonia (2000). ''Women Who Become Men: Albanian Sworn Virgins.'' ISBN 1-85973-335-2</ref> among others, and is also used by many of such groups and individuals to describe themselves. |
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The only thing left on the plate in a tomatoooo oo let it lay. I know you want to eat but you gotta have a rest. You just waiting for the food to finish girl then you can get a mc donalds in 20 mins giiirrrll. |
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Say its right say its right, where abouts can I find some bananas now, I can get you a mighty old bakee soon as you go to the kitchen I know what you go’n sayy |
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Like the hijra, the third gender is in many cultures made up of individuals [[sex assignment|considered male at the time of birth]] who take on a feminine gender role or sexual role. In cultures that have not taken on Western [[heteronormativity]], they are usually seen as acceptable sexual partners for male-identifying individuals as long as the latter always maintain the "active" role. |
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Banana where's the fruit, banana where the fruit, Banana where's the fruit, where's the fruit, where's the fruit… |
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==Biology== |
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[[Image:Sparrow, White throated.jpg|thumb|upright|left|The white-striped form of the [[white-throated sparrow]], which has two distinct female and two male [[Polymorphism (biology)|morph]]s.]] |
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In animals that are [[gonochoristic]], a number of individuals within a population will not [[sexual differentiation|differentiate sexually]] into bodies that are typically [[male]] or [[female]]; this is called [[intersexuality]]. The incidence varies from population to population, and also varies depending on how femaleness and maleness are understood. Biologist and gender theorist [[Anne Fausto-Sterling]], in a 1993 article, argued that if people ought to be classified in sexes, at least five sexes, rather than two, would be needed.<ref>{{cite journal |author=[[Anne Fausto-Sterling|Fausto-Sterling, Anne]]|title=The Five Sexes: Why male and female are not enough|journal=[[The Sciences]] |year=1993|issue=May/April 1993|pages=20–25}} [http://www.mtsu.edu/~phollowa/5sexes.html Article online].</ref> |
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[[Evolution]]ary biologist [[Joan Roughgarden]] argues that, in addition to male and female sexes (as defined by the production of small or large [[gamete]]s), more than two ''[[gender]]s'' exist in hundreds of animal species.<ref name="roughgarden">Roughgarden, Joan (2004). ''Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People''. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-24073-1 Especially chapter 6, ''Multiple Gender Families'', pp. 75–105.</ref> Species with one female and two male genders include [[red deer]] who have two male [[Polymorphism (biology)|morph]]s, one with antlers and one without, known as ''hummels'' or ''notts'', as well as several species of fish such as plainfin [[midshipman fish]] and [[coho salmon]].<ref name="roughgarden">p.76–78</ref> Species with one female and three male genders include [[bluegill]]s, where four distinct size and color classes exhibit different [[social behaviour|social]] and [[reproduction|reproductive behaviour]]s, as well as the spotted European [[wrasse]] (''Symphodus ocellatus''), a [[cichlid]] (''Oreochromis mossambicus'') and a kind of tree lizard, ''[[Urosaurus ornatus]]''.<ref name="roughgarden">p.78–88</ref> Species with two male and two female genders include the [[white-throated sparrow]], in which male and female morphs are either white-striped or tan-striped. White-striped individuals are more aggressive and defend [[Territory (animal)|territory]], while tan-striped individuals provide more parental care. Ninety percent of breeding pairs are between a tan striped and a white striped sparrow.<ref name="roughgarden">p.89–90</ref> Finally, the highest number of distinct male and female morphs or "genders" within a species is found in the [[side-blotched lizard]], which has five altogether: orange-throated males, who are "ultra-dominant, high [[testosterone]]" controllers of multiple females; blue-throated males, who are less aggressive and guard only one female; yellow-throated males, who do not defend territories at all but cluster around the territories of orange males; orange-throated females, who lay many small eggs and are very territorial; and yellow-throated females, who lay fewer, larger eggs and are more tolerant of each other.<ref name="roughgarden">p.90–93</ref> |
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==Modern societies== |
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Since at least the 1970s, [[Anthropology|anthropologists]] have described [[gender role|gender categories]] in some cultures which they could not adequately explain using a two-gender framework.<ref name="Martin"/> At the same time, [[Feminism|feminists]] began to draw a distinction between (biological) [[sex]] and (social/psychological) [[gender]]. Contemporary [[gender studies|gender theorists]] usually argue that a two-gender system is neither innate nor universal. A sex/gender system which recognizes only the following two social [[Norm (sociology)|norms]] has been labeled "[[heteronormative]]". |
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Anthropologist Michael G. Peletz is an expert in East Asian gender and sexuality. He believes our notions of different types of genders, including the attitudes toward the third gender, deeply affect our lives and reflects our values in society. In Peletz book, "Gender, Sexuality, and Body Politics in Modern Asia", he describes: |
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{{cquote|For our purposes, the term "gender" designates the cultural categories, symbols, meanings, practices, and institutionalized arrangements bearing on at least five sets of phenomena: (1) females and femininity; (2) males and masculinity; (3) Androgynes, who are partly male and partly female in appearance or of indeterminate sex/gender, as well as intersexed individuals, also known as hermaphrodites, who to one or another degree may have both male and female sexual organs or characteristics; (4) the transgendered, who engage in practices that transgress or transcend normative boundaries and are thus by definition "transgressively gendered"; and (5) neutered or unsexed/ungendered individuals such as eunuchs.<ref name=Gender>{{cite book|last=Peletz|first=Michael G.|title=Gender, Sexuality, and Body Politics in Modern Asia|year=2007|publisher=Association for Asian Studies|location=Michigan|isbn=9780924304507}}</ref> }} |
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===Australia=== |
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First reported in January 2003, Australians can use "X" as their gender. [[Alex MacFarlane]] is believed to be the first person in Australia to obtain a birth certificate recording sex as indeterminate, and the first Australian passport with an 'X' sex marker in 2003.<ref name="West Australian">[http://www.bodieslikeours.org/pdf/xmarks.pdf "X marks the spot for intersex Alex"], West Australian, via bodieslikeours.org. 11 January 2003</ref><ref name="Science as Culture">[http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09505430802280784?journalCode=csac20#.Un8OUZFw1cc "Ingrid Holme, "Hearing People's Own Stories", in Science as Culture, Volume 17, Issue 3, 2008"]</ref><ref name="Sydney Morning Herald">[http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/neither-man-nor-woman-20100626-zaye.html "Neither man nor woman"], Sydney Morning Herald. 27 June 2010</ref><ref name="asa">[http://www.asanet.org/sectionsex/documents/SUMMER03sexnews.pdf Newsletter of the Sociology of Sexualities Section of the American Sociological Association], American Sociological Association Sexualities News, Volume 6, Issue 1, Summer 2003</ref><ref name="oii10">[http://oii.org.au/21597/ Ten years of ‘X’ passports, and no protection from discrimination],Organisation Intersex International (OII) Australia, 19 January 2013</ref><ref name="Sydney Morning Herald" /> This is stated by the West Australian to be on the basis of a challenge by MacFarlane, using an indeterminate birth certificate issued by the State of Victoria. The West Australian newspaper reported in January 2003 that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade "had decided to accommodate people whose birth certificates recorded their sex as indeterminate ... Alex is also believed to be the first Australian issued with a birth certificate acknowledging a gender other than male or female. Alex's says “indeterminate - also known as intersex”. It was issued in Alex's birth State of Victoria, which unlike WA, changed its policy to allow the category".<ref name="West Australian" /> |
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Government policy between 2003 and 2011 was to issue passports with an 'X' marker only to people who could "present a birth certificate that notes their sex as indeterminate".<ref>[https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sex-files-legal-recognition-concluding-paper-sex-and-gender-2009#Heading495, Sex Files: the legal recognition of sex in documents and government records. Concluding paper of the sex and gender diversity project (2009)], Australian Human Rights Commission, March 2009.</ref><ref name="oii10" /> |
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In 2011, the Australian [[Passport]] Office introduced new guidelines for issuing of passports with a new gender, and broadened availability of an X descriptor to all individuals with documented "indeterminate" sex.<ref>{{cite news|title=Getting a passport made easier for sex and gender diverse people|url=http://foreignminister.gov.au/releases/2011/kr_mr_110914b.html|accessdate=23 December 2011|newspaper=The Hon Kevin Rudd MP|date=14 September 2011}}</ref><ref>[http://oii.org.au/14763/on-x-passports/ On Australian passports and “X” for sex], Organisation Intersex International (OII) Australia, 9 October 2011</ref> The revised policy stated that "sex reassignment surgery is not a prerequisite to issue a passport in a new gender. Birth or citizenship certificates do not need to be amended."<ref>{{cite web|title=Sex and Gender Diverse Passport Applicants|url=https://www.passports.gov.au/web/sexgenderapplicants.aspx|work=Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade|publisher=Australian Government|accessdate=23 December 2011}}</ref> |
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Australian Commonwealth guidelines on the recognition of sex and gender, published in June 2013, now extend the use of an 'X' gender marker to any adult who chooses that option, in all dealings with the Commonwealth government and its agencies. The option is being introduced over a three year period. The guidelines also clarify that the federal government collects data on [[gender]], rather than [[sex]]. <ref name="agrecog">[http://www.ag.gov.au/Publications/Pages/AustralianGovernmentGuidelinesontheRecognitionofSexandGender.aspx Australian Government Attorney General's Department, June 2013, "Australian Government Guidelines on the Recognition of Sex and Gender"]</ref> |
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[[Norrie May-Welby]] is popularly - but erroneously - often regarded as the first person in the world to obtain officially indeterminate, unspecified or "genderless" status.<ref name="Daily">[http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/03/16/2010-03-16_no_sex_for_me_please_extranssexual_briton_is_first_legally_genderless_person.html "No sex for me, please! Ex-transsexual Australian Norrie May-Welby is first legally genderless person"], New York Daily News. 16 March 2010.</ref><ref name="Telegraph">[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7446850/Briton-is-recognised-as-worlds-first-officially-genderless-person.html "Briton is recognised as world's first officially genderless person"], The Telegraph. 15 Mar 2010.</ref><ref name="DailyLifeAU">[http://www.dailylife.com.au/news-and-views/dl-opinion/norrie-maywelbys-battle-to-regain-status-as-the-worlds-first-legally-genderless-person-20131107-2x3nh.html "Norrie May-Welby's battle to regain status as the world's first legally genderless person"], Daily Life Australia. 8 November 2013</ref> May-Welby became the first [[transsexual]] person in Australia to pursue a legal status of neither a man nor a woman, in 2010.<ref name="Daily" /><ref name="Telegraph" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/2892376/Scottish-born-Australian-is-officially-neither-a-man-or-a-woman.html|title=I'm not a man... or a woman|date=15 March 2010|publisher=[[Scottish Sun]]|accessdate=15 March 2010}}</ref><ref name="Huffington">[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/18/norrie-may-welby-the-worl_n_502851.html "Norrie May-Welby: The World's First Legally Genderless Person"], The Huffington Post. 18 March 2010.</ref> That status is subject to an appeal by the State of New South Wales.<ref name="DailyLifeAU" /> |
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Intersex organisations in Australia, such as [[Organisation Intersex International Australia]] are keen to establish a difference between intersex status and non-binary gender identities, stating that many intersex people regard themselves as men or women.<ref>[http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jun/18/intersex-people-australia Morgan Carpenter, "Australia can lead the way for intersex people"], The Guardian, 18 June 2013</ref><ref>[http://oii.org.au/22636/welcome-guidelines-sex-gender-recognition/ We welcome new federal guidelines on sex and gender recognition], Organisation Intersex International Australia, 13 June 2013</ref><ref>[http://oii.org.au/22663/third-sex-redux/ Third sex, redux], Organisation Intersex International Australia, 14 June 2013</ref><ref>[http://www.smh.com.au/national/proposed-law-leaves-intersex-vulnerable-20130120-2d18b.html Proposed law leaves intersex 'vulnerable'], Judith Ireland, [[Sydney Morning Herald]], 21 January 2013.</ref><ref>[http://www.equalrightstrust.org/view-subdocument/index.htm?id=922 The Equal Rights Review, Volume Ten (2013)], Equal Rights Trust, 27 March 2013</ref> |
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===India=== |
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[[File:Kuvagam hijras.jpg|thumb|''Aravani''s—the [[Hijra (South Asia)|Hijra]] "brides" of [[Iravan|Aravan]]—mourn his death|alt=A group of seated transvestite men and/or eunuchs dressed in saris mourn.]] |
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The [[Hijra (South Asia)|Hijra]] of India are probably the most well known and populous third sex type in the modern world – [[Mumbai]]-based community health organisation The Humsafar Trust estimates there are between 5 and 6 million hijras in India. In different areas they are known as Aravani/Aruvani or Jogappa. Often (somewhat misleadingly) called [[eunuch]]s in [[English language|English]], they may be born [[intersex]] or apparently [[male]], dress in feminine clothes and generally see themselves as neither men nor women. Only eight percent of hijras visiting Humsafar clinics are ''nirwaan'' ([[castration|castrated]]). [[India]]n photographer [[Dayanita Singh]] writes about her friendship with a Hijra, Mona Ahmed, and their two different societies' beliefs about gender: "When I once asked her if she would like to go to [[Singapore]] for a [[sex change operation]], she told me, 'You really do not understand. I am the third sex, not a man trying to be a woman. It is your society's problem that you only recognise two sexes.'"<ref>''Myself Mona Ahmed''. by Dayanita Singh (Photographer) and Mona Ahmed. Scalo Publishers (September 15, 2001). ISBN 3-908247-46-2</ref> Hijra [[social movement]]s have campaigned for recognition as a third sex,<ref>{{cite news | title=India's eunuchs demand rights |first= Habib |last=Beary |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3080116.stm |work=BBC News |date=4 September 2003}}</ref> and in 2005, Indian passport application forms were updated with three gender options: M, F, and E (for male, female, and eunuch, respectively).<ref>''‘Third sex’ finds a place on Indian passport forms'', The Telegraph, March 10, 2005. [http://www.infochangeindia.org/archives1.jsp?secno=13&monthname=June&year=2005&detail=T Article online]</ref> Some Indian languages such as Sanskrit have three gender options. In November 2009, India agreed to list eunuchs and transgender people as "others", distinct from males and females, in voting rolls and voter identity cards.<ref name=BBC-20091223>{{cite news|title=Pakistani eunuchs to have distinct gender |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8428819.stm|date=December 23, 2009|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=2009-12-23}}</ref> |
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In addition to the feminine role of [[hijra (South Asia)|hijras]], which is widespread across the [[subcontinent]], a few occurrences of institutionalised "female masculinity" have been noted in modern India. Among the Gaddhi in the foothills of the [[Himalayas]], some girls adopt a role as a ''sadhin'', renouncing marriage, and dressing and working as men, but retaining female names and pronouns.<ref>{{cite journal | jstor=3630617 | pages=331–350 | last1=Phillimore | first1=P. | title=Unmarried Women of the Dhaula Dhar: Celibacy and Social Control in Northwest India | volume=47 | issue=3 | journal=Journal of Anthropological | year=1991 }}</ref> A late-nineteenth century anthropologist noted the existence of a similar role in [[Madras]], that of the ''basivi''.<ref>Fawcett, Fred (1891). ''On Basivis: Women Who, through Dedication to a Deity, Assume Masculine Privileges.'' Journal of the Anthropological Society of Bombay (July). Bombay: Education Society's Press; London: Treubner.</ref> However, historian Walter Penrose concludes that in both cases "their status is perhaps more 'transgendered' than 'third-gendered.'"<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1353/sex.2001.0018 | title=Hidden in History: Female Homoeroticism and Women of a "Third Nature" in the South Asian Past | year=2001 | last1=Penrose | first1=Walter | journal=Journal of the History of Sexuality | volume=10 | pages=3–39 }}</ref> |
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In 2012 Gopi Shankar, a gender activist from [[The American College in Madurai]], coined the regional terms for [[genderqueer]] people in [[Tamil language|Tamil]].<ref name="indiatimes1">{{cite web|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-06-04/madurai/39739581_1_genders-book-tamil-nadu |title=Madurai student pens book on gender variants |publisher=The Times of India |date=2013-06-04 |accessdate=2013-06-16}}</ref> Gopi said that, apart from male and female, there are more than 20 types of genders, such as transwoman, transmen, androgynous, pangender and trigender etc. and in ancient [[India]] it was referred to as Trithiya prakirthi. "<ref>http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-07-30/madurai/32941100_1_gender-madurai-lgbt</ref> |
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{{Quote box|width=246px|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|align=right|quote="[[Sangam literature]] use the word ‘Pedi’ to refer to transwomen, The Aravan cult in Koovagam village of Tamil Nadu is a folk tradition of the transwomen, where the members enact the legend during an annual three-day festival. “This is completely different from the sakibeki cult of West Bengal, where transwomen don’t have to undergo sex change surgery or shave off their facial hair. They dress as women still retaining their masculine features and sing in praise of Lord Krishna,". “Whereas, since the Tamil society is more conservative and hetero-normative, transwomen completely change themselves as women. In the ancient times, even religion has its own way of accepting these fringe communities.” The Bachura Devi worship in Gujarat and Jogappa cult of Karanataka are the other examples.the kinds of dialects and languages spoken by these community in different parts of the country and the socio-cultural impact on the lingo. ‘Hijra Farsi’ is the transgender dialect, a mix of Urdu, Hindi and Persian spoken in the northern belt of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan and ‘Kothi Baashai’ is spoken by the transgender community in Karnataka, Andhra, Orissa and parts of Tamil Nadu. “They even have sign languages and typical mannerisms to communicate. The peculiar clap is one such,” <ref name="thehindu">http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/no-more-under-siege/article5247859.ece</ref> |source=— Gopi Shankar in National Queer Conference 2013 organised by Sappho for Equality''}} |
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===Nepal=== |
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On Dec. 27, 2007, the [[Supreme Court of Nepal]] issued a decision mandating that the government scrap all laws that discriminated based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity and establish a committee to study same-sex marriage policy.<ref name="Nepal Knight">{{cite news|title=Nepal's Third Gender and the Recognition of Gender Identity|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kyle-knight/nepal-third-gender_b_1447982.html|publisher=Huffington Post|accessdate=25 April 2012|first=Kyle|last=Knight|date=24 April 2012}}</ref> The court took the unique approach of establishing a third-gender category.<ref name="Nepal Knight" /> [[Nepal]]ese official documents afford citizens three gender options: male, female, and "others".<ref name="Nepal Knight" /> This may include people who present or perform as a gender that is different from the one that was assigned to them at birth.<ref name="Nepal Knight" /> Nepal's 2011 census was the first national census in the world to allow people to register as a gender other than male or female.<ref name="Nepal Knight" /> The 2007 supreme court decision ordered the government to issue citizenship ID cards that allowed "third-gender" or "other" to be listed.<ref name="Nepal Knight" /> |
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===Pakistan=== |
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{{Main|Hijra (South Asia)}} |
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In June 2009, the [[Supreme Court of Pakistan|Supreme Court]] of [[Pakistan]] ordered a census of hijras, who number between 80,000<ref name=EconomicTimes>{{cite news|title=People defaulting on bank loans? Use eunuchs to recover: Pak SC|url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/People-defaulting-on-bank-loans-Use-eunuchs-to-recover-Pak-SC/articleshow/5370938.cms|date=December 24, 2009|publisher=Bennett Coleman|work=The Economic Times|accessdate=2009-12-23}}</ref> and 300,000 in Pakistan.<ref name=Haider-20091223 /> In December 2009, [[Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry]], the [[Chief Justice of Pakistan]], ordered that the National Database and Registration Authority<ref name=EconomicTimes /> issue national identity cards to members of the community showing their "distinct" gender.<ref name=Haider-20091223 /><ref>{{cite news|author=Masood, Salman|title=Pakistan: A Legal Victory for Eunuchs |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/24/world/asia/24webbriefs-ALEGALVICTOR_BRF.html|date=December 23, 2009|publisher=The New York Times|accessdate=2009-12-23}}</ref> "It's the first time in the 62-year history of Pakistan that such steps are being taken for our welfare", Almas Bobby, a hijra association's president, said to Reuters. "It's a major step towards giving us respect and identity in society. We are slowly getting respect in society. Now people recognise that we are also human beings.".<ref name=Haider-20091223>{{cite news|author=Haider, Zeeshan|title=Pakistan's transvestites to get distinct gender|url=http://in.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idINTRE5BM2BX20091223|date=December 23, 2009|publisher=Reuters|accessdate=2009-12-23}}</ref> In Pakistan the hijras live in groups (generally 4-12 members) headed by a Guru, normally the oldest. The group earns livelihood by performing/dancing/singing in family functions e.g. birthdays, marriages or child births. It is obligatory for hosts to pay Hijra in money, grain or other things. In central Punjab (Pakistan), hijra groups divide areas among themselves and one group may not interfere with another's territory as it is considered unethical. |
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[[File:Nongtoomfairtex.jpg|Nongtoomfairtex]] |
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===Thailand=== |
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Also commonly referred to as a third sex are the [[kathoey]]s (or "ladyboys") of [[Thailand]].<ref>Totman, Richard, (2004). ''The Third Sex: Kathoey: Thailand's Ladyboys'', Souvenir Press. ISBN 0-285-63668-5</ref> Basically, they are males that dress and carry out their identities as women. However, while a significant number of Thais perceive kathoeys as belonging to a third gender, including many kathoeys themselves, others see them as second category women.<ref>name="Winter">Winter, Sam (2003).</ref> Although they are born genetically as male, kathoeys claim to possess a female heart which is the gender they truly are. Males undergoing sex-change operations are not uncommon occurrences but they are still regarded as men on their identification documents. Despite this, the Thai society remains one of the world's most tolerant attitude towards kathoeys or the third gender.<ref>{{cite news|last=Beech|first=Hannah|title=Where The 'Ladyboys' Are|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1820633,00.html|accessdate=10 April 2013|newspaper=Time World|date=July 7, 2008}}Research and discussion paper: ''Language and identity in transgender: gender wars and the case of the Thai kathoey.'' Paper presented at the Hawaii conference on Social Sciences, Waikiki, June 2003. [http://web.hku.hk/~sjwinter/TransgenderASIA/paper_language_and_identity.htm Article online].</ref> Researcher Sam Winter writes: |
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{{cquote|We asked our 190 [kathoeys] to say whether they thought of themselves as men, women, ''sao praphet song'' ["a second kind of woman"] or ''kathoey''. None thought of themselves as male, and only 11 percent saw themselves as kathoey (i.e. ‘non-male’). By contrast 45 percent thought of themselves as women, with another 36 percent as ''sao praphet song''... Unfortunately we did not include the category ''phet tee sam'' (third sex/gender); conceivably if we had done so there may have been many respondents who would have chosen that term... Around 50 percent [of non-transgender Thais] see them as males with the mistaken minds, but the other half see them as either women born into the wrong body (around 15 percent) or as a third sex/gender (35 percent)."<ref name="Winter">Winter, Sam (2003). Research and discussion paper: ''Language and identity in transgender: gender wars and the case of the Thai kathoey.'' Paper presented at the Hawaii conference on Social Sciences, Waikiki, June 2003. [http://web.hku.hk/~sjwinter/TransgenderASIA/paper_language_and_identity.htm Article online].</ref>}} |
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In 2004, the [[Chiang Mai]] Technology School allocated a separate restroom for kathoeys, with an intertwined male and female symbol on the door. The 15 kathoey students are required to wear male clothing at school but are allowed to sport feminine hairdos. The restroom features four stalls, but no urinals.<ref>''Transvestites Get Their Own School Bathroom'', [[Associated Press]], June 22, 2004.</ref> |
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==== Kathoeys in the work force ==== |
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[[Image:Nongthoomfairtex.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Parinya Charoenphol|Nong Tum]], a transgendered Muay Thai boxer]] |
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Although Kathoeys are still not fully respected, they are gradually gaining acceptance and have made themselves a very distinct part of the Thai society. This is especially true in the entertainment, business, and fashion industries in Thailand, where the Kathoeys play significant roles in leadership and management positions. In addition, Kathoeys or second-category-women are very sought after when businesses are hiring salespeople. In many job posts, it is common to see companies state that second-category-women are preferred as their sales force because they are generally seen as more charismatic and expressive individuals.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kang|first=Dredge|title=Kathoey ''In Trend'': EmergentGenderscapes, National Anxieties and theRe-Signification of Male-BodiedEffeminacy in Thailand|journal=Asian Studies Review|year=2012|month=December|volume=36|url=http://www.academia.edu/2249093/Kathoey_In_Trend_Emergent_Genderscapes_National_Anxieties_and_the_Re-Signification_of_Male-Bodied_Effeminacy_in_Thailand|doi=10.1080/10357823.2012.741043|issue=4|pages=475}}</ref> |
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====Third gender and the concept of homosexuality==== |
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[[Image:Thirdsex bookcover 1959.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Cover of Artemis Smith's 1959 [[lesbian pulp fiction]] novel ''The Third Sex'']]Some writers suggest that a third gender emerged around 1700 AD in [[England]]: the male [[sodomy|sodomite]].<ref name="Trumbach">Trumbach, Randolph. (1998) ''Sex and the Gender Revolution. Volume 1: Heterosexuality and the Third Gender in Enlightenment London''. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1998. (Chicago Series on Sexuality, History & Society)</ref> According to these writers, this was marked by the emergence of a [[subculture]] of [[effeminate]] males and their meeting places ([[molly house]]s), as well as a marked increase in hostility towards effeminate and/or [[homosexual]] males. People described themselves as members of a third sex in Europe from at least the 1860s with the writings of [[Karl Heinrich Ulrichs]]<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1300/J082v06n01_10 | title=The "Third Sex" Theory of Karl Heinrich Ulrichs | year=1981 | last1=Kennedy | first1=Hubert | journal=Journal of Homosexuality | volume=6 | pages=103–111 | pmid=7042820 | issue=1–2 }}</ref> and continuing in the late nineteenth century with [[Magnus Hirschfeld]],<ref>[[Magnus Hirschfeld|Hirschfeld, Magnus]], 1904. ''Berlins Drittes Geschlecht'' ("Berlin's Third Sex")</ref> [[John Addington Symonds]],<ref>[[Havelock Ellis|Ellis, Havelock]] and [[John Addington Symonds|Symonds, J. A.]], 1897. ''Sexual Inversion''.</ref> [[Edward Carpenter]],<ref>[[Edward Carpenter|Carpenter, Edward]], 1908. ''[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/pwh/carpenter-is.html The Intermediate Sex: A Study of Some Transitional Types of Men and Women]''.</ref> Aimée Duc<ref>Duc, Aimée, 1901. ''Sind es Frauen? Roman über das dritte Geschlecht'' ("Are These Women? Novel about the Third Sex")</ref> and others. These writers described themselves and those like them as being of an "inverted" or "intermediate" sex and experiencing homosexual desire, and their writing argued for social acceptance of such sexual intermediates.<ref>Jones, James W. (1990). ''"We of the third sex” : homo Representations of Homosexuality in Wilhelmine Germany.'' (German Life and Civilization v. 7) New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 1990. ISBN 0-8204-1209-0</ref> Many cited precedents from classical Greek and Sanskrit literature (see below). |
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In [[German Empire#Wilhelmine era|Wilhelmine Germany]], the terms ''drittes Geschlecht'' ("third sex") and ''Mannweib'' ("man-woman") were also used to describe [[feminist]]s – both by their opponents<ref>{{cite journal | jstor=407320 | pages=582–599 | last1=Wright | first1=B. D. | title="New Man," Eternal Woman: Expressionist Responses to German Feminism | volume=60 | issue=4 | journal=[[The German Quarterly]] | year=1987 | doi=10.2307/407320 }}</ref> and sometimes by feminists themselves. In the 1899 novel ''Das dritte Geschlecht'' (''The Third Sex'') by Ernst Ludwig von Wolzogen, feminists are portrayed as "neuters" with external female characteristics accompanied by a crippled male [[Psyche (psychology)|psyche]]. |
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{{Sexual orientation}}Throughout much of the twentieth century, the term "third sex" was a popular descriptor for homosexuals and gender nonconformists, but after [[Gay Liberation]] of the 1970s and a growing separation of the concepts of [[sexual orientation]] and [[gender identity]], the term fell out of favor among [[LGBT communities]] and the wider public. With the renewed exploration of gender that feminism, the modern [[transgender]] movement and [[queer theory]] has fostered, some in the contemporary West have begun to describe themselves as a third sex again.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Sell |first1= Ingrid |year=2001 |title=Not man, not woman: Psychospiritual characteristics of a Western third gender |journal= [[Journal of Transpersonal Psychology]] |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages= 16–36 }} (Complete doctoral dissertation: Sell, Ingrid. (2001). ''Third gender: A qualitative study of the experience of individuals who identify as being neither man nor woman.'' (Doctoral Dissertation, Institute of Transpersonal Psychology). UMI No. 3011299.)</ref> One well known social movement that includes male-bodied people that identify as neither men nor women are the [[Radical Faeries]]. Other modern identities that cover similar ground include [[pangender]], [[bigender]], [[genderqueer]], [[androgyne]], [[intergender]], "other gender" and "differently gendered". |
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The term [[transgender]], which often refers to those who change their gender, is increasingly being used to signify a gendered subjectivity that is neither male nor female – one recent example is on a form for the [[Harvard Business School]], which has three gender options – male, female, and transgender.<ref>Harvard Business School Profile [http://inq.applyyourself.com/?id=hbs&pid=6 form online].</ref> |
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===Indigenous cultures of North America=== |
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{{Main|Two-Spirit}} |
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Also very much associated with multiple genders are the indigenous cultures of [[North America]],<ref>See, for example, Hollimon, S. E. (1997), ''The third-gender in native California: two-spirit undertakers among the Chumash and their neighbors.'' In Women in Prehistory, C. Claassen and R. Joyce (Ed.). Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, pp. 173–188.</ref> who often contain social gender categories that are collectively known as [[Two-Spirit]]. Individual examples include the [[Winkte]] of [[Lakota people|Lakota]] culture, the ninauposkitzipxpe ("manly-hearted woman") of the North Peigan ([[Blackfeet|Blackfoot]]) community, and the [[Zapotec peoples|Zapotec]] [[Muxe]] of Mexico. Various scholars have debated the nature of such categories, as well as the definition of the term "third gender". Different researchers may characterise a Two-Spirit person as a gender-crosser, a mixed gender, an intermediate gender, or distinct third and fourth genders that are not dependent on male and female as primary categories. Those (such as Will Roscoe) who have argued for the latter interpretation also argue that mixed-, intermediate-, cross- or non-gendered social roles should not be understood as truly representing a third gender. Anthropologist Jean-Guy Goulet (1996) reviews the literature: |
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{{cquote|To summarize: 'berdache' may signify a category of male human beings who fill an established social status other than that of man or woman (Blackwood 1984; Williams 1986: 1993); a category of male and female human beings who behave and dress 'like a member of the opposite sex' (Angelino & Shedd 1955; Jacobs 1968; and Whitehead 1981); or categories of male and female human beings who occupy well established third or fourth genders (Callender & Kochems 1983a; 1983b; Jacobs 1983; Roscoe 1987; 1994). Scheffler (1991: 378), however, sees [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] cases of 'berdache' and '[[Amazons|amazon]]' as 'situations in which some men (less often women) are permitted to act, in some degree, as though they were women (or men), and may be spoken of as though they were women (or men), or as anomalous 'he-she' or 'she-he'.' In Scheffler's view (1991: 378), '[e]thnographic data cited by Kessler and McKenna (1978), and more recently by Williams (1986), provide definitive evidence that such persons were not regarded as having somehow moved from one sex (or in Kessler and McKenna's terms, gender) category to the other, but were only metaphorically "women" (or "men")'. In other words, according to Scheffler, we need not imagine a multiple gender system. Individuals who appeared in the dress and/or occupation of the opposite sex were only metaphorically spoken of as members of that sex or gender."<ref>{{cite journal | jstor=3034303 | pages=683–701 | last1=Goulet | first1=J. G. A. | title=The 'Berdache'/'Two-Spirit': A Comparison of Anthropological and Native Constructions of Gendered Identities Among the Northern Athapaskans | volume=2 | issue=4 | journal=The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute | year=1996 |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-19225793.html | accessdate=2 April 2011 | doi=10.2307/3034303}} <br>*The works cited in this overview are:<br>Angelino, H. & C. Shedd, (1955). ''A note on Berdache.'' Am. Anthrop. 57, pp. 121–6.<br>Blackwood, E. (1984). ''Sexuality and gender in certain Native American tribes: the case of cross-gender females.'' Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 10, pp. 27–4<br>Callender, C. & L.M. Kochems (1983a). ''The North American berdache.'' [[Current Anthropology]] 24, 443–56.<br>—(1983b). ''Reply''. Curr. Anthrop. 24, 464–7.<br>Jacobs, S.-E. (1968). ''Berdache: a brief review of the literature.'' Colorado Anthrop. 1, pp. 25–40.<br>—(1983). ''Comment.'' Curr. Anthrop. 24, 462.<br>Kessler, S. & W. McKenna (1978). ''Gender: an ethnomethodological approach.'' New York: Wiley.<br>Roscoe, W. (1987). ''Bibliography of berdache and alternative gender roles among North American Indians.'' [[Journal of Homosexuality]]. 14, 81–171.<br>—(1994). ''How to become a berdache: toward a unified analysis of gender diversity.'' In "Third sex, third gender: beyond sexual dimorphism in culture and history" (ed.) G. Herdt. New York: Zone Books.<br>Scheffler, H.W. (1991). ''Sexism and naturalism in the study of kinship.'' In "Gender at the crossroads of knowledge: feminist anthropology in the postmodern era" (ed.) M. di Leonardo. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.<br>Whitehead, H. (1981). ''The bow and the burden strap: a new look at institutionalized homosexuality in Native North America.'' In "Sexual meanings: the cultural construction of gender and sexuality", (eds) S.B. Ortner & H. Whitehead. New York: Cambridge University<br>Williams, W.L. (1986). ''The spirit and the flesh: sexual diversity in American Indian culture.'' Boston: Beacon Press.</ref>}} |
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The term "berdache" is seen as very offensive by many Two-Spirit and Native people because of its historical roots; It was first applied by European settlers as a derogatory term, meaning a submissive, effeminate man.<ref>[http://www.bcholmes.org/tg/berdache.html B.C. on Gender: The Berdache Tradition<!--Bot-generated title-->]</ref> The term "Two-Spirit" was created in 1990 as an [[English language|English]] word to convey an identity already recognized by many Nations, and is usually the preferred and most respectful term. |
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===Other=== |
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The following gender categories have also been described as a third gender: |
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====Middle East==== |
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* [[Oman]]: ''[[Xanith]]'' or ''khanith''.<ref>Wikan, Unni (1991). ''The Xanith: a third gender role? in Behind the veil in Arabia: women in Oman.'' Chicago: University of Chicago Press</ref> |
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====Asia-Pacific==== |
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* [[Polynesia]]: ''[[Fa'afafine]]'' ([[Samoan language|Samoan]]),<ref>Sua'aIi'i, Tamasailau, "[[Samoa]]ns and [[Gender]]: Some Reflections on Male, Female and Fa'afafine Gender Identities", in: ''Tangata O Te Moana Nui: The Evolving Identities of Pacific Peoples in [[Aotearoa]]/[[New Zealand]]'', Palmerston North (NZ): Dunmore Press, 2001, ISBN 0-86469-369-9</ref> ''[[fakaleiti]]'' ([[Tongan language|Tongan]]), ''[[mahu wahine]]'' ([[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]]), ''mahu vahine'' ([[Tahitian language|Tahitian]]), ''whakawahine'' ([[Māori language|New Zealand Māori]]) and ''[[akava'ine]]'' ([[Cook Islands Māori]]).<ref>''National fono for Pacific “third sex” communities'', media release from New Zealand Aids Foundation, August 5, 2005. [http://www.nzaf.org.nz/articles.php?id=472 Article online].</ref> |
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* [[Indonesia]]: ''Waria'' is a traditional third gender role found in modern Indonesia.<ref>Oostvogels, Robert (1995). ''The Waria of Indonesia: A Traditional Third Gender Role'', in Herdt (ed.), op cit.</ref> Additionally, the [[Bugis]] culture of [[Sulawesi]] has been described as having three sexes (male, female and [[intersex]]) as well as five genders with distinct social roles.<ref name="Graham"/> |
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* In the [[Philippines]], a number of local sex/gender identities are commonly referred to as a 'third sex' in popular discourse, as well as by some academic studies. Local terms for these identities (which are considered derogatory by some) include ''baklâ'' ([[Tagalog language|Tagalog]]), ''bayot'' ([[Cebuano language|Cebuano]]), ''agi'' ([[Ilonggo]]), ''bantut'' ([[Tausug language|Tausug]]), ''binabae'', ''bading'' – all of which refer to effeminate 'gay' men/transwomen. [[Gender variance|Gender variant]] females may be called ''lakin-on'' or [[tomboy]].<ref>Nanda, Serena (1999). ''Gender Diversity: Crosscultural Variations''. Waveland Pr Inc, 7 October 1999. ISBN 1-57766-074-9</ref> |
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* [[New Zealand]]: From December 2012, New Zealand passport holders can use "X" as their gender, which "X" means "indeterminate/unspecified".<ref>[http://www.passports.govt.nz/Transgender-applicants Information about Changing Sex / Gender Identity], The Department of Internal Affairs, New Zealand Government. Retrieved 10 December 2012.</ref><ref>http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10852012 X marks the spot on passport for transgender travellers], New Zealand Herald, 5 December 2012]. Retrieved 10 December 2012.</ref> |
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====Europe==== |
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* The [[Balkans]]: [[Sworn virgin]]s,<ref name="Young" /> females who work and dress as men and inhabit some men-only spaces, but do not marry. |
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* 18th century [[England]]: [[Molly house|Mollies]]<ref name="Trumbach"/> |
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* 19th century England: [[Uranian]]<ref>It is believed to be an English adaptation of the German word ''Urning'', which was first published by activist [[Karl Heinrich Ulrichs]]</ref> |
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*''[[Femminiello]]'', in [[Naples|Neapolitan]] culture<ref name=femm>[http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~jmatthew/naples/femm.html The Femminiello in Neapolitan Culture]</ref> |
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====Africa==== |
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* Southern [[Ethiopia]]: ''Ashtime'' of <!--[[Maale (ethnic group)|-->Maale culture<ref>Donham, Donald (1990). ''History, Power, Ideology. Central Issues in Marxism and Anthropology'', Cambridge</ref> |
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* [[Kenya]]: ''Mashoga'' of [[Swahili language|Swahili]]-speaking areas of the Kenyan coast, particularly [[Mombasa]] |
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* [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]]: ''Mangaiko'' among the Mbo people.<ref>Towles, Joseph A. (1993). ''Nkumbi initiation: Ritual and structure among the Mbo of Zaire'', Musée royal de l'Afrique Centrale (Tervuren, Belgique)</ref> |
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====Latin America and the Caribbean==== |
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* Southern [[Mexico]]: ''[[Muxe]]'', In many Zapotece communities, third gender roles are often apparent <ref name="stephen">Lynn Stephen. ''Sexualities and Genders in Zapotec Oaxaca''. Latin American Perspectives. 29(2)41-59</ref> The ''muxe'' are described as a third gender; biologically male but with feminine characteristics.<ref name="stephen"/> They are not considered be homosexuals, rather they are just another gender <ref name="stephen" /> Some will marry women and have families, others will form relationships with men <ref name="stephen" /> Although it is recognized{{by whom|date=May 2013}} that these individuals have the bodies of men, they perform gender in a different manner than men, it is not a masculine persona but neither is it a feminine persona that they perform but, in general, a combination of the two <ref name="stephen" /> Lynn Stephen quotes Jeffrey Rubin, "Prominent men who {{sic|?|where|reason="were" would be correct here}} rumoured to be homosexual and did not adopt the ''muxe'' identity were spoken of pejoratively", suggesting that ''muxe'' gender role was more acceptable in the community.<ref name="stephen" /> |
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*''Biza'ah'', In Teotilán, they have their own version of the ''muxe'' that they call biza'ah. According to Stephen, there were only 7 individuals in that community considered to be biza'ah in comparison to the muxe, of which there were many.<ref name="stephen" /> Like the ''muxe'' they were well liked and accepted in the community.<ref name="stephen" /> Their way of walking, talking and the work that they perform are markers of recognizing biza'ah.<ref name="stephen" /> |
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* ''[[Travesti]]s'' of [[Latin America]] have been described as a third gender, although not all see themselves this way. [[Don Kulick]] described the gendered world of travestis in urban [[Brazil]] as having has two categories: "men" and "not men", with women, homosexuals and travestis belonging to the latter category.<ref>Kulick, Don (1998). ''Travesti: Sex, Gender, and Culture among Brazilian Transgendered Prostitutes'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998)</ref> |
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* [[Dominican republic]]: ''[[Guevedoche]]'', intersex girls who become boys at puberty, due to [[5-alpha-reductase deficiency]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Nataf |first1= Zachary I |year=1998 |title=Whatever I feel.|journal= [[New Internationalist]] |issue =300 |month= April |url=http://www.newint.org/features/1998/04/05/trans/ | accessdate=2 April 2011 }}</ref> The same phenomenon is known as ''kwolu-aatmwol'' in the "Sambia" community in the eastern highlands of [[Papua New Guinea]].<ref>Herdt, Gilbert. (1993). ''Mistaken Sex: Culture, Biology and the Third Sex in New Guinea,'' in Herdt, (1999). "Sambia Sexual Culture: Essays from the Field." Chicago. 243–64.</ref> |
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==History== |
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===Mesopotamia=== |
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[[Image:Sumerian creation myth.jpg|thumb|upright|Stone tablet from 2nd millennium BC Sumer containing a myth about the creation of a type of human who is neither man nor woman.]] |
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In [[Mesopotamian mythology]], among the earliest written records of humanity, there are references to types of people who are not men and not women. In a [[Sumer]]ian [[creation myth]] found on a stone tablet from the [[second millennium BC]], the goddess [[Ninmah]] fashions a being "with no male organ and no female organ", for whom [[Enki]] finds a position in society: "to stand before the king". In the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] myth of [[Atra-Hasis]] (ca. 1700 BC), Enki instructs [[Nintu]], the goddess of birth, to establish a “third category among the people” in addition to men and women, that includes demons who steal infants, women who are unable to give birth, and priestesses who are prohibited from bearing children.<ref>Murray, Stephen O., and Roscoe, Will (1997). ''Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature.'' New York: New York University Press.</ref> In [[Babylonia]], [[Sumer]] and [[Assyria]], certain types of individuals who performed religious duties in the service of [[Inanna]]/[[Ishtar]] have been described as a third gender.<ref>{{cite journal | jstor=1062813 | accessdate=2 April 2011 | pages=195–230 | last1=Roscoe | first1=W. | title=Priests of the Goddess: Gender Transgression in Ancient Religion | volume=35 | issue=3 | journal=[[History of Religions (journal)|History of Religions]] | year=1996 | url=http://www.willsworld.org/priests.html | doi=10.1086/463425}} Roscoe identifies these temple staff by the names ''kalû'', ''kurgarrû'', and ''assinnu''.</ref> They worked as [[sacred prostitute]]s or [[Hierodule]]s, performed ecstatic dance, music and plays, wore masks and had gender characteristics of both women and men.<ref>Nissinen, Martti (1998). ''Homoeroticism in the Biblical World'', Translated by Kirsi Stjedna. Fortress Press (November 1998) p. 30. ISBN 0-8006-2985-X<br>See also: Maul, S. M. (1992). ''Kurgarrû und assinnu und ihr Stand in der babylonischen Gesellschaft.'' Pp. 159–71 in Aussenseiter und Randgruppen. Konstanze Althistorische Vorträge und Forschungern 32. Edited by V. Haas. Konstanz: Universitätsverlag.</ref> In Sumer, they were given the [[Cuneiform script|cuneiform]] names of ''ur.sal'' ("dog/man-woman") and ''kur.gar.ra'' (also described as a man-woman).<ref>Nissinen (1998) p. 28, 32.</ref> Modern scholars, struggling to describe them using contemporary sex/gender categories, have variously described them as "living as women", or used descriptors such as hermaphrodites, eunuchs, homosexuals, transvestites, effeminate males and a range of other terms and phrases.<ref>Leick, Gwendolyn (1994). ''Sex and Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature''. Routledge. New York.<br>*Leick's account: [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]]: ''sag-ur-sag'', ''pilpili'' and ''kurgarra''; and [[Akkadian language|Assyrian]]: ''assinnu''. Leick describes them as "hermaphrodites, homosexual transvestites, and other, castrated individuals".<br>{{cite journal | last1=Burns |first1= John Barclay |year=2000 |title=Devotee or Deviate: The "Dog" (keleb) in Ancient Israel as a Symbol of Male Passivity and Perversion |journal= Journal of Religion & Society |volume =2 |issn= 1522-5658 | url=http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/2000/2000-6.html | accessdate= 2 April 2011 }}<br>*Burns defines the ''assinnu'' as "a member of Ishtar’s cultic staff with whom, it seems, a man might have intercourse, whose masculinity had become femininity" and who "lacked libido, either from a natural defect or castration". He described the ''kulu'u'' as effeminate and the ''kurgarru'' as [[transvestism|transvestite]]. In addition, he defines another kind of gender-variant prostitute, ''sinnisānu'', as (literally) "woman-like."</ref> |
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===Egypt=== |
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Inscribed pottery shards from the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt]] (2000–1800 BCE), found near ancient [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]] (now [[Luxor]], [[Egypt]]), list three human genders: ''tai'' (male), ''sḫt'' ("sekhet") and ''hmt'' (female).<ref>Sethe, Kurt, (1926), ''Die Aechtung feindlicher Fürsten, Völker und Dinge auf altägyptischen Tongefäßscherben des mittleren Reiches,'' in: Abhandlungen der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, 1926, p. 61.</ref> ''Sḫt'' is often translated as "eunuch", although there is little evidence that such individuals were castrated.<ref>[http://www.well.com/user/aquarius/egypt.htm The Third Gender in Ancient Egypt], Faris Malik. (web site)</ref> |
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===Indic culture=== |
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[[Image:Ardhanari.jpg|thumb|upright|The Hindu god [[Shiva]] is often represented as [[Ardhanarisvara]], with a dual male and female nature. Typically, Ardhanarisvara's right side is male and left side female. This sculpture is from the [[Elephanta Caves]] near [[Mumbai]].]] |
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References to a third sex can be found throughout the texts of India's three ancient spiritual traditions – [[Hinduism]],<ref>Wilhelm, Amara Das (2004). ''Tritiya Prakriti (People of the Third Sex): Understanding Homosexuality, Transgender Identity and Intersex Conditions through Hinduism'' (XLibris Corporation, 2004).</ref> [[Jainism]]<ref>{{cite journal | pmid = 11609126 | year = 1996 | last1 = Zwilling | first1 = L | last2 = Sweet | first2 = MJ | title = "Like a city ablaze": The third sex and the creation of sexuality in Jain religious literature | volume = 6 | issue = 3 | pages = 359–84 | journal = Journal of the history of sexuality |jstor=4629615}}</ref> and [[Buddhism]]<ref name="Jackson10996">{{cite journal | last1=Jackson |first1= Peter A. |year=1996 |title=Non-normative Sex/Gender Categories in the Theravada Buddhist Scriptures |journal = Australian Humanities Review |month= April | id = {{hdl|1885/41884}}}}</ref> – and it can be inferred that [[Vedic culture]] recognised three genders. The [[Vedas]] (c. 1500 BC–500 BC) describe individuals as belonging to one of three categories, according to one's nature or [[prakrti]]. These are also spelled out in the [[Kama Sutra]] (c. 4th century AD) and elsewhere as ''pums-prakrti'' (male-nature), ''stri-prakrti'' (female-nature), and ''tritiya-prakrti'' (third-nature).<ref>Alternate transliteration: ''trhytîyâ prakrhyti''</ref> Texts suggest that third sex individuals were well known in premodern India and included male-bodied or female-bodied<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1353/sex.2001.0018 | title=Hidden in History: Female Homoeroticism and Women of a "Third Nature" in the South Asian Past | year=2001 | last1=Penrose | first1=Walter | journal=Journal of the History of Sexuality | volume=10 | pages=3–39 [4] |quote=distinct social and economic roles once existed for women thought to belong to a third gender. Hidden in history, these women dressed in men's clothing, served as porters and personal bodyguards to kings and queens, and even took an active role in sex with women.}}</ref> people as well as [[intersex]]uals, and that they can often be recognised from childhood. |
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A third sex is discussed in ancient [[Hindu law]], medicine, [[linguistics]] and [[astrology]]. The foundational work of Hindu law, the [[Manu Smriti]] (c. 200 BC–200 AD) explains the biological origins of the three sexes: |
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<blockquote>"A male child is produced by a greater quantity of male seed, a female child by the prevalence of the female; if both are equal, a third-sex child or boy and girl twins are produced; if either are weak or deficient in quantity, a failure of conception results."<ref>[[Manu Smriti]], 3.49. [http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/manu/manu03.htm Text online].</ref></blockquote> |
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{{quote box|width=35em|align=right|quote="“Hindu society had a clear cut idea of all these people in the past. Now that we have put them under one label ‘LGBT’, there is lot more confusion and other identities have got hidden."<ref name="thehindu" /> |source=— Gopi Shankar in National Queer Conference 2013''}} |
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Indian linguist [[Patañjali]]'s<ref>Not to be confused with the [[Patañjali]] who was the author of the ''[[Yoga sutras]]''.</ref> work on [[Sanskrit]] grammar, the [[Mahābhāṣya]] (c. 200 BC), states that Sanskrit's three [[grammatical genders]] are derived from three natural genders. The earliest [[Tamil language|Tamil]] grammar, the [[Tolkappiyam]] (3rd century BC) refers to hermaphrodites as a third "neuter" gender (in addition to a feminine category of unmasculine males). In [[Vedic astrology]], the nine planets are each assigned to one of the three genders; the third gender, ''tritiya-prakrti'', is associated with [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]], [[Saturn]] and (in particular) [[Ketu (mythology)|Ketu]]. In the [[Puranas]], there are references to three kinds of [[deva (Hinduism)|deva]]s of music and dance: [[apsaras]] (female), [[gandharva]]s (male) and [[kinnar]]s (neuter). |
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The two great [[Sanskrit]] [[epic poem]]s, the [[Ramayana]] and the [[Mahabharata]],<ref>Lord [[Arjuna]] takes a "vow of eunuchism" to live as the third sex for a year: "O lord of the Earth, I will declare myself as one of the neuter sex. O monarch, it is, indeed difficult to hide the marks of the bowstring on my arms. I will, however, cover both my [[Scarification|cicatrized]] arms with bangles. Wearing brilliant rings on my ears and [[conch]]-bangles on my wrists and causing a braid to hang down from my head, I shall, O king, appear as one of the third sex, Vrihannala by name. And living as a female I shall (always) entertain the king and the inmates of the inner apartments by reciting stories. And, O king, I shall also instruct the women of Virata's palace in singing and delightful modes of dancing and in musical instruments of diverse kinds. And I shall also recite the various excellent acts of men..." [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/15475 Mahabharata (Virata-parva)], Translated by Ganguli, Kisari Mohan. [[Project Gutenberg]].</ref> indicate the existence of a third gender in ancient Indic society. Some versions of [[Ramayana]] tell that in one part of the story, the hero [[Rama]] heads into exile in the forest. Halfway there, he discovers that most of the people of his home town [[Ayodhya]] were following him. He told them, "Men and women, turn back," and with that, those who were "neither men nor women" did not know what to do, so they stayed there. When Rama returned to from exile years later, he discovered them still there and blessed them, saying that there will be a day when they, too, will have a share in ruling the world. |
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In the Buddhist [[Vinaya]], codified in its present form around the 2nd century BC and said to be handed down by oral tradition from [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] himself, there are four main sex/gender categories: males, females, ''ubhatobyanjanaka'' (people of a dual sexual nature) and ''pandaka'' (people of non-normative sexual natures, perhaps originally denoting a deficiency in male sexual capacity).<ref name="Jackson10996" /> As the Vinaya tradition developed, the term ''pandaka'' came to refer to a broad third sex category which encompassed intersex, male and female bodied people with physical and/or behavioural attributes that were considered inconsistent with the natural characteristics of man and woman.<ref>{{cite journal | jstor=3176712 | pages=89–115 | last1=Gyatso | first1=J. | title=One Plus One Makes Three: Buddhist Gender, Monasticism, and the Law of the Non-Excluded Middle | volume=43 | issue=2 | journal=[[History of Religions (journal)|History of Religions]] | year=2003 | doi=10.1086/423006}}</ref> |
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Contrary to what is often portrayed in the West, sex with male (specifically receptive oral and anal sex) was the gender role of the third gender, not their defining feature. Thus, in ancient India, as in present day India, the society made a distinction between a third gender having sex with a man, and a man having sex with a man. The latter may have been viewed negatively, but he would be seen very much as a man (in modern western context, as 'straight'), not a third gender (in modern western context 'gay').<ref>[http://rspas.anu.edu.au/papers/pah/theravada.html Non-normative Sex/Gender Categories in the Theravada Buddhist Scriptures], compiled by Peter A. Jackson; quote: "it appears that among the early Buddhist communities men who engaged in receptive anal sex were seen as feminized and thought to be hermaphrodites. In contrast, men who engaged in oral sex were not seen as crossing sex/gender boundaries, but rather as engaging in abnormal sexual practices without threatening their masculine gendered existence."</ref> |
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===Mediterranean culture=== |
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[[Image:Hermaphroditus Louvre face.jpg|thumb|right|2nd century Roman copy of a Greek sculpture. The figure is [[Hermaphroditus]], from which the word [[hermaphrodite]] is derived.]] |
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In [[Plato]]'s ''[[Symposium (Plato)|Symposium]]'', written around the 4th century BC, [[Aristophanes]] relates a [[creation myth]] involving three original sexes: female, male and androgynous. They are split in half by [[Zeus]], producing four different contemporary sex/gender types which seek to be reunited with their lost other half; in this account, the modern [[heterosexual]] man and woman descend from the original androgynous sex. The myth of [[Hermaphroditus]] involves heterosexual lovers merging into their primordial androgynous sex. |
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Other [[creation myth]]s around the world share a belief in three original sexes, such as those from northern Thailand.<ref>Jackson, Peter A. (1995) ''Kathoey: The third sex.'' In Jackson, P., "Dear Uncle Go: Male homosexuality in Thailand." Bangkok, Thailand: Bua Luang Books<br>See also: Peltier, Anatole-Roger (1991). ''Pathamamulamuli: The Origin of the World in the Lan Na Tradition''. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworm Books. The Yuan creation myth in the book is from Pathamamulamuli, an antique Buddhist palmleaf manuscript. Its translator, Anatole-Roger Peltier, believes that this story is based on an oral tradition which is over five hundred years old. [http://web.archive.org/web/20050205031728/http://home.att.net/~leela2/creation_myth.htm Text online].</ref> |
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Many have interpreted the "[[eunuch]]s" of the Ancient Eastern Mediterranean world as a third gender that inhabited a [[liminality|liminal]] space between women and men, understood in their societies as somehow neither or both.<ref>S. Tougher, ed., (2001) ''Eunuchs in Antiquity and Beyond'' (London: Duckworth Publishing, 2001).<br>Ringrose, Kathryn M. (2003). ''The Perfect Servant: Eunuchs and the Social Construction of Gender in Byzantium.'' Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2003.</ref> In the [[Historia Augusta]], the eunuch body is described as a ''tertium genus hominum'' (a third human gender),<ref>[[Historia Augusta]], ''[[Severus Alexander]]'' xxiii.7.</ref> and in 77 BC, a eunuch named Genucius was prevented from claiming goods left to him in a [[will (law)|will]], on the grounds that he had voluntarily mutilated himself (''amputatis sui ipsius'') and was neither a woman or a man (''neque virorum neque mulierum numero'').<ref>[[Valerius Maximus]], (7.7.6).</ref> Several scholars have argued that the eunuchs in the [[Hebrew Bible]] and the [[New Testament]] were understood in their time to belong to a third gender, rather than the more recent interpretations of a kind of emasculated man, or a metaphor for [[chastity]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Hester |first1= J. David |year=2005 |title=Eunuchs and the Postgender Jesus: Matthew 19:12 and Transgressive Sexualities|journal = Journal for the Study of the New Testament| volume= 28 |issue= 1 |pages =13–40| url= http://www.spirituality.org.za/files/Eunuch.pdf | format=PDF | accessdate=2 April 2011 | doi=10.1177/0142064X05057772}}</ref> The early Christian theologian, [[Tertullian]], wrote that [[Jesus]] himself was a eunuch (c. 200 AD).<ref>Note: There is some controversy in this statement as in context, ''spado'', which in most cases means eunuch, is generally translated as virgin as in [[s:Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume IV/Tertullian: Part Fourth/On Monogamy/Chapter 3|here]] and a fuller explanation can be found [http://books.google.com/books?id=zV0jVQK0K14C&pg=PA85&dq=jesus+eunuch+tertullian&hl=en&ei=BmlrTba3N9Gltwebu7jmAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=jesus%20eunuch%20tertullian&f=false here]. Tertullian, On Monogamy, 3: "...He stands before you, if you are willing to copy him, as a voluntary ''spado'' (eunuch) in the flesh." And elsewhere: "The Lord Himself opened the kingdom of heaven to eunuchs and He Himself lived as a eunuch. The apostle [Paul] also, following His example, made himself a eunuch..."</ref> Tertullian also noted the existence of a third sex (''tertium sexus'') among heathens: "a third race in sex... made of male and female in one."<ref>[[Tertullian]], ''Ad nationes'', 1.20.4. [http://earlychristianwritings.com/text/tertullian06.html Text online].</ref> He may have been referring to the [[Galli]], "eunuch" devotees of the [[Phrygia]]n goddess [[Cybele]], who were described as belonging to a third sex by several [[ancient Rome|Roman]] writers.<ref>e.g. "Both sexes are displeasing to her holiness, so [the gallus] keeps a middle gender (''medium genus'') between the others." [[Prudentius]], Peristephanon, 10.1071-3</ref> |
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===Siberia=== |
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Among the 19th century Chuckchi, the “soft men” (yirka-lául) were a category of biologically male shamans who adopted first female hairstyle, then female dress, and finally married males. They were hated and scorned but also feared by the rest of the Chuckchi, as they were considered to be much more powerful than other shamans (Price 2002, 302).<ref>[http://www.helsinki.fi/jarj/sqs/sqs2_08/sqs2_2008raninen.pdf Queer Vikings? Transgression of gender and same-sex encounters in the Late Iron Age and early medieval Scandinavia] Sami Raninen</ref> |
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The masculine gendered males who married the yirka-lául were not seen as 'third genders' but as 'men.' |
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===Israel=== |
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In old Israel there were perhaps what might creatively be viewed in retrospect six genders:{{cn|date=August 2013}} |
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*'''Zachar''': male |
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*'''Nekeveh''': female |
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*'''Androgynos''': both male and female genitalia (eternal doubt of legal gender) |
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*'''Tumtum''': genitalia concealed by skin (unknown gender, unless skin removed) |
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*'''Aylonit''': Barren female. Female genitalia, barren. |
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*'''Saris''': male-to-female transgender people (castrated male or naturally infertile) (often translated as "eunuch")<ref>[http://www.transtorah.org/PDFs/Classical_Jewish_Terms_for_Gender_Diversity.pdf] Classic Jewish terms for Gender Diversity</ref><ref>[http://transtorah.org/PDFs/Gender_Diversity_In_Halacha.pdf] Gender Diversity in Halakha</ref> |
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===The Americas=== |
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The ancient [[Maya civilization]] may have recognised a third gender, according to historian Matthew Looper. Looper notes the androgynous [[Maize]] Deity and masculine [[Lunar deity|Moon goddess]] of [[Maya mythology]], and iconography and inscriptions where rulers embody or impersonate these deities. He suggests that the third gender could also include two-spirit individuals with special roles such as healers or [[divination|diviners]].<ref>Looper, Matthew G. (2001). ''Ancient Maya Women-Men (and Men-Women): Classic Rulers and the Third Gender'', In: "Ancient Maya Women", ed. Traci Ardren. Walnut Creek, California: Alta Mira, 2001.</ref> |
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Anthropologist and archaeologist Miranda Stockett notes that several writers have felt the need to move beyond a two-gender framework when discussing prehispanic cultures across [[mesoamerica]],<ref>{{cite journal | jstor=40025092 | pages=566–578 | last1=Stockett | first1=M. K. | title=On the Importance of Difference: Re-Envisioning Sex and Gender in Ancient Mesoamerica | volume=37 | issue=4 | journal=World Archaeology | year=2005 | doi = 10.1080/00438240500404375}}<br>In addition to Looper (above) and Joyce (below), Stockett cites:<br>Geller, P. (2004). ''Skeletal analysis and theoretical complications.'' Paper presented at Que(e)rying Archaeology: The Fifteenth Anniversary Gender Conference, Chacmool Archaeology Conference, University of Calgary, Calgary.<br>{{cite journal | jstor=20167006 | pages=147–165 | last1=Joyce | first1=R. A. | title=Performing the Body in Pre-Hispanic Central America | issue=33 | journal=RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics | year=1998}} |
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<br>Lopez-Austin, A. (1988). ''The Human Body and Ideology: Concepts of Ancient Nahuas'' (trans T.O. de Montellano and B.O. de Montellano). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.</ref> and concludes that the [[Olmec]], [[Aztec]] and [[Maya peoples]] understood "more than two kinds of bodies and more than two kinds of gender." Anthropologist Rosemary Joyce agrees, writing that "gender was a fluid potential, not a fixed category, before the Spaniards came to Mesoamerica. Childhood training and ritual shaped, but did not set, adult gender, which could encompass third genders and alternative sexualities as well as "male" and "female." At the height of the Classic period, Maya rulers presented themselves as embodying the entire range of gender possibilities, from male through female, by wearing blended costumes and playing male and female roles in state ceremonies." Joyce notes that many figures of mesoamerican art are depicted with male genitalia and female breasts, while she suggests that other figures in which chests and waists are exposed but no sexual characteristics (primary or secondary) are marked may represent a third sex, ambiguous gender or androgyny.<ref>Joyce, Rosemary A. (2000). ''Gender and Power in Prehispanic Mesoamerica.'' Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-74065-5</ref> |
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====Inca==== |
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Andean Studies scholar Michael Horswell writes that third-gendered ritual attendants to ''chuqui chinchay'', a [[jaguar]] deity in [[Incan mythology]], were "vital actors in Andean ceremonies" prior to [[Spanish Empire|Spanish colonisation]]. Horswell elaborates: "These ''quariwarmi'' (men-women) [[shaman]]s mediated between the symmetrically dualistic spheres of Andean cosmology and daily life by performing rituals that at times required same-sex erotic practices. Their transvested attire served as a visible sign of a third space that negotiated between the masculine and the feminine, the present and the past, the living and the dead. Their shamanic presence invoked the androgynous creative force often represented in Andean mythology."<ref>Horswell, Michael J. (2006). ''Transculturating Tropes of Sexuality, ''Tinkuy'', and Third Gender in the Andes'', introduction to "Decolonizing the Sodomite: Queer Tropes of Sexuality in Colonial Andean Culture". ISBN 0-292-71267-7. [http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/excerpts/exhordec.html Article online].</ref> [[Richard Trexler]] gives an early Spanish account of religious 'third gender' figures from the [[Inca empire]] in his 1995 book "Sex and Conquest": |
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{{cquote|And in each important temple or house of worship, they have a man or two, or more, depending on the idol, who go dressed in women's attire from the time they are children, and speak like them, and in manner, dress, and everything else they imitate women. With them especially the chiefs and headmen have carnal, foul intercourse on feast days and holidays, almost like a religious rite and ceremony.<ref>Trexler, Richard C. (1995). ''Sex and Conquest.'' Cornell University Press: Ithaca. p. 107</ref>}} |
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====Illiniwek==== |
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The natives of modern [[Illinois]] decided the gender of their members based on their childhood behavior. If a genetic male child used female tools like a spade or ax instead of a bow, they considered them Berdaches, which is a derogatory term, the better term being Two Spirits, as they were considered to encompass the masculine and feminine.<ref>Pierre Liette. Memoir of Pierre Liette on the Illinois Country as quoted in Gender Outlaw by Kate Bornsten</ref><ref>Rosemary Joyce. 2000. Gender and Power in Prehispanic Mesosamerica. University of Texas Press.</ref> |
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==Art and literature== |
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[[Image:Nuremberg chronicles - Strange People - Androgyn (XIIr).jpg|thumb|right|Illustration from the [[Nuremberg Chronicle]], by [[Hartmann Schedel]] (1440–1514)]] |
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*[[Isaac Asimov]]'s 1972 novel ''[[The Gods Themselves]]'' features an alien species that has three sexes — rationals, parentals, and emotionals — each with very specific gender roles, and which are all required to reproduce. |
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*In the 1980s [[science fiction]] book trilogy ''[[Lilith's Brood|Xenogenesis]]'', by [[Octavia Butler]], the extraterrestrial race has three sexes: male, female, and [[Ooloi]]. They also have sexual relationships with humans and interbreed with them. |
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*''Their Majesties' Bucketeers'' (1981) by [[L. Neil Smith]] describes a trilaterally symmetric species who develop, during puberty, into one of three genders. In the early parts of the novel, gender roles are quite confined, but there is some loosening during the course of the action. |
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*In the world of Carolyn Ives Gilman's 1998 novel ''[[Halfway Human]]'', all children are born with indeterminate sex, and develop into male, female, or "bland" in adolescence. Blands are a neuter category lacking sexual characteristics, who are disparaged and treated as servants – the "halfway humans" of the book's title. |
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*Literary critic Michael Maiwald identifies a "third-sex ideal" in one of the first [[African-American]] bestsellers, [[Claude McKay]]'s ''Home to Harlem'' (1928).<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1353/mfs.2002.0077 | title = Race, Capitalism, and the Third-Sex Ideal: Claude McKay's Home to Harlem and the Legacy of Edward Carpenter | year = 2002 | last1 = Maiwald | first1 = Michael | journal = [[Modern Fiction Studies]] | volume = 48 | issue = 4 | pages = 825–857 }}</ref> |
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*''The Third Sex'', a 1959 [[lesbian pulp fiction]] novel by Artemis Smith. |
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*''The Third Sex'', a 1934 film directed by Richard C. Kahn, based on a novel by [[Radcliffe Hall]], ''[[The Well of Loneliness]]''.<ref>[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053353/ The Third Sex (1934)<!--Bot-generated title-->]</ref> |
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*''Anders als du und ich'' ("Different From You and I"), a 1957 film directed by [[Veit Harlan]], was also known under the titles ''Bewildered Youth'' (USA) and ''The Third Sex''.<ref>[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050128/ Anders als du und ich (1957)<!--Bot-generated title-->]</ref> |
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*''Mikaël'', a 1924 film directed by [[Carl Theodor Dreyer]] was also released as ''Chained: The Story of the Third Sex'' in the USA.<ref>[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0015136/ Michael (1924)<!--Bot-generated title-->]</ref> |
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*In [[David Lindsay (novelist)|David Lindsay]]'s ''[[A Voyage to Arcturus]]'' there is a type of being called ''phaen'', a third gender which is attracted neither to men nor women but to "Faceny" (their name for Shaping or Crystalman, the [[Demiurge]]). The appropriate pronouns are ''ae'' and ''aer''. |
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*In [[Clive Barker]]'s ''[[Imajica]]'', one of the characters, Pie 'oh' Pah, is called a ''mystif'', and has the characteristics of a third sex that is neither male nor female but whose body can change according to the desires of a sexual partner, thus enabling them to either fertilize or bear children. Pie marries the male character Gentle, but says [[Gender-neutral pronoun|ze]] prefers not to be called his wife. |
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*[[Kurt Vonnegut]]'s ''[[Slaughterhouse-Five]]'' identifies seven human sexes (not genders) in the [[four-dimensional space|fourth dimension]] required for reproduction including gay men, women over 65, and infants who died before their first birthday. The [[Tralfamadore|Tralfamadorian]] race has five sexes.<ref>Vonnegut, Kurt. (1999). ''Slaughterhouse-five.'' New York: The Dial Press, p145–146.</ref> |
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*In [[C. S. Lewis]]' ''[[Space Trilogy]]'', the [[solar system]] has seven genders (not sexes) altogether. |
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*In [[Matt Groening]]'s cartoon series ''[[Futurama]]'', "smizmar" is used as a term for a third sex, the name for the individuals whom inspire the feeling of love (and thus conception, for that species), regardless of genetic relationship, to [[Kif Kroker]]'s species, the Amphibiosians. This is explained in the episode "[[Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch]]". |
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*[[Arthur C. Clarke]]'s novel ''[[Rendezvous with Rama]]'' depicts an alien civilization with three genders. |
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*[[Ursula K. Le Guin]]'s 1969 novel ''[[The Left Hand of Darkness]]'' posits a world called Gethen, on which humans are androgynes, effectively neuter 12/13 of the time, and for up to two days per month are said to be "in Kemmer," that is, openly available to enter either male or female state as per [[pheremone|pheromonal]] contact with a potential mate. |
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*''[[Distress (novel)|Distress]]'' (1995) by [[Greg Egan]] is a widely known for its postulation of not just one but five distinct new genders. |
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*''[[Middlesex (novel)|Middlesex]]'' (2002), the [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning book by [[Jeffrey Eugenides]] |
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* Several novels and stories of [[Lois McMaster Bujold]] discuss third genders. There are hermaphrodites (referred to as "it") from Beta Colony, from which Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan came as well as the neuter "ba" from Cetaganda, who are servants in the ruling family. The hermaphrodites are full members of society and many function as licensed sex therapists. |
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* The musical ''[[Hedwig and the Angry Inch (musical)|Hedwig and the Angry Inch]]'' includes a song called "[[The Origin of Love (song)|The Origin of Love]]" which appears to be a lyrical adaptation of [[Aristophanes]]' [[creation myth]]. |
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*[[Iain M. Banks]]' novel [[The Player of Games]] features a third sex known as Apex. They are the dominant sex of the civilization portrayed in the novel. |
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* In [[Stephenie Meyer]]'s novel ''[[The Host (novel)|The Host]]'' the narrator describes an alien race she has encountered who are similar to dolphins and have three distinct sexes, all of which are required for reproduction and have separate societal roles. |
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==Third gender and spirituality== |
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In Hinduism, Shiva is still worshipped as an [[Ardhnarishwara]], i.e. half-male and half-female form.{{citation needed|date=December 2011}} Shiva's symbol, which is today known as Shivalinga, actually comprises a combination of a 'Yoni' (vagina) and a 'Ling' (phallus). |
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The third genders have been ascribed spiritual powers by most indigenous societies.<ref>[http://www.thevesselofgod.com/towardtheundivided.html Toward the Undivided – Sacred Sex, The Hermaphrodite, and the Dual Nature of God - DEAD LINK]</ref><ref>[http://books.google.com.sg/books?id=VYaRePV92YwC&pg=PA271&lpg=PA271&dq=Shiva+symbol+hermaphrodite&source=bl&ots=wUPaslEN2R&sig=CWXuFf9hshBYDpX0OFu_V0t3HTA&hl=en&ei=R9heTP2hEYOsuQP9ob2ZDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false Paths to The Divine: Ancient and Indian] By George McLean, Vensus A. George, Quote: Siva: The Hermaphrodite |
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The Lord Siva is the underlying neutral and changeless reality, the undifferentiated absolute Consciousness, who is the foundation of every change and becoming. The hermaphrodite reality is one which is independent of all distinctions of male and female, the phenomenal and the non-phenomenal, and yet forms the basis of all such distinctions. The Puranas speak of Lord Siva as the Hermaphrodite reality, though distinctionless within Himself, letting the distinctions of the manifold world spring up from Him. The Puranic thinkers interpreted and represented this hermaphrodite aspect of the Lord Siva in various ways. One such symbol expression is the figure of His Sakti. Another such symbol is the Phalus *(the male reproductive part) and the Yoni (the female reproductive part). A third, a more anthropomorphic metaphor, is that of the union between Siva and His many consorts, such as, Parvati, Uma and others. All these symbolisms express the truth that the variety of this universe stems from the lord Siva through his Sakti. To explain this point very picturesquely, the Puranas apply the mythological story of creation by way of the sexual union between Prajaapati and his daughter to Siva who, by His eternal union with His Sakti creates the world. The Puraanas also use another more sacrificial symbollism to expound the hermaphrodite characteristic of Siva, according to which the male principle is represented as Fire, the devourer of the offering, and the female principle is the Soma, the devoured offering. In this symbolism, the hermaphrodite is the embodiment of the cosmic sacrifice, through which the universe emerges out of the Lord Siva.</ref> In the Indian subcontinent, e.g., the Hijras are supposed to have supernatural powers, through which they can bless people or curse them. This gives Hijras a unique space in the society, and traditional Indians still invite Hijras to seek their blessings on important occasions such as marriage.<ref>[http://etransgender.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=323 Hijras of Muslim India and Pakistan] etransgender.com; Quote: In North India and in Pakistan hindus and muslims alike believe in the powers of hijras to bless or curse others. To hindus and hindu hijras this is connected to the worship of Bahuchara Mata. Hindus believe that the powers of this feminine aspect of the divine flows in an almost shamanic way through the "eunuchs". In Pakistan and in traditional Indian muslim families the mukhannath´ power to curse is called "bad du`a". This implies the faith that every supplicational prayer ("du`a") done by a faithful hijra will be fulfilled because she is specially blessed as a compensation for the fact that she is denied to have children and a "normal" family life as a born woman.</ref> |
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At the time of the birth of Christ, cults of men devoted to a goddess flourished throughout the broad region extending from the Mediterranean to south Asia. While galli were missionizing the Roman Empire, kalû, kurgarrû, and assinnu continued to carry out ancient rites in the temples of Mesopotamia, and the third-gender predecessors of the hijra were clearly evident. To complete the picture we should also mention the eunuch priests of Artemis at Ephesus; the western Semitic qedeshim, the male “temple prostitutes” known from the Hebrew Bible and Ugaritic texts of the late second millennium; and the keleb, priests of Astarte at Kition and elsewhere. Beyond India, modern ethnographic literature documents gender variant shaman-priests throughout southeast Asia, Borneo, and Sulawesi. All these roles share the traits of devotion to a goddess, gender transgression and receptive anal sex, ecstatic ritual techniques (for healing, in the case of galli and Mesopotamian priests, and fertility in the case of hijra), and actual (or symbolic) castration. Most, at some point in their history, were based in temples and, therefore, part of the religious-economic administration of their respective city-states.<ref>[http://www.willsworld.org/priests.html Priests of the Goddess: Gender Transgression in Ancient Religion] by Will Roscoe</ref> |
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As Holly Boswell notes, "it is very interesting to note that the majority of older world religions perceived their deities as hermaphroditic and whole-gendered. Ardhanarisvara in Hinduism, Avalokitesvara and Kuan Yin in Buddhism, and Dionysus in the Greek pantheon are examples of this. Divine androgyny is reflected in subsequent representations of avatars such as Sri Krsna in Vedanta, Lan Ts'ai Ho in Taoist China, and even Jesus Christ. In the Qabbalah, Adam mirrored an androgynous God before the split into Eve and subsequent fall from grace. As with many nobles, the Pharaohs of Egypt emulated their gods, which were mostly androgynous throughout Africa. Angels and Faeries too, are usually perceived as androgynous beings. The reflections of Transgender Spirit are ancient and deep."<ref>[http://www.trans-spirits.org/spirit_of_transgender.html The Spirit of Transgender] by Holly Boswell</ref> |
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==Western attempts to reinterpret and redefine third gender by sexual orientation== |
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According to some scholars, the West is trying to reinterpret and redefine the ancient third gender identities to fit into the Western concept of "sexual orientation". In her research paper titled "Redefining Fa'afafine: Western Discourses and the Construction of Transgenderism in Samoa," Johanna Schmidt has argued that the Western attempts to reinterpret the Samoan third gender identity of Fa 'afafine in terms of homosexuality is influencing the fa'afafine identity itself which is being reorganised in western ways, i.e. from being a feminine gender space to being a homosexual space. She also argues that this is actually changing the nature of Fa'afafines itself, and making it more 'homosexual.'<ref>[http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue6/schmidt.html Redefining Fa'afafine: Western Discourses and the Construction of Transgenderism in Samoa Johanna Schmidt]; Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context; Issue 6, August 2001 Quote: In this article, I argue that fa'afafine are both viewed through the lens of and influenced by Western understandings of sexuality. This argument is based on the analysis of various representations of fa'afafine and discusses the impact of Western discourses of gender and sexuality have had on fa'afafine identities.[6]</ref> |
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As a Samoan Fa'afafine says, "But I would like to pursue a masters degree with a paper on homosexuality from a Samoan perspective that would be written for educational purposes, because I believe some of the stuff that has been written about us is quite wrong."<ref>[http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue6/schmidt.html Redefining Fa'afafine: Western Discourses and the Construction of Transgenderism in Samoa Johanna Schmidt]; Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context; Issue 6, August 2001</ref> |
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In his paper, 'How to become a Berdache: Toward a unified analysis of gender diversity', Will Roscoe writes that "This pattern can be traced from the earliest accounts of the Spaniards to present-day ethnographies. What has been written about berdaches reflects more the influence of existing Western discourses on gender, sexuality and the Other than what observers actually witnessed."<ref>[http://www.phenomenologycenter.org/course/berdache.htm How to become a Berdache: Toward a unified analysis of gender diversity] Will Roscoe</ref> |
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According to Towle and Morgan: |
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“Ethnographic examples [of ‘third genders’] can come from distinct societies located in Thailand, Polynesia, Melanesia, Native America, western Africa, and elsewhere and from any point in history, from Ancient Greece, to sixteenth century England to contemporary North America. Popular authors routinely simplify their descriptions, ignoring...or conflating dimensions that seem to them extraneous, incomprehensible, or ill suited to the images they want to convey” (484).<ref>[http://feed.belowthebelt.org/2009/10/great-third-gender-debate.html The Great Third Gender Debate; BELOW THE BELT, theory-q]</ref> |
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Western scholars often get confused when analysing the history of sex between males, because they fail to make the distinction between third genders and men, and count the third genders as men. By doing this, they fail to notice the difference between the third genders as primarily being of feminine gender, and tend to put this difference down to the gender role of the third genders, of being anally or orally penetrated. E.g., when analysing the non-normative sex gender categories in Theraveda Buddhism, Peter A Jackson, says that it appears that among the early Buddhist communities men who engaged in receptive anal sex were seen as feminized and thought to be hermaphrodites. In contrast, men who engaged in oral sex were not seen as crossing sex/gender boundaries, but rather as engaging in abnormal sexual practices without threatening their masculine gendered existence.<ref>[http://rspas.anu.edu.au/papers/pah/theravada.html Non-normative Sex/Gender Categories in the Theravada Buddhist Scriptures] |
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Compiled by Peter A. Jackson</ref> |
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Gender is organized differently in the eastern cultures than it is in the west. In the non-western cultures there is the ability to cross between the realms of male and female. This is seen as mediating between the worlds of the spirit and the mundane. <ref name="SellIngrid"> Sell, Ingrid M. “Third gender: A qualitative study of the experience of individuals who identify as being neither man nor woman.” The Psychotherapy Patient. 13.1/2 (2004): p.132</ref> It is seen as a positive, and is almost revered in most eastern cultures. Whereas in western cultures people who don’t conform to heteronormative ideals are seen as sick, insufficiently formed, or even worse. Gender disphoria is defined by the DSM (Diagnostic Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders) as “a strong and persistent cross gender identification” and “persistent discomfort about one’s assigned sex or a sense of the appropriateness in the gender role of that sex.” (DMM-IV, p. 537)<ref name="SellIngrid" /> |
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In comparison with the non-western cultures that are not materially based where there are socially established third gender roles, known neither as male nor female. Although there are many examples given here are a few others that may further illustrate the cultural beliefs of different regions and the impact it has on the acceptance or acknowledgement of a third gender throughout them. In Africa women can be recognized as a “female husband” in which they enjoy all of the privileges of men and are recognized as such, their femaleness although not acknowledged, nor is it forgotten. <ref> Sell, Ingrid M. “Third gender: A qualitative study of the experience of individuals who identify as being neither man nor woman.” The Psychotherapy Patient. 13.1/2 (2004): p.135</ref> Hijras, of India, are one of the most recognized and socially accepted groups of third genders. This may be due to the notion of reincarnation which reduces not only gender categorization but sex and species, believing in a more fluid and mutable categorization. There are countless other cultures in which the third gender is recognized as an intermediate being rather than being seen as a movement from one sex to the other conventional gender, either male to female or vice versa.<ref> Hines, Sally, and Tam Sanger. Transgender Identities: Towards a Social Analysis of Gender Diversity. New York: Routledge, 2010. Print. p.244</ref> |
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Based on a study of those who thought themselves to be a member of a third gender in the United States, Ingrid M. Sells found that they were aware of feeling different typically from the age of 5.<ref name="SellIngrid_a"> Sell, Ingrid M. “Third gender: A qualitative study of the experience of individuals who identify as being neither man nor woman.” The Psychotherapy Patient. 13.1/2 (2004): p.139</ref>Because of both peer and parental pressure, those growing up with the most ambiguous appearance led the most troubled childhoods and difficulties later on in life. Strangely enough in Sells study she discovered similarities between the third-genders of the east and those of the west. They both tended to have healing powers in that nearly half interviewed were healers or in the medical profession. A majority of them, again like their eastern counterparts, were artistic, to the degree that they were able to make a living from their abilities. The ability to mediate between men and women was again a common skill and often times were considered to possess a wider than typical perspective with the ability to understand both sides.<ref name="SellIngrid_a" /> The most notable results of Sell’s study is that 93% of the third genders interviewed appeared to, again like their eastern counterparts, possess “paranormal” type abilities. These findings indicate that there are numerous similarities between the third genders of both the eastern and the western cultures.<ref> Sell, Ingrid M. “Third gender: A qualitative study of the experience of individuals who identify as being neither man nor woman.” The Psychotherapy Patient. 13.1/2 (2004): p.141</ref> This illustrates that there may be elements of these individuals that are transcultural and innate in gender intermediacy. Perhaps as western societies progress beyond the “two and only two” gender associations that most are accustomed to they will become more understanding and acknowledge the idea of a third gender instead of viewing it as a disorder. |
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==See also== |
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{{Portal|Gender studies|Transgender}} |
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* [[List of transgender-related topics]] |
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* [[Sexual norm]] |
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* [[Sexuality and gender identity-based cultures]] |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist|33em}} |
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==Further reading== |
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* {{cite book |author=Susan Aldous; Pornchai Sereemongkonpol |title=Ladyboys: The Secret World of Thailand's Third Gender |publisher=Maverick House |location= |year=2008 |pages= |isbn=978-1-905379-48-4 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}} |
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* {{cite book |author=Herdt, Gilbert H. |title=Third sex, third gender: beyond sexual dimorphism in culture and history |publisher=Zone Books |location=New York |year=1996 |pages= |isbn=0-942299-82-5 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}} |
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* {{cite journal | last1=Morris |first1= Rosalind |year= 1994 |title=Three Sexes and Four Sexualities: Redressing the Discourses on Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Thailand | journal = Positions | volume=2|issue=1 |pages=15–43 | url=http://positions.dukejournals.org/cgi/reprint/2/1/15.pdf | format=PDF | doi=10.1215/10679847-2-1-15 }} |
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* {{cite book |author=Amara Wilhelm |title=Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex |publisher=Xlibris Corporation |location= |year=2004 |pages= |isbn=978-1-4134-3534-4 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}} |
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Revision as of 13:14, 16 December 2013
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