#fivegenders — Public Fediverse posts

A Map of Gender-Diverse Cultures

This text and the language in the corresponding map was updated in consultation with a world gender expert in October, 2023.

"Throughout recorded history and since time immemorial, thriving cultures have recognized, revered, and integrated more than two genders. Terms such as #transgender, gay, or bisexual are Western constructs that often assume three things: that there are only two sexes (male/female), as many as three sexualities (gay/straight/bisexual), and only two #genders (man/woman).

"Even after the end of the modern era and as the #colonial period wanes, hundreds of distinct #Indigenous societies around the globe still retain their own long-established traditions for third, fourth, fifth, or more genders. The subject of #TwoSpirits, Fred Martinez, for example, was not a boy who wanted to be a girl, but both a boy and a girl — an identity his Navajo culture recognized and revered as #nádleehí. Meanwhile, Hina of Kumu Hina is part of a #NativeHawaiian culture that has traditionally revered and respected #mahu, those who embody both male and female spirit. It’s not uncommon for third gender people to perform critical spiritual and religious functions in their communities.

"Among many Indigenous societies, two prominent features often distinguish the lives and social roles of third gender persons from those of cisgender persons or contemporary transgender persons in non-Indigenous societies. The first is that many Indigenous terms for third gender people contain both the word for 'man' and 'woman' in their construction, and that #ThirdGender people are seen as embodying both of those genders in diverse ways. The second is that the history of many third genders is in the community role of religious specialists, which also takes diverse forms, depending on the beliefs of diverse cultures. While not all third gender persons are defined in these terms, across our species, this phenomenon of the third gender religious specialist, healer, or spiritual worker has been part of our #CollectiveIdentity and human experience since time immemorial.

"Since the beginning of the 21st century, we’ve seen tremendous expansion of the role that transgender, #GenderDiverse, and third gender people have in society, following the tenuous establishment of civil rights for #gay and #lesbian people in many nations and increased access to #genderaffirming care in the transgender community. Many Indigenous transgender people who also identify as third gender are familiar to large audiences via their participation in popular media or social media activism. Third gender people, like the Japanese-Samoan, #Faafafine artist Yuki Kihara, now participate in major global cultural events and function not just as representatives of their gender-based community, but of their nation. Kihara had both a solo exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and represented New Zealand at the 2021 Venice Biennale. [For more: '#LGBTQIA+ Pride and Two-Spirit People' in Smithsonian Voices.]

"In the 21st century, many third gender people choose to take advantage of #GenderAffirmingCare, and identify, in addition to being third gender, as transgender. As access to gender-affirming care parallels healthcare access, and both third gender and Indigenous persons are often marginalized economically, it is not as readily available to many Indigenous transgender people, and within Indigenous cultures, medical transition is often seen as separate or secondary to social transition.

"Within #Western societies, despite centuries of suppression, there are still traces of a past when third or fourth or more genders were recognized within many cultures and societies. In rare cases, they presently exist. An example of this would be the #burrnesha of Albania, women who give up their social role as women to live as men. Likewise, within Jewish culture and law, as many as eight genders have been historically recognized, and in diverse ways.

"Take a tour with this world map, and learn how many cultures see gender diversity."

Learn more:
https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/content/two-spirits_map-html/

#PBS #GenderDiversity #CulturalTraditions #Genders #ThreeGenders #ThirdGender #FiveGenders #Gender #GBLTQ #Genders

Asia's isle of five separate genders

The #Bugis people of #SouthSulawesi are a powerful ethnic group remarkable for its recognition of five separate genders. But the future of their unique culture looks bleak.

By Daniel Stables
12th April 2021

Excerpts: "Davies explained that in Bugis society, #makkunrai and #oroani correspond to Western concepts of cis female and cis male. #Calalai are born with female bodies but take on traditionally male gender roles; they may wear shirts and trousers, smoke cigarettes, wear their hair short and work manual jobs. #Calabai are born with male bodies but take on female gender roles, wearing dresses and makeup and growing their hair long. 'Many calabai work in beauty salons,' said Neni, a calabai from the village of Segiri, north of Makassar. 'We also help to plan weddings and perform at wedding ceremonies.'

[...]

"The fifth Bugis gender is #bissu, which is considered neither male nor female but representative of the totality of the gender spectrum. Bissu, like calabai and calalai, display their identity through dress: they often wear flowers, a traditionally feminine symbol, but carry the keris dagger associated with men. Many bissu are born intersex, but the term has implications beyond biology. While Bugis gender is often described as a spectrum, bissu are deemed to be above this classification: spiritual beings who are not halfway between male and female, but rather embody the power of both at once."

Read more:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/travel/article/20210411-asias-isle-of-five-separate-genders

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/COc2v

#FiveGenders #Gender #GBLTQ #Indonesia #Genders #BugisCulture