History of nonbinary gender: Difference between revisions
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This article on the '''history of nonbinary gender''' should focus on events directly or indirectly concerning people with [[nonbinary]] [[gender identity|gender identities]]. It should not be about [[LGBT]] history in general. However, this history will likely need to give dates for a few events about things other than nonbinary gender, such as major events that made more visibility of [[transgender]] people in general, [[gender variant]] people from early history who may or may not have been what we think of as nonbinary, and laws that concern [[intersex]] people that can also have an effect on the legal rights of nonbinary people | {{Content warning|This history may need to talk about some troubling events that could have been traumatic for some readers. Some historical quotes use language that is now seen as offensive.}} | ||
<translate>This article on the '''history of nonbinary gender''' should focus on events directly or indirectly concerning people with [[nonbinary]] [[gender identity|gender identities]]. It should not be about [[LGBT]] history in general. However, this history will likely need to give dates for a few events about things other than nonbinary gender, such as major events that made more visibility of [[transgender]] people in general, [[gender variant]] people from early history who may or may not have been what we think of as nonbinary, and laws that concern [[intersex]] people that can also have an effect on the legal rights of nonbinary people. | |||
==Tips== | ==Tips== | ||
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* '''Dead names.''' It is disrespectful to call a transgender person by their former name ("dead name") rather than the name that they chose for themself. Some consider their dead name a secret that shouldn't be put in public at all. For living transgender people in particular, this history should show only their chosen names, not their dead names. In this history, some deceased historical transgender persons may have their birth names shown in addition to their chosen names, in cases where it is not known which name they preferred, or where it is otherwise impossible to find information about that person, if one wants to research their history. This should be written in the form of "Chosen Name (née Birth Name)." If history isn't sure which name that person earnestly preferred, write it in the form of "Name, or Other Name." | * '''Dead names.''' It is disrespectful to call a transgender person by their former name ("dead name") rather than the name that they chose for themself. Some consider their dead name a secret that shouldn't be put in public at all. For living transgender people in particular, this history should show only their chosen names, not their dead names. In this history, some deceased historical transgender persons may have their birth names shown in addition to their chosen names, in cases where it is not known which name they preferred, or where it is otherwise impossible to find information about that person, if one wants to research their history. This should be written in the form of "Chosen Name (née Birth Name)." If history isn't sure which name that person earnestly preferred, write it in the form of "Name, or Other Name." | ||
* '''Pronouns.''' It is disrespectful to call a person by pronouns other than those that they ask for. Some historical persons whose preferred pronouns aren't known should be called here by [[Pronouns#No pronouns|no pronouns]]. If this isn't possible, [[Pronouns#They|they]] pronouns. | * '''Pronouns.''' It is disrespectful to call a person by pronouns other than those that they ask for. Some historical persons whose preferred pronouns aren't known should be called here by [[Pronouns#No pronouns|no pronouns]]. If this isn't possible, [[Pronouns#They|they]] pronouns. | ||
* '''Words for a person's gender, assigned and otherwise.''' It is disrespectful to label a person's gender otherwise than they ask for, but it's not always possible to do so. In the case of some historical people, history has recorded how they lived, and what [[gender assigned at birth|gender they were assigned at birth]], but not how they preferred to label their gender identity. For example, it's not known whether certain historical people who were assigned female at birth ([[AFAB]]) lived as men because they identified as men (were [[transgender men]]), or because it was the only way to have a career in that time and place (and were gender non-conforming [[cisgender women]]). This should be mentioned in the more respectful form of, for example, "assigned male at birth ([[AMAB]]), lived as a woman," rather than "really a man, passed as a woman." For another example, writing "a military doctor discovered Smith was AFAB" is more respectful than saying "a military doctor discovered Smith was really a woman." For people who lived before the word "transgender" was created, it may be more suitable to call them "gender variant" rather than "transgender." On the other hand, if we have enough information about such a person, we may do best by such people by describing them with the terminology that they most likely would have used for their gender identity if they lived in the present day, with our language. | * '''Words for a person's gender, assigned and otherwise.''' It is disrespectful to label a person's gender otherwise than they ask for, but it's not always possible to do so. In the case of some historical people, history has recorded how they lived, and what [[gender assigned at birth|gender they were assigned at birth]], but not how they preferred to label their gender identity. For example, it's not known whether certain historical people who were assigned female at birth ([[AFAB]]) lived as men because they identified as men (were [[transgender men]]), or because it was the only way to have a career in that time and place (and were gender non-conforming [[cisgender women]]). This should be mentioned in the more respectful form of, for example, "assigned male at birth ([[AMAB]]), lived as a woman," rather than "really a man, passed as a woman." For another example, writing "a military doctor discovered Smith was AFAB" is more respectful than saying "a military doctor discovered Smith was really a woman." For people who lived before the word "transgender" was created, it may be more suitable to call them "gender variant" rather than "transgender." On the other hand, if we have enough information about such a person, we may do best by such people by describing them with the terminology that they most likely would have used for their gender identity if they lived in the present day, with our language. | ||
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==Antiquity== | ==Antiquity== | ||
* In Mesopotamian mythology, among the earliest written records of humanity, there are references to types of people who are neither male nor female. Sumerian and Akkadian tablets from the 2nd millennium BCE and 1700 BCE describe how the gods created these people, their roles in society, and words for different kinds of them. These included eunuchs, women who couldn't or weren't allowed to have children, men who live as women, intersex people, gay people, and others.<ref>Murray, Stephen O., and Roscoe, Will (1997). ''Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature.'' New York: New York University Press.</ref><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><ref>Leick, Gwendolyn (1994). ''Sex and Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature''. Routledge. New York.</ref> | * In Mesopotamian mythology, among the earliest written records of humanity, there are references to types of people who are neither male nor female. Sumerian and Akkadian tablets from the 2nd millennium BCE and 1700 BCE describe how the gods created these people, their roles in society, and words for different kinds of them. These included eunuchs, women who couldn't or weren't allowed to have children, men who live as women, intersex people, gay people, and others.<ref>Murray, Stephen O., and Roscoe, Will (1997). ''Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature.'' New York: New York University Press.</ref><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><ref>Leick, Gwendolyn (1994). ''Sex and Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature''. Routledge. New York.</ref></translate> | ||
[[File:Sekhet hieroglyphs.jpg|thumb|The word "sekhet" in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.<ref name="Brustman">Mark Brustman. "The Third Gender in Ancient Egypt." ''"Born Eunuchs" Home Page and Library.'' 1999. https://people.well.com/user/aquarius/egypt.htm</ref>]] | [[File:Sekhet hieroglyphs.jpg|thumb|<translate>The word "sekhet" in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.</translate><ref name="Brustman">Mark Brustman. "The Third Gender in Ancient Egypt." ''"Born Eunuchs" Home Page and Library.'' 1999. https://people.well.com/user/aquarius/egypt.htm</ref>]] | ||
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* Writings from ancient Egypt (Middle Kingdom, 2000-1800 BCE) said there were three genders of humans: males, ''sekhet (s<u>h</u>t)'', and females, in that order. Sekhet is usually translated as "eunuch," but that's probably an oversimplification of what this gender category means. Since it was given that level of importance, it could potentially be an entire category of gender/sex variance that doesn't fit into male or female. The hieroglyphs for ''sekhet'' include a sitting figure that usually means a man. The word doesn't include hieroglyphs that refer to genitals in any way. At the very least, ''sekhet'' is likely to mean cisgender gay men, in the sense of not having children, and not necessarily someone who was castrated. <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><ref>Sandra Stewart. "Egyptian third gender." http://www.gendertree.com/Egyptian%20third%20gender.htm</ref><ref name="Brustman" /> | * Writings from ancient Egypt (Middle Kingdom, 2000-1800 BCE) said there were three genders of humans: males, ''sekhet (s<u>h</u>t)'', and females, in that order. Sekhet is usually translated as "eunuch," but that's probably an oversimplification of what this gender category means. Since it was given that level of importance, it could potentially be an entire category of gender/sex variance that doesn't fit into male or female. The hieroglyphs for ''sekhet'' include a sitting figure that usually means a man. The word doesn't include hieroglyphs that refer to genitals in any way. At the very least, ''sekhet'' is likely to mean cisgender gay men, in the sense of not having children, and not necessarily someone who was castrated. <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><ref>Sandra Stewart. "Egyptian third gender." http://www.gendertree.com/Egyptian%20third%20gender.htm</ref><ref name="Brustman" /> | ||
* Many cultures and ethnic groups have concepts of [[gender-variant identities worldwide|traditional gender-variant roles]], with a history of them going back to antiquity. For example, [[Hijra]] and [[Two-Spirit]]. These gender identities and roles are often analogous to nonbinary identity, as they don't fit into the Western idea of the [[gender binary]] roles. | * Many cultures and ethnic groups have concepts of [[gender-variant identities worldwide|traditional gender-variant roles]], with a history of them going back to antiquity. For example, [[Hijra]] and [[Two-Spirit]]. These gender identities and roles are often analogous to nonbinary identity, as they don't fit into the Western idea of the [[gender binary]] roles. | ||
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* A blog post by the Merriam Webster dictionary editors says, "In the 17th century, English laws concerning inheritance sometimes referred to people who didn’t fit a gender binary using the pronoun ''it'', which, while dehumanizing, was conceived of as being the most grammatically fit answer to gendered pronouns around then."<ref>“Words We’re Watching: Singular 'They:' Though singular 'they' is old, 'they' as a nonbinary pronoun is new—and useful.” ''Merriam Webster.'' https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/singular-nonbinary-they Captured November 2017.</ref> This is an example of people being considered legally outside of male and female. ''Editors at this wiki would appreciate more information and sources about the laws in question, their dates, and what categories of people they referred to. (Unborn children? Intersex people? People who didn't conform to gender norms?)'' | * A blog post by the Merriam Webster dictionary editors says, "In the 17th century, English laws concerning inheritance sometimes referred to people who didn’t fit a gender binary using the pronoun ''it'', which, while dehumanizing, was conceived of as being the most grammatically fit answer to gendered pronouns around then."<ref>“Words We’re Watching: Singular 'They:' Though singular 'they' is old, 'they' as a nonbinary pronoun is new—and useful.” ''Merriam Webster.'' https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/singular-nonbinary-they Captured November 2017.</ref> This is an example of people being considered legally outside of male and female. ''Editors at this wiki would appreciate more information and sources about the laws in question, their dates, and what categories of people they referred to. (Unborn children? Intersex people? People who didn't conform to gender norms?)'' | ||
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas(ine)_Hall Thomas Hall, who apparently had an equal preference for the birth-name Thomasine] (c.1603 – after 1629), was an English servant in colonial Virginia. Hall was raised as a girl, and then presented as a man in order to enter the military.<ref>Norton, Mary Beth, "Communal Definitions of Gendered Identity in Colonial America", Ronald Hoffman, Mechal Sobel, Fredrika J. Teute (eds) ''Through a Glass Darkly: Reflections on Personal Identity in Early America'' (University of North Carolina Press, 1997), pp. 40ff. </ref> After leaving the military, Hall freely alternated between feminine and masculine attire from one day to the next, until Hall was accused of having sex with both men and women. Whether someone was legally a man or a woman would result in different punishments for that. Several physical examinations disagreed on the details of Hall's sex, and concluded that Hall had been born [[intersex]]. Previously, common law required that if a court concluded that someone was intersex, this would result in an injunction that they must live the rest of their life as strictly either male or female, whichever their anatomy resembled the most closely. In this case, the court ruled that "hee is a man and a woeman," and gave the injunction that Hall must from then on wear both masculine and feminine clothing at the same time: "goe clothed in man's apparell, only his head to bee attired in a coyfe and croscloth with an apron before him"<ref>Floyd, Don (2010). ''The Captain and Thomasine''. Raleigh, NC: Lulu Enterprises. p. 251. ISBN 978-0-557-37676-6.</ref><ref>Reis, Elizabeth (September 2005). "Impossible Hermaphrodites: Intersex in America, 1620–1960". ''The Journal of American History'': 411–441.</ref> Intersex is not the same thing as nonbinary, and so an intersex person can identify as a man, woman, or some other gender. Hall was apparently an intersex person who did not identify strictly as a man or woman, preferred a [[genderfluid|fluid]] [[gender expression]], and was then given a legal sex that was both. | * [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas(ine)_Hall Thomas Hall, who apparently had an equal preference for the birth-name Thomasine] (c.1603 – after 1629), was an English servant in colonial Virginia. Hall was raised as a girl, and then presented as a man in order to enter the military.<ref>Norton, Mary Beth, "Communal Definitions of Gendered Identity in Colonial America", Ronald Hoffman, Mechal Sobel, Fredrika J. Teute (eds) ''Through a Glass Darkly: Reflections on Personal Identity in Early America'' (University of North Carolina Press, 1997), pp. 40ff. </ref> After leaving the military, Hall freely alternated between feminine and masculine attire from one day to the next, until Hall was accused of having sex with both men and women. Whether someone was legally a man or a woman would result in different punishments for that. Several physical examinations disagreed on the details of Hall's sex, and concluded that Hall had been born [[intersex]]. Previously, common law required that if a court concluded that someone was intersex, this would result in an injunction that they must live the rest of their life as strictly either male or female, whichever their anatomy resembled the most closely. In this case, the court ruled that "hee is a man and a woeman," and gave the injunction that Hall must from then on wear both masculine and feminine clothing at the same time: "goe clothed in man's apparell, only his head to bee attired in a coyfe and croscloth with an apron before him"<ref>Floyd, Don (2010). ''The Captain and Thomasine''. Raleigh, NC: Lulu Enterprises. p. 251. ISBN 978-0-557-37676-6.</ref><ref>Reis, Elizabeth (September 2005). "Impossible Hermaphrodites: Intersex in America, 1620–1960". ''The Journal of American History'': 411–441.</ref> Intersex is not the same thing as nonbinary, and so an intersex person can identify as a man, woman, or some other gender. Hall was apparently an intersex person who did not identify strictly as a man or woman, preferred a [[genderfluid|fluid]] [[gender expression]], and was then given a legal sex that was both. | ||
==Eighteenth century== | ==Eighteenth century== | ||
[[File:Public Universal Friend portrait.jpg|thumb|A portrait of the Public Universal Friend, from the Friend's biography written by David Hudson in 1821.]] | </translate> | ||
[[File:Public Universal Friend portrait.jpg|thumb|<translate>A portrait of the Public Universal Friend, from the Friend's biography written by David Hudson in 1821.</translate>]] | |||
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* "[[Singular they]]" had already been the standard [[English neutral pronouns|gender-neutral pronoun in English]] for hundreds of years. However, in 1745, prescriptive grammarians began to say that it was no longer acceptable. Their reasoning was that neutral pronouns don't exist in Latin, which was thought to be a better language, so English shouldn't use them, either. They instead began to recommend using "[[English neutral pronouns#He|he]]" as a gender-neutral pronoun.<ref>Maria Bustillos, "Our desperate, 250-year-long search for a gender-neutral pronoun." January 6, 2011. [http://www.theawl.com/2011/01/our-desperate-250-year-long-search-for-a-gender-neutral-pronoun http://www.theawl.com/2011/01/our-desperate-250-year-long-search-for-a-gender-neutral-pronoun]</ref> This started the dispute over the problem of acceptable gender-neutral pronouns in English, which has carried on for centuries now. | * "[[Singular they]]" had already been the standard [[English neutral pronouns|gender-neutral pronoun in English]] for hundreds of years. However, in 1745, prescriptive grammarians began to say that it was no longer acceptable. Their reasoning was that neutral pronouns don't exist in Latin, which was thought to be a better language, so English shouldn't use them, either. They instead began to recommend using "[[English neutral pronouns#He|he]]" as a gender-neutral pronoun.<ref>Maria Bustillos, "Our desperate, 250-year-long search for a gender-neutral pronoun." January 6, 2011. [http://www.theawl.com/2011/01/our-desperate-250-year-long-search-for-a-gender-neutral-pronoun http://www.theawl.com/2011/01/our-desperate-250-year-long-search-for-a-gender-neutral-pronoun]</ref> This started the dispute over the problem of acceptable gender-neutral pronouns in English, which has carried on for centuries now. | ||