Nonbinary identities worldwide
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The European society is, in general, very binarist. However, there are a lot of cultures that, traditionally, have had more than two genders.
Bugis society
The Bugis people are one of the three biggest ethnic groups located in South Sulawesi (Indonesia). They recognise five genders: makkunrai, oroané, bissu, calabai, and calalai. Makkunrai and oroané are the equivalents of cisgender men and women. Calabai is similar to trans women; they are assigned male at birth but take female gender roles and their gender expression is similar to that of cis women. Calalai, on the other hand, is the equivalent to trans men; they are assigned female at birth, but dress and present as cis men.[1]
Bissu is a gender identity similar to multigender: they are seen as a combination of all genders. Usually they are also intersex, but not necessarily.[2] Bissu people handle the roles of a shaman or a priest.[3]
Hijra
In Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, Hijras are assigned male at birth that take on the traditional roles of women, and they are recognised as a third gender by the government.[4] Traditionally, they act as a spiritual bargainer, and they go to houses with newborns to bless them.[3] Some of the hijras undergo a ritual, the nirwaan, to remove their penis, scrotum and testicles.[5]
Although they are officially recognised, the discrimination against them is still widespread.[3]
Muxe
In Zapotec cultures (Oaxaca, southern Mexico), a muxe is an assigned male at birth person that has a feminine gender expression and role. They are usually seen as a third gender.[6] It seems that muxes are more accepted in Oaxaca than homosexual men or trans women in other parts of the country. According to a study of the 1970s, 6% of males of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec were muxes.[7]
Every year, a festival called Vela de las intrépidas ("The Vigil of the Intrepid" in Spanish) is handled in Oaxaca, where thousands of muxes meet. Even some Catholic priests participate in it, which shows how well accepted muxes are.[3]
Two-spirit
In Native North American societies, two-spirit or berdache is the name of a third gender. Two-spirit people can do activities typically associated with their gender assigned at birth, or they can do activities associated with the opposite one.[8] Usually, assigned female at birth two-spirit people have sexual relations or marriages with females only.[9]
Two-spirit is just a general term in English, and most Indigenous communities have a word in their own languages to express this concept. That's why the definition of two-spirit can differ between communities.[10]
References
- ↑ Carl, John D. (2011). Think Sociology (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson.
- ↑ "Sex, Gender, and Priests in South Sulawesi, Indonesia" (PDF). International Institute for Asian Studies. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Trently, Devin. "10 Examples Of Nonbinary Genders Throughout History". ListVerse. 21 October 2015.
- ↑ "Hijras and Bangladesh: The creation of a third gender". pandeia.eu. 2 December 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- ↑ Nanda, S. "Hijras: An Alternative Sex and Gender Role in India (in Herdt, G. (1996) Third Sex, Third Gender: Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History. Zone Books.)
- ↑ Chiñas, Beverly (1995). Isthmus Zapotec attitudes toward sex and gender anomalies, pp. 293-302 in Stephen O. Murray (ed.), "Latin American Male Homosexualities" Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. Chiñas (p. 294) defines muxe as “persons who appear to be predominantly male but display certain female characteristics” and fill a “third gender role between men and women, taking some of the characteristics of each.”
- ↑ Rymph, David (1974). Cross-sex behavior in an Isthmus Zapotec village. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Mexico City.
- ↑ Page 72 - http://vancouver.ca/files/cov/aboriginal-services-inventory.pdf
- ↑ Lang, S.: Men as women, women as men: Changing gender in Native American cultures. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1998.
- ↑ Pember, Mary Annette (Oct 13, 2016). "'Two Spirit' Tradition Far From Ubiquitous Among Tribes". Rewire. Retrieved Oct 17, 2016.
