Third Gender

Third Gender is a catch-all category used by some Western anthropologists when talking about other cultures that have societal gendered roles for people who can be thought of as under nonbinary, transgender, and sometimes larger MOGII umbrellas. Third gender includes Two Spirit, Hijra, and many other nonbinary identities worldwide. The people described do not necessarily call themselves anything analogous to the label "third gender," as the term is applied to them by external anthropologists. Additionally, the culture itself may not necessarily think of there being strictly three genders, either. Some Western writers have used "third gender" only for people who they consider to be on the male-to-female spectrum, and "fourth gender" for people on the female-to-male spectrum. Other writers use "third gender" to include both. A "third gender" label has also sometimes been applied to people more accurately described as cisgender gay or lesbian. There has been critical analysis about the use of the term third gender in anthropology and transgender rights movements as perpetuating the romanticization of cultures outside of the Anglo-Saxon West, and for this reason it is important to make the distinction that only people of the ethnic group which uses a particular designation are entitled to use it as an identity. For instance, someone who is not from India or of Indian descent should not refer to themself as hijra, as this would be cultural appropriation. Although there are strong historical patterns of the term "third gender" being used by white colonialist anthropologists to erase ethnic genders among People of Colour, it is important to remember that many phenotypically white cultures have also had nonbinary genders. It would, therefore, also be cultural appropriation for a non-Italian to refer to themself as a Femminiello, or someone who is not from the Balkans to refer to themself as a sworn virgin.