Nonbinary Wiki

Gender-variant identities worldwide

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This article about gender-variant identities worldwide is about many cultures' and ethnic groups' traditional identities and roles that do not fit into the Western gender binary. Although it is challenging for Western writers to do so, it is important to talk about these identities without imposing modern Western ideas of gender on them, or otherwise misrepresenting them. The following article focuses on identities that are most analogous to gender outside of the Western binary. However, due to the problems of imposing outsider's views on these identities, this isn't clear in all cases. Some of the identities in the list below may be more analogous to binary transgender women and transgender men. This should not list identities that are known to be more analogous to cisgender identities that are simply gender nonconforming or non-heterosexual.

Generally, people who aren't members of the cultures and ethnic groups in question aren't entitled to call themselves by any of the following genders. That would be cultural appropriation, which means wrongfully taking parts of somebody else's culture to use for yourself. It is okay to learn about these cultures, but not to take what is not one's own. Outsiders would do well to learning about cultures that accept people who are outside the Western gender binary so that they can support those people on their own terms, and so that they are informed about political challenges that those people face today. Outsiders also benefit by learning about them in order to see that there have been hundreds of accepting cultures throughout history, that it has been done and that it has worked, and that these genders have always been real. This gives hope for other cultures to become accepting as well.

Third gender, or third sex, is not a satisfactory label for all the identities on this page, because it has meant many things. Third gender is a concept in which individuals are categorized, either by themselves, by their society, or by outsiders to their society, as not fitting into the Western ideas of binary gender and heterosexual roles. The phrase "third gender" has been used for a wide variety of meanings: intersex people whose bodies do not fit outdated Western medical concepts of binary sex, hundreds of indigenous societal roles as described (and often misrepresented) by Western anthropologists (including indigenous identities such as south Asian hijras, Hawaiian and Tahitian māhū, and Native American identities now called Two-Spirits),[1][2] transgender people who are nonbinary, homosexual people (even those who are white and in Western societies),[3][4][5] and women who were considered to be gender-nonconforming because they fought for women's rights.[6] Some people self-identify as third gender, especially in communities of people of color in the United States.[2] In the 2016 Nonbinary/Genderqueer Survey, 84 of the respondents (2.75%) called themselves third gender.[7] In the 2019 Worldwide Gender Census, 244 of the respondents (2.17%) called themselves third gender.[8][2]

Identities in AfricaEdit

Kodjo-besiaEdit

  • Name of identity: Kodjo-besia ("Kodjo" is a common Ghanaian name, and Kodjo-besia means "Kodjo is a woman [inside]" in the Twi language.)[9]
  • Culture: Ghana
  • Era:
  • Description of sex/gender: Kodjo-besia is used for a range of AMAB individuals who deviate from normative masculinity. They may be gay, transfeminine, or simply effeminate.[9]
  • Role in society: Often engaging in traditionally female occupations, Kodjo-besia are "perceived as deviant, but they are tolerated on the basis that they cannot be changed".[9]

SarombavyEdit

  • Name of identity: Sarombavy or Sarimbavy[10]
  • Culture: Tanala people of Madagascar[11]
  • Era:
  • Description of sex/gender: "males who adopted the behavior and roles of women"[12]
  • Role in society:

SekhetEdit

 
The word "sekhet" in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.[13]
  • Name of identity: Sekhet (sht)
  • Culture: Ancient Egypt
  • Era: Middle Kingdom, 2000-1800 BCE
  • Description of sex/gender: unknown, except that the ancient Egyptians said Sekhet were one of the three genders or sexes
  • Role in society: unknown

Writings from ancient Egypt (Middle Kingdom, 2000-1800 BCE) said there were three genders of humans: male (tie), sekhet (sht), and female (hemet), 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 mean a man, but the word doesn't include hieroglyphs that refer to genitals in any way. The word for male did include a hieroglyph explicitly showing a penis. 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. Archaeologists question whether ancient Egyptians castrated humans, because the evidence for it is lacking.[14][15][16][17]

'Yan dauduEdit

  • Name of identity: 'yan daudu (plural), dan daudu (singular)[18] 'Yan daudu "means 'sons of Daudu,' a fun-loving, gambling spirit worshipped in the Muslim Bori practice, whose trance and dancing rituals are traditionally associated with marginalised poor women, sex workers and disabled people."[19]
  • Culture: Hausa people of sub-Saharan Africa
  • Era:
  • Description of sex/gender: AMAB and feminine. The 'yan daudu "are categorized as neither male nor female but as an ambiguous middle category."[20]
  • Role in society:

Identities in the AmericasEdit

 
Two-spirited pride marchers at San Francisco Pride 2014.

There is more information about this topic here: Two-Spirit

"Berdache" was an old word used by European-American anthropologists. Berdache was an umbrella term for all traditional gender and sexual identities in all cultures throughout the Americas that were outside of Western ideas of binary gender and heterosexual roles.[21] These identities included the nádleeh in Diné (Navajo),[22][23][24] and the lhamana in Zuni,[25] among many others. In 1990, an Indigenous lesbian and gay international gathering chose to internationally replace "berdache" with "Two-Spirit" as a preferable umbrella term for these identities.[26][27] Two-Spirit was chosen to distance these identities from non-Natives,[28] and should only be used for people who are Native American, because it is for identities that must be contextualized in Native cultures.[29][30] Because of the wide variety of identities under the Two-Spirit umbrella, a Two-Spirit person does not necessarily have an identity analogous to a non-Native nonbinary gender identity. Some do, but others are more analogous to non-Native gay male or lesbian woman identities. Notable people who identify specifically with the label "Two-Spirit" include Menominee poet Chrystos (b. 1946), who goes by they/them pronouns,[31][32][33] and Ojibwe artist Raven Davis (b. 1975), who goes by neutral pronouns.[34][35] In the 2016 Nonbinary/Genderqueer Survey, 8 of the respondents (0.26%) called themselves Two-Spirit.[7] In the 2019 Worldwide Gender Census, 0.18% (20) of the responses called themselves Two-Spirit.[8][21]

Aranu'tiqEdit

  • Name of identity: Aranu'tiq
  • Culture: Chugach
  • Era:
  • Description of sex/gender: "Aranu'tiq were considered male on one side, and female on the other, taking on roles assigned to both genders."[36]
  • Role in society: A 1953 report states "They performed the work of both sexes and were, indeed, considered more skilled than ordinary persons as well as lucky like twins, but they could not marry and have children, nor could they become shamans."[37]

Biza'ahEdit

  • Name of identity: Biza'ah
  • Culture: Zapotec, Mesoamerica
  • Era: ??? - to present[38]
  • Description of sex/gender: AMAB individuals who take on feminine roles. Similar to the Muxe, described below.[39]
  • Role in society: "The biza'ah sometimes engage in the stereotypically feminine activities of their community such as the making of ceremonial candles."[40]

KipijuituqEdit

  • Name of identity: kipijuituq
  • Culture: Netsilik Inuit
  • Era: ??? - to present
  • Description of sex/gender: AMAB individuals raised from infancy as female, until they undergo a rite of passage and are henceforth seen as male[41][42]
  • Role in society:


KwidoEdit

  • Name of identity: kwido
  • Culture: Tewa people
  • Era: ??? to present
  • Description of sex/gender: A gender considered separate from men and women.[43]
  • Role in society:

LhamanaEdit

 
We'Wha, a famous Zuni Two-Spirit (Lhamana) person who lived 1849-1896.
  • Name of identity: Lhamana
  • Culture: Zuni
  • Era:
  • Description of sex/gender:
  • Role in society: Mediators. They take on roles and duties associated with both men and women.

The Zuni recognize lhamana, who take on roles and duties associated with both men and women, and they wear a mixture of women's and men's clothing. They work as mediators.[44][45]

MuxeEdit

 
Mexican muxe social anthropologist and human rights activist Amaranta Gómez Regalado (b. 1977), speaking at the "We Move the World" event in Argentina, 2020.
  • Name of identity: Muxe, also spelled muxhe. This is Zapotec for "woman," but their society distinguishes them from women.[46] Another possible origin of the word is the Spanish word for "woman", mujer.[47]
  • Culture: Zapotec cultures of Oaxaca (southern Mexico)
  • Era: Pre-Columbian to present.[46] A post-Columbian origin myth for the muxe says the muxe "fell