Gender variance in spirituality: Difference between revisions
→Abrahamic religions: Added more content and sources for Judaism and Christianity in particular. Added a section on gender variance in the Christian Bible. Preparing to reorganize the rest of the article's headings, and to create a spin-off article going into more depth about gender variance in Christianity.
imported>Sekhet m (Sekhet moved page Gender Divergence in Religion to Gender variance in spirituality over redirect: The new title "Gender Divergence in Religion" didn't reflect the article's content as well as the old title, "gender variance in spirituality," for the following reasons. 1. The new title was inappropriately capitalized as if it was the name of a person or place. 2. Gender variance is the preferred term over gender divergence. 3. The content of the article is not necessarily about organiz...) |
imported>Sekhet (→Abrahamic religions: Added more content and sources for Judaism and Christianity in particular. Added a section on gender variance in the Christian Bible. Preparing to reorganize the rest of the article's headings, and to create a spin-off article going into more depth about gender variance in Christianity.) |
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===Asia=== | ===Asia=== | ||
===Abrahamic religions=== | |||
Originating from southwest Asia and spreading worldwide, the Abrahamic religions include Judaism, Christianity, Islam, the Bahá'í Faith, Rastafarianism, and others. They have certain teachings in common, particularly the belief in one God, specifically Jehovah, the God of Abraham. | |||
Originating from southwest Asia and spreading worldwide, the Abrahamic religions include Judaism, Christianity, Islam, the Bahá'í Faith, Rastafarianism, and others. They have certain teachings in common, particularly the belief in one God | |||
===== The | ==== Gender variant figures in Abrahamic religion ==== | ||
According to Rabbi Elliot Kukla:<ref>http://www.sojourngsd.org/blog/sixgenders</ref> | |||
Several figures that are held in common as important in many or all Abrahamic religions have been thought of as gender-variant. | |||
* The exact nature of the '''God of Abraham''' is much disputed, even within one particular religious sect. God is often thought of as a male patriarch, but there is also a long history of seeing God as partly or entirely other than female or male, or as both. | |||
* Jewish and Christian teachings often interpret the first human, '''Adam''', as having been created as both male and female, before God extracted Eve from him.<ref>Norman Solomon, ''The Talmud: A selection,'' p. 271.</ref><ref>Walker, ''A Woman’s Dictionary of Sacred and Symbolic Objects,'' p. 196. </ref> This is an example of the Primal Androgyne motif. | |||
==== Judaism ==== | |||
===== Views about gender variance in Judaism ===== | |||
Some relevant Wikipedia articles: | |||
* [[Wikipedia:LGBT-affirming denominations in Judaism]] | |||
* [[Wikipedia:Transgender people and religion#Judaism]] | |||
====== The six genders in classical Judaism ====== | |||
Classical Judaism recognizes six categories of sex/gender, instead of a [[gender binary|male/female gender binary]]. According to Rabbi Elliot Kukla, these six are:<ref>http://www.sojourngsd.org/blog/sixgenders</ref> | |||
* Zachar (זָכָר): This term is derived from the word for a pointy sword and refers to a phallus. It is usually translated as “male” in English. | |||
* Nekeivah (נְקֵבָה): This term is derived from the word for a crevice and probably refers to a vaginal opening. It is usually translated as “female” in English. | |||
* Androgynos (אַנְדְּרוֹגִינוֹס): A person who has both “male” and “female” sexual characteristics. 149 references in Mishna and Talmud (1st-8th Centuries CE); 350 in classical midrash and Jewish law codes (2nd -16th Centuries CE). | |||
* Tumtum (טֻומְטוּם): A person whose sexual characteristics are indeterminate or obscured. 181 references in Mishna and Talmud; 335 in classical midrash and Jewish law codes. | |||
* Ay’lonit (איילונית): A person who is identified as “female” at birth but develops “male” characteristics at puberty and is infertile. 80 references in Mishna and Talmud; 40 in classical midrash and Jewish law codes. | |||
* Saris (סריס): A person who is identified as “male” at birth but develops “female” characteristics as puberty and/or is lacking a penis. A saris can be “naturally” a saris (saris hamah), or become one through human intervention (saris adam). 156 references in mishna and Talmud; 379 in classical midrash and Jewish law codes. | |||
The above six categories of gender are important to consider whenever considering gender in classical Jewish texts, rather than imagining a gender binary. | |||
{{Clear}} | |||
===== Gender variant figures in Judaism ===== | |||
See the above list of [[#Gender variant figures in Abrahamic religion|figures in Abrahamic religion]]. | |||
====== God in Judaism ====== | |||
The exact nature of the '''God of Abraham''' is much disputed, even within one particular religious sect. God is often thought of as a male patriarch, but there is also a long history of seeing God as partly or entirely other than female or male, or as both.<ref name="KasselAndrogynous" /> Jehovah's wife and/or female aspect is Shekinah (שכינה). This is a Hebrew word meaning "dwelling" or "settling" and denotes the dwelling or settling of the divine presence of God. This term does not occur in the Bible, and is from rabbinic literature.<ref>McNamara, Martin (2010). McNamara, Martin (ed.). Targum and Testament Revisited: Aramaic Paraphrases of the Hebrew Bible: A Light on the New Testament (2nd ed.). Wm. B. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-80286275-4. "Whereas the verb shakan and terms from the root škn occur in the Hebrew Scriptures, and while the term shekhinah/shekinta is extremely common in rabbinic literature and the targums, no occurrence of it is attested in pre-rabbinic literature."</ref> Jewish mystics saw God as having been originally an androgyne, noting that the name "Eve" is derived from "Jehovah".<ref>Barbara Walker, ''A Woman’s Dictionary'', p. 195-196. </ref> | |||
====== Adam in Judaism ====== | |||
[[File:Adam Kadmon - Androgyne.jpg|thumb|150px|The Tree of Life juxtaposed upon Adam Kadmon, in which Adam is shown as a Primal Androgyne.]] | |||
Jewish and Christian teachings often interpret the first human, '''Adam''', as having been created as both male and female, before God extracted Eve from him.<ref>Norman Solomon, ''The Talmud: A selection,'' p. 271.</ref> This is an example of the Primal Androgyne motif. | |||
According to the Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BCE - c. 50 CE), Adam's original form was "original man" or "heavenly man," which was "neither man nor woman," but was rather a spiritual being made "male and female" in the perfect image of God in Genesis 1:27, before being made into physical form from clay in Genesis 2:7, and then even later being separated into Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:21-22. Of [[#The six genders in classical Judaism|the six genders/sexes in classical Judaism]], Adam's gender/sex was originally the one called ''androgynos'' (אַנְדְּרוֹגִינוֹס).<ref name="KasselAndrogynous">Charles Kassel. "Androgynous man in myth and tradition." ''The Open Court'', vol. 18. Chicago: The Open Court Publishing Co., 1904. Page 525-530. Accessed May 2, 2019 via Google Books. https://books.google.com/books?id=VYtGAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA525#v=</ref><ref>Louis Ginzberg, "Adam Kadmon." ''Jewish Encyclopedia.'' 1906. Online version retrieved May 2, 2019. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/761-adam-kadmon</ref> | |||
Jewish Gnostics said that dividing this complete human was what made humans mortal, and that if they could be a complete "hermaphrodite" [sic] again, they wouldn't die anymore.<ref>Walker, ''A Woman’s Dictionary of Sacred and Symbolic Objects,'' p. 196. </ref> | |||
====== Lilith ====== | |||
In Jewish mysticism, '''Lilith''' is a supernatural masculine female demon. She isn't included in Genesis, but folklore holds she came to be in Creation, though the story of her origin varies. In one of them, God meant her to be the first human woman, creating her before Eve, as a whole being like Adam, but she refused to be submissive to Adam. She left him, and wanders the world making trouble for humankind forever. Although Lilith is described in feminine language, and gives birth to hundreds of demons, she is considered as having masculine characteristics. Her masculine characteristics are said to be because she was created as a whole male-female being, like Adam. She is said to have thick body hair like a man.<ref>Michael Page and Robert Ingpen. "Lilith." ''Encyclopedia of Things that Never Were.'' Viking: New York, 1987. P. 225-226.</ref> | |||
Scholars think Lilith was a goddess or introduced from a neighboring Southwest Asian religion, or that she at least corresponds with some of them. | |||
==== Christianity ==== | |||
''The below is a more brief summary. For more detail on this subject, please see the main article: [[gender variance in Christianity]].'' | |||
===== Views about gender variance in Christianity ===== | |||
Christians have tended to have difficult views of [[LGBT]] people. Christians have used certain religious views as motivation behind discrimination and hate crimes against LGBT people. Christian denominations and churches vary in their attitudes toward LGBT people. What views churches do express about LGBT people tend to focus mainly on sexual orientation (lesbian, gay, and bisexual people), and less on gender variance (gender nonconforming, transgender, and nonbinary people). Because this is the nonbinary wiki, this portion of the article will focus wherever possible on Christian views specifically addressing gender variance, rather than sexual orientation. | |||
{{Clear}} | |||
====== Gender variance in the Christian Bible ====== | |||
The Christian Bible doesn't specifically mention transgender people, as such.<ref>"Transgender." ''Hope Remains.'' http://hoperemainsonline.com/Transgender</ref> It also doesn't specifically mention nonbinary people, who are one kind of transgender people. Because of this, the Bible doesn't officially condemn transgender or nonbinary people. The absence of such people in the Bible doesn't mean that they were unknown during Biblical times. [[#the six genders in classical Judaism|Classical Judaism itself acknowledged six genders/sexes]] in texts other than the Bible, and [[History of nonbinary gender#Antiquity|several neighboring cultures also acknowledged genders outside the binary]]. Some of the following Bible passages can be seen as relevant to transgender and nonbinary people. | |||
Although seven Bible passages have sometimes been thought of as condemning lesbian, gay, or bisexual people, only ''one'' passage seems to specifically condemn cross-dressing, and, by extension, transgender people.<ref name="TransQueerTheology">Shannon Kearns, "Transgender and Christian?" ''Queer Theology.'' Retrieved April 30, 2019. https://www.queertheology.com/transgender-christian</ref> This is [https://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/22-5.htm Deuteronomy 22:5], in one of the Hebrew books of law. Christians do not typically observe Judaic law, because Christians believe one of the important things Christ did when he came was fulfill all those laws, so Christians are no longer bound by them ([https://biblehub.com/matthew/5-17.htm Matthew 5:17]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+7%3A1-7&version=KJV Romans 7:1-7]; [https://biblehub.com/galatians/3-25.htm Galatians 3:25]). | |||
Nonetheless, this Biblical law has long been used by Christians to condemn those who cross-dress, and as a foundation for writing various national laws against cross-dressing. In the most famous example of this, historical court records show that the Inquisitors of the Catholic Church cited Deuteronomy 22:5 in the only actual specific charge for which the Church burned 19-year-old [[Gender variance in Christianity#Gender variant saints|Saint Joan of Arc]] alive at the stake in 1431.<ref name="FeinbergWarriors31">Leslie Feinberg, ''Transgender Warriors: Making history from Joan of Arc to RuPaul.'' Beacon: Boston, Massachusetts. 1996. P. 31-37.</ref> | |||
Biblical passages about [[eunuch]]s are relevant to nonbinary people, because some nonbinary people have a physical transition that resembles that of a eunuch. In the Bible, "eunuch" can mean many different kinds of people, not just a man who was castrated, some of which Jesus lists in a sermon in [https://biblehub.com/matthew/19-12.htm Matthew 19:12]. In many ancient cultures, "eunuch" was often an umbrella term for people who were [[intersex]], sterile, gay, a "[[third gender]]", or otherwise queer. Because of this, any ancient writings about eunuchs can be relevant to LGBT people. | |||
The Bible never condemns anyone for being a eunuch, nor says that becoming a eunuch is a sin, even though being a eunuch made a person subject to Jewish ritual purity laws distinct from those of other men and women. Even though eunuchs were barred from entering the Hebrew congregation and priesthood for ritual purity reasons (Deuteronomy 23:1, Leviticus 21:20), God specifically blesses eunuchs in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+56%3A3-5&version=NLT Isaiah 56:3-5]. | |||
[[File:Rembrandt, The Baptism of the Eunuch, 1626, Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht.jpg|thumb|150px|''The Baptism of the Eunuch'', depicting Acts 38. Painting by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1626 CE.]] | |||
In [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+8%3A26-40&version=NLT Acts 8:26-40], Philip baptizes a eunuch, in in disregard of the aforementioned ritual purity laws from Judaic tradition. This is because Peter had visions in which God told him to eat non-kosher meats ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+11-17&version=KJV Acts 11-17]), which meant not to call any person common or unclean ([https://biblehub.com/acts/10-28.htm Acts 10:28]), so Christians started to baptize gentiles ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+10%3A45-48&version=KJV Acts 10:45-48]). The story of the baptism of the eunuch represents that Christianity welcomes all who wish to join it, in full participation. It is relevant to nonbinary people, in that it shows that people who have a gender/sex outside of the binary are welcome in Christianity just as they are. Having an unusual gender/sex is not a sin, and is not something that they need to give up in order to be Christian. | |||
A letter from Saint Paul to the Christian Gauls, in [https://biblehub.com/galatians/3-28.htm Galatians 3:28], says that the [[gender binary]] is merely one more system of oppression that doesn't exist in Christianity: "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." This passage is relevant to nonbinary people, because they identify outside of the gender binary. It's also relevant to all LGBT people, who are treated differently due to how they all relate differently to the gender binary than most, whether by crossing it (in the case of binary transgender people) or loving on the same side of it (in the case of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people). | |||
{{Clear}} | {{Clear}} | ||
=====Gender variant figures in | ===== Gender variant figures in Christianity ===== | ||
In addition to the above list of [[#Gender variant figures in Abrahamic religion|gender variant figures held in common between Christianity and Judaism]], some figures are distinct to Christianity, or are distinctly seen as gender variant in Christianity. | |||
===== | ====== God as a gender variant figure in Christianity ====== | ||
[[File:Sierck-les-Bains Église 8.JPG|thumb|A figurative trinity of God in stained glass in a Catholic parish church in Sierck-les-Bains.]] | |||
File: | Individual Christian sects can interpret the '''God of Abraham''' in different ways. God is often thought of as a male patriarch. However, there is also a long history of seeing God as partly or entirely other than female or male, or as both. Jehovah's wife and/or female aspect is Shekinah.<ref name="KasselAndrogynous" /> Many Christian sects believe in God as a trinity, having three parts: God, Jesus Christ, and the '''Holy Ghost'''. The Holy Ghost is an abstract entity depicted as a dove that flew down to be born as Jesus, and it is said to be neither male nor female. In other words, one aspect of God, the Holy Ghost, is outside of the gender binary, and is nonbinary. | ||
{{Clear}} | {{Clear}} | ||
====== Gender variant angels in Christianity ====== | |||
[[File:7 Francesco Botticini Three Archangels with Tobias. (135x154cm) c.1471 Uffizi, Florence.jpg|thumb|''Three Archangels and Tobias'', painting from 1467 by Francesco Di Giovanni Botticini, of a scene from the deuterocanonical, apochryphal Book of Tobit. From left: Michael, Raphael, Tobias, and Gabriel.]] | |||
Angels are traditionally described with masculine language, and their names are more often given to masculine people. However, Christianity has traditionally held that all angels are neither male nor female. The reasoning for this is because God created all the angels, so they don't need to reproduce. They are spiritual beings, without the limits of physical bodies. God created Angels as perfectly whole combinations of masculine and feminine characteristics.<ref name="AngelsCatholic">Catholic Answers staff, "Can angels be male or female?" ''Catholic Answers.'' August 4, 2011. Accessed May 2, 2019. https://www.catholic.com/qa/can-angels-be-male-or-female</ref><ref>Evelyn Dorothy Oliver, "Angels A to Z." Page 156. Accessed via Google Books: https://books.google.com/books?id=56B7fmmlt6QC&lpg=PA156&dq=angels%20male%20female&pg=PA156#v=onepage&q=male%20female&f=false</ref> Christian denominations that officially hold the view that all angels are nonbinary include the Catholic church.<ref name="AngelsCatholic" /> | |||
Another reason for thinking of angels as genderless is a quotation from Jesus, which has sometimes been taken as mentioning the gender of angels: "For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven." ([https://www.biblehub.com/matthew/22-30.htm Matthew 22:30], King James Version) Traditionally, Christianity has taken this passage as further implying that all spiritual beings are genderless or androgynous, even angels and resurrected humans, though some scholars disagree with that interpretation.<ref name="BarnhartAngels">Content warning for description of physical and sexual violence in recent history. Rev. Dave Barnhart. "Angels of indeterminate gender in Genesis 19." ''Reconciling Ministries Network.'' March 10, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2019. https://rmnetwork.org/genesis19/</ref><ref name="KasselAndrogynous" /> | |||
{{Clear}} | |||
====== Gender variant saints in Christianity ====== | |||
[[File:Joan of Arc, Place du Parvis, Reims(1).jpg|thumb|200px|Equestrian statue of Jeanne d'Arc by Paul Dubois (Reims). 1896.]] | |||
Even though the book of Deuteronomy condemned cross-dressing, and medieval Christianity penalized that act, the Church nonetheless canonized as many as twenty-five saints who are known to have cross-dressed or been gender-variant. However, only saints on the female-to-male spectrum have been canonized, whereas any trace of spiritual people on the male-to-female spectrum have been erased from Christian history.<ref name="FeinbergWarriors68">Leslie Feinberg, ''Transgender Warriors: Making history from Joan of Arc to RuPaul.'' Beacon: Boston, Massachusetts. 1996. P. 68-69.</ref> | |||
One particularly notable such figure was Saint Joan of Arc (Jeanne D'Arc, or Jehanne) (c. 1412 - 1431). This saint told her ally, Prince Charles, that God had commanded her to exclusively chose to wear masculine dress and hairstyle. After her victory, when she was captured, Henry VI, the King of England, referred to Deuteronomy 22:5 as a reason for the Inquisitors of the Church to condemn her. Her judges claimed they gave her the choice to either give up cross-dressing, to face a sentence of life in prison, or to be executed if she again wore men's clothing. The court records show that cross-dressing, based on Deuteronomy 22:5, was the actual charge for which she was burned alive at the stake. In [[English neutral pronouns#Ze|hir]] history book, ''Transgender Warriors'', the genderqueer activist [[Leslie Feinberg]] (1949 - 2014) argues that the historical evidence shows that this saint was not just a warrior woman who took up armor for practicality, but was transgender, and the court documents about her refer to local peasants' beliefs that her gender variance was sacred in and of itself, which was part of why the Catholic Church saw her as so threatening to its power.<ref name="FeinbergWarriors31">Leslie Feinberg, ''Transgender Warriors: Making history from Joan of Arc to RuPaul.'' Beacon: Boston, Massachusetts. 1996. P. 31-37.</ref> | |||
''For further reading on this subject, please see the main article: [[gender variance in Christianity]].'' | |||
{{Clear}} | |||
==== Islam ==== | |||
===== Views about gender variance in Islam ===== | |||
''Information needed.'' | |||
===== Gender variant figures in Islam ===== | |||
''Information needed.'' | |||
==== Bahá'í Faith ==== | |||
===== Views about gender variance in Bahá'í Faith ===== | |||
''Information needed.'' | |||
===== Gender variant figures in Bahá'í Faith ===== | |||
''Information needed.'' | |||
==== Rastafarianism ==== | |||
===== Views about gender variance in Rastafarianism ===== | |||
''Information needed.'' | |||
===== Gender variant figures in Rastafarianism ===== | |||
''Information needed.'' | |||
====Hindu and Buddhist religions==== | ====Hindu and Buddhist religions==== | ||