This is just awesome. And although there are multiple cultures throughout the world that have always had a third category for gender, it always makes me happy to see some mainstream coverage of the ongoing negotiation of gender in non-Western communities. This NYTimes article focuses on the "muxe" or a accepted third gender in Oaxaca, Mexico. I went to Oaxaca a few years ago and I loved loved loved it, but now I love it even more.
But nowhere are attitudes toward sex and gender quite as elastic as in the far reaches of the southern state of Oaxaca. There, in the indigenous communities around the town of Juchitán, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight. The local Zapotec people have made room for a third category, which they call "muxes" (pronounced MOO-shays) -- men who consider themselves women and live in a socially sanctioned netherworld between the two genders.
"Muxe" is a Zapotec word derived from the Spanish "mujer," or woman; it is reserved for males who, from boyhood, have felt themselves drawn to living as a woman, anticipating roles set out for them by the community.
Similarly, my mother used to always tell me of the hijra in India, similarly considered a third gender, yet often they don't stay with their families but roam together. I am sure they still face discrimination, fear and hatred but it is good to remind mainstream trans/queer rights movements in the United States that binary gender systems have been shown to not be inherent or natural in many other contexts.
Thanks to Karlos for the link.
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I would recommend reading Annick Prieurs book "Mema's House, Mexico City: On Transvestites, Queens and Machos". It is a different region of Mexico, with a very different system of gender and sexuality than in Oxaca. Some of things highlighted around the text is the Western myth of seperating gender and sexuality (David Valentine has also written about this in "Imagining Transgender"), and how radically different cultural constructions around gender and sexuality are outside of Western discourse.
I saw a documentary about the hijra a couple of years ago that was fabulous. Also, some native American cultures included as many as 5 genders, and don't forget the Balkin sworn virgins!
I may be wrong here, but I believe that it also exists in Samoan culture. I had read about it once but I can't name any references, hence it maybe I might be remembering incorrectly.
The term is fa'afafine, for males raised or taking on female gender roles in society. The concept exists in most Pacific Island cultures.
Thanks, Alice!
Are there any cultures in which it is widely accepted for women to operate in a masculine identity?
Also: We watched a documentary in one of my classes that involved hijras and though it is a widely known identity, it is not widely accepted. Though there is a strong culture surrounding them, hijras are harassed, often by police. Luckily, there are a number of serious movements to gain acceptance and understanding.
Here is an article about the Balkan sworn virgins.
In his excellent book Blue Latitudes, author Tony Horwitz describes the mahu people of Tahiti as boys raised as girls, wearing traditional female clothing and performing traditionally female tasks. Horwitz notes that going all the way back to the 1760's, when Capt. Cook first landed in Tahiti, Cook and many of the English sailors wrote of the "masculine" qualities of some of the Tahitian women and noted several people of mixed or ambiguous gender. The mahu culture remains a strong presence in modern day Tahiti.
Cool, I didn't know about this. However, although the presence of a third gender category in places such as Oaxaca India, and Brazil are perhaps indicative of a more flexible view on gender and sex than other cultures with a dichotomous view, I think it is important to point out that the "third sex" is still usually reserved for men who identify with femininity, and excludes women who identify as men, and such cultures are often still very homophobic. I am not an expert at all-does anyone know of any societies in which women regularly identify as male? I suppose the native north american two-spirit might qualify as this?
The Balkan sworn virgins, as mentioned above, and some of the genders in native American cultures were female-to-male as well.
These quotations from the slideshow accompanying the article are really great:
"It was God who sent him and why would I reject him? He helps his mother very much. Why would I get mad? God sent him for both of us. Why would I get mad?" (Victor Martinez Jimenez, whose child is a muxe)
"I feel normal about it, it is how God sent him, and I love him even though he isn’t a woman. Who knows what kind of person he will be, he is still young." (Grandmother of Carmelo, another muxe)
"There’s nothing wrong with it. If I like her there’s nothing wrong with that. I was never ashamed; I accept things as they are. I’m not ashamed with my family either. I don’t care what people say. ... There are some people that get uncomfortable. I don’t see any problem. What is so bad about it? No one is going to die from this." (Sebastian Sarmienta, whose partner is a muxe)
If only such opinions were more prevalent in the US, a supposedly "more developed" country.
I just don't find any of these third genders to be indicative of gender flexibility. Usually they are yet another box with yet another strictly defined role. I mean, yay for people who have these opportunities, but what do Oaxacan women who don't fit the female role do? What do Balkan men who don't fit the male role do? Relocate?
These are generally used to respond to biological essentialism, and note that historically gender is much more fluid and plastic than most people think. The fact that there can be more than two genders, and that views of gender within various cultures and time periods are drastically different, demonstrates that gender is contingent, not some necessity that follows from biology.
yeah, i loved that story! covered it last month and it is now my most read post.
http://theunapologeticmexican.org/elmachete/2008/11/24/¡oye-i-contain-muxtitudes/