Artifact IV: Third Gender
Reflection Tag: Growing up, like many, I was taught the traditional values of my community. The accepted binary views, that there is male and female, black and white, gay and straight. As one becomes more educated in the differences between people and cultures it does not take long to realize that, in most cases, binary does not work when defining humans. Most people aren’t fully white, completely straight, and it is becoming quite clear that gender and sex can often work this way as well.
Ask the average American to describe gender and probably one of the first things that you will hear is the classic “Adam and Eve” response. Gender exists to many in the binary form, or two options, with gender being simply defined as to whether one has a penis or a vagina. However, there is a multitude of evidence that challenges the previously accepted binary aspects of gender. For example, people who are transgendered argue that, though biologically one gender they have the brain or consciousness of the other. There are also people who can exist outside of the accepted sex chromosome norm, not being the traditional XX or XY but have a variety of combinations that can easily blur the lines between male and female, resulting in the concept of a “Third Gender” that forever changes previous orthodox views concerning gender and sexuality.
In regards to the “Third Gender “, the fact that the concept its very existence often depends on the perception of the culture is very interesting and leads to both the allowance and restriction of diversity for human sexuality and gender. For example, in India, the Hijra are a group of men that willingly get rid of their masculinity in order to live lives as women. Many cultures, even the West, often view this as strange and perhaps even wrong but since the Hijra has been a part of Indian culture for so long there is an acceptance by some in comparison to other cultures where it would be completely taboo. Instead of being completely ridiculed as they would be in many places, they are occasionally revered as being religious figures by some. In the video “Middle Sexed” there was an idea expressed within Buddhism in which it is almost an honor to be both man and woman; to be born a man and die a woman. Transgendered or transsexual people are seen as blessed not cursed. There is another similar view within Native American culture in which it is often okay for people to identify as the “Two Spirit” and have historically been revered by those within the community. This is much different than in somewhere like America where gender roles have been so orthodox for so long. Many believe that your sex is concrete and not to be changed. A man is a man and a woman is a woman, simple as that. The idea of the Third Gender challenges a lot of western views and the lack of education surrounding gender identity is the reason for much discrimination, violence, and harassment to be cast onto people who do not conform to what the society views as normal.
Life is not always black and white and gender is great evidence of that. With new science coming out every day in regard to human development and how the body functions, it is becoming more clear that the binary ways in which we often define things are not always as accurate as some would like. However, though it is much easier to create binary systems that label humans and help to govern them and society, there is much lost in doing so. People are forced to live out lives that they often don’t feel are their own and their identity’s become suppressed by their culture. The fact that the idea of a “Third Gender” can we witnessed throughout different cultures indicates that it is not the “Third Gender” that is a nuisance to the traditional gender values but it is in fact certain cultures that are a nuisance to the “Third Gender”.
