It's 1:30 AM and I cannot sleep, obviously watching documentaries is the answer.
Now, when I first heard of the idea of the Third Gender, It was three years ago. I was about 16. I had a friend in a gender studies course, and she brought up the subject with our group in a chat.
This is what initially triggered my interest in exploring my gender, that maybe I was right to feel misplaced.
That has nothing to do with this discussion though. Ultimately, what it all leads up to, is my researching the Third Gender myself. What I found struck me odd, and having this Third Gender resurfaced in my studies while watching a documentary on Transgenders and the taboo in different societies... Something that has always stuck out to me with the idea of a Third Gender (an idea I do so love), is that in all the societies I have seen with a recorded Third Gender, that gender is of a biological male who lives as a female.
Thailand has the kathoeys, which is a separate gender given to men who feel and live as female. While this might seem cruel to those who just want to be women, some non-ops embrace this Third Gender given to them and refuse for surgery because they do not see themselves as women. They are kathoey.
Samoa has the Fa'afafine, a gender group where families will actually raise a boy to be a girl (whether or not that boy agrees with their identity and embraces it depends on the child. It's more of a choice versus societal role in more modern times). They are essentially crossdressers to put it in more Western ideas and understanding, they are similar to Drag Queens even with putting on shows and such. They live as women, while never actually getting a gender reassignment surgery. The idea of them being an entirely different gender is obvious in that, if they are active with biological men or women, they are considered heterosexual regardless. Only when they're active with another Fa'afafine are they homosexual.
Even in ancient Native American cultures, many Shaman were men who also associated with female traits and considered a separate gender.
Now, this brings my entire wonderment on the subject... did you notice the trend? These were all biological men who were mentally female. I have never encountered a society with a Third Gender that consisted of biological females who were mentally male. This is slightly a curious matter to me... it makes me wonder, why?
Especially since most societies with these other genders, have such strict gender roles on both ends. That those born women should be demure and dainty in their actions, and those born men should be masculine and robust. Yet, when one born a man branches out to more feminine roles, they are recognized in their efforts and actions. Rarely do you hear of a girl branching out to more masculine roles in these societies.
I'm just wondering on people's opinions on this fact, and the idea of whether this Third Gender is a truly non-binary thing, or just another way to label the binary genders.
I'm not completely confident on my knowledge of this topic, so if I got any information wrong, or you have more information to elaborate on what I said, feel free to do so. This is merely a post on my late night wonderings, I am no expert.
