• Question: Is there more then 2 genders?

    Asked by anon-290081 on 23 Mar 2021.
    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 23 Mar 2021:

      Hi,
      Scientifically, very much so. While we tend to see sex as binary (in two directions), which is still debated to some degree in science, we can say with quite a lot of certainty that gender is on a very large spectrum (or bimodal). People can also be ‘gender fluid’ where some times they may identify as more male than female on some days and the opposite on the other.
      It is often seen than being non-binary is a new concept, but it can be traced back quite far even since 11th Century! Even native Americans have the label ‘two-spirit’ which I think is fascinating.

    • Photo: Dennis Relojo-Howell

      Dennis Relojo-Howell answered on 24 Mar 2021:

      Hi dust430saw. The World Health Organization defines gender as ‘the characteristics of women and men that are socially constructed, while sex refers to those that are biologically determined.’ Because gender is socially-constructed, that means there can be more than two genders.

      I was born in the Philippines – so I’ll give you an example that I’m quite familiar with. Before the Philippines was colonised by Spain in 1521, transwomen shamans weren’t uncommon. Shamans, known locally as ‘babaylans’ and ‘katalonans’ were traditionally female, but pre-colonial Philippines didn’t prevent transwomen from joining their ranks. In fact, there are records of shamans who were born male but identified as female, and the pre-colonial Philippine society accepted them as such.

      Also, since I lived in Thailand, I learned about ‘kathoey’ – it’s an identity that transgender women would use for themselves. If you have the time, check out ‘Beautiful Boxer’. It’s the autobiographical film of Nong Tum, who is probably the most famous ‘kathoey’ in Thailand.

    • Photo: Amrita Bains

      Amrita Bains answered on 24 Mar 2021:

      Across different cultures there are definite examples of where there are more than 2 types of genders! For example in Samoa there are the Fa’afafine which is a third gender and many people say this is their gender. With Fa’afafine people they are often born as male but identify with having more “female” qualities.

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