Gender-variant identities worldwide: Difference between revisions

* '''Era:''' ??? - to present<ref>{{cite journal|title=Sexualities and Genders in Zapotec Oaxaca|last=Stephen|first=Lynn|date=March 2002|journal=Latin American Perspectives |doi=10.1177/0094582X0202900203 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249691394_Sexualities_and_Genders_in_Zapotec_Oaxaca |volume=29|issue=2|page=41-59|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227045454/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249691394_Sexualities_and_Genders_in_Zapotec_Oaxaca|archive-date=17 July 2023}}</ref>

In Mexico, the Zapotec people recognize the ''muxe'', who are assigned male at birth, and prefer to wear traditional women's styles of clothing and fashionable make-up. ''Muxes'' are thought to be usually attracted to men, though some ''muxes'' marry women.<ref name="muxe cobelo" /><ref name="Lynn 2002">Stephen, Lynn (2002). "Latin American Perspectives," Issue 123, Vol.29 No.2, March 2002, pp. 41-59. {{cite web |url= http://www.uky.edu/~tmute2/mexico/MexWeb/Mex+PDFs/stephan-gender-zapotec.pdf |title= ''Sexualities and Genders in Zapotec Oaxaca.'' |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20070129073904/http://www.uky.edu/~tmute2/mexico/MexWeb/Mex%20PDFs/stephan-gender-zapotec.pdf |archivedate= 2007-01-29 |df=  |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230516201112/http://www.uky.edu/~tmute2/mexico/MexWeb/Mex+PDFs/stephan-gender-zapotec.pdf |archive-date= 17 July 2023 }}&nbsp;{{small|(98.6&nbsp;[[Kibibyte|KiB]])}}</ref> ''Muxes'' may consider themselves homosexual, heterosexual, or asexual.<ref name="muxe bbc" /> (Men who are not ''muxe,'' and who have relationships with ''muxe,'' are called ''mayetes'', and are not socially thought of as gay for doing so.<ref name="muxe bbc" /> ''Muxes'' themselves have various opinions about whether such men are really gay or straight.<ref name="muxe cobelo" />) A person recognizes from early childhood that they want to be a ''muxe'', based on their own natural instincts.<ref name="muxe cobelo" /> They usually do not seek [[surgery|gender-affirming surgery]].<ref name="muxe cobelo" /> Today, ''muxe'' are accepted and integrated in society, whereas gay men and trans women are not accepted as much, though this varies by the amount of Westernization in a given community.<ref name="muxe cobelo" /> One ''muxe'' named Gala who was interviewed in 2015 explained, "We are not men or women [...] We are a third gender. Men are men and women are women— and ''muxes'' are ''muxes''. Is that simple."<ref name="muxe cobelo" /> Much the same definition was given in a 2018 BBC interview with another ''muxe'' named Felina, who runs a group for ''muxe'' founded in the 1970s, ''[https://www.lasintrepidas.com/ Las Auténticas Intrepidas Buscadoras del Peligro]'' (The Authentic Intrepid Danger Seekers).<ref name="muxe cobelo" /><ref name="muxe bbc">Ola Synowiec. "The third gender of southern Mexico." November 26, 2018. ''BBC.'' http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20181125-the-third-gender-of-southern-mexico [https://web.archive.org/web/20230514070747/http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20181125-the-third-gender-of-southern-mexico Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref> Another ''muxe'', performance artist [[Lukas Avendaño]];<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Stambaugh|first=Antonio Prieto|date=2014-01-01|title=RepresentaXión" de un muxe: la identidad performática de Lukas Avendaño|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/latin_american_theatre_review/v048/48.1.stambaugh.html|journal=Latin American Theatre Review|volume=48|issue=1|pages=31–53|doi=10.1353/ltr.2014.0030|s2cid=141999742|issn=2161-0576|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406161821/https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/latin_american_theatre_review/v048/48.1.stambaugh.html|archive-date=17 July 2023}}</ref>, explained in a 2017 interview that not all ''muxe'' identify the same way, and some ''muxe'' do identify as women.<ref name="muxe cruz">Mónica Cruz. "Muxes: una comunidad en Oaxaca desafía los conceptos tradicionales de la identidad y el género." ''Verne.'' February 2, 2017. https://verne.elpais.com/verne/2017/01/31/mexico/1485834145_612368.html [https://web.archive.org/web/20230603115759/https://verne.elpais.com/verne/2017/01/31/mexico/1485834145_612368.html Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref> In the Zapotec language, there is no grammatical gender, which makes it easier. The Spanish language has only masculine and feminine, so ''muxe'' have to choose one, even though many ''muxe'' do not feel like either.<ref name="muxe cruz" /> In recent years, ''muxe'' have campaigned for the right to use the [[toilets|restroom]] of their preference: some ''muxe'' (''gunaa muxe'', who think of themselves as like trans women) feel safer in the women's restroom, whereas other ''muxe'' (''nguiiu muxe'', who think of themselves as like feminine gay men) prefer the men's restroom.<ref name="muxe cruz" /> One study estimates that 6% of people assigned male at birth in an Isthmus Zapotec community in the early 1970s were ''muxe''.<ref>Rymph, David (1974). ''Cross-sex behavior in an Isthmus Zapotec village.'' Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Mexico City.</ref> Notable ''muxes'' include human rights activist [[Amaranta Gómez Regalado]] (b. 1977), who gained international prominence as the first trans candidate of Mexico, in the 2003 Oaxaca state elections;<ref name="muxe bbc" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2003/06/05/ls-amaranta.html|title=La nueva visibilidad lésbico-gay|last=Medina|first=Antonio|date=June 5, 2003|work=LETRA S|access-date=March 13, 2016|via=La Jornada|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408163115/https://www.jornada.unam.mx/2003/06/05/ls-amaranta.html|archive-date=17 July 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=//www.copenhagen2009.org/Conference/Keynote_Speakers/Amaranta_Gomez_Regalado.aspx |title=Archived profile from Amaranta Gómez Regalado for the WorldOut Games in Copenhagen 2009 |last= |first= |date=January 11, 2016 |website=Amaranta Gómez Regalado – WorldOut Games 2009 |publisher=Wayback Machine Internet Archive |access-date=March 13, 2016 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090721073144/http://www.copenhagen2009.org/Conference/Keynote_Speakers/Amaranta_Gomez_Regalado.aspx |archivedate=July 21, 2009 |df= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230613123644/http://www.copenhagen2009.org/Conference/Keynote_Speakers/Amaranta_Gomez_Regalado.aspx |archive-date=17 July 2023 }}</ref> and food vendor [[Marven]], ''Lady Tacos de Canasta'', who became famous in a viral video taken while she was selling food at a pride parade in 2016, and has been featured on multiple media outlets since.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chilango.com/comida/lady-tacos-de-canasta/|title=Lady Tacos de Canasta: hay de chapulines, iguana, arroz con leche...|last1=M|first1=Sthefany|last2=ujano|date=2018-08-28|language=es-MX|access-date=2019-08-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404130144/https://www.chilango.com/comida/lady-tacos-de-canasta/|archive-date=17 July 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.milenio.com/policia/lady-tacos-canasta-policias-agreden-tiran-puesto|title=A Lady Tacos de Canasta, policías la agreden y le tiran su puesto|website=www.milenio.com|access-date=2019-08-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308111207/https://www.milenio.com/policia/lady-tacos-canasta-policias-agreden-tiran-puesto|archive-date=17 July 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://heraldodemexico.com.mx/tendencias/autoridades-intentan-retirar-a-lady-tacos-de-canasta-en-alcaldia-cuauhemoc/|title=Autoridades intentan retirar a Lady tacos de canasta, en alcaldía Cuauhémoc|date=2019-07-29|website=El Heraldo de México|language=es-MX|access-date=2019-08-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308130228/https://heraldodemexico.com.mx/tendencias/autoridades-intentan-retirar-a-lady-tacos-de-canasta-en-alcaldia-cuauhemoc/|archive-date=17 July 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://culturacolectiva.com/movies/taco-chronicles-netflix-mexico-food-documentary-review|title='The Taco Chronicles' Does Justice To Mexico's Misunderstood Street Food Staple|date=2019-07-18|website=culturacolectiva.com|language=English|access-date=2019-08-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703053533/https://culturacolectiva.com/movies/taco-chronicles-netflix-mexico-food-documentary-review/|archive-date=17 July 2023}}</ref>

* '''Role in society:''' today, kathoey often have occupations that are usually associated with women, such as in shops, restaurants, and beauty salons, but also in factories (a reflection of Thailand's high proportion of female industrial workers).<ref name="SwinterNsak">Winter S, Udomsak N (2002). [http://www.symposion.com/ijt/ijtvo06no01_04.htm Male, Female and Transgender: Stereotypes and Self in Thailand] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070228130914/http://www.symposion.com/ijt/ijtvo06no01_04.htm |date=28 February 2007 }}. ''International Journal of Transgenderism''. 6,1</ref> Kathoey also work in entertainment and tourist centres, in cabarets, and as sex workers.<ref name="Tooru Nemoto">{{cite journal|last=Nemoto|first=Tooru|year=2012|title=HIV-Related Risk Behaviors among Kathoey (Male-to-Female Transgender) Sex Workers in Bangkok, Thailand|url=|journal=AIDS Care|volume=24|issue=2|pages=210–9|doi=10.1080/09540121.2011.597709|pmc=3242825|pmid=21780964|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190827211801/http://http:///|archive-date=17 July 2023}}</ref>

* '''Name of identity:''' Fa'afafine, meaning "in the manner of a woman" <ref name=":1">Wade, Lisa & Myra Marz Ferree.  ''Gender: Ideas, Interactions, Institutions.''  New York: W. W. Norton, 2015.</ref>. Fa'atama, meaning "in the manner of a boy"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fa%27atama |title= Wiktionary-Entry |access-date 19 MAy 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221215065215/https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fa%27atama |archive-date=17 July 2023 }}</ref> in Samoa.

* '''Name of identity:''' Gallae. Contemporaries who were not Gallae called them by masculine words, Galloi or Galli (plural), or Gallus (singular). Some historians interpret the Gallae as transgender, by modern terms, and think they would have called themselves by the feminine Gallae (plural) and Galla (singular).<ref>Kirsten Cronn-Mills, ''Transgender Lives: Complex Stories, Complex Voices'' (2014, {{ISBN|0761390227}}), page 39</ref><ref>Teresa Hornsby, Deryn Guest, ''Transgender, Intersex and Biblical Interpretation'' (2016, {{ISBN|0884141551}}), page 47</ref><ref name="seabrook gallae about">Laura Anne Seabrook, "About this comic." ''Tales of the Gallae.'' http://totg-mirror.thecomicseries.com/about/ [https://web.archive.org/web/20221202095758/https://totg-mirror.thecomicseries.com/about/ Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref> The Roman poet Ovid (43 BC – 17 AD) says their name comes from the Gallus river in Phrygia;<ref>Maarten J. Vermaseren, ''Cybele and Attis: the myth and the cult'', translated by A. M. H. Lemmers,  London: Thames and Hudson, 1977, p.85, referencing Ovid, ''Fasti'' IV.9</ref> "gallus" itself means chicken or rooster.

* '''Culture:''' The Scythians, who were Eurasian nomadic horseriders. They lived in regions that are now the modern-day countries of Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Egypt, and neighboring countries. They had contact with many more, due to their use of the Silk Road.<ref name="Beckwith58">{{harvnb|Beckwith|2009|pp=58–70}}</ref>

The Enarees were gender-variant priests of the ancient Scythian people. The 5th century Greek medical anthology, "Hippocratic Corpus," said that the Enarees wore women's styles of clothing, used feminine mannerisms in their speech, and did women's work.<ref name="enarees phillips" /> Pseudo-Hippocrates said the Scythians believe the cause of their femininity is divine, but he theorized that they became so due to injuring their genitals from continous horse riding,<ref>{{cite wikisource |author=Hippocrates |title=On Airs, Waters, Places |wslink=On Airs, Waters, Places#Part XXII |at=Part XXII}}</ref> and from wearing trousers<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chiasson|first=Charles|date=2001|title=Scythian Androgyny and Environmental Determinism in Herodotus and the Hippocratic πϵρὶ ἀϵ́ρων ὑδάτων τóπων|journal=Syllecta Classica|language=en|volume=12|issue=1|pages=33–73|doi=10.1353/syl.2001.0007|issn=2160-5157}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Minns|first=Ellis|title=Scythians and Greeks: A Survey of Ancient History and Archaeology on the North Coast of the Euxine from the Danube to the Caucasus|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1913|isbn=9781108024877|location=|pages=45–6}}</ref> (which was seen as an odd foreign custom to the toga-wearing Greeks). Archaeologist Ellis Minns (1874 - 1953) said Ovid may be partly right, because bareback horse riding has been known to cause damage to the testicles resulting in loss of the ability to have an erection or ejaculate, even for modern-day riders.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Minns|first=Ellis|title=Scythians and Greeks: A Survey of Ancient History and Archaeology on the North Coast of the Euxine from the Danube to the Caucasus|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1913|isbn=9781108024877|location=|pages=45–6}}</ref> Riding injures alone do not account for the femininity of Enarees, which seem to be part of the cross-cultural tradition of cross-dressing shamans.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://classicalstudies.org/annual-meeting/148/abstract/neither-men-nor-women-failure-western-binary-systems|title=(N)either Men (n)or Women? The Failure of Western Binary Systems|last=Hart|first=Rachel|date=|website=Society for Classical Studies|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-01-28}}</ref>

In her PhD thesis about trans history and spirituality, trans woman Helen Savage noted another way that the importance of horses in Scythian culture may have led to the Enarees' discovery of another method of gender transition: "The Roman poet Ovid, who was exiled to the borders of the Scythian steppe in the first century BC, provides a tantalising hint of the practice there of drinking mare's urine, a substance so high in oestrogens that it is still used as the source of a proprietary drug, 'premarin', widely used still for hormone replacement therapy -- and to feminise male-to-female transsexuals."<ref name="enarees savage 74">Helen Savage. (2006) "Changing sex? : transsexuality and Christian theology." Doctoral thesis, Durham University. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/3364/ [https://web.archive.org/web/20230415224247/http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/3364/ Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref> The Enarees may have practiced the world's earliest-known hormone therapy for trans-feminine people. The practice of using mare's urine for oestrogen therapy was lost for hundreds of years, until being independently discovered by scientists in the 1930s CE.<ref name="SchachterMarrian1938">{{cite journal|last1=Schachter|first1=B.|last2=Marrian|first2=G. F.|title=The isolation of estrone sulfate from the urine of pregnant mares|journal=Journal of Biological Chemistry|volume=126|year=1938|pages=663–669}}</ref> This discovery was developed into Premarin in the 1940s, the first commercial oestrogen replacement drug in Western medicine,<ref name=MDD>Jim Kling  October 2000 [http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/archive/mdd/v03/i08/html/kling.html The Strange Case of Premarin] Modern Drug Discovery (3):8 46–52</ref> and still one of the most widely used today. The Enarees may also have used their herbal knowledge to influence their hormone balance. Present-day intersex trans man and shaman Raven Kaldera notes that the Enarees "ate a lot of licorice root - so popular among them that the Greeks to whom they exported it referred to it as 'the Scythian root' - which is also an anti-androgen."<ref name="enarees kaldera">{{cite web|author=Raven Kaldera|title=Ergi: The Way of the Third| |work=Northern-Tradition Shamanism |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501152328/http://www.northernshamanism.org/shamanic-techniques/gender-sexuality/ergi-the-way-of-the-third.html|url=http://www.northernshamanism.org/shamanic-techniques/gender-sexuality/ergi-the-way-of-the-third.html| archive-date=1 May 2013}}</ref> Between all these treatments, the Enarees could have had the most medically advanced physical transition in the ancient world.  

The Enarees' divination method is a form of divination by casting sticks (rhabdomancy). This sounds like it could be a description of the process of I Ching divination in China, which was done by casting fifty yarrow stalks, and methodically picking them up between the fingers. This generates random numbers, which are indexed to divinatory meanings. The I Ching dates back to between the 10th and 4th centuries BCE,<ref>{{cite book|last=Nylan|first=Michael|title=The Five "Confucian" Classics|date=2001|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven|isbn=0-300-13033-3}}</ref> the same period the Scythians lived, who were connected to China via the Silk Road.<ref name="Beckwith58" /> The Scythians had other cultural practices associated with China, such as acupuncture. Archaeological evidence shows that the Scythians used the same acupuncture points as in traditional Chinese medicine, as seen in the tattoos of the "Pazyryk Warrior" mummy.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UyTkDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA202&dq=pazyryk+acupuncture+mummy+tattoo&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjWrKSx_7bsAhVCqp4KHcECDyEQ6AEwAnoECAEQAg#v=onepage&q=pazyryk%20acupuncture%20mummy%20tattoo&f=false|page=202|year=2016|title=New Developments in the Bioarchaeology of Care: Further Case Studies and Expanded Theory|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310081109/https://books.google.com/books?id=UyTkDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA202&dq=pazyryk+acupuncture+mummy+tattoo&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjWrKSx_7bsAhVCqp4KHcECDyEQ6AEwAnoECAEQAg|archive-date=17 July 2023}}</ref>