Transsexuals stretch our usual concepts of gender by suggesting that there can be a fundamental and irreconcilable break between our psychological and biological genders. However, some cultures challenge our notions and even have a gender category that is neither male nor female—a third gender.
Many traditional Native American societies had a category of not-men/not-women, known as berdaches. The berdache (or “two-spirit”) was usually (but not always) a biological male who was effeminate or androgynous in behavior and who took on the social role of female (Blackwood, 1984; W. L. Williams, 1986). The berdache often married a male Native American (and adopted children), though not all married or engaged in sexual behavior with males. Berdachism was considered a vocation, like being a hunter or warrior, which was communicated to certain boys in their first adult vision. In all social functions, the berdache was treated as a female. The berdache held a respected, sacred position in society and was believed to have special powers.
Biologically female berdaches also lived in Native American tribes. Female berdaches began showing interest in boys’ activities and games during childhood (Blackwood, 1984). Adults, recognizing this desire, would teach the girls the same skills the boys were learning. (In one tribe, a family with all girl children might select one daughter to be their “son,” tying dried bear ovaries to her belt to prevent conception!)
These females were initiated into puberty as men, and thereafter they were essentially considered men. They hunted and trapped, fought in battle, and performed male ceremonial tasks. Among the Alaskan Ingalik, for example, these biological women would even participate in nude, men-only sweat baths, and the men would ignore the female genitalia and treat the berdache as a man. The female berdache could marry a woman, though the unions remained childless, and the berdache would perform the appropriate rituals when her partner menstruated but would ignore her own menses. Female berdaches became prominent members of some Native American societies, and, in at least one case, a female berdache became chief of the tribe (Whitehead, 1981).
Other cultures have similar roles. The Persian Gulf country of Oman has a class of biological males called the xanith (Wikan, 1977). The xanith are exempt from the strict Islamic rules that restrict men’s interaction with women, because they are not considered men. They sit with females at weddings and may see the bride’s face; they may not
sit with men in public nor do tasks reserved for men. Yet the xanith are not considered females either; for example, they retain men’s names.
Another important example are the hijra of India. The hijra are men who undergo ritual castration in which all or part of their genitals are removed, and they are believed to have special powers to curse or bless male children. Hijra dress as women, though they do not really try to “pass” as women; their mannerisms are exaggerated, and some even sport facial hair. In India, the hijra are considered neither men nor women but inhabit a unique third social gender (Nanda, 2001).
In Thailand, there is a group of people called the kathoey, who are very similar to Oman’s xanith. Two other examples are the aikane of native Hawaii, who were attached to the court of the chiefs and served sexual, social, and political functions (Morris,
1990) , and the mahu of Tahiti (Herdt, 1990). The belief in these societies that it is neither obvious nor natural that there are only two genders should make us carefully reconsider our own assumptions about gender.
Asexualism: The Genetics but Not the Sex
A final type of gender category is asexuality. On occasion, usually due to a mother’s hormone use during pregnancy, a child is born without sexual organs of any kind. This means that the child has no ovaries, uterus, or vagina; has no penis or testicles; and usually has only a bladder and a urethra ending in an aperture for the elimination of urine.