As 2016
draws to a close, the prevalence of the transgender community in the United
States continues. Whereas it used to be very few people, like Marsha P. Johnson,
who were well known for their genders, today more people come out as
transgender, with estimates standing at 1.4 million people being transgender in the United States.
However, the degrees to which transgender people prefer to “pass” as their
gender varies, and poses a problem for the cisgender (people who are
comfortable as their assigned gender) community: the appearance of a
stereotypical man and woman. While the trend seems to be for one to be “passing,” some
transgender people do not try to 100% fulfill the stereotype of their gender, while others go to an extreme.
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| Amanda Lepore, A trans woman who chose to look extreme. (via) |
Outside of
European-based cultures, alternate genders aside from male and female are
common. Several Native American cultures have members known as “two-spirit” who
are neither men nor women. In Polynesian cultures, there are those known mahu
who were largely eradicated by European Colonials and their various sects of
Christianity. The mahu were known to be exceptionally good with various aspects
of housework, “and in certain songs, dances and
public ceremonies the
Mahus were also indispensable, because they
are strictly for them,” marking an importance of this third gender in
several Polynesian societies. Because of their work as house servants, the mahu
have survived to this day (the clips from this video are very good).
Within our own society, genders outside of the
traditional binary have made an appearance in the past few years. Some people
prefer to be referred to as “they” instead of the standard “he/she,” and may
prefer an androgynous look. These people living outside the binary may create a
feeling of unease with this androgynous appearance or even with an appearance
that fluctuates between standard male and standard female gender norms. Several
famous people have begun to make headlines for their gender identities, like
Caitlyn Jenner, and other celebrities feel less of an attachment to their
assigned gender. As we progress as a society, the lines between what someone appears to be and what they actually are will hopefully become less of an
issue and we can move beyond the feelings of discomfort surrounding gender
in The United States and the rest of the world.
2 comments:
Peyton, I liked that you mention the viewpoints on gender from other cultures. I did not know other cultures respected and acknowledged other genders. It was interesting to see that the binary gender system was largely enforced by European-based cultures. In the section about the mahu, it was not very clear to me on how they relate to transgendered people. Were they just men who were good at housework and ceremonies?
The mahu are a third gender
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