The islands with a flourishing 'third gender'
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Re: The islands with a flourishing 'third gender'
#2Samoans have a similar construct:
Re: The islands with a flourishing 'third gender'
#3It is mostly males that become transgender women – female transitions to male are extremely rare...
From that point on, his work belongs to the woman’s family, and it’s the woman who decides whether her husband can share his fish, coconuts or plantains with his own parents or siblings.
Taken together, these two observations make a lot of sense. In a closed society where women have consolidated power like that, why would anyone become a man?
Re: The islands with a flourishing 'third gender'
#4Very interesting read. The thing stood out to me most is that it says the islands didn't start getting discriminatory until they started encountering western culture and having it rub off on them. They still aren't overly discriminatory, but it is a minor side effect of contact with external influences.
It is fascinating to know that there are islands where gender identify doesn't matter. If you want to be a woman, just act like one and you will be accepted. I figured all places in the world shunned that type of behavior as a community, but these people had no outside influence on their behavior. To see that type of acceptance come from a natural perspective is eye opening.
It was hard to tell how men are treated. It keeps going back and forth, one sentence says the men are treated fairly, the next says they are bound by the woman's decisions. Then that the men have no problems, but still have basically all their decisions made by woman.
It is worth noting that the article mentions the hardships these people face when going off the island to the mainland places. Sure their gender acceptance at home is fine, but they face the typical discrimination you'd expect from any established society.
Re: The islands with a flourishing 'third gender'
#5It is mostly males that become transgender women – female transitions to male are extremely rare... From that point on, his work belongs to the woman’s family, and it’s the woman who decides whether her husband can share his fish, coconuts or plantains with his own parents or siblings. Taken together, these two observations make a lot of sense. In a closed society where women have consolidated power like that, why wo…
if i'm not mistaken, MTF is more common that FTM in the general population, so it might not be tied to culture.
Re: The islands with a flourishing 'third gender'
#6Very interesting read. The thing stood out to me most is that it says the islands didn't start getting discriminatory until they started encountering western culture and having it rub off on them. They still aren't overly discriminatory, but it is a minor side effect of contact with external influences. It is fascinating to know that there are islands where gender identify doesn't matter. If you want to be a woman, j…
> If you want to be a woman, just act like one
And what does this mean?
Re: The islands with a flourishing 'third gender'
#7It is mostly males that become transgender women – female transitions to male are extremely rare... From that point on, his work belongs to the woman’s family, and it’s the woman who decides whether her husband can share his fish, coconuts or plantains with his own parents or siblings. Taken together, these two observations make a lot of sense. In a closed society where women have consolidated power like that, why wo…
I agree, gender could be a red herring here. Power structures could better explain the social behavior. However, I would like to understand the differences, if any, between patriarchal and matriarchal societies. Anyone has a suggestions for resources in this regard?
Re: The islands with a flourishing 'third gender'
#8Very interesting read. The thing stood out to me most is that it says the islands didn't start getting discriminatory until they started encountering western culture and having it rub off on them. They still aren't overly discriminatory, but it is a minor side effect of contact with external influences. It is fascinating to know that there are islands where gender identify doesn't matter. If you want to be a woman, j…
> If you want to be a woman, just act like one And what does this mean?
Exactly what I said? The article states that those who act like woman from a young age, simply become them. No surgery, nothing physical changes, they simply are treated as woman from that point on.
Re: The islands with a flourishing 'third gender'
#9Very interesting read. The thing stood out to me most is that it says the islands didn't start getting discriminatory until they started encountering western culture and having it rub off on them. They still aren't overly discriminatory, but it is a minor side effect of contact with external influences. It is fascinating to know that there are islands where gender identify doesn't matter. If you want to be a woman, j…
> I figured all places in the world shunned that type of behavior as a community, but these people had no outside influence on their behavior
Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're saying here, but there are countless societies through the ages and today with the concept of a third gender, or where gender isn't intrinsically linked to sex.
Re: The islands with a flourishing 'third gender'
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If you want to be a woman, just act like one And what does this mean?
Exactly what I said? The article states that those who act like woman from a young age, simply become them. No surgery, nothing physical changes, they simply are treated as woman from that point on.
I think the issue there is that in order for "act like a woman" to be meaningful, you have to have a somewhat fixed notion of what womanly behaviour is, which is hard to disentangle from sexual stereotyping. At least if you apply it to my culture, I don't feel qualified to comment on what happens in Guna Yala.