The “continuum between the polarities of male-female/masculine-feminine” that I mentioned in the previous article probably exists just as long as we have both genders. And depending on which time and society is the focus of attention, the subject receives more or less attention, sometimes more, sometimes less controversial. But it does permeate all areas of society.
Mythological variations
In Hinduism there probably is the most charming divinity that gives the union of male-female a most honorable expression. The already mentioned hindu divinity Ardhanarishvara originates in the united gestalt of Shiva and his consort Parvati and is actually man and woman at the same time and thus an expression of the primal oneness of all that is the source of all… The oldest preserved renditions stem from the first century BCE.
The ancient Greeks had the also previously mentioned Hermaphroditos in their mythology – who having a penis and female breasts had male as well as female sexual features. He was particularly worshipped in Cyprus as a male expression of the love goddess Aphrodite.
The cult of Hermaphroditos and the “bearded Venus” had their peak probably around the 6th century BCE. For Androgyne is a vital part of this cult. Little is known about this divinity, except that there were areas in ancient Greece where a bearded goddess was worshipped. Part of the cult was that the worshippers disguised themselves as members of the other gender.
Forms of transition between matriarchy and patriarchy
According to the British mythologist Robert von Ranke-Graves both are religious steps in the transition from matriarchy to patriarchy. He also considers the often effeminately depicted fertility god Dionysius part of this transition.
In the later version of the myth told by Ovid (around the beginning of our calendar) there is nothing left of the former cult figure. Instead the son of the gods Hermes and Aphrodite suffers – who gave him also his name – suffers a tragic fate that finally makes him an unhappy double creature. That matches the attitude of the patriarchy and its inclination for clear boundaries. And also fitting his name became the characterization of an “anomaly” in nature: when creatures have both genders – like snails or rainworms. In former times Hermaphroditism was also ascribed to humans with physical features from both genders. But fortunately this has become biologically as well as culturally outdated. Biologically it only applies to creatures that can procreate in “both directions” and for people the correct term nowadays is intersexual.
The ancient Egyptians also had a “double-gender” divinity: Hapi was responsible for the yearly flooding of the Nile and therefore an expression of rich fertilization. He was male, wore a beard but had pendant breasts and a big belly.
Interestingly enough there is no legend in which the really special, if not holy feature of these divinities is considered: for they have unique possibilities in pleasing both genders…
Spiritual function
However in some cultures the “double-genderness” is considered sacred, of course less due to the sexual possibilities than to the place in this special “inbetween space”. People who reside there are considered specialists of border areas and perhaps also because they just might be a little closer to the divine and therefore might be endowed with magic abilities.
Shamans in women´s clothing
Among the Mongolians of the Bo-cult the initiated shaman wears female clothing. In recent excavations of ancient German graves male bodies in female clothing were found – and are considered to be shamans. However I wouldn´t dismiss the notion of prehistoric travesty artists…
Two Spirits
In the US so called Two-Spirits have been legally recognized, who say of themselves that they are absolutely both at the same time, as a female as well as a male identity resides in their body. This special position and often unique spiritual role is honored and supported by many native people in Northern America. Most Nations don´t have clearly defined gender roles, but those who have define at least four different genders: masculine men, feminine men, masculine women and feminine women.
Radical Faeries
The “Radical Faeries” possibly also fit in this group: a loose group of people who renounce the heterosexual lifestyle and are looking for a new, queer expression. Spiritually in an undogmatic manner is of a certain importance to them. They strive for the overcoming of conventional gender roles and work on a general respectful treatment of each other. As the first movement of consciousness that originates in the gay movement of 1970ies USA they are a worldwide phenomenon. Initially “fairy” was a pejorative term for a gay man, but this group obviously redefined it serenely an identifies with the original meaning: the fairy as a natural being of nature…
Ethnological niches
In some countries the transgender culture has been much more established and obvious than in the West:
Hijra
Among the Southern Indian society the communities of the “Hijra” exist, who are defined as members of the “third gender”, which is also legal since 2009. Mostly they are men who prefer a feminine expression. Traditionally the Hijras earn their money and appreciation through dance and blessings at weddings, inaugurations and births of sons. But that is usually not enough and so many of them also work as prostitutes.
Hijras consider the goddess Bahuchara Mata their patron divinity, she is actually generally worshipped by the transsexuals of India. This moody Hindu goddess has some intense myths: i.e. once a king prayed to her for a son. The son was born, however he was impotent. The goddess appeared to the prince in his dream and ordered him to cut off his genitals, wear women’s clothing and serve her – if he didn’t do that he would have to suffer from being impotent for the next seven incarnations… This is how this merciless goddess deals with impotent guys and it also explains the frequent, often ritualistic self-castration and celibacy of the Hijras. There is another legend where she goddess was an Indian bride whose groom refused her the wedding bed and preferred strolling in the woods in women´s clothing – she cut off his genitalia in revenge…
Khanit
The Khanit (or Xanit) live in Oman, their name is the vernacular word for men who renounce the male role of gender and/or are intersexual from a Western point of view. They are generally considered eunuchs, for they have male genitalia but are not sexually active and therefore are considered impotent. In the notion of the Osmanis man equals being sexually active. Who as a man cannot or doesn´t want to be sexually active with a woman can withdraw to this niche in the gender code. The Khanit have an “inbetween-status” as well in their appearance as in their social environment. They wear male – and/or female clothing, however the colors are often different from usual women´s clothing. They usually wear their hair at midlength and wear it openly. In their behavior they are often closer to women – they like intense use of perfume, move in a feminine manner and like speaking in a higher pitch. According to their “border position” they can move in the private domain of the women, as well as in the public domain of the men. They play an important role at weddings and other public events.
Kathoey
In the Thai culture Kathoey initially was a term used for all who were considered to move outside their original biological gender role. Already in the Buddhist creation myths three genders are mentioned: male, female – and kathoey. And which gender we have also depends – according to Buddhist lore – on our karma and nobody can be condemned for his karma and its consequences. Therefore their acceptance in Thai society is much older and broader than that of trans- and intersexuals in Western societies.
Usually the kathoey are biological men with female features or female identification who desire masculine men. They slip into their female role sometimes occasionally sometimes generally sporting feminine behavior, clothing, make-up and movements. Some of them are actual transsexuals including operations and hormonal treatment. However for them too finding work is difficult. Mostly they work in the entertainment or in the sex industry.
Fa’afafine
A third gender is also legally recognized in Polynesia. Generally the Fa’afafine are male at their birth, but have distinct male and female features – that they can express in a unique way in their society. Mostly they are already identified as children, when they realize they rather do things in a female than in a male manner. The spectrum of their appearance is broad: they can seem extremely feminine to extremely masculine. They say about themselves that their role cannot be compared to that of homosexuals in other societies, even though their partners are usually also male, sometimes female and rarely other Fa’afafine.
Sworn virgins
Burrneashas oder Virgjineshas are women on the Balkan who take on the role of man in their families. They make a vow to the elder council of their communities and are henceforth treated like a man. They wear male clothing, carry weapons and renounce sexual relationships and marriage. They are the only institutionalized cross-gender culture in Europe.
Renouncing femalehood was often the only chance for a woman to avoid an arranged marriage without her family losing its honor. Furthermore it was for families who were lacking men a possibility to maintain the protection and authority of their clan. That was necessary in a region where grown men often became victims of blood revenge. This was particularly frequent in rural areas and not limited to Albania, however Albania is the only place now where a few dozen of these “sworn virgins” remain.
Situational necessity
And there were always situations in which wearing the clothes of the other gender saved one´s life or made it much easier. During the wars women put on male clothing to avoid rape and men often put on female dresses in order to avoid executions and getting caught after deserting.
Furthermore people frequently denied their biological gender in order to reach a certain goal that was exclusive to the other gender:
Among them was the Chinese woman Hua Mulan (the model of the Disney movie Mulan), who disguised herself during the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589) and went to war to safe her old and sickly Dad from having to fight – that´s at least what an ancient ballad tells. It´s not clear if it´s actually historically true.
Similarly the story of Pope Joan is intensely discussed – however it has lost nothing yet of it´s provocative strength: in the middle ages a smart and learned woman is supposed to have disguised herself as a man working herself through all the clerical hierarchies until she became pope. During a procession she bore a child and died soon after, either of natural circumstances or of murder…
A rather real female fighter in male clothing was Joan of Arc (c.1412-1431) – however she never denied being a woman. Quite in contrast to the Spanish woman Catalina de Erauso (1592-1650) who managed to live as a male soldier in the Spanish army fighting in the Americas. She was only found out when she confessed her real identity herself.
Shi Pei Pu (1938-2009) was a male singer at the Chinese Opera and managed to convince the French diplomat Bernard Boursicot that he actually was a woman during the cultural revolution. But truth came to light in a spectacular way. Their story is rather dramatic and became the base of a play and a film by the same title of “M.Butterfly” by David Henry Hwang.
Provocation of society
Not clandestine and therefore perhaps much more provocatively was the behavior of the French diplomat, soldier and spy Charles Geneviève Louis Auguste André Timothée d’’eon et Beaumont usually known as Chevalier d’Eon (1728-1810) – the first fifty years of his life he lived as a man and then decided to spend the rest of his life as Charlotte. As he had been oscillating between the genders all his life – among other things he held fencing tournaments in women´s clothing, all of France wondered about his true gender until his death. When he died it finally became public that he had male genitalia.
George Sand (1804-1876) was the pseudonym of the French writer Amandine Aurore Lucile Dupin in the early 19th century, who preferred male clothing over female clothes. She rebelled against the traditional role of women in her society: afterall she earned her living as a writer and took care of her children herself after her divorce. She was an early feminist.
Real and fictional idols
Particularly interesting is the fictional alter ego of the French-American artist Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) who expressed his beautiful and erotic aspect expression as Rrose Sélavy (Rose as an anagram to Rose and Selavy – is c´est la vie: Eros – that´s life!) Also as a character in a series of photographs by his friend Man Ray olp9oand then as an autonomous artist with her own works of art and texts…
To conclude this aspect I would like to mention the German actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992) who in her first Hollywood movie “Morocco” (USA 1930) not only wore a tuxedo but also kissed a woman. Until then the tuxedo had been exclusive to men and Marlene in general enjoyed being photographed in male attire. The wide cut pants with the high waist she enjoyed wearing were named “Marlene pants” emphasized her androgynous charisma and attracted men as well as women. The British theatre critic and writer, Kenneth Tynan who was a friend of hers once said about her: “She has sex, but no positive gender.”
In the next article I will discuss what makes the public transgression of the gender border so interesting that it has become a vital element of our entertainment industry and why we have so many more dragqueens than – kings…
Note: Researching this article was made extremely easier by Wikipedia. So thanks to all the kind people who support this platform with their work.
