Third Gender

Third gender, sometimes called third sex, describes people categorized by themselves or their society as neither man nor woman. Many cultures recognize such roles, including hijra in South Asia, fa'afafine and fa'afatama in Samoa, Two-Spirit identities among many Indigenous North American nations, and muxe among the Zapotec of Oaxaca, Mexico. In some societies these roles carry ritual or religious meaning and social standing, though recognition does not always mean full acceptance. The term is used by scholars and activists to show that gender diversity is not a modern Western invention. Gender-diverse people have existed across human cultures and history, well beyond a strict two-category framework.