By Skyler Brown
Despite some claiming the contrary, the concepts of a tertiary gender identity or an identity outside of the gender binary is not new. While it is certain that people on average have become much more aware of the existence of these identities, they have been recorded for millennia. In fact, they are mentioned in some of the earliest written records of human civilization. To understand gender as we know it today, it is important to see how it was viewed yesterday and beyond, as it shows that a variance in identities is a part of humanity.
Mesopotamian myths, which contain religious beliefs of the earliest human civilization, featured many references to individuals that were neither male nor female or were not what we would know today to be cisgender. One of the most powerful deities was known as Inanna (and later on as Ishtar) and had a particularly strong relationship with gender. Inanna was the goddess of sex, war, and justice as well as the queen of heaven. It was believed that she had the power to change a person’s gender, something noted by a follower as early as the 23rd century BCE. Thus, individuals with nonbinary identities were often involved in religious practices surrounding her, with “her cult members and priests were known for their androgyny and blurring or destroying the gender binary” (Academus).
One such group referred to its members as pilipili, or individuals who played roles in celebratory festivals honoring Inanna. The pilipili were originally raised in society as women (ki-sikil) but were then blessed by Inanna, who handed them a spear “as if she were a man” and renamed them (Academus). It is debated whether the handing of a spear is literal, with the pilipili becoming warriors and as a result defying traditional binary roles or if the spear refers to a physical transformation of the individual.
Another segment of Inanna’s followers was the gala or her priests. Priests were recorded to have been cisgender women, married or unwed, or women with children, but there were gala that were biologically male as well. In these cases, these individuals adopted women’s names and became women “for all intents and purposes” (Academus). They even sang in a Sumerian dialect known as eme-sal, a pattern of speech solely reserved for women to deliver the words of goddesses.
Other relics have been found showing the existence of individuals who were outside the gender binary, suggesting that it is possible that ancient Sumer recognized these identities in ordinary society and not in just religious spheres. Of course, this is speculative because the Sumerian language did not use gendered pronouns, but it is a common interpretation of these ancient texts and remaining art.
Another gender variant recorded all of the way back to before the common era (BCE) was that of hijras in the Indian subcontinent. These individuals were noted in the Kama Sutra and other ancient Hindu texts, and the term included eunuchs, intersex people, and transgender people. Despite attempts to wipe out this identity by the British following their passing of the Criminal Tribes Act in India in 1871, hijras are still present today and are legally recognized as a part of a third gender category by the state. Sadly, the efforts of the British during colonization have had an impact on society’s view of hijras, being the beginning “of a mainstream discomfort… [with] transgender people and hijras” (New York Times).
Around the same time of the Kama Sutra, approximately 385-380 BCE, Aristophanes detailed a creation myth revolving three sexes or genders. Males were believed to be “born of the sun”, while females were “born of the earth” (Diogenes). A tertiary category, androgynos (now translated to androgynous), was believed to have been born from the moon and androgynos individuals had combined male and female traits. Aristophanes claimed that androgynos no longer existed. Today, it is often suggested that Aristophanes was solely referring to intersex individuals, explaining the different physical and biological traits of males and females existing in one person, but it is interesting to speculate on the potential for the features to represent the individual’s understanding of the gender expression as well.
Finally, it is necessary to highlight the history of the two-spirit identity in different Native cultures. More than 150 Native American tribes recognized third genders in their communities prior to colonization, with many of these identities having unique names and cultural significance. Most tribes considered two-spirit individuals a third gender, being neither men nor women, and the same terminology was used in reference to them. Other tribes, however, had a distinct word for two-spirit females, making them a fourth gender variant. What is apparent, however, is that the concept of gender had much more fluidity in Native American society than its European counterpart.
Two-spirit people in some tribes held special roles in their communities, sometimes as healers or religious leaders. Unfortunately, many traditions in Native communities have been lost due to colonization, and “two-spirit roles, in particular, were singled out for condemnation, interference, and many times violence” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). Much of what is known has survived by being passed down orally through generations.
All of these examples scratch the surface of what is known in regard to gender expression prior to the early modern period. It is difficult to truly measure the scale because the further back one goes, the harder it is to find a wide array of text and relics from the period. What can be said for certain, however, is that individuals who identified outside of the gender binary have been a part of civilization since its infancy and have played valuable roles in a wide array of societies. This knowledge should help bring understanding that overall, human gender is quite fluid, and being aware and accepting this is part of long-practiced human traditions.