mfw every civilization near my country believed females were dirty, dictated what we wore, how we lived and what we got to do and enslaved feminine/gay males as “the third gender” and enslaved them as sex slaves and mutilated their genitals but you call it progressive https://twitter.com/vorebyuIyi/status/1305046286266138631

In fact I will make this a thread so you racist fvcker2 can stop thinking the east and the orient and North Africa were taught everything by ur dirty non ash washing ancestors

let’s start with the first accounts of “gender divergent” cultural role. Sumer and Akkad in modern day Iraq.
The gala were priests who took on the role of women in holy worship of a goddess, innana, since women couldn’t be priests.
They weren’t regarded as “women or men”

and simply had this role due to the banishment of women from serving as priests, you May know her by her Assyrian name ishtar.
Another reason for their existence was to sing laments to innana since the opposite sex must do that for each god/goddess.

The gala frequently practiced homosexuality and many chose female names, once again why are gay males fringed off “normal” society?
Later on with the emergence of more women being successful in society, women were allowed to sing lamentations for innana and live as gala.

Next, a Greek/Roman/Anatolian one: the galli or gallus.
these males faced forced castration in order to become eunuch priests for the goddess Cybele. The mother goddess.
This tradition took place due to the myth of Attis, cybeles’ son and consort who commit self mutilation.

On the topic of eunuchs, let’s take a look at what western queer theories romanticize most. A culture of forced castration and pedophilia in the Middle East North Africa and other regions.
A eunuch is a male who is castrated, usually in youth, to serve a specific purpose.

as mentioned, this can be for religious purposes and may be done willingly OR it may be something darker.

By western accounts, eunuch are a “third gender”, suggesting progressive undertones. In reality, the existence of eunuchs was a category for effeminate males who were usually adolescent slaves, or were chosen for “purity” reasons.
Again the first place this occurred was Sumer.

Eunuchs were castrated for lots of reasons but the main one was to ensure their outmost loyalty to their leaders.
Meaning if a boy was taken as a slave he shouldn’t have a reason to pursue a palace maiden or leave the kingdom.

in much of the global East and south eunuchs have made an appearance and existed for thousands of years.
Below I will expand on these roles throughout histories and regions.
Ancient Egypt:
Egyptians threatened their enemies (Nubians) whom they enslaved using three categories

“Eunuchs, women and men”.
If you don’t know the history of the pyramids, at around 6000 BP, a familial line of successful pharaohs began a traditional of building large tombs. The first to successfully build the planned pyramids, pharaoh khufu, did so by conquering Nubians and

Extending his kingdom to conquer more people. Men whom he used for higher positions were castrated and thereby treated as “the third sex/gender” of the enslaved peoples.

Ps. I will not mention the fact much of what the west knows about gender is based of abrahamic religions, which are middle eastern chum as much as it bothers you WE dictated what YOU think since your ancestors were in caves when we were building civilizations xx. but know it

Eunuchs in ancient Assyria:
Assyria was one of the first civilizations to punish homosexuality, and guess what they did it with? Castration. Homosexual and effeminate males were forced into having their genitals chopped and living their lives “othered” and emasculated.

Enuchs were buried differently, had different dress codes and roles in society and thereby can be viewed as a “third gender” through western eyes especially in Assyria.
They were used as slaves, regents for minors, and more.

In Achaemenid Persia:
Castrations were common amongst Persian court especially for viziers/vazirs/advisors.
One such is bagaos who was commonly used in Greek and western propaganda as a betrayer and representation of Persia.
through the Achaemenid empire eunuchs became common.

The result in the following generations of Iran and it’s surrounding countries was:
Qulams: enslaved soldiers from different ethnicities who if viewed as feminine were castrated and used as sex slaves in the army as well
A rise in homosexual pedophilic culture in some areas–

Of court and the previous empire.
Perhaps one of the darkest occurrences was ottoman eunuchs:
These men were usually enslaved and imported from countries in Africa or the Balkans+Caucasus. “ the black/white eunuchs” was a common title, and each of these categories was –

Assigned roles.
This harsh enslavement and torture which frequently targeted black men and either bought boys as slaves in the caucus and Balkans or used the boys of families who couldn’t pay jizya tax.
Coptic Egyptians frequently took part in this trade aswell.

In China:
China has one of the longest and largest histories with eunuchs.
From the ancient times till the siu dynasty it was one of the “5 punishments“, and was used as a way to emasculate males from different ethnicities for centuries after.
Eunuchs lived with their own–

“Gender” roles and stereotypes.
Eunuchs would later enter these roles willingly to escape rural life and work for nobles and royals, despite losing their status in society.
this tradition continued into the 20th century.

Vietnam and Korea:
adopted similar cultures of eunuch castration similar to China.
Initially Korea would make dogs bite off the testes and phallus, but later switched to the knife method. In Korea eunuchs were called naesi in court and were used as tributes. They were allowed to

Sleep in the royal castle.
(NSFW FOR PICTURE)
In Vietnam eunuch were traded with China and many men would perform self castration to gain access to power in the palace.

In Siam:
Muslims were castrated to use and eunuch in the Thai court and palaces. China also influenced the procedure here.

In Burma:
Muslims were castrated here aswell for the same purpose.

so we’ve established the earliest forms of “third gender” life in most of the orient and East :)
great!
There’s one more left native to South Asia.
The eunuchs, the third sex, religion and Hijras in South Asia:
In Hinduism and other early religions in the Indian subcontinent,

There are gods who transcend sex. They may be able to change sexes, have two sexes, or be a third sex.
This is viewed as a god’s trait and not a humans, the concept is easy to search and there are several schools of thought in Hinduism for it. (Just search gender of gods Hinduism

Since the Indian subcontinent is already open to sexual variety, some people who are born male or intersex were allowed to partake in a third gender, Hijra.
Hijras are usually born male and undergo a rights of passage similar to eunuchs.
Today the word can encompass many things

India’s history with gender, which western queer theorists tend to appropriate, can be read in the kuma sutra as well.
“tritiya prakriti” which talks about eunuchs, “males who dress as women and trick men” and a group that can be interpreted as females who do the same or males–

who don’t “dress as women” but “trick men” anyways.
Many Hijra in South Asia have butt heads with the trans movement, and many identify as trans but westerners have appropriated an identity they can’t understand as usual.
Historically Hijra have been regarded similarly to how

eunuchs were globally.
they face hard lives and are often forced into sex work and die at very young ages.

the South American “Travesti” live similar lives to hijra.
Other third sexes and/or genders through history globally include the following.
Mesopotamian myth had a king ask the goddess ninku to create a third sex for:
demons who steal infants, women who can’t give birth, and

Priestesses who swear off giving birth.
as you can see the gender roles of women were so strongly tied to birth, that a new role had to be added to allow them to stop. this was 1700 BC.

Another example from South Asia:
The earliest written account of Tamil views intersex people and un-masculine males as the third “neuter” category different from “normal” men and women.
In Indic myth the hero Rama asked women and men to leave instead of waiting for him

on a journey, when he returned those who “weren’t men or women” had waited for him and so he blessed them a turn in greatness in the world. This myth refers to the Hijra again and is one of the founding stories of the identity.

queer theorists tend to gripe at ancient Israel aswell for proof of several genders, only to find that ancient Israel viewed intersex genitals as different to non-intersex ones. the categories are as follows.

Zachar: male
Nekeva: female

Androgynos: eternally ambiguous, “both”, very rare.
Tumtum: ambiguous genitals, skin must be removed,
Aylonit: Female genitalia, infertile, Saris/eunuch: castrated or naturally infertile male

I’ve covered the pattern of male third genders.
On the topic of females being able to identify as third genders/the opposite sex:
this is very rare in the regions I’ve studied but nonetheless there are very few cases.
the most famous being:
The Balkan sworn virgins

from the 15th to 20th century many Balkan countries followed the kanun, and while its not religious they combined it with already patriarchal religions to form one of the most misogynistic periods in the region.
Under this law women became their husband and father’s property.

they couldn’t smoke, wear men’s clothes, vote, own property, enter jobs and certain public places.
Between the 19th and 20th centuries women began swearing an oath to adopt the role of men and swear celibacy.
While many western scholars claim they were “treated as men”

sworn virgins were frequently harassed, stalked and prevented from expressing anything that suggested they had broken the oath.
If the oath was broken they were killed.

The following roles are African:
The Nuer people in modern day Ethiopia and Sudan, women who can’t bear children may adopt the role of men and get to marry women using this method.
Reproductive duty is again emphasized

Some account modern era roles in Igbo culture that allow homosexual females to marry other women, as men. “Lesbian men”
One example is an ohfian igbo
“by creation I was meant to be a man. But as it happened, when coming into this world I came with a woman's body.—

by creation I was meant to be a man. But as it happened, when coming into this world I came with a woman's body. That is why I dressed like a boy.”
Nne Uko Uma Awa
again the movement and terminology differ from the western trans and non binary ideals, these people are called

Female husbands.

Japan’s edo period brought a rise in gender non conforming women who participated in the arts who are often viewed as trans masculine individuals during the 16th century.
Izumo no Okuni, the creator of the kabuki theater style is the first example.
Okuni would perform as a man

and hired other females from poor background to join her theater group.
Japan’s red light district had a high amount of gender non conforming women who would engage in sex acts with other women. These are also viewed as examples of trans masculine females as many lived

Their lives dressed masculine and had gender neutral names.

many women including Okuni were dressing as men since women were banned from work in theater and artistic spaces.

Indonesia’s bugis people have 5 genders, and societal roles are influenced by Indonesian islam. However due to the “promotion of homosexuality” they frequently face discrimination from other Indonesian Muslim ethnicities.
Bissu: intersex people who must live Androgynos lives,

they are to become priests and shaman. Their dress is a combination of the bugis clothes for men and women.
The oroani, women. the makkunrai, men.
The two other genders are:
calabai “male women”, homosexual males who live as heterosexual women. They perform important roles in

Traditional weddings and must be hyper feminine (eg. Their role is to select decorations and makeup)
And the calalai “female men”, homosexual females who live as heterosexual men. They must work? Provide for the family, draw facial hair and adopt children.
Neither of these

Groups “feel like/are” the opposite or want to be the opposite sex.
Calabai are supported and men accept them as males, living in feminine embodiment.
Calabai, bissu and calalai are all allowed to participate in prayer with either sex as they choose and go to the village/

dwellings of each sex freely.

To many, this one might be the most shocking.
khan*eth, a derogatory word for any male with “female expression”. Including trans women, gay men, and any feminine cis man.
where does this terms history begin?

mukhannath, a word to describe effeminate males who either sexually

or socially accepted “feminine” roles.
In the hadith, they are mentioned as male servants for women since they lack “desire” for the body but nothing “points” to their sexuality.

Except, Mohammad cursed both the mukhannath and their female equivalent, mutarajjilat.

Mukhannath, who were associated with art and music, were banned from practicing their works.
They were described as copying female dress and using henna aswell, each was “effeminate” to varying degrees.
During the rashidun era they began being revered in society for their art,

Only to be prosecuted mid ummayad period.
Mukkhanath lost their new found respect and social acceptance forced to become court jesters instead of magicians and artists.

In the Arab world, perhaps a remnant of this once existent role is the previously mentioned derogatory term in Oman. These males will part their hair differently, speak differently and apply varying degrees of femininity. Perhaps their existence is the reason that Oman is more

Or less more accepting of homosexuality than its neighbors today.

Kathoey in thailand, the third gender, also encompasses any effeminate male: gay men, trans women etc. and has become a slur in its English transliteration.
Most trans Thai women don’t use this word, as it’s both degrading to them and “a third gender“.
Kathoey is also quite

A derogatory term to call gay men, it meaning similar to “fairy”. Sadly, Thai Buddhist culture believes these people to be born due to a “past sin”.
Kathoey have a variation in dress and are visible in the female entertainment industry, eg tv shows targeted towards women.

Despite mainstream acceptance, life is very hard as kathoey and many of these people are forced into sex work and hate crimes are frequent, in 2015 Thailand finally recognized the unique plight of kathoey.

Next is Thailand’s Tom-Dee dynamic
Toms, derived from the word tomboy, are lesbians/lesbian perceived individuals who will dress in masculine clothing, cut their hairs short and may use crude male pronouns to refer to themself. They adhere to “gentleman” stereotypes and

some may be perceived as trans men in the west in terms of presentation.
In many ways Toms are like the west’s butchea.
Dees are typically feminine women who are attracted to toms, other dees, or both.
In Thailand lesbian is a word used to refer to women who like feminine women

This identity is particularly strange to consider proof of “third genders” as it’s a homosexual dating scenes culture.

There’s interesting sexual labels in Thai culture including:
Cherries- straight women attracted to gay men and kathoeys
Adams- men who like Toms
Samyaan- woman liking anyone female regardless of how they present (lesbian suggests interest in femininity in Thai as mentioned)

Boats- men who like any female person (both toms and feminine women)

On the previous topic of kathoey, one Indonesian identity bares striking similarly.
Waria (lit. wanita, woman. pria, man) is Indonesia’s other “third gender”.

Waria are stereotyped frequently as effeminate salon workers or, sex workers.

Waria have a range of thoughts on their gender and presentation. Some retain a masculine identity, eg. using male pronouns but dressing as a woman, while others live their lives as closely to females as they can, stealth. With a rise in religious tension, waria are now facing

high levels of hate crimes and public dispute over their very existence.

The Bakla of Philippines face similar stereotypes to waria, but are mostly considered a “gay identity” rather than a gender identity.
Bakla were seen dated as far back as the 1500s by European settlers. Baklas at this time would “dress feminine” and practiced celibacy for

religious reasons. they were often found weaving and speaking to women rather than men.
Today baklas are usually homosexual males and most get female hormones, breast implants etc. and are considered feminine presenting males.
With most of the Philippines being forcibly

converted to Christianity, many view them as lowly.