Third Sex, Third Gender: Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History

By: Herdt, Gilbert

Book Overview

Most modern discussions of the relationship of biological sex to gender presuppose that there are two genders, male and female, founded on the two biological sexes. But not all cultures share this essentialist assumption, and even Western societies have not always embraced it. Bringing together historical and anthropological studies, Third Sex, Third Gender challenges the usual emphasis on sexual dimorphism and reproduction, providing a unique perspective on the various forms of socialization of people who are neither "male" nor "female."

The existence of a third sex or gender enables us to understand how Byzantine palace eunuchs and Indian hijras met the criteria of special social roles that necessitated practices such as self-castration, and how intimate and forbidden desires were expressed among the Dutch Sodomites in the early modern period, the Sapphists of eighteenth-century England, or the so-called hermaphrodite-homosexuals of nineteenth-century Europe and America. By contextualizing these practices and by allowing these bodies, meanings, and desires to emerge, Third Sex, Third Gender provides a new way to think about sex and gender systems that is crucial to contemporary debates within the social sciences.-- "Ethnohistory"

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0942299825
• ISBN13: 9780942299823
• Release Date: June 1996
• Publisher: Zone Books
• Length: 624 Pages
• Weight: 2.23 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.8" x 6.3"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Thank you

The seller sent this promptly and it came in excellent condition just as it was described. Thank you. I would definitely buy from this seller again.

Fantastic

Gil Herdt is one person who can certainly be trusted to compile a stellar collection of articles about third sexes/genders in a historical and cross-cultural context. It includes a chapter about the Hijras of India by Serena Nanda, along with many photographs. This book rounds out any homosexuality study you may be doing. It is very well done. I enjoyed reading the articles that I did.

What does third sex really mean ?

It is very interesting to read this kind of book, especially about eunuchs in Byzantion. However I think it is easier to compile such an omnibus-styled collective volume. I prefer monographic coherent book written by one author , e.g. John Boswell's " Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality " et "Same-Sex Union " , Eva Cantarella's "La bisessualita nel mondo antico" , Bernard Sergent's "L'homosexualite dans la mythologie grecque" or so. This book contains various "Third Sex" like stereotyped berdaches in America, hijuras in India, transvestists in Europe etc.---- Each article is interesting of course. Although in Japan our ancestors never introduced eunuch-system from China , we have many books exclusively concentrated on eunuchus.So I'd like to read special works focused on Greco-Roman & Byzantine eunuchs. If somebody knows these kinds of subject series,please kindly tell me the titles.