ANTHRO 2A Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Two-Spirit, Dominican Republic, Pseudohermaphroditism
Anthro 2A Lecture 7 - June 6, 2018
Final exam
●Review will be posted after class
●
●Gender roles are not simply based on biology but are strongly influenced by culture
Anne Fausto
●Sterling “the fire sexes”
●Biologically speaking, not all humans fit into the category of male or female
●There are 3 additional sexual biological variation in humans that she identifies in her
essay
○Male - most common
○Female - most common
○Hermaphrodite - both functioning testes and ovaries
○Male pseudohermaphrodite (hermaphrodite) - has functioning testes but other
female physical attributed
○Female pseudohermaphrodite (fermaphrodite) - has functioning ovaries but other
male physical attributed
●There have long been people who don’t biologically fit into the category of male or
female
●There are a number of non-western societies that have socially recognized more than two
genders (3rd gender or supernumerary sexes)
●Gneredcoes - a 3rd gender found in the dominican republic
●Raised as a girl - appreciated to be a girl at birth
●Develop male genitalia at puberty regarded as a 3rd sex
●For several thousand years, cultures in and around India have recognized the existence of
a 3rd sex
Hijra (Hirorah)
●There are two types of Hijra
○Born Hijra
■A person who was born intersexed
○Made Hijra
■These refer to men who castrated to become Hijra
●Believed to have chosen by the Hindu Mother Goddess, Mata Bahuchara, to give blessing
or fertility to others
●The Hijra dance at wedding or at the celebration of new born son and bless the married
couple or new born baby with fertility
●In return for their blessing, the Hijra are given gifts
Document Summary
Anthro 2a lecture 7 - june 6, 2018. Gender roles are not simply based on biology but are strongly influenced by culture. Biologically speaking, not all humans fit into the category of male or female. There are 3 additional sexual biological variation in humans that she identifies in her essay. Hermaphrodite - both functioning testes and ovaries. Male pseudohermaphrodite (hermaphrodite) - has functioning testes but other female physical attributed. Female pseudohermaphrodite (fermaphrodite) - has functioning ovaries but other male physical attributed. There have long been people who don"t biologically fit into the category of male or female. There are a number of non-western societies that have socially recognized more than two genders (3rd gender or supernumerary sexes) Gneredcoes - a 3rd gender found in the dominican republic. Raised as a girl - appreciated to be a girl at birth. Develop male genitalia at puberty regarded as a 3rd sex.
