2.8: Glossary

aikane. A Hawaiian term used in precolonial times for same-sex relationships between men.

asegi. A Cherokee term for two-spirit people.

bakla. In the Philippines, a person who was assigned male at birth but, usually, adopts feminine mannerisms and dresses as a woman. Bakla are often considered a third gender. Many bakla are exclusively attracted to men but are not necessarily gay. Some self-identify as women.

berdache. Before the late twentieth century, a term bestowed by anthropologists who were not Native American, or First Nations in Canada, people to broadly identify an Indigenous individual fulfilling one of many mixed-gender roles in a tribe. Anthropologists often applied this term to any male whom they perceived to be homosexual, bisexual, or effeminate by Western social standards, leading to a wide variety of individuals being categorized under what is now considered a pejorative term.

biza’ah. A Zapotec term similar to the Oaxacan muxe describing a male-bodied individual who acts and dresses in feminine ways.

danshi. A Japanese term literally meaning “herbivore men,” describing men who have no interest in getting married or finding a girlfriend. Herbivore men also describes young men who have lost their manliness.

drag queens. People who use stereotypically gendered clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate gender signifiers and gender roles in an entertainment performance. Drag queens are associated with gay men and gay culture.

ethnography. An account of social life and culture in a particular time and place, written by an anthropologist. The account is based on detailed observations of people interacting in a particular social setting over time.

fa’afafine or fa’atane. People who identify themselves as having a third-gender or nonbinary role in Samoa, American Samoa, and the Samoan diaspora. It is a recognized gender identity or gender role in traditional Samoan society and an integral part of Samoan culture. Fa’afafine are assigned male at birth and explicitly embody both masculine and feminine gender traits in a way unique to Polynesia.

female husbands. Describes the union of two women in marriage in many African cultures, including the Nandi of Kenya.

femminiello. A member of a population of homosexual males with markedly feminine gender expression in traditional Neapolitan culture. The plural is femminielli.

gender. The range of characteristics pertaining to, and differentiating between, masculinity and femininity. Depending on the context, these characteristics may include biological sex (i.e., the state of being male, female, or an intersex variation), sex-based social structures (i.e., gender roles), or gender identity. Some societies have genders that are in addition to male and female and are neither, such as the hijras of South Asia; these are often referred to as third genders. Some anthropologists and sociologists have described fourth and fifth genders.

gender binary. The classification of gender into two distinct, opposite, and disconnected forms of masculine and feminine, whether by social system or cultural belief.

gender dysphoria. The distress some individuals feel if their gender identity does not match their sex assigned at birth.

gender variance. Behavior or gender expression by an individual that does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. Also called gender nonconformity.

heterosexuality. Romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between persons of the opposite sex or gender.

hijra. A eunuch, intersex, or transgender person. Hijras are officially recognized as a third gender in countries on the Indian subcontinent and considered neither completely male nor female.

identity. In psychology, the qualities, beliefs, personality, looks, or expressions that make up a person (self-identity) or group (particular social category or social group).

intersex. Individuals born with any of several combinations in sex characteristics, including chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones, or genitals.

inverts. Used by sexologists, primarily in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, to refer to homosexuals. Sexual inversion was believed to be an inborn reversal of gender traits: male inverts were inclined to traditionally female pursuits and dress and vice versa for female inverts.

kathoey. In Thailand, describes a male-to-female transgender person or person of a third gender or an effeminate homosexual male.

kinnar or kinner. The preferred term of members of the hijra community in India, referring to the mythological beings that excel at song and dance.

ladyboy. Another term for kathoey.

mahu. The word for “in the middle” in Kanaka Maoli (Hawaiian) and Maohi (Tahitian) cultures describing third-gender persons with traditional spiritual and social roles within the culture.

molly house. A meeting place in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century England, generally taverns, public houses, or coffeehouses, where homosexual men could socialize or meet sexual partners.

muxe or muxhe. In Zapotec cultures of Oaxaca (southern Mexico), a person who is assigned male at birth but who dresses and behaves in ways otherwise associated with women; the person may be seen as a third gender.

nanshoku. Literally meaning “male colors” in Japanese and widely used to refer to male-to-male sex in premodern Japan.

queer theory. A field of critical theory that emerged in the early 1990s out of the fields of lesbian and gay studies and women’s studies. Queer theory seeks to challenge and overturn sex and gender binaries and the normative expectations that support those binaries.

sarombavy. A Tanala Malagasy term referring to third-gender males who adopt the behavior and roles of women.

sexuality. The way people experience and express themselves sexually and involving biological, erotic, physical, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors.

shudo and wakashudo. The Japanese words for “the ways of teenage and adolescent boys,” respectively.

sociocultural anthropology. Refers to social anthropology and cultural anthropology together, focusing on the study of human culture and society.

takatapui. The Maori word meaning a devoted partner of the same sex.

third gender. A concept in which individuals are categorized, either by themselves or by society, as neither man nor woman.

tomboi. A West Sumatran term for women who dress like men and have relationships with women.

travesti. In South America, a gender identity describing people assigned male at birth who take on a feminine gender role and gender expression, especially through the use of feminizing body modifications such as hormone replacement therapy, breast implants, and silicone injections.

two spirit. A modern umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people in their communities who fulfill a traditional third-gender (or other gender-variant) ceremonial role in their cultures.

wakashu. The Japanese term for “young person” (although never used for girls); it is a historical Japanese term indicating an adolescent boy, and in Edo-period Japan, considered as suitable objects of erotic desire for young women, older women, and older men.

‘yan daudu. A Nigerian Hausa term meaning “men who act like women.”