Third gender

Third gender was used from the late 19th century to describe people who did not fit into the then existing gender categories:

• female genitalia = female identity = female behavior = desire male partner
• male genitalia = male identity = male behavior = desires female partner

Today this scheme is also known as binary gender system or heteronormativity.

The third gender included (in modern terms):

• Intersexuals
• Gays and lesbians
• transgendered people

Third gender was widely used until World War II in Europe. It never went completely out of use, but was kept alive in the subcultures of the people described by it. In recent years it has made a comeback. Occasionally other gender is used instead of third gender.

Non-Western cultures often had or have accepted gender roles for third-gendered people, for example the American Indian berdache and two-spirit people, or the Indian Hidschras (a.k.a. arivanna).