• dandelion (she/her)@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    21 days ago

    These are all transfeminine, but:

    • Hijra in India have existed since the earliest records, going back at least 4,000 years, and references appear in ancient Hindu texts
    • Kathoey in Thailand have been described in written records since the 13th century and likely existed before then
    • Khanith in Oman & the UAE
    • Nádleehi in Diné / Navajo country
    • Lhamana in Zuni culture

    It should be said that the idea that all these different cultural genders are the same as being trans is maybe not a perfect translation, but it is at least worth raising that gender diversity is a naturally occurring part of human biological variation, even if it manifests in different ways from culture to culture - the idea of a strict gender binary is not universal.

    Likewise, the concept of “two-spirit” as an umbrella term can be a bit misleading, since there are many, many indigenous nations and their cultures can vary significantly - there is no single, over-arching, and traditional concept of two-spirit, instead it is a contemporary and political identity in many ways tied to the post-colonial influences of the West.

    This article has many more examples from across time and place: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_history