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The terms third gender and '''third sex''' arose from attempts to describe individuals or societies whose scheme of (heterosexual) Male and Female . The term has been used to describe Hijra s of India and Pakistan, Fa'afafine of Polynesia, and Sworn Virgin s of the Balkans, among others. In the Western world, Lesbian , Gay , Transgender and Intersex people have been described as belonging to a third sex or gender, although many object to this characterisation. The term "third" is usually understood to mean "other"; some anthropologists and sociologists have described fourth,Roscoe, Will (2000). ''Changing Ones : Third and Fourth Genders in Native North America''. Palgrave Macmillan (June 17, 2000) ISBN 0312224796 fifth,Graham, Sharyn (2001), Sulawesi's fifth gender , Inside Indonesia, April-June 2001. and many genders. SEX/GENDER SYSTEMS A " Heteronormative " sex/gender system is one which recognises only two Norms :
Individuals whose Genitalia (at birth), Gender Identity , Behaviour and Sexual Orientation don't line up in one or the other of these two categories have been described as belonging to a "third" gender. Anthropologists have observed that in some societies, there exists one or more Gender Role s that don't fit this scheme:
HISTORY The term third sex was used from the 1860s in Europe by Duc, Aimée, 1901. ''Sind es Frauen? Roman über das dritte Geschlecht'' ("Are These Women? Novel about the Third Sex") and others, to describe people of an "inverted" or "intermediate" sex who experienced homosexual desire. These writers also considered themselves members of a third sex, and their writing argued the case for social acceptance of sexual intermediates. They found precedents in ancient cultures, such as Plato 's '' Symposium '', and the Sanskrit concept of a third sexual nature. The term "third sex" was also used to disparage feminists as not being truly women, but "neuters" with external female characteristics accompanied by a crippled male psyche, in the 1899 novel ''Das dritte Geschlecht'' (The Third Sex) by Ernst Ludwig Von Wolzogen . 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. Also, some people who feel they are neither Male nor Female , but not Androgynous either, identify as third-gendered. REFERENCES FURTHER READING
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