Quote:
Originally Posted by TruTexan
I am not familiar with some of the ID's such as Butch as a Third Gender. Can someone please explain this to me gently?
|
Some people see themselves as a gender other than female or male, thus the terminology third gender. It is a gender outside of the binary. Some people feel having a third gender reinforces the other two thus it does the opposite of breaking free of the binary. Some do not agree and feel that a third gender allows an escape from the masculine/feminine gender trap. Some think everything outside of the binary can and should be lumped into a single third gender. Others think there are many more than 2 or 3 genders.
I believe the important thing, however we identify, is not to adopt the gender binary. It's difficult since we spend a huge amount of time discussing our identities in terms of masculine and feminine. Socially constructed ways of understanding what it means to be male or female permeate our gender narrative and influence our conscious and unconscious assessments of who we are and how we act and interact with others. We need to examine this and understand how we are conditioned to think in pink or blue.
This is probably clear as mud. I'm sure there are many people here that could explain this a hell of lot better than I have.