The rising presence of non-binary persons (which might seem especially apparent online) has brought up questions regarding the “newness” of their existence. Comments pushing against non-binary identities—like “it is just a trend” and “Gen-Z made it up it to push their wokeness into gender roles”—are all over the internet. Reading these always makes me wonder: how is it possible for only a little more than a generation of people to feel these instant and important feelings of not identifying with binary gender roles and values? I mean, is there something in the air that has changed people’s binary notions of gender recently—or could it be instead that we should maybe consider the actual history of non-binary persons?
Yes, living outside the binary has never been more visible to our modern culture than in the past few years. But it is crucial to understand that this is only because of the widespread use of social media and increased education on gender spectrums. Non-binary persons have a rich and colorful history of their own but unfortunately, most of its contents have been brushed under the rug. Nevertheless, I am going to reveal some of the history of non-binary folks to support their recognition and celebrate their visibility.
North American indigenous history includes the presence of Two-Spirited folks who typically take on social roles that are outside of traditional gender notions. Even though the term “Two-Spirit” originated in 1990, what we would today consider to be non-binary persons existed throughout indigenous history. Many indigenous people use this term to describe a range of gender, sexuality, or spiritual identities, with “Two-Spirit” considered an umbrella term that takes in a wide range of indiginous identities and expressions that don’t conform to the typical gender binary. In 1770, soldier and explorer Don Pedro Fages recorded the communities of (what would now be called) Two-Spirited folks in his dairy and also encountered their higher social positions within the native cultures. Moreover, in the early 1800s, Edwin Denig, a trader who stayed with the Crow Nation for more than a decade, talked about how the traditional women’s roles were performed by men and that it was largely accepted and even admired. I mean, if the early 16th and 17th century aren’t history, I don’t know what is!
Furthermore, the 4,000-year-old history of the Hijra community in India is not only recorded in ancient Hindu texts, but also in classical art sculptures. The term hijra includes eunuchs, transgender people, and intersex folks. Although it was in 2014, that the government of India legally acknowledged the hijra community as a third-gender category, they existed before the Kama Sutra was written around the 2nd century. It is notable that after the British colonization of the Indian subcontinent, the hijras became one of the most marginalized communities in the country.
An example of gender nonconformity from the 18th century, and at an individual level, is Chevalier d’Eon, a French soldier and spy. Living the early parts of their life as a man and later as a woman until they passed away, Chevalier d’Eon won a fencing match while wearing a dress, against a male-identifying individual. The gender fluidity of d’Eon is very well depicted in their many portraits exhibited in the U.K, as their presentations of both typical male and female dressing are highly visible. Introducing Chevalier d’Eon as an example here is not to speculate and confirm their non-binary identities but it is to highlight the fact that gender non-conforming presentations have existed for several decades. It’s not the influence of TikTok, Instagram, or drag shows that initiate people to live outside the traditional roles of the gender binary—it’s just a natural variation in human experience.
Further examples of visible non-binary identities throughout history are abundant. We could look at the Kathoey people of Thailand, encompassing varying feminine identities including transgender woman, effiminate gay men or intersex folks who present as woman. Kathoey is a celebrated (to some degree) third gender in Thailand and dates back to the origin myths of Buddhism. Elsewhere in history, classical Mesopotamian history mentions the presence of Pilipili, a group of devotees who were brought up as women but have their genders transformed by Inanna, the goddess of war, sex and justice. Similarly, the men who became priests worshipping Inanna were known as the gala and had to adopt all female responsibilities at the time. These historical instances of knocking down the gender binary dates back to the 23rd century BCE! Yet another example: the Jewish ancient texts identify not three, but six terms for gender diversity, showing that gender categories have the capacity for expansion as it has clearly been happening since before any of us were even born.
Refusing to accept the presence of non-binary identities today is to be ignorant of their vibrant yet largely unrecognized history. Unquestionably, the historical accounts mentioned above are only a few of the many important histories of non-binary representations. So next time someone writes off non-binary identities as some trendy new concept, feel free to use these examples to smack back at their ignorance.
Written by Shreya Tomar.
