intercessor / mediator / conciliator / the in-between
Ardhanarisvara
hermaphrodite: F on left, M on right
or fused halfway into form of his spouse Parvati.
A form of Siva.
Hindu [M/F]
Avalokitesvara
the bodhisattva of compassion
Chenresig སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་ Kwan-yin
often portrayed as androgynous or male/female.
Hindu, Buddhism [O], [M/F]
Dionysius
feminized male earth spirit;
often depicted as androgynous
or in women's clothes
Greece [O], [MtF]
Harihara
hermaphrodite,
child of Siva and Vishnu-as-female
Hindu [M/F]
Jehovah
"Elohim created man in his image.
In the image of Elohim he created him.
Male and female he created them."
Judaism (Gen. 1:27) [M/F]
Samba, Sambali
cross-dresser, eunuch
son of Krishna
Hindu [MtF]
Shiva
and his consort are sometimes represented as a
single androgynous human figure.
Hindu [M/F], [O]
Uroborus
the primal earth, combining both
male and female attributes
Neolithic [M/F]
Yin/Yang
synthesis of duality; dependent on each other
Chinese [M/F]
Arjuna
dressed as female; as eunuch.
Hindu legend [MtF]
Hatshepsut
dressed as male to rule.
15th cent BCE, Egypt [FtM]
Leucippus
girl dressed as boy by Galatea because Lampros
would not rear a girl; goddess Leto changed her
to male when petitioned
ancient Phaestos [FtM]
male/female beings
In the beginning there were three sexes,
one entirely male, one entirely female,
and also a third having the characteristics
of both men and women.
Ancient Greek tale, retold by Aristophanes [M/F]
Sardanapalus (Ashurbanipal)
last of the Assyrian kings; dressed in women's
clothing and kept company with his concubines
Persia [MtF]
Sikhandin
female raised as male; as adult turns into male
Hindu legend [FtM]
Aroi society
boy novices are dressed as women
Tahiti [MtF]
African rite against evil spirits:
man secretly leaves his house and puts on
women's clothes
Bangala, upper Congo [MtF]
African male puberty rites:
boy initiates dressed as girls
Masai, nandi, Nuba [MtF]
African female puberty rites:
girl intiates wear men's clothing
Sotho [FtM]
African rite against drought
men dress in female girdles, girls and unmarried
women dress in brothers' clothes and herd cattle
Zulu [MtF]
Australian male puberty rites
subincision of penis, representing vagina
indigenous Australian tribes [MtF]
Egyptian peasants
protect young boys from evil eye by dressing
them as girls
modern Egypt [MtF]
Greek and Roman cults
males dress as women at beginning of
initiation ceremony
ancient Greece and Rome [MtF]
Greek marriage ritual
bride had head shaved and dressed in
male clothes until she became pregnant
ancient Sparta [FtM]
Greek marriage ritual
bride wore a false beard on the wedding night
ancient Argos [FtM]
Greek marriage ritual
husband put on women's dress to receive bride
ancient Cos [MtF]
Greek mourning ritual
men wore women's clothing while in mourning
ancient Lycia [FtM]
India trance ritual
men put on women's jackets
Gond, Central India [MtF]
Indian hunting ritual
women dress as men before a hunt
Gond, Central India [FtM]
Illness
change dress of ill child to remove disease
several tribes - Java [MtF], [FtM]
Prayer
men wear women's clothes when praying with
urgency for a particular goal
several tribes - Java [MtF]
Ritual
ritual transformation of men into women
several tribes - New Guinea [MtF]
Shamans
dress as women
Araucan, Chile [MtF]
Shamans
dress as women, treated as women
Dyaks, Southeast Asia [MtF]
Shamans
throw away their rifle, lance, and lasso,
and accept a woman's needle and skin scraper
Chuckee, Siberia [MtF]
Shamans
wear women's clothes in everyday life
Yahutian, Siberia [MtF]
Torres Strait
ritual transformation of men into women
[MtF]
acault
cross-gendered males: sacred beings with
special powers and ceremonial roles;
intercessor with spirit gods
Myanmar (Burma) [MtF], [O]
bayot
cross-dressing homosexual
Philippines [MtF]
berdache
gender-transformed; special ceremonial roles.
European malapropism encompassing many roles
in many Amerindian tribes. [MtF], [O]
enaree dressed as women; prophetic, shamans 5th cent BCE, Scythia [MtF]
gink male prostitutes - younger men and boys 19th-cent Egypt [MtF]
hijra "eunuch" "transvestite" castrated; "other"; performers, spiritual community ancient & modern India [MtF]
khal "dancers" 19th-century Egypt [MtF]
mahu special role in each district Tahiti [MtF]
metamorph
present-day Western culture [MtF], [FtM], [O]
mohabbazin
performers
present-day Egypt [MtF]
mukhannathun
"men who wish to resemble women"
9th-cent Islam [MtF]
mutarajjulat "women who wish to resemble men" 9th-cent Islam [FtM]
nadle "other" Navajo [O]
ninauposkitzipspe "manly-hearted women" North Piegan [FtM]
other
present-day Western culture [O]
pangendered
present-day Western culture [O]
sekrata boys raised as girls Hovas, Madagascar [MtF]
sererr "other" Pokot, Kenya [O]
third "third-gendered" present-day Western culture [O]
transgendered
present-day Western culture [MtF], [FtM], [O]
transsexual
present-day Western culture [MtF], [FtM], [O]
walyeh "female saint": in some sects of dervishes, a protegé who realized perfection became a walyeh Muslim [MtF]
xanith "effeminate" not castrated; "other", regarded as neither/both male&female Islamic Oman [MtF], [O]
The "clown" butt of jokes present-day Western culture [MtF], [FtM], [O]
The "different" focus of violence present-day Western culture [MtF], [FtM], [O]
The cross-gendered child
A wished-for occurence, a lucky occasion
cultures of the recent past. [MtF], [FtM], [O]
intercessor / mediator / conciliator / the in-between