Third Sex Third Gender [Ed. Gilbert Herdt]

[Gender Studies] [Sexuality] [Zoner]

Third Sex Third Gender

Ed. Gilbert Herdt

Zone Books, NY. 1996. First paperback edition, 2003 third printing. A T is stamped along the bottom of the text block, and a small mark runs along the edge of the text. One penciled annotation on the table of contents. Excellent otherwise.

From the publisher:

"Most modern discussions of the relationship of biological sex to gender presuppose that there are two genders, male and female, founded on the two biological sexes. But not all cultures share this essentialist assumption, and even Western societies have not always embraced it. Bringing together historical and anthropological studies, Third Sex, Third Gender challenges the usual emphasis on sexual dimorphism and reproduction, providing a unique perspective on the various forms of socialization of people who are neither “male” nor “female.”

The existence of a third sex or gender enables us to understand how Byzantine palace eunuchs and Indian hijras met the criteria of special social roles that necessitated practices such as self-castration, and how intimate and forbidden desires were expressed among the Dutch Sodomites in the early modern period, the Sapphists of eighteenth-century England, or the so-called hermaphrodite-homosexuals of nineteenth-century Europe and America. By contextualizing these practices and by allowing these bodies, meanings, and desires to emerge, Third Sex, Third Gender provides a new way to think about sex and gender systems that is crucial to contemporary debates within the social sciences."

First off, Zone Books is the best. Massively influential on many subcultures. With that out of the way, I implore those with even a passing interest to step to this heady tome. It covers a lot of ground and steps outside the boundaries of your usual sexual dimorphism. Mind bending in the best way. Recommended.