PBS has a fascinating interactive map on their website identifying gender-diverse native cultures throughout the world:
On nearly every continent, and for all of recorded history, thriving cultures have recognized, revered, and integrated more than two genders. Terms such as transgender and gay are strictly new constructs that assume three things: that there are only two sexes (male/female), as many as two sexualities (gay/straight), and only two genders (man/woman).The Amazon in me particularly likes the description of the Kingdom of Dahomey in Benin, Africa with its "all-female regiment of . . . warriors called the mino (our mothers)." It includes a picture of a woman warrior holding the bleeding head of a vanquished enemy. There are plenty of more peaceful examples to choose from, though. Check out the map here.
Yet hundreds of distinct societies around the globe have their own long-established traditions for third, fourth, fifth, or more genders. . . . Most Western societies have no direct correlation . . . for the many other communities without strict either/or conceptions of sex, sexuality, and gender. Worldwide, the sheer variety of gender expression is almost limitless. Take a tour and learn how other cultures see gender diversity.
