Men and not-men: male gender-mixing statuses and homosexuality

Abstract

Male gender-mixing statuses, such as Native American berdaches, consist of men who assume the cultural, symbolic attributes of women to attain the status of not-men. Remaining distinct from women, not-men are a culturally defined gender status whose indexing features include women's dress and behavior, occupational inversion, and some cultural traits of men. Another indexing feature of not-men is the absence of sexual relations with other not-men, which forces them to seek not-status men or women as sexual partners. The frequent equation of gender-mixing statuses with homosexuality is a misunderstanding: Sex with men is a secondary and derivative characteristic.