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The ‘Third Gender’ of the Inuit

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2024

Bernard Saladin d'Anglure
Bernard Saladin d'Anglure*
Affiliation:
Anthropology, Laval University, Quebec
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Abstract

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The author introduces us to the mythology, system of thought and social practices of the Inuit in an attempt to discover their conception of social sex (or gender). Unlike the binary conception that predominates among westerners, the Inuit have a tripartite system in which some individuals, men or women, straddle the social frontier between the sexes/genders. This third social sex, which is prominent in mythology and among the great mythical figures, is also found at the heart of shamanistic mediations, as well as in many families, where the identity of dead relatives is transmitted to the ‘newborn’, regardless of their sex. When the sex is different, the children are cross-dressed till puberty, after which time they have to take on the gender corresponding to their sex, but a number of these young people used to become shamans and so continued to assume the mediations of the third social sex. This construction occurs without any reference to sexual orientation.

Type
Research Article
Information
Diogenes , Volume 52 , Issue 4 , November 2005 , pp. 134 - 144
Copyright
Copyright © ICPHS 2005

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