I would liken the title to males before their bar mitzvah being considered a third gender, a definition which very few people would ascribe.
In societies where women are treated as valuable familial property, normalized abuse of male children and adolescents is also often prevalent.
The same article could be written about Afghanistan's "dancing boys"; they have unique social positions, rules, hairstyles, and forms of dress, wearing clothes "similar to those worn by unmarried young women".
We rightfully recognize it as sexual slavery and child prostitution, not a third gender.
Person A: "social phenomenon XYZ is being abused / misappropriated / spun in a way by people with power"
Everyone else: "you are a bigot who opposes XYZ!"
Person A: reasons that if honest self-expression and concern expressed with nuance yields nothing but insults in response that maybe their original position was too cautious...
> Their most important relationship would be with an older man, which often had both a sexual and a teacher-student element.
That sounds pretty much like a gender role?
I’ve also seen people who are overly prescriptive and “liberal” with gender terms being offended on behalf of other cultures. Like people being angry about calling Thai ladyboys “ladyboys” and not “women”, when basically every ladyboy self-identifies as a ladyboy.
Most people don’t go around thinking “I do X so that means I must be B gender.” But that’s increasingly common in western society, especially among progressives, and it’s wild, to be frank.
The introspection of gender roles, as in it being a social construct we can examine and change is also a leftist view, so maybe you're getting that from the fact we're discussing sex and gender at all?
Do they? It seems oddly English for a Thai practice, but they're so tourist-oriented that I guess that really could be what they say.
The Chinese term is 人妖, which if nothing else explicitly identifies them as outside the realm of normal human behavior.
The second supposition, that "ladyboys are ladyboys" is simply wrong. There are many ladyboys that see prostitution as a quick, simple way to earn a living. The economics of prostitution (supply-demand) basically mean many of them choose to assume a role as a ladyboy for a while, and when that part of their life is over they just cut their hair, stop using make-up and high heels and back to the "respected" society.
I can think of nothing more racist than these continued attempts to fit Western models of thought, or theory, onto other societies and their norms and values and then categorize them according to _our_ values. If we really understood it, we would accept it for what it is, and try to understand it from the Asian perspective.
And while “ladyboys” aren't very common in the west there are equivalents. Gay for pay is a thing in the porn industry and people who can do it make bank.
It's funny how within 3 comments you're just all over the map on what can and cannot offend you or... heaven forbid... comprehend the pearls of wisdom you keep dropping.
Not 2 comments previously you defensively tried claiming you weren't maligning "all" Japanese women... just 2 of them... and here you are engaging in a worse type of assumptions... "vitriol toward 'western' shit."
AAAAAAaaaaaand there you go again back to the inaccurate equivocations about what is and isn't in Asia... vis-a-vis... the West.
Dude.... happy trails. You enjoy your tea in the Fuhrer Bunker. The RUSSIANS ARE COMING!!!
LMAO
Where do I block trolls on this thing.
It’s not completely wild if you recognize that genders are socially-constructed categories consisting of a set of behaviors (stereotypes). If you behave in those ways you could reasonably declare yourself to be that gender. This also requires you to recognise that sex is a completely different thing to gender - that is not socially constructed and you can’t declare yourself to be one of the sexes based on behavior or feelings.
Remember: considering that gender is a social construct is also a social construct. It's social constructs all the way down.
What? Seeing everything as gender grouping? You can't be serious... where the hell are these people who think a pint of milk is a gender and are they really somehow powerful?
Sounds you've heard a few hot takes on the internet and then concluded that the whole field of gender discourse is that. When you look at our institutions, politicians, companies, even trans acceptance is something that is a struggle. And that's just a small step, never mind accepting gender fluidity.
Painting the struggles of people who do not fit into the western hegemonic gender binary thinking with such broad strokes does nothing good. The issue is much more complex and real than just "people are making up genders".
To pull out an analogy straight from the trash, teen girls also have a special position in Japan today. Coupled with the school uniform they have a social niche that is apart from any others, but I wouldn’t call that a “gender” nor “gender role”.
Author explicitly states ‘third’, suggesting there’s male, female, and wakashu, which is not the case. It’s male and female, with wakashu as a subset of male.
I’m convinced the author is just trying to get attention and be provocative/make a political statement.
And for example here's a quote from Seinfeld:
"Elaine: I need someone to go with me to Mr. Lippman's son's Bar Mitzvah."
So a bar/bat mitzvah is a title or a state of being, and not a party/ritual?