Response Analysis Paper
Jilan Delk
Professor Falahi
Cultural Anthropology
03 November 2014
Response/Analysis Paper
In many cultures, a person existing outside the two accepted genders seems confronting; even threatening. Gender is defined by culture, but to the Bugis, the addition to men, women, and Bissu, there are two more. The case study discussed in Challenging Gender Norms: Five Gender among Bugis in Indonesia explores the Bugis ethnic group, native to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, and they recognize five gender categories rather than the two acknowledged in most societies.
To be considered Bissu, all aspects of gender must be combined to form a whole. This can include those who are born intersexed. However, being bissu does not necessarily mean one does not possess only fully functioning male or female sexual organs, or even that one would not be called a cisgender male or female outside of Bugis society. The Bugis acknowledge three sexes (female, male, hermaphrodite), four genders (women, men, calabai, and calalai), and a fifth meta-gender group, the bissu, not easily comparable to the Western ideas of gender. The rich ethnographic material contained in this book challenges two types of Western theory - queer theory, which tends to focus on sexuality, and feminist theory, which tends to focus on social gender enactment. Gender roles, not normally found in Western society, exist in Bugis society because of cultural belief that all five genders must coexist harmoniously.
The setting for this ethnography took place in the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. The southern peninsula of Sulawesi is home to the Bugis group. The Bugis language, Basa Ugi, have five terms to define an individual’s gender identity: makkunrai (feminine woman), oroane (masculine man), talalai (masculine female), calabai (feminine male), and bissu (transgender shaman). The ethnographer, Brooke, noted “The strangest custom I have observed is, that some men dress like women, and some women like men; not
Professor Falahi
Cultural Anthropology
03 November 2014
Response/Analysis Paper
In many cultures, a person existing outside the two accepted genders seems confronting; even threatening. Gender is defined by culture, but to the Bugis, the addition to men, women, and Bissu, there are two more. The case study discussed in Challenging Gender Norms: Five Gender among Bugis in Indonesia explores the Bugis ethnic group, native to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, and they recognize five gender categories rather than the two acknowledged in most societies.
To be considered Bissu, all aspects of gender must be combined to form a whole. This can include those who are born intersexed. However, being bissu does not necessarily mean one does not possess only fully functioning male or female sexual organs, or even that one would not be called a cisgender male or female outside of Bugis society. The Bugis acknowledge three sexes (female, male, hermaphrodite), four genders (women, men, calabai, and calalai), and a fifth meta-gender group, the bissu, not easily comparable to the Western ideas of gender. The rich ethnographic material contained in this book challenges two types of Western theory - queer theory, which tends to focus on sexuality, and feminist theory, which tends to focus on social gender enactment. Gender roles, not normally found in Western society, exist in Bugis society because of cultural belief that all five genders must coexist harmoniously.
The setting for this ethnography took place in the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. The southern peninsula of Sulawesi is home to the Bugis group. The Bugis language, Basa Ugi, have five terms to define an individual’s gender identity: makkunrai (feminine woman), oroane (masculine man), talalai (masculine female), calabai (feminine male), and bissu (transgender shaman). The ethnographer, Brooke, noted “The strangest custom I have observed is, that some men dress like women, and some women like men; not