Gender, Care, & Equity

Natural phenomena occur all around us without the classification, judgement, or interjection of human imagination. In fact, this planet existed without human thought or intellect for a very long time, meaning that the concept of linking thought to phenomena from a human perspective is very new.

Humans use language to create narratives that shape and support worldviews which in turn are used to steer cultural goals. This is key to learning and passing on knowledge within a culture. The west, which in this document is used to reference the philosophy of supremacy that anchors colonialism and imperialism, thrives on hierarchies. These hierarchies are established through classifications, such as race, class, disability, sexuality, sex, and gender. It is important to understand that each classification is a product of human cognition set within a particular culture and not a universality. In other words, how one culture organises and generates thought may not be the same for other cultures, giving way to multiple lexicons, narratives, imaginations, and realities.

For example, in western culture, a specific set of chromosomes, genitals, and physiological features are classified into two sexes (female and male), which are then organised into two genders (woman and man) which align with, and steer, social norms. Many other cultures do not organise an ecosystem of constant life-sustaining activities, such as digestion, respiration, reproduction, perspiration, and so on, which we call “the body” in the binary terminologies of “man” and “woman” as done in the west (source). They may not even break down the phenomena into various parts. For example, in Chinese philosophy, they use the same word for heart as they do for mind, making no separation or distinction between them.

The key takeaway is that sex and gender are one way of conceptualising a complex ecosystem made up of multiple cells and microbes which digests, reproduces, thinks, and loves, rather than a universal truth. Ideas about sex and gender vary greatly across the world and throughout time, all with their own stories, societal roles and examples of people who transgress them. Looking at western culture right now, trans people are presenting a multitude of challenges to the dominant, simplistic and binary conceptualisation of gender and sex. Trans people – their knowledge, ideas, and lived experience of transgression – are redefining gender, the relationship between our bodies and gender, and the roles we play through our bodies. Meanwhile, there are numerous cultures for whom the idea of gender that goes beyond a binary is nothing new. The Zapotecas have a muxe community, which is often erroneously conceptualised through a western lens, saying they are a “third gender”. However, they are neither. They are, as many say: “muxe”. Despite the fact many muxe do not identify as trans, seeing it as a primarily western phenomenon unaligned with their cultural experience of gender, sometimes they feel they must organise under the political label of “trans” to make their experiences more legible, especially when it comes to their fight for human rights and against discrimination. In a culture that thrives on categorisations of people to create hierarchies that support supremacy, these transgressive conceptualisations – old, new, and ever-changing – of the human body are being acutely and violently challenged.