Five Genders
The Bugis community has a different way of classifying gender compared to Western culture. Traditionally in the West, only two genders are identified, and that is the male and female. Any additional class from the male-female binary is often strange and less likely to be accepted by the community. I learned the Bugis are an ethnic group in the South Sulawesi of Sulawesi island with five different and acceptable classifications of gender (Anderson, np). Other than the male gender, also referred to as oroané and the female gender, Makkunrai, there are three more genders in the Bugis community who are equally important in their culture. Among the three Bugis’ gender classes are; the Calalai who are biologically female but identify with the roles played by men, the Calabai who recognize themselves as females despite their male biological backgrounds, and finally, the Bissu class who possess spiritual powers and are a combination of all genders, making them more powerful(Anderson, np).
I was mostly fascinated by the Bissu class. The Bissu blended gender identity allows the gender to communicate with the underworld spirits through rituals. I believe Bissu plays a vital role in the Bugis community, for instance, by performing the fertility ceremony to pray for harmony among living things. I picture the Bissu as advocates of unity, peace, and love in humankind. “If one of the genders are separated, the world becomes unbalanced” (Five genders? /National geographic, np). I agree with the Bissu that giving importance to all the five genders are crucial to establishing a harmonious community. I was also intrigued by how the Bissu identified themselves. A person born of ambiguous sex can be a Bissu; however, anybody with a gender-ambiguous also qualifies as a Bissu (Anderson, np). The Bugis gender classification plummets, discrimination, and stigma because it accepts the other gender classes, unlike different cultures in the West, Africa, or Asia. I believe we can learn from them, mainly because times are changing, and even people from the West are beginning to embrace gender fluidity.