How many genders are there?
Do we have up to 72 genders?
If so, you will get to find out all the 72 genders available right on this page.
A lot of people ask “are 72 genders?”
The simple answer to that question is “no”
In the end, there are as many genders on the planet as there are humans.
Gender is similar to idiolect in that it is unique to the individual and cannot be duplicated.
We come up with social standards to describe what is *acceptable* in our society for the benefit of convenience and social cohesiveness, but these definitions are simply social conventions with no inherent good or wrong.
Rather, they simply make it easier for us all to live together without bickering over minor issues that, when summed together, could jeopardize the group’s survival.
When I was in Thailand for SRS, I remember hearing that the Thai people had no idea of gender before the arrival of the missionaries in 19th century Siam (present Thailand).
The lack of gender-based conduct astounded the missionaries, and they set out to cure this heinous sin!
The Thais, who are generally accommodating and compassionate, accepted this new set of social standards and elevated them to a high art form.
This is one of the reasons why Thai ladyboys are so wonderfully feminine: conventional, traditional, Western-based “femininity” is viewed as an art form, something to be practiced and developed, something to aspire for, similar to painting or pottery making.
This is what my faulty brain remembers 16 years ago being told 😆
I haven’t looked into it, and I’m not sure if it’s real.
Maybe it isn’t.
It is, nonetheless, a helpful concept.
It’s good to consider that such a culture existed, in which males and females were not as tightly divided into monolithic blocks as they are in Abrahamic-descended societies like the West and the Middle East.
Other societies, such as Thailand’s, some Native American tribal groups, and others, have dealt with “gender” in different ways, and there’s no way to tell which “way” is right or wrong.
Gender, or our perceptions of masculine and feminine, male and female, man and woman, is unique to each of us and, like sexuality, follows a spectrum.
Each of us has a different, unique idea of who and what we are in connection to the Masculine and Feminine Principles of our universe when we are freed from the convention.
So, no, there aren’t 72 genders in my perspective (feel free to disagree).
Instead, there are 7 BILLION genders, one for every single one of us.
However, in order for us to all get along and work as a unit, we generalize and simplify gender, which is normally determined by genitalia at birth.
This simplification practice is not unavoidable; it exists because it has largely worked for the majority of people for the majority of the time.
Is it, however, honestly fair to exclude a small fraction of the population, which adds up to a significant NUMBER of people on such a big planet?
Kindness to others is a virtue.
Live your life and let others live theirs as well.
Life is lovely, but it is far too brief.
Let us simply attempt to love one another and be grateful for the time we have.