It’s time for our series of posts here at Jessica Who?, titled “Word of the Week”. In these short articles, from here on out published each Friday, I will explore the various labels and umbrella terms used to label us. By doing this, I hope to educate not only myself, but also anyone who may not be familiar with these terms. Feel free to add your own knowledge to each post by leaving a comment 
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The label that we will be examining is: Third Gender
Standard Definition
In my research, I found that there is really no agreed-upon definition, it actually varies by culture and even from person to person.
In general, third gender refers to a person that is neither completely male nor completely female.
Derogatory?
In some cultures & tribes third gendered people are highly respected.
What’s It Really Mean?
Again, it depends on where you’re coming from and how you think about gender and sexuality. Third gender has had a plethora of meanings over time. So I guess it’s up to you to define it 
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My Take
To me, 3rd gender signifies where I stand along the spectrum because I exhibit characteristics of a male and a female. I am actually quite proud of that.
Your Take
Have you anything to add? Please leave your take on this word in the comments section, I hope we can open up a dialogue and learn from each other while educating the masses.
JessicaWhoHD
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
My understanding of the term ‘third gender’ is that it is primarily of use to anthropologists – that is, I’ve only ever seen the term applied when talking about a culture abstractly, i.e. “The hijras are a Third Gender in Indian society”.
Examples: the winktje of the Lakota tribes, the Dineh nádleehí, and the hijras of India / South Asia. Hijras, at least, seem to have at least as much social stigma working against them as trans people in Western society.
I also have charistics of both genders. This would put me in the 3rd gender catagory. I look and think about things in both genders all the time. This can be very interesting when shopping. I have a hard time shopping for any male clothing but female clothing is another matter.
My understanding of the term is that you are not male or female. You are something inbetween both. I heard that it is possible. To be born like that, but the ratio 1:300. That means about 1.33 million to 2 million people that are born a third sexes in the USA. Never mind in north america or the world.