In many non-Western cultures, especially across South Asia and the Himalayan region, gender is not simply a social construct\u2014it is a natural, involuntary development that unfolds over time through the body’s evolving signs, or “lingas.”<\/p>\n
At birth, the only visible marking that distinguishes a newborn is the sexual organ. In Sanskrit and many Indic languages, this is called \u201clinga\u201d, meaning mark, symbol, or representation. Based on this primary ‘linga’, a child is recognized as female, male, or intersex. However, crucially, our cultures do not say \u201ca man is born\u201d or \u201ca woman is born\u201d or even \u201ca third-gender person is born.\u201d Rather, a child is born\u2014not yet a gendered person.<\/p>\n
As the child grows and enters puberty, their body naturally develops additional ‘lingas’\u2014such as breasts or a deeper voice, facial hair, muscles or menstruation, and other biological or physiological features. These markers collectively define the person\u2019s gender identity, not at birth but over time, in rhythm with nature and age.<\/p>\n
In this understanding, gender is not socially assigned at birth but organically realized through life. A person becomes gendered through this natural evolution: we recognize them as a person of feminine nature, masculine nature, or third nature\u2014in other words, a woman, man, or third-gender person.<\/p>\n
Once this natural gendered being is formed, society then responds to that gender identity. Here, gender roles enter the picture. These roles\u2014what a third-gender person should or shouldn’t do, what a woman should wear, how a man should behave\u2014are indeed social constructs. Societal expectations vary widely: one culture may prescribe burkas, another allows bikinis. These roles are imposed after nature has already formed a person\u2019s gender.<\/p>\n
But today, under the dominant influence of Western gender theory, a major reversal has occurred: gender is seen as something entirely constructed by society and therefore believed to be alterable or fluid, even from early childhood. According to this view, if gender is merely constructed, it can be deconstructed and reassigned, often through medical and psychological interventions.<\/p>\n
This model poses a serious problem: it collapses the distinction between gender identity and gender roles, and it overrides the embodied, natural, and time-dependent formation of gender that is honored in many traditional societies.<\/p>\n
In most binary patriarchal societies, including those heavily influenced by Western thinking, third genders and non-binary categories are often erased or only conditionally accepted\u2014usually after medical transition from male to female or vice versa. These frameworks make little space for non-transitioning trans identities, intersex realities, or evolving gendered beings.<\/p>\n
In contrast, our indigenous traditions did not require people to become “men” or “women” to be respected. One could simply be\u2014as one is, with dignity, integrity, and recognition.<\/p>\n
Conclusion: Reclaiming a More Organic Understanding of Gender<\/strong><\/p>\n What the West calls \u201cgender\u201d is not simply a product of social forces. In many of our cultures, gender is an unfolding natural phenomenon, rooted in biological, physiological, emotional, and spiritual signs that emerge over time.<\/p>\n Yes, gender roles\u2014social expectations tied to gender\u2014are constructed. But gender itself is not. It is a layered, evolving identity formed through a body\u2019s markings, lived experience, and inner nature.<\/p>\n By returning to our own philosophical traditions and cultural insights, we can resist the colonial imposition of rigid binaries and reaffirm the complex and dignified diversity of human gender experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In many non-Western cultures, especially across South Asia and the Himalayan region, gender is not simply a social construct\u2014it is a natural, involuntary development that unfolds over time through the body’s evolving signs, or “lingas.”
\nAt birth, the only visible marking that distinguishes a newborn is the sexual organ. In Sanskrit and many Indic languages, this is called \u201clinga\u201d, meaning mark, symbol, or representation. Based on this primary ‘linga’, a child is recognized as female, male, or intersex. However, crucially, our cultures do not say \u201ca man is born\u201d or \u201ca …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":14063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,1081,8,621,492,490,3,2065],"tags":[663,507],"class_list":["post-14062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-issue","category-explanationawareness","category-human-rights","category-news","category-opinion","category-slider","category-society","category-top-stories","tag-gender-identity","tag-third-gender"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14062"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14064,"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14062\/revisions\/14064"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}