Troisième genre et transsexualité en pays d’islam

Abstract

In Beyond the importance of gender binary and gender separation in Muslim countries, some muslim societies recognize the existence of a third gender. Many terms exist in the Muslim world for these third gender persons, and they have varied through space and time (khuntha, mukhannath, köcek, khawal, hijra, bacha posh, burrneshë...). Behind these terms, social practice will be compared enriched by literary and cinematographic examples. Although these cultural realities appear different at first glance, they possess many similarities, especially regarding the figure of the « effeminate man », which is more common than the «masculinized woman». Recently, medical advances make it possible to take hormones and undergo sex change surgery. Differences of opinion between Sunnī and Shīʿī Islam with regard to transsexualism and to intersexuality will be analyzed.

Keywords

• Third gender
• Transsexuality
• Homosexuality
• Intersex
• Islam