Regards comparés sur les pratiques d’identification du genre au Moyen Âge et de nos jours

Abstract

One might think that the way through which gender is identified has changed profoundly with the introduction of civil status change procedures. However, if we imagine what the gender identification system could be in the future, if it were diverted and based on self-determination, we can compare it with medieval law. In practice, people took by then the initiative to change their social gender, and if this was challenged, it was done after the fact, because this gender transition led them to contravene other rules concerning marriage and legal inequalities between men and women. Gender judgement would then proceed in the past as well as in the future based on testimonies, rather than written documents.

Keywords

• transgender
• civil status
• identification of persons
• gender studies
• human rights