The dumb keep marching on

Before a person goes "shooting off their mouth", they should REALLY do more than watch one MSNBC video... and if they call themselves a writer, they also need to learn to spell (shown in bold blue italics) before they go off rambling about ANY THING! The interesting thing here is that it's not some cultures - it's just ONE culture that this has been documented about.
What was said: " :::to each their own identity:::: strong in their expression of authentic self:::shrug;::live n let live:::diversity is their strength..wears western shirts jeans and stetson....justin boots.......and i love em.. also like wearing my sarongs....*most of the time...some cultures believe there are 5 genders....male; female; bisexual; female leaning toward male; and male leaning toward female ;identities expression..some think its unkewl to be butch on butch.....and others thats all they want...alogn with being femme on femme.....i think its dayem funny to see the stereotyping goin on in our lifestyle ;just as it does in heterosexual society... anima...animas......yes...both gender influenced identity and self expression..femme in appearance; usually....with a butch rising.....LOL...ty (person) for pointin that out to me::chucklin::: ah the memories... discriptive words....are NOT labels unless ya put em on ... but hey...we all have a language to use :::::swayin::::: there's so many different ways to 'label' something that doesn't bother others...are ya a mother?..are ya an aunt...are ya a mechanic...a seamstress....are ya more butch than femme in appearance...are ya a tweener?... its all discriptive.....:just how i see it:.. Label>teacher,secretary,journalist,cook,waitress,smoker,driver, caregiver, therapist, painter, femme ..... all discriptive WORDS .. feel we all have preferences: some of us just don't OWN them..because of the social environments raised in and how they've been 'taught' to define themselves...but again..live and let live self expression has many variables"

The facts: Only ONE society "suggests" that they "might" believe in five genders as explained in the following (and the five genders are properly described below - and you will see that there is no reference to "female leaning toward male; and male leaning toward female":
Kate Bornestein writes that "Women couldn't be oppressed if there was no such thing as 'women.' Doing away with gender is key to the doing away with patriarchy." Anne Falso-Sterling has an article entitled "The Five SExes: Why Male and Female Are Not Enough."

Dale O'Leary, The Gender Agenda: Redefining Equality; On the first page of her brief conclusion, Dale O'Leary summarizes what U.N. representatives believe that the world needs free contraception and legal abortion to start with; sex ed courses to encourage experimentation among children, and to teach them that homosexuality is normal and both sexes are the same; and the discrediting of all religions which oppose their agenda. .... It is a useful instrument to expose the aims and machinations of a strange new breed of people - people who believe in five genders, male, female, homosexual male, homosexual female, and bisexual.

Joan Ackner (The Gendered Society Reader) believes gendering occurs in at least five different interacting social processes: 1)The construction of divisions along the lines of gender, such as those which are produced by labour, power, family, the state, even allowed behaviours and locations in physical space. 2)The construction of symbols and images such as language, ideology, dress and the media, that explain, express and reinforce, or sometimes oppose, those divisions. 3)Interactions between men and women, women and women and men and men which involve any form dominance and submission. Conversational theorists, for example, have studied the way in which interruptions, turn taking and the setting of topics re-create gender inequality in the flow of ordinary talk. 4) The way in which the preceding three processes help to produce gendered components of individual identity. i.e. the way in which they create and maintain an image of a gendered self. 5) Gender is implicated in the fundamental, ongoing processes of creating and conceptualising social structures.

http://www.powells.com/biblio?isbn=9780495092803
Challenging Gender Norms (07 Edition) by Sharyn Graham Davies
Publisher Comments:
As part of the Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology series, edited by George Spindler and Janice E. Stockard, Sharyn Graham brings us CHALLENGING GENDER NORMS: THE FIVE GENDERS OF INDONESIA. This case study explores the Bugis ethnic group, native to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, that recognizes five gender categories rather than the two acknowledged in most societies. The Bugis acknowledge three sexes (female, male, hermaphrodite), four genders (women, men, calabai, and calalai), and a fifth meta-gender group, the bissu. This ethnography presents individuals' stories, opinions and deliberations, grounding discussions of how gendered identities are constructed in a rapidly changing cultural milieu. The rich ethnographic material contained in this book challenges two types of Western theory: a) queer theory, which tends to focus on sexuality, and b) feminist theory, which tends to focus on social gender enactment. Neither theory is well-equipped for articulating the complexities of multiple gender identities and a multifarious gender system. By unraveling social negotiations and examining both individual embodiment and the impact of global forces on localized identities, the book proposes a new theory of gender which incorporates appreciation of variously gendered subjectivities.
Book News Annotation:
Davies (anthropology, Auckland U. of Technology) describes gender diversity among the Bugis, the largest ethnic group in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. After exploring the concept of gender in general and whether it is considered important in their society, she explains that there are five genders in their culture, including masculine man, feminine woman, masculine female, feminine male, and androgynous shamans. Certain characteristics define them, such as lifestyle, behavior, clothing, social and ritual roles, sexual practices, and erotic desires. Her ethnographic research consists of interviews, conversations, and observations. In addition, she considers gender and biological sex, bodies, identity, sexuality, and marriage.
Synopsis:
CHALLENGING GENDER NORMS: THE FIVE GENDERS OF INDONESIA. This case study in cultural anthropology explores the Bugis ethnic group, native to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, which recognizes five gender categories rather than the two acknowledged in most societies. This ethnography presents individuals' stories, opinions, and deliberations and proposes a new theory of gender which incorporates appreciation of variously gendered subjectivities.

http://www.meridianmagazine.com/ideas/010420gender.html
Radical Theorists and Policy Makers Promote Idea of "Five Genders". Most people assume the word "gender" is directly interchangeable with the word "sex," and that there are only two "genders", male and female. Most people will be very surprised to hear that some say there are more than two "genders." Five years ago at the UN Habitat Conference (Istanbul, 1996), radical non-governmental organizations aggressively promoted "five genders." Though hotly debated at Istanbul, the "five genders" lost. Even so, the attempt to stretch the definition of "gender" continues unabated within the halls of the UN, on college campuses and even in city governments. Radical theorists decided long ago that the word "sex" was too confining. "Sex" is based in nature, determined by the chromosomes and almost always confirmed by bodily characteristics. [In rare instances some children are born with indeterminate sexual characteristics. This condition is frequently called "hermaphrodism."] Because "sex" is limited to only male and female and is based in nature, social tinkerers determined to change the word to something more malleable and so "gender" was born. The idea is that "gender" is a social construct and can be changed through education and law.According to its promoters, the "five genders" are heterosexual men, heterosexual women, homosexual men, homosexual women, and transsexuals (those who have had sex change operations). To promote this idea, six years ago at a conference in Houston, Texas, something called the "International Bill of Gender Rights" (http://inquirer.gn.apc.org/GDRights.html) was inaugurated. According to its framers the International Gender Bill of Rights are "universal rights which can be claimed and exercised by every human being."Underscoring the ten rights under the Gender Bill of Rights is the idea that "all human beings have the right to define their own gender identity regardless of chromosomal sex, genitalia, assigned birth sex, or initial gender role." It is their belief that while "sex" is inborn what counts is gender, something that is chosen and must be protected in law.The ten rights enumerated in the Gender Bill of Rights are "the right to free expression of gender identity, the right to secure and retain employment and to receive just compensation, the right of access to gendered space and participation in gendered activity, the right to control and change one's body, the right to competent medical and professional care, the right to freedom from psychiatric diagnosis and treatment, the right to sexual expression, the right to form committed, loving relationships and enter into marital contracts, the right to conceive, bear, or adopt children, and the right to nurture and have custody of children and to exercise parental capacity."Many people will understand these ideas to be on the far frontier of social policy and in many respects those people are correct. Even so, many governmental bodies are already beginning to promote these ideas. The "five genders" lost in the UN, but the debate continues there. And just recently the city council of San Francisco ordered that sex change operations may be paid out of city health benefits.
Copyright - C-FAM (Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute). Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.