Studying the ancient history of transgenderism gives a much different result than studying a modern history of the phenomena, especially when focusing on Western countries. Archeologists and anthropologists have uncovered evidence that transgender people have been around for over 30,000 years.
There are many alternative reasons for the presence of these transgender individuals, but the most commonly accepted theory comes from the understanding that long before the rise of the Roman Catholic Church, almost all civilizations lived in matriarchal societies. Women were worshipped and praised for their abilities to create life and peace. It can be interpreted that some males who wanted to seek power probably castrated themselves and lived their lives as women so as to achieve power.
This theory is especially true throughout Europe where many priestesses were Male-To-Female transgender individuals who performed extreme body modifications to “prove” their sacredness, including bloodletting, surface piercings, and castration. The depictions of these priestesses can be found dating back to the earliest civilizations of Mesopotamia.
Common between these MTF priestesses and a number of deities who are known to exist as both male and female genders (See: Dionysus, Achilles, Heracles, etc) was the understanding that because these individuals had experience in more than one gender, they were wiser than those traditionally gendered individuals. While there wasn’t an understanding of gender vs. sexuality, gay vs. transgender, power vs. true identity, there was a lot of acceptance of those who deviated from what was “natural.”
The most popular occurrence of this phenomena comes from North America, where Two-Spirited natives dwelled in peace and prosperity as late as the 1930s. This term was more or less a blanket term embodying all those who might be lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, intersex, queer, or any gender-variant. They received this name because they were thought to have two spirits inhabiting their one body, a special thing that deserved a high respect of reverence. Unfortunately, Europeans – under the strong influence of the Roman Catholic Church – came to the understanding that these people were perverted sexual deviants and committed mass genocides against these tribes.
Gearing forward into a modern history of transgender individuals, there has been a lot of pain, suffering and a lack of acceptance and understanding. It seems that since the rise of the Roman Catholic Church’s patriarchy, the deeper class divisions that promoted wealth and property ownership, the presence of transgender (and female!) individuals has been jeopardized. Although more recently, in the last maybe 50 years, there has been a presence of community and outspoken movement towards equalizing a culture and creating a society that respects the presence of all LBGTQ individuals. Hopefully, within our lifetimes, we will be able to see a return to the loving and accepting understanding of those who deviate from their biological sex and maybe even create a learning environment for the bi-sexuality of all humans.
