Transpłciowość w świecie islamu - między tradycją i współczesnością

Discourse on gender roles in the Islamic world, even though popular and wide-ranging, refers predominantly to the heterosexual pattern, i.e. to biological males and females. Definitely the binary gender system is the backbone of social order, but still provides space for transgressing traditional social roles. It results from the heritage of classical Islam (existence of such categories as eunuchs, masculine females/feminine males, and intersexuals) as well as in the influence of local cults and traditions that used to exist before Islam. The article presents selected transgender categories in the Islamic world such as: virgjineshta in the Balkans (sworn virgins), 'yan daudu in Hausaland (men who talk like women), hijra in South Asia (referred to as the third gender) and transsexuals in Iran. All the cases except for the Iranian case are rooted in traditional cultures and exist parallel to their Western counterparts (e.g. homosexuality, transvestitism).