Third gender stigma and social acceptance

Although Sex and Gender seem to be closely related yet, they are different

from each other. Sex is a biological given and gender is a social construct. The term

Sex refers to biological status as male or female. It comprises of certain physical

attributes such as sex chromosomes, sex hormones, gonads, internal reproductive

structures, and external genitalia. The term Gender refers to the ways the people act or

feel about themselves as men and women according to the roles constructed by the

Society for men and women. In simple words, we can say that the Sex can be

differentiated into male and female while Gender can be differentiated into masculine

and feminine. Most commonly, when we talk about gender, only two genders are

considered but, apart from these two genders, there is also a third gender which has

been an integral part of society. It is a section of society which has been ignored in

history and has been kept separate from the mainstream. Recently, not only at the

world level but also in India, their existence has been legally recognized. These third

gender group or individual, who neither comes in male or female. They have different

identities in society.