Gender in Bugis society
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In contrast to the gender binary, Bugis society recognizes five genders: makkunrai, oroané, bissu, calabai, and calalai.[6] The concept of five genders has been a key part of their culture for at least six centuries, according to anthropologist Sharyn Graham Davies, citing similar traditions in Thailand, Malaysia, India and Bangladesh.[7]
Oroané are loosely comparable to
In daily social life, the bissu, the calabai, and the calalai may enter the dwelling places and the villages of both men and women.[5]
Bissu
The bissu belong to one of the five genders of the Bugis. There are divergent theories regarding their definitive origins.[10]
For one to be considered bissu, all aspects of gender must be combined to form a whole. It is believed that you are born with the propensity to become a bissu, revealed in a baby whose genitalia are ambiguous. These ambiguous genitalia need not be visible; a normative male who becomes a bissu is believed to be female on the inside. This combination of sexes enables a 'meta-gender' identity to emerge. However, ambiguous genitalia alone do not confer the state of being a bissu.[11] The person must also learn the language, songs and incantations, and have a gift for bestowing blessings in order to become bissu. To be considered a "true" bissu, an individual needs to undergo initiation rituals and mentorship from another bissu, but this practice is waning due to the decreasing number of people taking the role.[12] They are expected to remain celibate and wear conservative clothes.[7] In practice, many bissu do partake in sexual activities (especially with oroané) but this is not widely acknowledged and public recognition is seen as delegitimizing to the bissu's spiritual power.[13]
In pre-Islamic Bugis culture, bissu were seen as intermediaries between the people and the gods, according to Indonesian anthropologist professor Halilintar Lathief. The bissu are closely associated with the female yet androgynous moon goddess, as her spiritual offspring.[12] Up until the 1940s, the bissu were still central to keeping ancient palace rites alive, including coronations of kings and queens.[7] Historically, bissu have played an important role in other ceremonies as well, particularly in weddings and childbirth events.
Within the bissu category, there are also several subcategories with differing roles, as described in poems such as La Galigo. One consists of those directly descended from the gods and tightly connected to the courts and nobles. The second consists of landowning bissu who are absent from spiritual roles. The last category consists of bissu whose main roles are in facilitating religious rites.[12]
Persecution
Bugis society has a cultural belief that all five genders must coexist harmoniously;[5] but by 2019 the numbers of bissu had declined dramatically, after years of increasing persecution and the tradition of revering bissu as traditional community priests. Bissu have mostly survived by participating in weddings as maids of honour and working as farmers as well as performing their cultural roles as priests. Hardline Islamic groups, police and politicians have all played their part in Indonesia's increased harassment and discrimination of nonheterosexuals.
The state of bissu tolerance during Dutch colonial rule was mixed, with the colonial government allowing some indigenous social structures to stay in place to maintain agricultural productivity and because they viewed indigenous traditions as a bulwark against Islam.[14][15] Still, the Dutch contributed to an environment that was hostile to "immoral" sexual practices and identities, especially as a way to differentiate themselves from indigenous people.[16] After independence in 1949, the ancient Bugis kingdoms were incorporated into the new republic and the roles of bissu became increasingly sidelined due to their connection with Bugis royalty. Although bissu traditions were able to exist side-by-side with Islamic ideals for much of pre-independence history, a regional Islamic rebellion in South Sulawesi led to increased persecution (part of the Darul Islam rebellion known as Operasi Tobat). As the atmosphere became increasingly hostile to nonheterosexuals, fewer people were willing to take on the role of bissu.[7] With the rise of Suharto's New Order administration, the bissu were further marginalized as deviant and un-Islamic elements of Indonesian society.[13] The bissu were also targeted during the New Order era because of their purported association with the Communist Party of Indonesia.[8][17] This persecution included the banning of bissu practices, the destruction of spiritually significant objects, the forced assimilation of bissu to male roles, and the execution of many bissu individuals.
In the post-Suharto era, there have been attempts at revitalizing traditional bissu practices, with many elements of bissu custom merging with those of Islamic tradition. Bissu can be found providing
Calabai
According to the Bugis gender system, calabai are generally
If there is to be a wedding in Bugis society, more often than not calabai will be involved in the organization. When a wedding date has been agreed upon, the family will approach a calabai and negotiate a wedding plan. The calabai will be responsible for many things: setting up and decorating the tent, arranging the bridal chairs, bridal gown, costumes for the groom and the entire wedding party (numbering up to twenty-five), makeup for all those involved, and all the food. Rarely did I attend a village wedding with less than a thousand guests. On the day, some calabai remain in the kitchen preparing food while others form part of the reception, showing guests to their seats.
— Sharyn Graham
Calabai embrace their femininity and live as women, but generally do not think of themselves as female, nor wish to be female or feel trapped in a male's body. Large-scale feminization surgeries are not often performed because although many calabai desire more feminine features, male genitalia is not inherently contradictory to their calabai identity.[18] However, the high cost and low accessibility of such surgeries cannot be overlooked as a major barrier either.[18] Much of Indonesian society emphasizes the importance of the nuclear family (in Indonesian, azas kekeluargaan) and heteronormativity, and calabai often conform to this basis by taking on the roles of wives in a nuclear family. To this end, some calabai will undergo unofficial marriages (known as kahwin di bawah tangan, or marriage below the hand).[18]
The calabai identity is seen as unavoidable, permanent, and given by God. Although this view has aided in the general tolerance of calabai in many parts of modern Bugis society, in some cases it also promotes the exclusion of calabai due to implications of pity and lack of individual agency.[18][19] Additionally, they lack much of the spiritual significance associated with the bissu, and there is a corresponding drop in the amount of respect afforded to the calabai in comparison.[19]
Calalai
The calalai are
There is a considerably small number of calalai even compared to the bissu and the calabai because many are disincentivized from identifying as calalai. There is generally a higher level of discrimination towards people assigned female at birth who forego becoming mothers and wives, and they are often stereotyped as lazy. Much of their work is also out of public view, such as in agriculture, compared to calabai who are often seen working as cooks, hairdressers and wedding planners, and these contrasts may contribute to this stereotype.[18]
See also
References
- OCLC 351812201.
- ^ Pelras, Christian (1996). "The Bugis (abstract)". Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. 30 (2). Oxford: Blackwell: xiii, 386.
- ^ Davies, Sharyn Graham (17 June 2016). "What we can learn from an Indonesian ethnicity that recognizes five genders". The Conversation. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-631-17231-4.
- ^ a b c June, Karlana (23 February 2015). "The Bugis Five Genders and Belief in a Harmonious World". Prezi. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
- ^ OCLC 476076313.
- ^ a b c d e Ibrahim, Farid M (27 February 2019). "Homophobia and rising Islamic intolerance push Indonesia's intersex bissu priests to the brink". Australian Broadcasting Corporation News. Archived from the original on 27 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
- ^ a b c Boellstorff, Tom (2005). The Gay Archipelago: Sexuality and Nation in Indonesia. Princeton University Press. pp. 38–40.
- ^ Idrus, Nurul Ilmi (2016). Gender Relations in an Indonesian Society. Brill. pp. 32–35.
- ^ "Sex, Gender, and Priests in South Sulawesi, Indonesia" (PDF). International Institute for Asian Studies. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
- ^ "Sulawesi's fifth gender". Inside Indonesia. Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
- ^ a b c d Andaya, Leonard (2001). Other Pasts: Women, Gender and History in Early Modern Southeast Asia. Univ of Hawaii at Manoa. pp. 35–44.
- ^ a b c d Nanda, Serena (1999). Gender Diversity: Crosscultural Variations. Waveland Press. pp. 92–94.
- ^ Thamrin, Umar (November 2015). "How Economy Matters to Indigenous Identity of Bissu, Transgender Priests of South Sulawesi, Indonesia". Asia Research Institute. Working Paper Series (241).
- JSTOR 3351245.
- ^ Gouda, Frances (1995). Dutch Culture Overseas: Colonial Practice in the Netherlands Indies, 1900-1942. Amsterdam University Press.
- ^ Lathief, Halilintar (2004). Bissu: pergulatan dan peranannya di masyarakat Bugis. Desantara.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Davies, Sharyn Graham (2010). Gender Diversity in Indonesia: Sexuality, Islam, and queer selves. Routledge. pp. 120–137.
- ^ a b c Davies, Sharyn Graham (2007). Women's Sexualities and Masculinities in a Globalizing Asia. Palgrave Macmillan US. pp. 152–167.
- OCLC 663102354.
Further reading
- Graham Davies, Sharyn (2010). Gender Diversity in Indonesia: Sexuality, Islam and Queer Selves. ASAA Women in Asia Series. Routledge.
- Pelras, Christian (1997). The Bugis. The Peoples of South-East Asia and the Pacific. Wiley-Blackwell. OCLC 247435344.
- Pujié, Colliq. La Galigo. .
External links
- Five Genders? (video). National Geographic Channel. 21 October 2008. Archivedfrom the original on 12 December 2021 – via YouTube.
- Perkins, Roberta (November 1994). Skinner, Craig (ed.). "Soft Minded Men: South-East Asian Gender Crossing". Polare (5). Archived from the original on 27 September 2013.