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變異的性行為
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性少數: 7.
易性癖者
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歷史記載
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提瑞西阿斯
（Tiresias），她作為女人，再一次碰到了兩條交配的蛇。在痛打了它們之後，他變回成男人。
（16世紀木刻局部細節） |
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Tiresias, as a woman, once again encounters two mating snakes. After hitting them with his stick, he is changed back into a man. (Detail of a 16th-century woodcut). |
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據我們所知，易性癖在世界上所有的地區都始終是存在的。當然，現代科學術語那時尚聞所未聞，不過，人們作為女性或男性的自我認同與生理性別相矛盾決不是什麼新鮮事兒。甚至，“變性（sex
change）”已經讓人類癡迷了很久。許多文化中的神話和傳說告訴我們關於女人轉變成男人和男人轉變成女人的故事，一些變性是暫時的轉變，另一些則是永久的轉變。有時，這種轉變是由於神的干預或某種巫術的結果。一些古代傳說也涉及到雙性或雙性別人物，或稱為“第三性”。這些傳說也有偶爾或習慣性的換穿異性服飾的例子。簡而言之，似乎今天我們所知道的各種各樣模式的性別認同不一致的情況都有悠久的歷史。首要的是對待這樣的性別認同不一致，不同的文化歷史有不同的態度——從高度的尊重到容忍再到殘忍地壓制，不一而足。
西方眾所周知的“著名的”例子是傳說中的古希臘預言家提瑞西阿斯（Tiresias），他“從內到外”都通曉男女兩性的一切。當他還是一名青年男子時，他用一根手杖打散了兩條正在交配的蛇，並因此而被轉變成女人。數年之後，他又見到了這兩條蛇，而且再一次痛打了它們，不過現在卻被變回成了男人。然後，眾神之王宙斯和他的妻子赫拉問提瑞西阿斯，在性交中，作為男人還是作為女人，誰體驗到了最大的快樂？當他回答“作為女人”時，被激怒的赫拉打瞎了他，不過，為了賠償他，宙斯賜予了他做出預言的能力。
古代社會並沒有對各種類型的跨性別作出我們現代這樣的區分，但是，總體上看，那時對於性別認同不一致是頗為容忍的。 |
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Variations in Sexual Behavior
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Sexual Minorities: 7. Transsexuals
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Historical Notes
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As far as we know, transsexualism has always existed in all parts of the world. Of course, the modern scientific term was unknown, but there is nothing new about people self-identifying as female or male in contradiction to their physical sex. Indeed, “sex changes” have fascinated mankind for a very long time. Myths and legends in many cultures tell us about women turning into men and men turning into women, in some cases temporarily, in others permanently. Sometimes this is attributed to divine intervention or to some magic. Some ancient tales also involve a double-sexed or double-gendered figure or a “third sex”. They also provide examples of occasional or habitual cross-dressing. In short, it seems that all the various forms of gender non-conformity that we know today have a long history. It is, above all, a history of different cultural attitudes toward such non-conformity - from high esteem to tolerance to merciless oppression.
A well-known Western “classical “example is that of the legendary ancient Greek seer
Tiresias, who knew both sexes “from the inside”. As a young man, he had hit two mating snakes with a stick and was thereupon transformed into a woman. After seven years, he saw the snakes again and hit them again, but was now changed back into a man. The supreme god Zeus and his wife Hera then asked him who experienced the greatest pleasure during sexual intercourse - the male or the female. When he answered: “The female”, the enraged Hera struck him blind, but, in compensation, Zeus gave him the gift of prophesy.
The ancient world did not make our modern distinctions between the various types of transgenderism, but, on the whole, it was rather tolerant of gender non-conformity. |
