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Summary Of The Bugis Culture By Sharyn Graham Davies

900 Words4 Pages

Sharyn Graham Davies traveled to Indonesia and observed a group of people, the Bugis, and took note of their five different genders. Davies observed how each of these five genders interacted with each other, how they were viewed in society, and how they stuck to or broke gender norms. Davies argues that even though the Bugis have five genders they still only have two sexes. Davies concludes that in the Bugis culture gender is more important than sex in determining your role in society. This book also helps to compare and analyze American culture and its way of thinking between sex and gender.
In the Bugis culture there are five different genders that are recognized: men, women, calalai, calabai, and bissu. The Bugis’ do take into account the born sex of the person in determining their gender and this sex is never forgotten. The first two genders are just male and female, but the next three are a little more complicated. The calalai are females but they work, dress, and act like men. Then there are the calabai, which are men but they work and dress like women. The last gender, the bissu are transgendered shamans, they are possessed by spirits and bring a connection from the spirit world to reality. The bissu also use their powers to bring blessings to people. …show more content…

If someone cannot decide what gender they are, no status can be gained. To try and gain higher social status they must conform to the masculine or feminine ideals that are apparent in the Bugis’ society. Even though the Bugis are very open with how people associate themselves, in the social sense they are strict that people must conform to one of the five genders. For example, during a Bugis wedding ceremony seating arrangement is a big deal since the seating is assigned not chosen. Men and women are seated on opposites sides of the isle and then sorted by social

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