Gender Transgressions: Nonbinary Spaces in Greco-Roman Antiquity and Ancient China

Abstract

Abstract: Nonbinary presentations, behaviors, and spaces have been observed transculturally throughout history. Whilst historical manifestations differ from our modern notions of nonbinary, this article examines instances of nonbinary transgressions that may have been previously consigned to homoerotic histories. This article deploys such a nonbinary lens to discuss instances that relate to the body, gender presentations, social roles, and language, for the purpose of problematizing both notions of trans-gender history and binary assumptions of gender as untransmutable and immutable.