#The Wardi sphere kind of has 4.5 total gender spaces

[serpentface]

i'd love to hear more about the akoshos! i'm sure they'v been brought up more than twice, but tumblr's search function is the enemy of knowledge :')

Yeah so the akoshos gender role is a long standing practice in the Wardi cultural sphere that has ancient roots, existing in both Wardi and Wogan spheres (I'll mostly be talking about the modern Wardi context here). Its ancient precedents were varied and often broader in description, often encompassing people designated male who present and live as women and/or engage in sexual/romantic relationships with men (and usually involving additional cultural roles beyond just being an Identity).

In the modern context, it is a gendered space where someone designated male at birth performs expected presentation and social roles of women. In terms of Wardi convention, this usually involves braiding the hair, wearing veils while outdoors, longer robes or skirts, wearing non-unisex jewelry, and behaving under the myriad of feminine social conventions. Most akoshos experience strong social pressure to shave any facial hair (and will often be seen as 'overmasculinized' if not).

Akoshos will be referred to with the ‘she’ pronoun and other feminine gendered language articles and titles (with the exception of being called an 'akoshos-husband' if married to a woman).

Being akoshos is regarded as being dual-gendered- having a 'male’ body capable of penetrative roles while otherwise socially performing ‘female’ roles. This is ultimately conceptualized as being physically male and spiritually female (quite literally in the sense of having a female soul incarnate into a 'male' body). They are considered a polar opposite to eunuchs, who are regarded as de-gendered and neither male nor female. Their role is not regarded as a personal choice but to be an aspect of their nature.

This role has some religious connotations, being seen as an imperfect human approximation of God's dual-sexed nature, and a few specific rites and minor priesthoods are exclusive to akoshos. (In deep theology they are imagined as metaphors of the living body of God before the initiation of the death-rebirth cycle, lifting the foundation of the world and inseminating the seas to create humans, while eunuchs can represent the dead body of God in sacrifice and the initiation of the death-rebirth cycle, being severed and divided to grant the world life and form) (This is not going to be a common line of thought for the everyday person though).

The actual word ‘akoshos’ stems from a role in traditional all-male Wardi theater, for actors who specialize in female roles (with no connotations on their gender/presentation in daily life). The occupying forces of the 2nd Burri empire took this performance-specific word and used it as a catchall for dual-gendered members of Wardi and Wogan peoples, with this (in addition to separate Wardi tribes gradually assimilating/being assimilated into an indistinguished nationality) eventually resulting in the linguistic loss or obsolescence of most pre-existing titles in favor of 'akoshos'.

While they are accepted as a specific gendered space (seen as a normal part of the cultural framework, rather than ‘failed’ men or otherwise deviant), they are subject to stigma and disempowerment as a non-male gender in a patriarchal sphere. They are grouped with women in terms of class status and are similarly denied certain legal rights (sole property ownership, self-representation in court, subordinate statuses to husbands in inheritance, legal independence from a familial patriarch, etc).

It is, like most other gender roles here, a fairly rigid gendered space that one can ‘fail’ at or shamefully deviate from. The fact that akoshos are so accepted as part of society is part of what makes this role equally rigid to manhood or womanhood. An akoshos is expected to perform female roles and presentation consistently and as culturally required, and strong deviation from female gender roles (with exceptions for some sexual roles) is treated with much the same disdain as for men and women 'failing' at their own gender.

People generally do not Want their perceived sons to turn out as akoshos, and will often find it an unfortunate lot that a female soul has incarnated into their child's male body. The framework of society heavily revolves around the fundamental importance of the family, preserving and propagating one's family and honoring their name. Children are, in many ways, functionally assets, with their marriage securing a family's future and further descendants, and the success and stability of one's adult child (typically only attainable in marriage) allows for parents to be cared for in old age and to receive necessary and proper rites. Akoshos, in many ways, cannot fully support this framework. They cannot perform expected patriarchal roles of sons as primary heirs, inheritors, and and carriers of the family name and legacy, nor can they function as daughters to be given in marriage, being incapable of pregnancy.

As such, many akoshos lose direct support from their families and on average tend to occupy disenfranchised societal roles. (This is NOT universal though, you’ll find plenty of families that continue to fully support their akoshos children throughout life). Akoshos living in cities often develop microcommunities with themselves and other notably disenfranchised women (often sex workers) as means of self-support.

Akoshos can take on certain jobs ostensibly exclusive (or predominant to) women, including some esteemed fields. Many find work as midwives, and are allowed into certain all-female priesthoods (particularly as physician-priestesses), though they are not accepted as Odonii. A couple of Usoma-Hittibe (the unmarried eldest sister to a king or emperor, outranking a queen or empress) known in history have been akoshos.

While akoshos are not '''useful''' assets in marriage (which is usually arranged, and in many ways a political or financial agreement), they are unique in that they Can legally and officially be wed to both men and women (and will be referred to as an akoshos-wife or akoshos-husband, depending on the gender assignment of their partner). Marriage is otherwise exclusively between men and women, the concept of it existing in other capacities is regarded as an absurdity, given its predominantly reproductive role.

An akoshos taking on a 'husband' role to a woman is not ideal in a practical arranged marriage (especially as, in having a woman's denial of many legal rights, they may find it difficult to perform a husband's role of supporting a family), but these arrangements are biologically capable of producing children, which is of some benefit. Akoshos-wives are less common, as these unions cannot produce a pregnancy and thus cannot fulfill the reproductive role that marriage largely exists to facilitate. But unlike an akoshos-husband, an akoshos-wife is fully capable of performing all Other roles expected of a wife. Men will sometimes remarry akoshos after they have already acquired children through a previous marriage, at which point the akoshos-wife can fully inhabit the expected non-reproductive roles of a wife and mother.

Akoshos also have a significantly larger degree of sexual freedom in comparison to those designated women and ESPECIALLY to men. They are still subjects to strict standards of 'appropriate' libido, but are socially permitted to take on any sexual role with partners of any gender. (An akoshos receiving penetrative sex is not 'shamed' like a man is, as they are in part women and that is their lot (including the spiritual pollution seen as inevitable for women via penetration). An akoshos performing penetrative sex is also acceptable (though any receiving male partner is 'shamed'), as they are ''''physically men'''' and this is also their lot). A woman who is 'disproportionately' interested in sex with women may be regarded as overmasculinized or having an excessive libido, but an akoshos exclusively interested in women will not usually draw scrutiny (again owing to their conception as being both male and female).

Not ALL akoshos would be trans women or otherwise transfeminine in the contemporary LGBT+ context (though a probable majority are). This role is also the only one that allows for people designated male to have open and mutualistic romantic/sexual relationships with men (eunuchs can as well, but this is not the most attractive route for obvious reasons), and the only role where one can marry a man, so it may appeal to some who would be considered cis gay/bi men. The role could attract a variety of people for a variety of reasons (a minority could even be cis and het), and conversely not all trans women or nonbinary transfeminine people would be comfortable or self-actualized in the akoshos role. It's culturally specific, just one representation of the myriad ways people conceptualize, reject, or transcend sexuality and gender.