Date of Award

10-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Art History and Visual Culture

First Advisor

Sarah Cantor

Second Advisor

Stefanie Snider

Third Advisor

Sara Berkowitz

Abstract

This thesis examines the interpretations of Lintels 23, 24, and 25 from Yachilán, Drawing 18 from Naj Tunich, and Stela H from Copán, with a specific focus on third gender expression. These artworks depict figures that blend masculine and feminine attributes, from costuming to actions, to present intentionally ambiguous representations of the body that all ancient Maya people would have understood. Third gender expression is defined through the blending of masculine and feminine signifiers. It is a gender identity for people who do not identify as male or female, but rather as neither, both, or a combination of male and female genders. As Mesoamerican scholarship continues to move beyond Western models of sex and gender, analysis of third gender identities within the ancient Maya is paramount for furthering the scope of how the Classic period (c.200-900 CE) Maya would have conceptualized gender. These works are placed in conversation with other Classic period artworks to illustrate how they undermine and blend the gendered signifiers of Maya visual language. Through iconographic analysis, coupled with established work on Mesoamerican gender models, this thesis draws parallels from neighboring Mesoamerican cultures, both past and present, and builds on the work of other scholars to identify potentially third gender figures within Classic period artworks, as well as to extrapolate how third gender identities would have operated socially within the ancient Maya world. This thesis builds on previous scholarship to offer an alternative interpretation of ambiguous bodies within Classic Maya art. These ambiguous bodies have long been categorized within a gender binary. However, examining them as third gendered expressions solves many of the issues caused by Western models of gender.

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