3-gender species terminology

I read a story once where there were three beings necessary for procreation. But I don't recall the precise nomenclature used. I think it was male, female and something I don't remember, but not "it."

I'm sorry but my recollection is sketchy, but I seem to remember the male and female combined genetic material and the "it" thing carried the resulting offspring to term, raised it and somehow determined if the offspring would be male or female or another "it." I seem to remember the male and female were sort of humanoid, but the "it" thing wasn't. However, that may be due to anthorpomorphism on my part or that of the author, since the three beings conversed in dialogue much as you and I might. At any rate, the "it" thing would take the baby away, where it would remain out of the picture until it was capable of beint on its own, its gender already determined.

So, where does leave things? um, dunno. But your bearer would correspond to the "it" thing in the story I sort of remember, the layer and seeder being female and male respectively. I think if it were me, I'd use male, female and choose a term for the "it" thing that fit your idea of what it does. Perhaps bearer is sufficient. Or Nurse. Or something else.

If your bearer behaved that way, taking the offspring away to be raised to maturity, that would alleviate the problems of "Her ladyship the bearer of our offspring" or anything equally lame. And, you could devise a rite of emergence when the newly adult child entered society.

Syrup available for this waffle as requested.

The question that comes to mind is, how does the bearer contribute genetic material? Sounds like the layer and seeder are the only ones contributing and the bearer is just the host.

Pthom said:

I read a story once where there were three beings necessary for procreation. But I don't recall the precise nomenclature used. I think it was male, female and something I don't remember, but not "it."

I'm sorry but my recollection is sketchy, but I seem to remember the male and female combined genetic material and the "it" thing carried the resulting offspring to term, raised it and somehow determined if the offspring would be male or female or another "it." I seem to remember the male and female were sort of humanoid, but the "it" thing wasn't. However, that may be due to anthorpomorphism on my part or that of the author, since the three beings conversed in dialogue much as you and I might. At any rate, the "it" thing would take the baby away, where it would remain out of the picture until it was capable of beint on its own, its gender already determined.

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Are you thinking of Asimov's The Gods Themselves? I know the aliens in that are three-gendered, although I don't recall how their system works.

Might have been, Fennel, but the image of the story that comes into my head isn't Asimovian enough. lol

Pthom said:

I read a story once where there were three beings necessary for procreation. But I don't recall the precise nomenclature used. I think it was male, female and something I don't remember, but not "it."

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FennelGiraffe said:

Are you thinking of Asimov's The Gods Themselves? I know the aliens in that are three-gendered, although I don't recall how their system works.

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There was also a 3-gendered race in David Brin's The Uplift War, I think it was the Gubru?

Anyway, they were avians, and the way they worked it was that they all started out as genderless, but had three roles to fill (warrior, priest, and administrator, essentially). The process of mating took months and also involved the negotiation and implementation of a task. Whichever of the three had the better plans ended up developing into the female, and the other two became males.

It wasn't just sex, it was POLICY.

sunandshadow said:

2. Treating them as female, male, and male - is it bad because it inaccurately conflates two genders, or good because it's reader-friendly? Alternate suggestions?

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I think that using male terminology for two of them is potentially confusing.

You might consider using the gender indeterminate pronouns zie (subject) and hir (object & possessive) for one of your genders. (Probably layers?) They're still fairly exotic, but I do see them used.

Are there any real examples of 3 gendered life to look at, or just fantastic examples?

sunandshadow said:

Nope, none exist, although there are creatures like bees which have classes of neuter individuals that are not directly involved in reproduction.

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Those worker insects fulfill a role in reproduction...foraging for food, and, in the case of bees, making royal jelly. As such, they perform kind of a collective "suckling" role.

The Anthias fish changes gender during its lifecycle. Whether this constitutes a distinct gender is subject to debate.

Three genders is called, "intersexuality". Try out this Wiki for some background.

Another fictional example occurs in Piers Anthony's Cluster series. It is quite a moment when the character realizes the metamorphosis.

I don't recall all of the genders, one of them was "Undulant".

Your terminology is okay descriptively, but a little clunky.

How about provider, receiver, and host?

Bartholomew said:

Are there any real examples of 3 gendered life to look at, or just fantastic examples?

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Aphids come close. They have males, sexual females and asexual females that reproduce without mating. They also alternate with winged and wingless offspring, and can give live births as well as lay eggs.

Alex Bravo said:

Aphids come close. They have males, sexual females and asexual females that reproduce without mating. They also alternate with winged and wingless offspring, and can give live births as well as lay eggs.

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They also act as "cattle" for leaf-cutter ants, which eat the processed sap produced by them.

It doesn't sound like a bad idea, but I really really would not like to see a real detailed explicit description of...any of that.

FennelGiraffe said:

Are you thinking of Asimov's The Gods Themselves? I know the aliens in that are three-gendered, although I don't recall how their system works.

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One of my favoritest books of all time!

In their "natural" form, the three genders were the Soft Ones. There was the Emotional, Intellectual and the Parental. When the Emotional fed on enough energy, she'd get her two partners all excited and they'd merge for as long as the energy lasted. Afterward, the Parental would birth a new Soft One.

It was extremely cool.

I still am not clear how the one with the womb provides genetic material... It really sounds like they're just providing an environment for the other two's "seeds" to mix together and do their thing. I have no problem with the idea of triploid genes or whatever, but the "Bearer" does need to be actually providing some sort of physical substance, I think, if you're going to have all three be passing along traits/bloodlines/whatever. Then again, you don't have to do it that way either. The bearer could provide no genes, but still have parental rights just for having done the hard part of labor etc.

It's entirely up to you of course; I just know if I were reading this story, the process had been explained as you do in the OP, and the bearer had red hair and the other two didn't, and the kid was born with red hair, I'd literally be distracted and be all like, "How??"

People don't look like Mom because they were in her womb - they look like her because she provided an egg to mix with Dad's sperm. So if you want the bearer to provide material for the baby, you should give her some sort of little seed as well to join with the other two. Maybe something stationary and flowerlike that needs the other two mobile thingies to develop. I dunno, just talking off the top of my head.

Perhaps your real question isn't the mechanics of their sexuality, but your perception of their gender roles. Does any gender hold power? Is any gender traditionally considered to be more aggressive, more emotional, more artistic, more logical, more tough? If you answer those questions first, finding pronouns that will reflect your decisions may become easier.