Gender identity  Gender roles vary between different cultures
and are not a universal ‘given’.  Ideas of what it means to be a
man or woman vary, but many cultures also envisage the
possibility of a third gender and the possibility of changing
gender.  Related book  Buy now    Share this theme  A goddess
associated with gender ambiguity  This ancient plaque is now
popularly known as ‘the Queen of the Night’. It shows a naked
woman wearing the horned headdress characteristic of a
Mesopotamian deity and could be an aspect of Ishtar, goddess of
sexual love and war.  Kurgarrus, followers of the cult of the
goddess, were said to have had their gender changed from male to
female by Ishtar. What was the significance of this?  It may
simply indicate the goddess was able to change everything in the
universe. It probably tells us little about the experience of
individual lives, but it shows us that gender was considered
changeable in this enduring state religion.  Gods beyond gender
The Hindu deity Lakshminarayan repr