In many Native American tribal societies, it was not uncommon for some men to live as women and some women to live as men. In this land, the original America, men who wore women’s clothes and did women’s work became artists, ambassadors, and religious leaders, and women sometimes became warriors, hunters and even chiefs. Same-sex marriages flourished. Berdaches—individuals who combine male and female social roles with traits unique to their status as a third gender—have been documented in more than 150 North American tribes. By looking at this aspect of non-Western culture, Roscoe challenges the basis of the dualistic way most Americans think about sexuality, and shakes the foundation of the way we understand and define gender. --
Record details
ISBN:0312224796
ISBN:0312175396
ISBN:9780312224790
ISBN:9780312175399
Physical Description:viii, 320 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm. print
Edition:First edition
Publisher:New York : St. Martin's Press, 1998.
Content descriptions
Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references (pages [281]-310) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:
"Strange Country This": An Introduction to North American Gender Diversity -- "That Is My Road": The Life and Times of a Third-Gender Warrior -- The One Who Is Changing: Hastiin Klah and the Navajo Nadleehi Tradition -- Warrior Women and Women Chiefs: Alternative Identities and Genders for Native Women -- Two-Spirited People: Gay Americans Today -- Gender without Sex: Toward a Theory of Gender Diversity --Dreams of Power: Third and Fourth Genders in Yuman Culture and History -- Close Encounters: A Model of Native Survivance -- Narratives of Domination or the Cant of Conquest? Competing Views of Alternative Genders -- Conclusion: The Past and Future of Gender Diversity -- Glossary of Native Terms for Alternative Gender Roles and Sexuality by Language Family -- Tribal Index of Alternative Gender Roles and Sexuality.
Book
