Men as Women, Women as Men
Men as Women, Women as Men
Changing Gender in Native American Cultures
As contemporary Native and non-Native Americans explore various forms of "gender bending" and gay and lesbian identities, interest has grown in "berdaches," the womanly men and manly women who existed in many Native American tribal cultures. Yet attempts to find current role models in these historical figures sometimes distort and oversimplify the historical realities.
This book provides an objective, comprehensive study of Native American women-men and men-women across many tribal cultures and an extended time span. Sabine Lang explores such topics as their religious and secular roles; the relation of the roles of women-men and men-women to the roles of women and men in their respective societies; the ways in which gender-role change was carried out, legitimized, and explained in Native American cultures; the widely differing attitudes toward women-men and men-women in tribal cultures; and the role of these figures in Native mythology. Lang's findings challenge the apparent gender equality of the "berdache" institution, as well as the supposed universality of concepts such as homosexuality.
This is a major and significant contribution to the studies of gender diversity, sexuality, and cultural constructions of gender and sex roles. In addition...it is the only source that empirically and theoretically focuses on female sex and gender options in Native North America.
Sabine Lang is an independent scholar who holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Hamburg. She is the coeditor of Two-Spirit People: Native American Gender Identity, Sexuality, and Spirituality.
- List of Maps, Tables, and Figures
- Preface
- Part One: Introduction, Background, and Definitions
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Chapter 2: Early Sources: Missionaries and Traders, Physicians and Ethnologists
- Chapter 3: Twentieth-Century Research
- Chapter 4: Gender Identity, Gender Role, and Gender Status
- Part Two: Gender Role Change by Males
- Chapter 5: Cross-Dressing and Mixed Gender Roles
- Chapter 6: Cross-Dressing and the Feminine Gender Role
- Chapter 7: Feminine Activities Without Cross-Dressing
- Chapter 8: The Imitation of "Femininity" and Intersexuality
- Chapter 9: Women-Men as "Shamans," Medicine Persons, and Healers
- Chapter 10: Other Specialized Occupations of Women-Men
- Chapter 11: Partner Relationships and Sexuality
- Chapter 12: Entrance into the Status of Woman-Man
- Chapter 13: Women-Men in Native American Cultures: Ideology and Reality
- Part Three: Gender Role Change by Females
- Chapter 14: Cross-Dressing and Mixed Gender Roles
- Chapter 15: Men-Women in Masculine Occupations
- Chapter 16: Status, Relationships, and Entrance Rituals of Men-Women
- Chapter 17: Warrior Women and Manly-Hearted Women
- Part Four: The Cultural Context of Gender Role Change
- Chapter 18: Attitudes Toward Women-Men and Men-Women
- Chapter 19: Gender Role Change and Homosexuality
- Chapter 20: Gender Role Change in Native American Oral Traditions
- Chapter 21: Conclusion
- References
- Index
