Changing Ones: Third and Fourth Genders in Native North America (Paperback)
Description
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.
About the Author
Will Roscoe is an award-winning author who publishes widely on Native American sexuality and gender. He lives in San Francisco.
Praise for Changing Ones: Third and Fourth Genders in Native North America…
“Will Roscoe is writing the history the history books don't talk about.” —Bay Area Reporter
“Changing Ones is the culmination of two decades worth of superb scholarship, a landmark work.” —Lambda Book Report
“The strength of this work is its gathering together writings by a serious scholar of American Indian cultures who as the first to bring Native voices to the conservations about homosexuality, sex role transformations, and gender diversity.” —Great Plains Quarterly
