The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female are not Enough

Western culture is deeply committed to the idea that there are only two sexes however one can argue that along the spectrum lie at least five sexes and perhaps even more. According to Plato there once was three sexes; male, female, and hermaphrodite however that was lost with time. Hermaphrodites were told in stories about human origins. Early biblical scholars believed if you began life as a Hermaphrodite then you would later divide into two people- a male and a female. Today in the U.S. sex is determined by state laws. For instance if someone wanted a sex change it could happen if the surgeon performs the correct procedures. It was interesting to read about Emma, the hermaphrodite who was one of Hugh Young's cases. Emma was a wife to a husband but also a boyfriend to some girlfriends on the side. When Young gave he/she the choice to become a man he/she declined because he/she knew he/she was supported by her husband and if he/she were to become a man than he would have to go to work and be the supporter.

Changing Ones (Chapter 4)

This chapter talks about gender roles and the roles of native women. It also talks a lot about how the Native women status is somewhat stereotyped such as Pocahontas. In Pocahontas it shows that to be a Native woman you have to be exotic, wild, crazy, or a collaborationist to get attention from white males. In reality however, most native leaders and cultural brokers sought to manage and minimize the negative consequences of change in their people. Native women’s lives were also differentiated in terms of identities and social roles. Female berdaches occupied a distinct gender role. They were not thought of as women and their behavior, appearance, and temperament differed from women. Avoidance of marriage was common for female berdaches. Also females who became berdaches were inspired by dreams or visions, had shamanic powers, or were sanctioned by tribal myths. Many of those traits are similar to male berdaches. In most every tribe that has been documented if there was a female berdache in the tribe there was most definitely male berdaches as well. It was interesting to because in some tribes where the same term was used for both, they belong to a third gender role. In tribes where distinct terms are used to separate female and male berdaches, the male berdache represents a third and female berdaches represent a fourth gender role.
Native American “queens” are known to have existed in Algonkian and Muskgoean speaking tribes. Kinship practices allowed women to inherit these offices. The career of Women Chief of the Crow Indians included hunting, welfare, leadership, as well as a sexual dimension. She married four women which only increased her stature in the tribe. There is a disadvantage to not taking part in marriage and women who refused to marry gave up the chance to acquire wealth from her husband. Married women were classified as high status women because they were near wealth and prestige through marital ties and kinship. They had opportunities that poor women did not. Women of chief however provided a great opportunity for certain women to enter positions of leadership and participate in the war.

Many Tender Ties (Chapter 2, 3)

Fur trade was still big business for the economy. Men of the Hudson’s Bay Company and Nor’Westers practiced in marriage “after the custom of the country” which was an indigenous marriage rite which evolved to meet the needs of the fur-trade society. The Indians actually initiated and encouraged the formation of marriage alliances between their women and the European traders. The Indians viewed marriage as a marital alliance creating a social bond which served to consolidate the economic relationship with a stranger. When a European trader marries an Indian the trader is drawn into the Indian’s kinship circle. The marriage between and trader and an Indian was beneficial to the trade ties and the Indian women brought success to their business. On the Pacific coast, marriage alliances played a significant role in the traders relations with the Chinook nation. Marital alliances were also factors in trade competition. Because Indian woman brought success to their fur trader husbands, feelings of affection were not playing a role in their marriages. However, when a child was born parenthood was good for strengthening their husband and wife bond. There were no exchange of vows between the couple but there were other rituals they followed.
The economic role played by Indian women in fur-trade society reflected the extent to which the European traders were compelled to adapt to the native way of life. The Nor’Westers learned from the French what they used their Indian wives for. The Indian women had performed a wide range of domestic tasks, they ground the corn to make the staple food known as sagamite, they made moccasins and leather garments, and they also washed and shopped firewood for the cabins. The most important domestic task performed by the women at the fur-trade posts was to provide the men with a steady supply of moccasins because the men of both companies adopted the moccasin as the most practical footwear for the wilderness. Pemmican became the staple food of the fur trade, and Indian women performed most of the steps required in its preparation. Pemmican was a mixture of pounded buffalo meat and fat. Indian Women were also responsible for collecting auxiliary food supplies which, besides adding variety to the diet, could sometimes mean the difference between life and death. Indian women played an important part in preserving and procuring country provisions, they did not take over the official role of cooking at the fur-trade posts. The Indian women also were involved in specific fur-trade operations such as dressing furs. They also assisted in making canoes and paddling during voyages. The assistance of Indian women on journeys was always an importance to the Hudson Bay Company. They were also important interpreters and teachers of language, also served as diplomatic agents for the traders. In this reading you really realize how much the Indian women were significant to the society of the fur trade. The Indian women did so much work for the men and were never paid; it was cheap labor for the companies.

Dissident Women (Intro)

In this introduction this reading talks about the rights of the Indigenous women. It also talks about the disadvantages of indigenous women. The indigenous women know they must attend all meetings to change things. The women must share their thoughts and be involved. The struggle for freedom continues but women are continuing to take on leadership roles in their communities and organization. They must stay just as committed to their jobs as men are because women do not get paid the same wages and men. What they are paid is not even enough to support them and their children. It is important that women hold leadership posts, so they can demonstrate that they are valuable. Participation in the decisions of the community is important for the women to take part in as well as taking part in the elections. In the Women’s Revolutionary Law; Article four is talked about in depth. The indigenous women of Mexico feel the law has not made good on its promise to respect custom. They also feel the laws should consider the needs of rural communities. The Zapatista women are fighting back too; they are expanding the arena that constitutes politics and are also explaining new forms of citizenship rights and responsibilities. The Zapatista movement has often been termed the first “post modern” social movement because of the use of the Internet as an organizational tool. However, the Zapatista women have complicated the labeling of the movement because of their insistence on examining women’s rights. The Zapatistas have focused their demands on achieving recognition of the political and cultural rights of indigenous peoples.

Film: The residential School Experience

This film explored the native culture and how it could be changed to a white traditional culture. The native people were stripped of their culture from head to toe and were forced to be people who they were not. They wanted to prove that by doing certain things to someone you could make anyone a white person. I think the native people were used as an experiment. They started by cutting their hair short, they took away their moccasins and replaced them with boots. They then took their robes and native dress and replaced it with uniforms. Following the complete transformation of the way they looked they put them into school where they could not speak their native language in any way shape or form. They were only allowed to speak what they were taught. The schooling aspect of it struggled because there was a major shortage of teachers. Watching this film I was taken back by how the native children were forced into this culture and they didn’t have a choice. It was interesting to see how the native people were transformed and how it happened so fast.

Film: Producing fair trade organic coffee in the highlands of Chiapas

This film was very interesting to me. It showed the everyday tasks that the Indigenous people needed to do to produce the coffee that supported their way of life. Producing this organic coffee was so important to them because that was their income. The men were in charge of the planting, fertilizing, and bringing the plants back to the women who roasted the coffee and prepared it to be traded. It is apart of their everyday lives because the trade of their coffee will provide them with essentials to live their lives. This film showed how much labor the women put into the production of the coffee. They had many important tasks in the production of the coffee and they were probably the most important part to making the coffee business successful for their families and community.

Changing Ones (1,2)

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. The term they used was "berdache". It is a generic term used primarily by anthropologists, and is frequently rejected as inappropriate and offensive by Native Americans. Two-Spirit people were a term used frequently also for Native Americans who fulfill one of many mixed gender roles found traditionally among many Native Americans and Canadian First Nations indigenous groups. Alternative gender roles were one of the most widespread and distinctive features of native societies throughout the continent until the 1980's. In just these two chapters I have read things about gender in native societies that I didn't expect to take place in their societies. It was interesting to read about it because you unconsciously stereotype Native societies. The first thing I think about when I hear Native American tribe is Indians, native women taking care of families, and I think about Native men as the dominance. I think it is important to keep an open mind when reading about these societies because a lot of the time there is more going on in the society with gender and race than what is told in the traditional history books.

Conquest (H.O)

I think violence has always been apart of gender and racial differences. Women of color are put in a dangerous position. Chapter one talks about sexual violence and and how we analyze it. Rape is described as nothing more than a tool of patriarchal control. Sexual violence is also described as a tool of patriarchal and as a tool of colonialism and racism. Racism is not an effect but a tactic in the internal fission of society into binary opposition. Racism is woven into society that is permanent. Sexual violence and genocide among Native Women shows how gender violence functions as a tool for racism and colonialism. African American women as well as immigrant women had a long history of sexual exploitation in the U.S. Sexual violence is a big issue and I don't think Native women, immigrant women, and any women of color is safe and the U.S. is undoubtebly in a permanent social war against the bodies of Native and indigenous women.

Don't Let the Sun (Intro,1,2)

This reading the events that Eva Watt describes are very graphic and moving. Her grandmother was obviously an important part of her young life. Her grandmother was a very smart women. Her grandmother was captured once by a man when she was a young girl but was able to escape back to main camp. Watt's grandmother cured many people, she knew all the plants and herbs to make medications. She taught Watt plants and herbs and lots of things to eat, to grow and teas and medicines. Everything was hard to find and nothing came free so when they were able to find those things, it was a good thing. She also talks about her grandpa and an incident when he almost drowned because he could not make it across the river. His two sons dove into the river and saved him. Her grandmother Rose seemed like such a significant figure in her life because in each story or each even she talks about Grandma Rose seems to be involved. In chapter one she talked about her family moving around a lot when she was young and times were tough. In chapter 2 her brother Paul died and Eugene her other brother ran off. When they moved to Miami her father worked in the mines and that's when the flu broke out and her mother was able to fix medicine that saved them.

Gender in Inuit Society (H.O)

This reading was really interesting to me because I have never read much about Eskimos and their society. Assuming that living in the Arctic would be a struggle to survive, the social society was not it great shape either. Men were dominant because they were naturally superior. The gender status remained unequal. As far as labor, the men hunt, gather and haul food, and construct hunting materials. Women's responsibilities were locked into domestic routines that involved cooking, cleaning, processing and sewing skins and other materials, fishing and gathering fuel. Men's work is physically more dangerous and requires more strength but the women's work is equally exhausting overall. The men's reputations are within the community and are linked to their productive capability. Everywhere in the Arctic men and women are socialized to be cooperative, pliable, polite, generous, and acquiescent. In their society the general rule is that younger answers to older and females answer to males. Marriage for Eskimo women is usually arranged by their families however no woman is forced to take a husband she does not want. After marriage does take place the husband might choose to trade or share his wife's sexuality with a friend or trading partner. This act is very similar to what the Native men did with their native wives. I think in the Inuit society men and women are equal as far as status and power.
The Tlingit society was interesting because it differed much from the Inuit society. Women had primarily the same responsibilites as the Inuit women did but the men controlled the economy by trade. The men in the Inuit society were the dominance of the household. The men in the Tlingit society controlled their trade business and made the income for the household but it was the wives who were the banker of the household. They made a majoirty of the decisions and many times the husbands would bring their wives on the long-distance trading journeys to act as negotiators. The role of gender identity was either a nonissue or a secondary one which is much different from the Inuit society.

Dissident Women Chapter 3

Some of the main points in this reading talks about the women's role at the end of the twentieth century for the Chiapas. Women participated in marches and demonstrations, occupied land, and lent their support in keeping with the guidelines set by their groups and organizations. It is interesting to me though because once the land invasion, and the march had passed women went back to their daily chores, and it was the men who dominated the political sphere. During the end of this century there was a lot of crisis and deep change to the Chiapas. The women who participated in the movements were able to widen their networks with men and women from different places and with different languages and life styles, and they participated in a variety of actions. After ten year of the Chiapas going through violent land disputes, demands, anger, and bitterness among landowners, peasants, and agricultural workers it was time for something to change. In 1983 the Chiapas formed a march that included 600 representatives. All of the participants were members of the CIOAC (Independent Organization of Agricultural Workers and Peasants). The march was 27 days long and made national headlines. During the march photographs were taken of bare feet, rubber boots, and broken sandals. A majority of the people participating were many indigenous peoples and poor women. This march was just one of many social movements the Chiapas went through to get changes in the political identities.

Many Tender Ties (Into & CH 1)

The fur trade was the only successful economy in Early Western Canada. Fundamental growth of the fur trade society was widespread intermarriage between the traders and the Indian women. Their marriage helped to advance trade relations with new tribes. The Native women had an important role to the success and functioning of the fur trade. Indian wives were the vogue during the fur trade and the native women brought a sense of nativism to the fur trade however the fur trade society was not Indian but many elements were combined of European and Indian to produce a distinctive community. When the fur trade was broken down into two big companies the economic community was benefited but it did not benefit the Indian women, in times of scarcity, the Indian women were the first to suffer. This reading talked about the marriage between the European fur traders and Native women and the marriage between Native women and men. Both differed in many ways, the marriage between Indian husband and wives was perceived as very unromantic, it was not uncommon for an Indian husband to lend his wife even to a stranger and for many nights at a time. Indian men at times were very abusive towards their wives and the fur traders were so outraged they felt compelled to step in. I think it comes down to different morals in different cultures, when the white men were looking on they saw unusual unromanticism between the Indian husbands and wives and they thought the Indian husbands were abusive which I agree with. I thought it was interesting how the white men thought wrong of some of the Indian morals but when the Indian husband offered their wives to them they were more than happy to take their women for nights at a time.

Unsettling Settler Societies (Chap. 4 & 6)

In Canada fur trading was an important part of their economy and Native Women were also an important part of that too because the trade was based on exchange between Europeans and Native peoples and the women were needed to translate and sometimes mediate between the two groups. Women became a huge success for the fur trade industry but as marriage between Native women and European men became more common Native American women suffered a decline in their influence because most women were now mixed blood. Eventually by the late nineteenth century the fur trade was in complete decline and the Native Americans land was completely eroded. Non-native women formed a minority of the population and over the next 150 years only 2700 Amerindian and 1400 black slaves were recorded in Canada. From then on a lot of business with the British and Europeans took place in Canada to try and build their nation. It was until the 1900’s when women became active with movements and organizations. I think they contributed a lot to Canada’s laws especially with reshaping abortion rights and working on the trend of anti-racist pluralism.

Miscegenation is a key to understanding Mexico’s pattern of colonization and three factors accelerated miscegenation which was the early arrival of the African population, the high ratio of black men to black women, and the sharp decrease in the male Indian population due to both the spread of western diseases and forced labor. The settlement of Spanish females developed a pattern and they were mostly the ones who organized the house and were largely confined to the household duties. I think Spanish women had a lot of hardships to go through especially the Spanish women who were born in Europe because they had to go through the process of differentiation between the two groups. The economy in Mexico is discovering hardships especially with labor. The women of maquiladora industry are in my opinion being abused. I did my Women in the Labor force on the women of maquiladora and they are worked over time and paid under minimum wage and the owners of the maquiladora factories refuse to abide by the labor laws. Women however are striking back in Mexico and have challenged their traditional family role by involving themselves in campaigns, strikes, and assemblies. They have also taken action to create their own organizations.

Unsettling Settler Societies (Intro & Chapter 5)

In the introduction of this reading, Settler Societies were described and defined as so many different things. It represents "home" to the dominant group. In the introduction Settler Societies were often referred to the Europeans who settled and how they remained politically dominant over the indigenous peoples but became complicated between Europe and the rest of the world. The process of establishing the settler societies was accompanies by levels of physical and cultural genocide, disruption of settler societies, economies and governance, and movements of indigenous people. Today there important differences among the settler societies in demographic ratios of indigenous to non indigenous populations. Some of the main points in the introduction touch base on understanding the social relations within the settler societies and the struggles they have politically and economically. After the Civil War there was so much conflict going on in the United States; Mexican Americans, African Americans, and Native Americans were not considered apart of the dominant culture and lost control over their land to the United States who seized their territory by war and legal manipulations. Before the arrival of the European Settlers there were more than three hundred Native-American societies and they displayed a wide range of gender relationships. The Native American women shared decision making power with men and they shared positions of spiritual power with men. They were also chief agriculturists and controlled and distributed the crops they produced. This reading really shows how in each society whether it was Native American, Mexican Americans, or African Americans, women had a very important role to fulfill and the men and people of their colony depended on them especially in the Native American society. The Native women were all important especially in the labor force.
This reading really focuses on the time periods each group went through specifically, the Mexican-Americans, Native Americans, Euro Americans, and African Americans. It points out during Colonial America how each group functioned, the importance of women especially, and how they specifically contributed to the success of their society. During the Expansionist Republic the Native Americans were struggling through Indian Wars, the African Americans especially were experiencing hard times through slavery and the Mexican Americans were experiencing a heavy flow of Immigrants into their land. In Modern America the Native Americans went through a heavy loss of land but in 1934 the Indian Reorganization Act was created. The Mexican Americans were continuing their efforts to perfect the incomplete conquest. The African Americans were able to expand their middle class and became the institutional and financial support of the civil rights movement. The Euro-Americans gained much momentum and made a rise to the core of the world economy in structural relations with third world nations.

Indian Women as Cultural Mediators

This reading really goes in depth and shows how much Native women have impacted our world today. They were clearly not given the credit they deserved. Native women were very important in every major encounter between the Europeans and Indinas in the New World. They were there as wives, mistresses, or slaves and were able to translate, counsel, and guide the white men trough new territory. The Native women lived with white men and were there to care for their children as well as translate words. The voices and actions of Native women were never heard and never went down in the history books but they were nevertheless, important women of history that were percieved as powerless by European men but very powerful in the roles that they played in their own cultures and even more powerful in the impact that they have on thier own husbands and children. Some historic Native women such as La Malinche was remembered as an essential intermediary between Spainards and native communities. Pocahontas was in important intermediary between her own people and the English. Sacagawea is described as a heroine in American history. She was brought foward to interpret on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. She recognized many landmarks along the way and became an importnat leader in that expedition. Her rold may be symbolic of westward expansion but her presence was most important for what it told Indian people. She was a sign that Lewis and Clark came in peace and they needed her as a translator. Nancy Ward among the Choctaws were important participants in cultural change. My response to this reading is a great understanding how truly important Native women were to the white men. I got a really good understanding how important native women were as laborers and as intermediaries between their own people and the white men. Without these historic women today we may not be able to understand how cultures meet, how they change, and the improtant role that women play in that process.

What Native Women Weren't

This reading starts out with Smith trying to justify colonization for the Native Women. He described the Native men using the women like exercise. The English men who visited America described a munificent land of natural abundance. Europeans had long argued that the Indian man's idleness demonstrated the savagism of society. This reading really compared English ways to Native ways. A main point viewed by the English is the Native culture corresponds less to reality than in their culture such as hunting and fishing are viewed as a huge labor force for the natives. That provides them food and what they have to live on. They rely on agriculture product to survive. The first English colonists in Virginia depended on hunting and fishing for survival until the Virginia colony became established they were diminished in economic importance. A main point in this reading I think describes how as the years went on the Native way disintegrated more and more until the states were colonized. Through this reading Native Women were always described as hard working. Their work was an important determinant of her social status by the whites. After this reading my understanding of Native Women in the 17-1800's is they were treated as slaves to a certain degree, they didn't have much say in their work. Most of their work was determined by Native men.

Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence was established in 1776. The Declaration of Indigenous people and the Declaration of Independence were written over 200 years apart from each other. The Declaration of Indigenous people was very specific about stating the rights of the Indigenous people where as the Declaration of Independence focuses on the heart of the country and how it operates through congress and the people leading the country not necessarily the citizens who are living in the country. However in the amendments of the Constitution starts stating some rights to the individuals such as slavery is prohibited, women are given the right to vote, and anyone of any race or color are given the right to vote. The most important ideas of the Declaration is to establish these rights to have a consistent law that all the Americans can abide by. This Declaration was established to form a more perfect union like it says on the first line. My response to this Declaration is positive because I truly believe it lays down a guideline that the citizens, the president, the leaders of this country, and the whole congressional party follows.

Reading Respnose for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People

The main arguments that are stated within the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous people is they are given full rights and full freedom. In the General Assembly the second line down states that Affirming that indigenous people are equal to all other peoples. My response to that is whether you are African America, Hispanic, white, Asian, male or female, etc. you are entitled to the same rights as anyone else living in the United States. And now having this Declaration the Indigenous peoples are going to expect to be treated with the same rights and respect as anyone else in the United States. The most important idea in my opinion about this declaration is the Indigenous people being able to live a free life with rights in their favor where they won't be discriminated against, where they can have equal chances in the labor force and an equal chance at life. I think it is also there for non indigenous people to realize these people have the same opportunities and rights as we do and we do need to respect them as well as their rights. In this Declaration there are no Articles that point out certain rights for women, women are categorized in the indigenous peoples; so I think the United Nations need to make sure the rights are enforced for not just indigenous men but also for indigenous women. They need to be able to come in and have their rights to live just an equal life as the indigenous men.