"The Berdache Tradition"

According to Williams, a berdache is defined as a "morphological male who does not fill a society's standard man's role, who has a non-masculine character." In Native American societies, berdaches play an important role both religiously and economically. They are given specific roles in their religion and are not expected to support their family like a male would, but rather they are required to do some of the women's work and portray the behaviors and clothing of a woman. In their community, they are not viewed as a man or a woman, but their own alternative gender. It is not uncommon for a berdache to become a wife to a man, Williams explained in the article. In our society, the idea of a berdache would be so controversial. The idea of a man being a man biologically but taking on womenly roles would never be accepted in America. People would be quick to judge and not respectful towards berdaches because it is not what we as Americans are used to. We are used to the concrete idea of having two and only two genders. In Native American cultures, the idea of gender goes far beyond males and females. Berdaches are seen as visionaries and mediators in their culture; they are highly respected and play a major role in the Native American society. I thought that this article was really interesting because I have never heard of anything like this before. I was brought up thinking that there are two genders in this world, male and female; this article has made me reconsider my views on gender and gender roles.