Alternate Gender Roles in Native American and Hindu Societies
Sara Boater
Anthropology 101: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Cal Overton
January 09, 2014

While many cultures have defined societal gender roles that are specifically male or female, there are some cultures that also recognize that some individuals belong to an alternate gender role. Individuals that may participate in alternate gender roles are those that are born as male of female, but identify themselves as being the opposite of their biological sex. These individuals may also be only sexually attracted to members of the same sex as well. Some cultures recognize this alternate gender role, and even consider them to be holy, others may be more judgmental and may even harbor prejudice and hatred. While the reasons that people might identify themselves as a gender that is opposite of their own may be mostly the same from culture to culture, they way that they are viewed is usually quite different. It can also be said that many cultures choose not to even recognize alternate gender roles within their societies,which is usually because these individuals are highly misunderstood. Though many cultures end up fearing what they don't understand, there are two that have at one time embraced and celebrated the people that identified with the alternate gender roles. The Native Americans have their Two Spirits, and Indians have their Hijra. These two cultures may share many similar traits, however, the differences between the two can also be easily seen. A culture that has praised people who partake in an alternative gender role are Native Americas. The Native Americans that are identified as being Two Spirits are individuals who embody and exude both female and male characteristics, or “spirits.” From a traditional stand point, Two-Spirit people were once highly regarded as scared, as it was thought within their culture that their spirits essentially lived in two worlds, which gained them a higher level of insight and a deeper understanding of the world that they physically lived in. These Two-Spirited individuals were often called upon to be active in ceremonial roles and may even act as the Shaman, or medicine man, of the tribe. If the Two Spirit happened to be a woman, this was even more highly regarded and the woman would then be in a position to acquire more wealth and were more prominent members of the tribal society. Being a Two Spirit even allowed a woman to take part in things that were mostly male dominated, such as making trades. This was probably mostly beach a female Two Spirit was far more rare than the male counterpart. (Crapo, 2013) For Native Americas, the term Two Spirit is an all encompassing term that includes people who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, and they represent what we commonly refer to as the LGBT community. Once these individuals were believed to be holy or scared, but are now subject to the same degrading and dehumanizing behaviors as Americans that identify as being homosexual or a part of the LGBT community. This is most likely a result of the colonization of Native Americans and the after effects of what is known as “the boarding school era.” During this time, the traditional ways of the Native Americans were forced out by the Americans were didn’t care to understand their meaning. The Americans took the Native children to boarding schools and assimilated them into their culture and impressed their Christian beliefs upon them. (Evans-Campbell, Walters, Pearson & Campbell, 2012) In more recent times in America, Two Spirits have formed their own culture within the communities where they live, so that they can liberate themselves and be in a place where they can “be Indian and gay at the same time.” (Gilley, 2010) Traditionally, Native Americans didn’t have a term such as “homophobia” to describe the hatred that many people harbor against the LGBT community. Instead, they accepted each other as different and praised them as Two-Spirit. Now, even though the traditional ways of Native Americans is less prominent or noticeable throughout America, many Natives have worked diligently to ensure the ways of their people are not forgotten. Even Two Spirit communities work in efforts to bring back their sense of unity and embrace their identities in a newly accepted way. Native Americans are not the only culture to acknowledge people within their community as having alternative gender role. In India, individuals that identify as being an alternate gender are called Hijra. The individuals are male bodied but identify more with being a female. Within their culture they are considered as being a third sex, and if they are able to, they participate in elective castrations to emasculate themselves and continue life as an asexual being. In many cultures this also more commonly called being a eunuch. For the Hijra, the act of castration is performed as a sacrifice to appease the Hindu goddess Bahuchara Mata. This is done in hopes of being gifted with heightened spiritual abilities and powers. If for some reason the Hijra cannot procure a castration, he will learn to hide his penis between his legs to try to obscure it for visibility. (Hossain, 2012) Even though the castration is done to enable this person to live an asexual life, many Hijra rely on prostitution to be able to afford this surgery, so that they can truly claim to be Hijra, and be accepted in their culture as such. Due to the spiritual natural of this alternate gender, The Hijra are at times requested to perform sacred rituals. This is an important part of being Hijra and this role is taken very seriously. One very important ritual is called “badhai.,” which is performed with the use of a scared drum and is performed in order to demand gifts for newly born babies. This dancing and the use of ceremonial drums are considered are upheld as holy, and are a very sacred part of the ritual itself. Another ritual that Hijras perform is an initiation ritual called “baraiya.” In this ritual, non-hijras are not allowed to participate, as this would diminish the sanctity of the ritual itself. The participant goes through an arduous twelve day long induction process, and at the end, the inducted is recognized within the Hijrahood as being accepted as Hijra. This ritual process is exclusive to the Hindu Hijras, and is not very common in other cultures who recognize people as Hijras. (Hossain, 2012) Though Hijras are accepted and revered as sacred during many sacred rituals, they can often times find themselves to be socially excluded outside of performing rituals. This exclusion is the result of many factors, but primarily due their defined gender role. There are other side affects of being identified as Hijra that are commonly found within this culture. For example, many Hijras cannot secure gainful employment and are poverty stricken as a result. Also, Hijras may also find themselves excluded due to their particular religious beliefs. (Abdullah, 2012) A more heavy, and seriously impending issue that plagues many Hijras is prostitution. This a devastating issue for the societies affected for more than one reason as well. For the most part, prositution isn’t widely accept in India and those who sell sex are discriminated against. Another immense problem that prostitution causes is the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, such as HIV and AIDS. These types of diseases also cause poverty, as these illnesses are often untreated and can be quite debilitating, and can cause a person to become disabled. Though there are many ways that the alternate gender roles are similar, however, they also share some very opposing differences. For example, both the Two Spirits and the Hijras are given a special term used primarily in realm of their own cultures. This helps each alternate gender role to define themselves and identify each other which in their respective cultures. Also, each cultures have regarded their defined gender role as people with heightened spiritual power, and each is expected to perform or lead rituals. This also makes these particular people more spiritually responsible for the people in their society. Though this does bot mean that they are exempt from discrimination or homophobia. One noted difference between the two, is that Two Spirits can be male or female bodied, though they are more commonly male bodies. Hijras are always born either as male, or hermaphrodite. Native American Two Spirits have taken a more active role in reclaiming their heritage to fight discrimination, and Hijras haven’t yet found their voice. While Hijras are more prone to being exploited or involved in prostitution, Two -Spirits are not commonly involved in sex selling and are more educated about safe sex than Hiras. Each culture has specific spiritual ritual roles that are fulfilled only by a third sex individual. Though unfortunately, once they were both thought of as holy or sacred, they both suffer the same violence and homophobia that members of the LGBT community endure. Perhaps as the knowledge of alternative gender roles becomes more prominent, so will the rate of acceptance. If it does, the Two-Spirits and Hijras will be able to be accepted and treated as equals, and hopefully not subject to as much discrimination.

Refrences
Abdullah, M. A., Basharat, Z., Kamal, B., Sattar, N. Y., Hassan, Z. F., Jan, A. D., & Shafqat, A. (2012). Is social exclusion pushing the Pakistani Hijras (Transgenders) towards commercial sex work? a qualitative study. BMC International Health & Human Rights, 12(1), 32-40. doi:10.1186/1472-698X-12-32

Crapo, R. H. (2013). Cultural anthropology. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education.

Evans-Campbell, T., Walters, K. L., Pearson, C. R., & Campbell, C. D. (2012). Indian Boarding School Experience, Substance Use, and Mental Health among Urban Two-Spirit American Indian/Alaska Natives. American Journal Of Drug & Alcohol Abuse, 38(5), 421-427. doi:10.3109/00952990.2012.701358

Gilley, B. J. (2010). Native Sexual Inequalities: American Indian Cultural Conservative Homophobia and the Problem of Tradition. Sexualities, 13(1), 47-68. doi:10.1177/1363460709346114

Hossain A. Beyond Emasculation: Being Muslim and Becoming Hijra in South Asia. Asian Studies Review [serial online]. December 2012;36(4):495-513. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 12, 2014.