Changing Ones: Third and Fourth Genders in Native North America [Hardcover]

Prof. Will Roscoe (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0312175396 | ISBN-13: 978-0312175399 | Publication Date: February 15, 1998 | Edition: 1st

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.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Will Roscoe makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of both Native American culture and alternative gender construction in this extension of the groundbreaking research in The Zuni Man-Woman. More than 150 tribes across America have members who engage in some form of gender identification beyond "male" and "female." Roscoe's study reveals how integral these third and fourth genders, and same-sex marriage, have been to the tribes' societies, in contrast to the intolerance demonstrated by the Judeo-Christian culture of the descendants of European invaders. His analysis of these tribes, rooted in the empirical evidence of their histories, also provides a fascinating counterpoint to theories about homosexual identity rooted solely in modern, Western preconceptions.

Review

"Will Roscoe is writing the history the history books don't talk about." -- Bay Area Reporter

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 334 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; 1st edition (February 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312175396
• ISBN-13: 978-0312175399
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #168,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #22 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Nonfiction > Sexuality

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on the topic, May 6, 2000

By 

Stephen O. Murray "Stephen O. Murray" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Changing Ones: Third and Fourth Genders in Native North America (Hardcover)

By starting with life experiences of some individual male and female berdache, Roscoe literally captivates readers, before carrying us into the comparative, theoretical, analytical second half which is sophisticated but clearly written. Will Roscoe's work on North American berdache/"two spirit" is far and away the most theoretically sophisticated and historically systematic work in a burgeoning field. While many people have been pawing at a few historical records and fantasizing a great deal, he has systematically gone through a multilingual literature, showed how the discourse unfolded in specific European national traditions, and sorted out continuities and discontinuities in space and in time (both in the discourse and in the phenomena of Native American cultural survivla, insofar as it can be glimpsed through Christianity-distorted lenses).

Although Roscoe's primary focus is on historical records of "berdache," he has also discusses contemporary "gay Indians," building on his earlier book _Living the Spirit_. My only regret is that Roscoe did not include his article "Was We'Wah [the Zuni "man-woman' he wrote an earlier book about] a homosexual?" in this book. _Changing Ones_ is the single indispensable book on the subject of gender and sexuality of Native American gender-mixing roles.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic resource on Native American 3rd/4th genders, December 23, 1999

By 

Vincent M. Silenzio "progressive.doc" (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Changing Ones: Third and Fourth Genders in Native North America (Hardcover)

Will Roscoe has compiled a wonderful and invaluable overview of a long-neglected topic. As he notes in the introduction to this volume, our language is currently burdened by an archaic and often unhelpful lexicon in addressing 'third and fourth genders' so commonly encountered in pre-Columbian North America. This book includes a compilation of the historical and current literature, and readers will find the extensive Glossary and the Tribal Index to be of great use as a source for further investigation. Roscoe's will undoubtedly remain one of the most useful contributions in this are

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Two-spirit people limited to homosexuality?, September 17, 2008

By 

Growth is Optional (FL, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Changing Ones: Third and Fourth Genders in Native North America (Paperback)

The book was an easy and enjoyable read. Roscoe makes the historical documents and stories a lot more accessible than just an offering of dry comments. I loved how he related the two spirited of then to those of today and how he discribed the many forms of discrimination they must face both then and now.

The only issue I find with this book is that, although he states that historically those of two spirits were not necessarily homosexual, nor were they limited to the activities of one gender over another but many times participated in both, he doesn't mention modern day two spirit people who identify as bisexual except in the context of a modern "problem", alongside alcoholism, drug use and prostitution. He does this while alluding to bisexuality being accepted historically and stating how some two spirit people had children, which at the time, was impossible without both genders being involved.

I find it interesting that although Roscoe is doing humanity a service by providing this kind of education to all as well as liberation those two spirit who may still feel alone in their reservations amid so much persecution; he is shortchanging the very essence of the Two Spirit person, denying ALL it's many shades. This only perpetuates the poisonous discrimination the gay movement has fought so hard to dismantle, yet keeps alive within it's own community.

In this aspect, I would consider this writing as the gay community has considered many of the first writings on homosexuality- up to a certain point, discriminating and ignorant. However, besides that it's an excellent book considering what is available out there.