Views Of Native American And Euro American Culture On The Intersexed Child, Or "Two Spirit."
Ryan Morris
Thomas Edison State College

Native Americans have viewed intersexed or “two-spirit” children with great respect for a very long time. They thought that children who were born with both male and female characteristics were blessed to have both of them. Most Native Americans were naturally very spiritual and believed that all children were a blessing. Thus, the name given to children who possessed both male and female traits was called “two-spirit.” “Therefore, many Native American religions, rather than stigmatising such persons, often looked to them as religious leaders and teachers (Williams).” Native Americans believed that these children were more beneficial to the group because they could perform the tasks of men and women. “A feminine male who preferred to do women's work (gathering wild plants or farming domestic plants) was logically expected to marry a masculine male, who did men's work (hunting and warfare). Because a family needed both plant foods and meat, a masculine female hunter, in turn, usually married a feminine female, to provide these complementary gender roles for economic survival. The gender-conforming spouse of two-spirit people did not see themselves as "homosexual" or as anything other than "normal"(Williams).” This makes a tremendous amount of sense because it allows the two-spirit individual to live a normal life that includes a family and all of the necessities of the parents will fall into place for the children. European Americans, especially Christians, viewed these types of relationships in an entirely different manner. They did not believe that two people of the same sex were supposed to be married to one another. Therefore, “Two-spirit people were often forced, either by government officials, Christian missionaries or their own community, to conform to standard gender roles. Some, who could not conform, either went underground or committed suicide (Williams).” Today there is a big push in regards to individual’s sexuality. Every man is supposed to be treated with equality and with the same amount of respect regardless of his sexual preference or orientation. Even though today there are still some signs of discrimination shown towards the intersexed community, more people are coming forward and launching different groups and organizations to protect the rights of intersexed people. The most common group at the moment is the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender). The phrase “History repeats itself” definitely comes into mid in regards to contemplating this topic. As we continue to travel into the future, it is believed that the intersexed community will potentially become part of the normal group as they were back in the early days of the Native Americans.

References:
Williams, W. (2010, October 11). The 'two-spirit' people of indigenous North Americans. Retrieved February 3, 2015, from http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/oct/11/two-spirit-people-north-america