The Zuni Man-Woman

For this book The Zuni Man-Woman William Roscoe received the 1991 Margaret Mead Award presented by the American Anthropological Association and the Society for Applied Anthropology; and along with the high academic award, he has written an extremely readable book. For those interested in the impact of the dichotomous world-view of Western society on an individual's role in that society, this book provides an eye-opening experience. "Gender", the role assignment or assumption that individuals undergo, is clearly compared with "sex" characterized by individual sexual practices.Based on a study of Zuni gender roles illustrated by the life of berdache We'wha during the Nineteenth Century, Roscoe leads the reader to examine a third gender choice available in that matrilineal society. This "third gender" provided an avenue for the expression of variations in both sex and gender which allowed individuals to make unique contributions to their communities. Their contributions crossed the barriers imposed by traditional views of masculinity and femininity. The social, religious and artistic contributions made possible by an accepted "third gender" benefitted Zuni society by increasing the pool of individuals who could contribute their talents to that society.Today American gender roles are shifting also, and this author gives us historical evidence that many societies have benefitted from uncoupling "gender" and "sex" in the public imagination. As a result of this author's research, it is possible to view the employed mother's syndrome of trying to "do it all" and the questions men have about their inclinations toward artistic ventures, nurturing activities, and service to others in a new light. The historian Roscoe provides rich examples from a variety of Native American societies that avoided the trap of either/or gender identities. Further he provided a detailed review of the impact of both Zuni and Puritan ethics on the well being of the Zuni and the "American" tribes and their individual members.If you are interested in Southwestern Native Americans, the Nineteenth Century politics of ethnic absorption or extermination, or the impact of gender roles on individual opportunities and on the strength of a society, then you must read the contribution of this historian.

There is a growing movement of gay lesbian and gender diverse people to discover their own history, to learn what was taken from us. When we learn how vast our history is, how it has spanned the full reaches of time, we can challenge those who would deny us our beauty and purpose in the world.Read this book, it is one of the classics to gaining this understanding.