Artifact 4 discusses third gender, the concept of two spirit in some Native American cultures and how these concepts help reinforce the definitions of sex and gender.

          Third gender describes either one’s self or societies identification as being neither male or female, but rather intersexed. The biggest struggle I have come across while learning about third gender and transgendered individuals is recognizing that it is not them wanting to be male or female, but rather that it is what they are in their own head. Just as I am a male in my head they are what they are despite their anatomical sex. Being intersexed allows individuals to belong to their own identification rather than being forced into something they are not.

          The idea of “two spirit” in Native American culture is interesting. It agian describes ones gender rather than sexual orientation. There were many important Native individuals who regarded themselves as being two spirit and were highly respected in Native American culture. It is also fascinating to see that according to “Two Spirit: The Story of a Movement Unfold” that there were various native cultures that allowed same sex marriage even before it was legal in the state. The Native American LGBTQ movement is founded in the fact that their “history is just as much wrapped up in the story of Indian Country as is each other.” This makes sense as there are many Native American cultures which rely heavily on having both masculine and feminine attributes to make the whole person.

          Doing all of this research and seeing how different cultures, even my own, deal with and identify this concept of third gender just helps to reaffirm my learned definitions of sex and gender. Sex deals with your anatomical identification while gender refers to your personal identification which may be different then the expected normal. Third gender pertains to this middle ground stance where neither male nor female fits and allows individuals who identify as intersex who at birth have a mix of the defining characteristics that define male and female to belong to their own group. It’s not a simple question of is it 0 or 1, its now a question of 0, 1, 2, and everything in between.

Cadet Jonathan Verhoff

BI-218X

VMI Class of 2017

HR: NONE