Mohave vs. Western Society: Gender Norms, Values, Identities, and Roles

Gender Norms, Values, Identities, and Roles: Mohave vs. Western Society

There most likely is no American aged above ten who does not know 'Pat', the androgynous fictional character on Saturday Night Live, whose audience could not distinguish as either male or female. There is no doubt that people in today's society would not question a person's gender or sex unless it deviates from that which is considered 'the norm'. The norm, in our society, is that a person has to clearly fit into either of two sex groups; male or female, which are binary opposites of each other. Categorizations such as transsexuals are a relatively new (modern) constructs. Many non-western cultures, however, do not apply this kind of binary thinking; they recognize that more categories exist. To this end, most native cultures have more than two institutionalized gender/sex categories. This text explores one key anthropological example -- the Berdache, also referred to as 'the two-spirit people' in traditional American tribes. What stands out in the end is that the strict gender/sex schema adopted by western societies only gives rise to ambiguities that cause unnecessary harm to intersex individuals who cannot be classified as either female or male.

The Two Spirit Gender Category

This is a third gender category among the traditional American tribes. The Europeans could not comprehend the behavior and features of these individuals because, to them, one could strictly be either male or female, and not both. Since intersex individuals somehow blurred these lines, they were branded 'two spirit' people (Eskridge Jr., 1993). Of fundamental importance is that this is a gender rather than a sex category, given that it is based on culture and not genital appearance (Eskridge Jr., 1993). These individuals are gender variants; they neither take on typical gender roles nor cross fully to the opposite gender. A male (female) gender variant is a male (female) who displays a feminine (masculine) character in their hairstyle, dressing, and interests (Martin, 2013).

The Roles, Norms, and Values of the 'Two Spirits' within the Mohave Community

The Mohave tribe is found in the south west desert, along the California/Nevada border (Martin, 2013). The Mohave culture has two gender-variant roles in addition to the usual male and female roles. Hwame is the name given to a female gender variant, whereas the male one is referred to as Alyha (Nanda, 1999). The Alyha and Hwame would start acting strange around the time when puberty would normally occur. Essentially, the Alyha would begin avoiding masculine duties and preferring to play with dolls or engage in domestic chores, whereas the Hwame would abandon these for more masculine activities such as shooting bows and arrows (Nanda, 1999). If this continued long enough, the child's family would prepare for a transvestite ceremony, in which the child's initiation and inclination would be announced to the community. Alyhas got married to males, and at times made better wives than females (Nanda, 1999).

Alyha and Hwame were accepted by the community; rarely were they teased or ridiculed by other people. Everyone seemed to understand that they, like any other person, had no control over their inclination, and that it was something they could neither resist nor help (Nanda, 1999).

As a matter of fact, they were highly respected because they were believed to possess spiritual power and an incomprehensible understanding of both sexes

Alyha and Hwame clearly demonstrate two additional gender roles separate and distinct from the usual male and female (Nanda, 1999). The community recognized them as different from men and women, although they imitated their typical roles. Alyha had relations with men, and Hwame with women, but the community did not view them as homosexuals like westerners would (Nanda, 1999).

In the Mohave, and other cultures that have the two spirit gender category, gender and sex are distinct and separable. Sex is determined by the appearance of genitals; whereas gender is determined by the roles an individual is inclined to perform (Nanda, 1999).

Gender and Sex in the Western society

Westerners hold that both sex and gender are social constructs determined by society, such that an individual dresses and chooses a hairstyle on the basis of what the society expects of their sex (Nanda, 1999). To this end, gender and sex are, from a western viewpoint, inseparable (Nanda, 1999). When a nurse in the delivery room says "Congratulations, it's a girl," they have literally assigned a gender based on sex (Nanda, 1999).

Along with the construction of gender, society imposes certain expectations and norms;

i) There are only two gender categories

ii) Membership in either gender is general

iii) An individual's genitals determine their gender

iv) An individual's gender is invariant

v) The female/male dichotomy is natural

vi) Everyone must belong to one of the two genders; and any exceptions are not to be taken seriously

vii) Permanent inter-gender transfer is not possible

What these norms reinforce is a two sex/gender schema that recognizes two basic categories and a by-the-way 'queer category' catering for anyone who does not fit into the two basic groups (Nanda, 1999). To be considered normal, one simply has to fit into one of the two categories, and any individual born with features that do not clearly place him in either is forced to pick a gender, and stick with it (Nanda, 1999). Inglehart and Baker (2000) point out that such births occur more often than most people think; approximately 4% of the total births in America each year fall into the intersex category. A significant number of intersex individuals have been greatly affected by attempts to fit them into the strict female and male gender categories, just so their families would be saved from the social stigma of being associated with a hermaphrodite (Inglehart & Baker, 2000).

David Reimer is a perfect case of an intersex individual who underwent a lifetime of difficulty after a failed 'corrective attempt'. He was born with both male and female features, and named Bruce, but had his testicles removed at the age of 21 months and was brought up as a girl under the name Brenda (Nanda, 1999). However, the child could simply not act as a girl, and since 'her' development was slower than that of 'her' classmates, Brenda was held in first grade for years (Nanda, 1999). In puberty, contrary to her female age-mates, Brenda developed broad shoulders and a thick neck; the stigma was so much that she attempted suicide three times before finally undergoing a mastectomy and corrective surgery, and renaming himself David. He married, and adopted two children, but the wife later left on the basis that David could not give her own children. David eventually committed suicide.