Spirit and the Flesh: Sexual Diversity in American Indian Culture

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Summary: Mind-opening prespective on society's "Diversity-cide"
Review: A throughly documented and detailed historical and socialological account of American Indian society's andorgynous Benache, sex and sexual interactions. This book takes you back in history to understand how the Benache fit in the Indian culture and how that culture's sexual norms were very inclusive and accepting of what our society would label "diverse" people and actions.The historical prespective includes the invasion of european westerization and "Diversity-cide" of the indian culture.If one wants to be spiritually awakened to the possibility that our culture's (society) rules and norms aren't natural and that there are (were) societies where diverse individuals can feel good about themselves then this is the book for your soul.You'll feel good about yourself after reading this book. It might not specifically relate to you but you'll see that maybe we're headed back in the right direction

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Summary: Finally!!
Review: Finally, I found a book that speaks the truth about my people. It is extremely rare to find books that cover the issues of the two-spirit people. Williams does an amazing job of fully researching the topic . . including living with/among the people he interviews. Read this book!

Rating:
Summary: Finally!!
Review: Finally, I found a book that speaks the truth about my people. It is extremely rare to find books that cover the issues of the two-spirit people. Williams does an amazing job of fully researching the topic . . including living with/among the people he interviews. Read this book!

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Summary: Eye-opening, but reverse-biased
Review: Let's clear one thing up: Author Walter Williams is not advocating man/boy love simply by discussing it in this book. He goes out of his way, in fact, to distinguish between societies with man/boy love traditions and the role of the Berdache in various native american societies. He correctly notes that the man/boy cultures are generally "warrior" cultures where women have low status, whereas the Berdache role is both feminine and esteemed as such, and only possible in a society where women's culture is esteemed. Reviewer "Gemini Walker" should read more carefully...
Anyway, Williams' emphasis is on how many native American tribes had a respected, religion-based role for feminized males in their society. That said, I caution that if you're looking for a purely scholarly work, this isn't it; while well-researched, this book is also seasoned with Williams' flights of fancy about what might have happened between men in "fringe" cultures like Carribean Pirates and Wild West Cowboys. I admire Williams for making no secret about his bias, but I find his portrait of the Berdache somewhat idealistic, and unhindered by the dissapearence of its tribal context. I found myself plagued by questions of practicality regarding the role of the Berdache on a modern reservation. I also wish that he had explored parental attitudes towards their feminine-inclined male children in strongly self-identifying native american households which practice their tradional religion vs. parental attitudes of european-descent parents with strong attachment to their religion who also find themselves raising an effeminate male child.

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Summary: Troubling
Review: This book is fascinating, yet troubling. I attribute what troubles me to the obvious bias of the author, and yet -- it certainly made me think. Not so much as to how much of what the author says is true (and the rest of what he speculates); but how I feel about such speculation seeing the light of day. At the same time, I am not an advocate of censorship in any way. Perhaps these thoughts need to be available in order to make us aware of how people can make the erroneous connections about the gay movement that they do. I think a book like this does more harm than good. Homosexuality does not equal man/boy love. This author would suggest that it does.

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Summary: GREAT
Review: This is one of the best books you can find on this subject matter

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Summary: Native American respect for gender/sexual diversity.
Review: Winner of the Gay Book of the Year Award from the American Library Association, the Ruth Benedict Award from the Society of Lesbian and Gay Anthropologists, and an award from the World Congress for Sexology, this is an academic yet popularly written study by Walter L. Williams, professor of anthropology and gender studies at the University of Southern California. Based upon extensive archival research and by interviewing Indian people on many reservations (including Lakota Sioux, Navajo, and Yucatan Maya), Williams documents how many Native American religions and cultures venerate androgynous "two-spirit" people. Such persons, who are classified as neither men nor women, but another gender, are respected as spiritually gifted, hard-working contributors to their extended families and communities. The traditional and modern roles of both feminine males and masculine females are covered in this book, as well as their socially accepted same-sex marriages. A concluding chapter looks at other cultures around the world which have offered respected and accepted social positions for such gender variant persons.