#people berdaches and left handed bears

[tenth-sentence]

As anthropologist Jay Miller has observed, "Hunting tribes were also astute enough observers . . . to notice that other Animal People had hermaphroditic members, and often equated these with the berdaches [two-spirits]."⁶⁵

65. Miller, "People, Berdaches, and Left-handed Bears", p. 286. Whether direct knowledge of animal homosexuality (rather than transgender) has contributed to indigenous belief systems remains an open question, although it seems likely that observation of a species' same-sex activity may also have been a factor in its status as a shamanic "power animal". Although there are no specific reports of this in the ethnographic literature (which is, however, notoriously incomplete with regard to matters of sexuality, particularly homosexuality), there are several suggestive cases. In a number of Native American cultures, animals are selected as symbolically important for shamanistic practices because their biology and behavior exhibit particularly salient or "unusual" features. In the Pacific Northwest culture region, for example, "animals that shamans relied on as spirit helpers [including shore birds, sea mammals, otters, and Mountain Goats] were those that inhabit border areas of the environment such as the shoreline, the water's surface, or the tops of trees. Their behavior was thought to represent the supernatural ability to move through the different zones of the cosmos" – echoing the shaman's ability to traverse different worlds. (This also corresponds to the well-established ecological principle in Western science that the greatest diversity, flexibility, and environmental richness is to be found in the border zones between major ecosystems, such as the region where forest meets grassland.) This is especially true for the (American) oystercatcher, whose preeminent status as a spirit animal in Tlingit shamanism is based not only on its inhabiting border zones, but also its furtive behavior and habit of being among the first creatures to sound alarm at the approach of danger (likened to the shaman's function as "guardian" for his or her people) (Wardwell, A. [1996] Tangible Visions: Northwest Coast Indian Shamanism and Its Art, pp. 40-43, 96, 239 [New York: Monacelli Press]; for similar observations concerning totemic or shamanic animals in Yup'ik and New Guinean cultures, see Fienup-Riordan, Boundaries and Passages, pp. 124, 130-31, and Jorgensen, "Echidna and Kuyaam", pp. 374, 378. Homosexuality is also part of the biological repertoires of many of these species (e.g., various shore birds, sea mammals, and Mountain Goats) or else of their close relatives (e.g., the [Eurasian] Oystercatcher). It is possible, therefore, that observed sexual variance in animals – paralleling the shaman's straddling of sexual boundaries – might also have contributed to the spiritual importance of such creatures. Another interesting example concerns red ants, which feature prominently as shamanic helpers in a number of indigenous cultures of south-central California (all of which, incidentally, recognize two-spirit people). The religious and cultural importance of ants is tied to their powerful medicinal and hallucinogenic properties as well as their use in ritual activities. This includes the extraordinary practice of swallowing large quantities of live ants to induce visions and the acquisition of spirit-animal helpers. Although no homosexual activity has yet been reported for these species (identified as belonging to the genus Pogonomyrmex), nor is human gender or sexual variance directly associated with these ant-related beliefs or practices, there are some intriguing clues. Recently, for examples, homosexual activity was discovered in a different species of Red Ant (Formica subpolita) endemic to the semidesert regions of the western United States (O'Niell 1994:96). Moreover, among the Kawaiisu people (where shamanic ant practices are especially prominent), unusual habits of animals are singled out as a potent spiritual sign, and two-spirit people (who may occupy positions of power, e.g., as chiefs) are reported to be particularly attuned to such animal behaviors (Groark, K. P. [1996] "Ritual and Therapeutic Use of 'Hallucinogenic' Harvester Ants [Pogonomyrmex] in Native South-Central California", Journal of Ethonobiology 16:1-29;

Zigmond, M [1977] "The Supernatural World of the Kawaiisu", pp. 60-61, 74, in T. C. Blackburn, ed. Flowers of the Wind: Papers on Ritual, Myth, and Symbolism in California and the Southwest, pp. 59-95 [Socorro, N. Mex.: Ballena Press]). Once again, it is not unreasonable to suppose that indigenous knowledge or observations of homosexuality (or other sexual variance) in red ants might have been an additional factor in their elevation to religious prominence. Certainly these examples are highly speculative, but they suggest some fascinating connections between animal biology, shamanic practices, and two-spiritedness that deserve further investigation.

"Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity" - Bruce Bagemihl

#book quote #biological exuberance #bruce bagemihl #nonfiction #anthropologist #jay miller #people berdaches and left handed bears #hermaphrodite #two spirit #shamanism #red ant #hallucinogens #oystercatcher #tlingit #yup'ik #new guinea #pogonomyrmex #formica subpolita #kawaiisu

[nb-in-sf]

2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson

There’s a bunch of stuff going on in this novel, in which the worldbuilding is more interesting than the plot. The part relevant to this blog: it's been discovered that some forms of physical androgyny are associated with a longer lifespan in humans.

In this book the regular chapters are interspersed with worldbuilding infodumps in the form of collections of what appear to be excerpts from books/articles. Here’s the infodump we get on the Gender Shit:

The longevity increase associated with bisexual therapies has led to very sophisticated surgical and hormonal treatments for interventions in utero, in puberty, and during adulthood. The XX/XY dichotomy still exists, but in the context of a wide variety of habit, usage, and terminology feeling of gender identity is formed in the hippocampus and hypothalamus in the second month; the original orientation is persistent. If the desire is to create a feeling of undifferentiation or ambivalence, alterations need to begin in utero in the first eight weeks of gestation keep both the Müllerian and Wolffian ducts active, in what is still the bi-potential gonad. Anti-Müllerian hormones activated by genes in the Y chromosome can be allowed to attach only to one of the fetal Müllerian ducts. The effect is normally ipsilateral, each testis suppressing Müllerian development only on its own side, so XY embryos then need a moderate level of androgen insensitivity introduced by the fourth week, in order to avoid masculinization of the hypothalamus, where sexual differences in the brain will be concentrated. XX embryos need the application of androgens to one Müllerian duct in order to stimulate the growth of a Wolffian duct. As that Wolffian duct develops, the Müllerian duct on that side will experience apoptosis underlying genetic makeup is the difference between androgyny and gynandromorphy, often not discernible by body features. XX humans with conserved Wolffian ducts are gynandromorphs; XY humans with conserved Müllerian ducts are androgyns. In both, androgens and estrogens are supplied with hormone pumps such that the child is born with potential for both kinds of genital development in the body, awaiting the choices prenatally selected bisexuality has the strongest positive correlation with longevity. Hormonal treatments begun at puberty or during adulthood also have positive effects on longevity, but the psychological set will be hormonal treatments support the surgical addition of a functioning uterus in the abdominal wall above the penis alteration of the clitoris into a small functioning penis, with testicles grown using either conserved Wolffian ducts or stem cells from the subject. Gynandromorphs can ordinarily father only daughters, as the construction of a Y chromosome from an X chromosome involves problematic females adding functional reproductive masculinity are helped by a process imitating a natural 5-alpha-reductase deficiency principal categories of self-image for gender include feminine, masculine, androgynous, gynandromorphous, hermaphroditic, ambisexual, bisexual, intersex, neuter, eunuch, nonsexual, undifferentiated, gay, lesbian, queer, invert, homosexual, polymorphous, poly, labile, berdache, hijra, two-spirit, cultures deemphasizing gender are sometimes referred to as ursuline cultures, origin of term unknown, perhaps referring to the difficulty there can be in determining the gender of bears

I wondered whether “ursuline” was meant as a reference to Ursula Le Guin and The Left Hand of Darkness; apparently it was.

The portrayal of sex and gender in 2312 is realistically complex and nuanced: it's clear that the possible sexed embodiments in humans are numerous and varied, as are the words used to describe them:

distinctions can be pretty fine, with some claiming that gynandromorphs do not look quite like androgyns, nor like hermaphrodites, nor eunuchs, and certainly not like bisexuals -- that androgyns and wombmen are quite different -- and so on.

It is somewhat surprising to me that a book written in 2012 would use "bisexual" to refer to a type of sexual anatomy rather than a sexual orientation. Though it's said that some people differentiate bisexuals and hermaphrodites from androgyns and gynandromorphs, it's not at all clear what the difference is supposed to be. It does appear that there is substantial overlap between the terms "androgyn" and "wombman", since both terms are used to describe Wahram. On the other hand, he also remarks that "My mother was a wombman [...] and my father was an androgyn" as if the two are different things. The word "nondescript" also shows up, to describe people of unknown gender and, in one case, a gynandromorph android.

At least one typical anatomical arrangement for gynandromorphs is to have small male genitalia in front of the vulva, and for androgyns, a small vulva behind the male parts. Wahram recognizes the protagonist Swan as a gynandromorph on the basis of this anatomy. The description of how Swan and Wahram have sex doesn't totally make sense to me, though:

Now it was said that their particular combination of genders was the perfect match, a complete experience, "the double lock and key," all possible pleasures at once; but Wahram had always found it rather complicated. As with most wombmen, his little vagina was located far enough down in his pubic hair that his own erection blocked access to it; the best way to engage there once he was aroused was for the one with the big vagina to slide down onto the big penis most of the way, then lean out but also back in, in a somewhat acrobatic move for both partners. Then with luck the little join could be made, and the double lock and key accomplished, after which the usual movements would work perfectly well, and some fancier back-and-forths also.

Wait, so... if they both have the penis in front and the vagina in back... how does that work...?

We're given this information about pronouns:

As many people have significant lifelong quantities of male and female hormones and phenotypically are bisexual, intersex, or indeterminate, the pronouns "he" and "she" are often avoided, or when used are a matter of self-designation, sometimes changing according to situation. Referring to someone else with such pronouns is the equivalent of using "tu" rather than "vous" in French, indicating familiarity with the person [...] Alternative ungendered pronouns in English include "it," "e," "them," "one," "on," and "oon," but none of them have

The narrative uses "he" or "she" for everyone except a few people of unknown or in-between gender who get no pronouns at all. Swan, a gynandromorph, is a "she"; but the gynandromorph androids are not given pronouns (while the one with a female body is called "she"). Jean Genette is called "he", but extracanonical materials describe him as "of indeterminate gender". Swan does use "them" once in dialog, in reference to a person of unknown gender.

More quotes:

it is not a case of "there is no gender," but rather a complex and ambiguous efflorescence, sometimes called a fully ursuline humanity, other times just a mess gatherings composed entirely of gender-indeterminate people are a new social space that some find intensely uncomfortable, eliciting comments such as "like a nakedness I hadn't thought could happen," or "you're only yourself, it's terrifying," and so on. [...] Some people like to tell that part of their story; others never mention it at all. Some dress across gender and otherwise mix semiotic gender signals to express how they are feeling in that moment. Outrageous macho and fem behaviors, either matched with phenotype and semiotic indicators or not, create performance art ranging from the kitschy to the beautiful as there are now people close to three meters tall, and others less than a meter tall, gender may no longer be the greatest divide in human [...] we all began female, and always had both sexual hormones in us. We always had masculine and feminine behavioral traits, which we had to train into gender-appropriate behaviors, even though they were traits that everyone has. We selectively encouraged or repressed traits, so for most of our history we have reinforced gender. But in our deepest selves we were always both. And now, in space, openly both. Very small or very tall -- human at last

Anyway the inclusion of all this gender diversity is cool, but it would be even cooler if the book didn't still end with a traditional "til-death-do-us-part" wedding between an XX gynandromorph called “she” and an XY androgyn called “he”, after the usual boring and pastede-on-yay romance in which they seem to only be together because they are of “opposite” genders. :\

#nonbinary #humans and transhumans #hermaphrodites