By Lawrence Doe
Louis Sawaquat, Odawa elder, taught me parts of his Native cosmology. The sky is referred to as masculine, and the earth is feminine. It is the relationship between sky and earth that brings about all life. The relationship between the female and the male. He taught Grandmother Moon is female, a feminine aspect within Father Sky. Deep within Mother Earth, there is fire, a male aspect. Neither gender is simply one thing, rather a mix of feminine and masculine characteristics with one or the other being prominent. I was surprised at how common this interpretation of the observed world is across many separate cultures. Most North and South American Indigenous peoples use these archetypal distinctions. The Greeks, Romans, and Sumerians also did. Egyptian and Hindu beliefs also used gender labels, identifying Earth as male and Sky as female.
Louis’s teaching that all life was brought about by the relationship between Earth and Sky was not new to me. It is biologically evident in the plants rooted in the earth, taking in nutrients and water from the soil and absorbing sunlight to produce more nutrients for themselves and the entire food chain. What was new to me in his teachings was the part about both male and female genders carrying elements of the other within. Neither is specifically one gender.
Modern science has shown that this ancient cosmology actually exists within the human body. The study of sex-based hormones reveals that we all carry both testosterone and estrogen within us. The dominant hormone and chromosome makeup of the body control the expression of female or male characteristics. The ratio of the two hormones varies widely within each person, resulting in some outwardly identifiable differences. We have names for some of those, like “tomboy” and “girly-girl” in girls, and “sissy” for boys not acting as expected for their gender.
The current American definitions and expectations of gender are so rigid and specific that anthropologists have made mistakes in identifying ancient graves under study. Modern gender roles of women as homemakers and men as warriors/hunters had historically been applied to ancient peoples based on burial objects found in graves. Weapons meant male burial, and an ornament without weapons was interpreted as female. The recent ability to extract DNA from very ancient teeth has proven that the assumed stereotypes are wrong. Many DNA-identified female graves contained the tools of war and the hunt, indicating their major roles in their society as warriors and hunters. This indicates that those societies accepted important individual contributions to the well-being of the community regardless of gender.
What we now call “gender dysphoria” and “intersex traits” have been recognized long before modern science could identify the biological roots. Sumerian culture recognized multiple genders— male, female, and “kalu” or “gala” representing several gender fluid expressions. Ancient Jewish texts identified six, including four distinctions of various blends of male/female traits. The ancient Greeks identified masculine men and feminine women with many “shades in between.” Each culture has historically defined for itself which of the many variations in human gender expressions were acceptable and assigned useful roles for them in society.
Chromosomes are another gender influencing element residing in human bodies. Based on the two combinations—XX and XY, we can anticipate either a girl or a boy outcome. Human biology does not always meet our social expectations, as there are approximately 27 variations of multiple chromosomal outcomes of human conception. There are even more exceedingly rare examples. I am no scholar of human biology, but I do know the variety of chromosomes and their effect on DNA results in a wide variety of gender identified physical appearance and behavior that is accepted or rejected by society.
The current conflict in the US over gender and sexual identity is damaging because our current definitions and expectations of gender roles are too limited in the face of citizens of a free society demanding the right to self-expression. We are ignoring the fact that the ratio of sex-based hormones embodies widely varied capacities in individuals with a specific outward appearance of gender. When I was a high school track star in the 1960’s the girls’ distance race was one quarter mile because adults didn’t think girls could run farther, and girls’ basketball was half court for the same reason. Women were finally allowed to run the Boston Marathon in 1972 after a woman snuck into the race and finished in record time. Look at the excitement caused by female basketball players in the WNBA. Yes, women were and are hunters and warriors.
The debate between acceptance and rejection continues. While we argue over which bathrooms and sports teams our children can access, we are missing a fundamental benefit to our society. Useful talents and perspectives are marginalized and underdeveloped when we cast aside people divergent from rigid gender definitions. One doesn’t have to look far to see the useful contributions of those living with “shades in between.” Our modern fear and rejection of variation is often based on interpretations of sacred texts written before science could identify the natural, biological results created by the very gods in those texts. Many ancient societies, even without the scientific underpinnings, accepted variations of gender identities. Informed by our expanded biological knowledge in a free society, we have the opportunity to become more tolerant, at least, of all effects of hormones and chromosomes. To do otherwise, to deny these facts, is willful ignorance and often mean-spirited. Refusal is not a case of “ignorance is bliss” but rather a case of dogma and fear damaging some of our children and adult citizens. It would be easier in some ways if this issue were absolute. Many folks believe in the “either male or female” gender, but our current understanding proves otherwise. The wide variety of blended hormones and chromosomes is a true reflection of most of the natural world, where biodiversity is the basis of healthy, sustainable systems. Healthy human societies benefit from a diverse gene pool and acceptance of varied ideas and citizens. What a grim world it would be if all around us were monochromatic. Our world is awash in beautiful colors and magnificent diversity. If only our hearts and minds could follow.
