The gender struggle has been around since the beginning of time, for example, Indian women worked the land, lead the soldiers, traded at the market place, they had babies and a vast knowledge of medicine. They planted herbs and knew from the land which herbs would cure what illness. This is amazing knowledge and their remedies are still sought after today. European men it seems refused to trade with women and so in America It began, the change which would over time little by little the value of the women began to diminish. This decline is what changed the thought process of the public about women. In many Indian cultures a "homosexual" person is viewed as a twin spirit, the are revered as a god or goddess, the have automatic respect within the community, one source describes the process as asking the individual to remain in the hut while a fire is lit as the hut begins to burn the person runs out and which ever basket they grab is their dominant "gender". Each basket is filled with either male or female tools, ie knitting/basket weaving supplies or knives and hunting supplies. This practice was to determine the significant strengths of the individual as well as how this great spirit would best serve the community as a whole. This practice was used and accepted by the community and the individual was relieved to know their strengths.
In our American culture, we hate and discriminate against people before we even know their story! A practice that would indulge a ritual like this would not be tolerated in our society, we are taught to hate and judge first. We do not tolerate different !!
I love the practices used in past cultures to embrace the differences within human beings. I may not understand someones life path, however, I will always try to listen and understand to the best of my limited brain space..
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