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Essay / Homosexuality By Michel Foucault - 1810
In many ways, gender is more fluid in Native American cultures. Navajo culture has four genders that vary in gender identity (Zevallos, 2013). This suggests that Native American cultures do not construct gender as a singular or innate possession of individuals, with Western binary gender roles for men and women. Williams et al. (2005) explains that possessing both feminine and masculine qualities is part of Native American spirituality. Two-Spirit people often take on the roles of wives and husbands of the opposite sex, and some may have diverse sexual experiences with men and women (Williams et al, 2005). Additionally, Two Spirits has a sanctioned practice that allows a person to swap genders at specific times (Zevallos, 2013). Therefore, “homosexuality” or “bisexuality” for Two-Spirit people is not an expression of sexual desire, nor is it an expression of gender identity. They express their sexuality in culturally defined terms rather than in purely individual ways.