Two Spirits

    This week we focused on the discussion on the definition of "Two Spirits" in native American culture. 

    We started with the tragic story of this kind-hearted boy who likes boys and lives as a beautiful girl. In the film "Two Spirits," as well as the readings, we were introduced that although the use of "two spirits" is fairly new, the concept had came to being way before the time we imagined in native Americans' culture. For them, this kind of people are sacred instead of merely acceptable. I am not shocked by it, yet it is actually quite a surprise and it is really good to know this information. 

    I come from China, and I was not introduced any bad things about native American people.  No matter it is a kind of propaganda or not, what I knew was that the "Indians" might have the same ancestors as we do, and just as described in  many films they are good people who loved nature and were invaded by western "civilized" cultures. I think this "civilization" is exactly the thing that blocked the old believes of special sexuality and other genders worldwide. With science improving and technology developing, the "western" way of thinking was used to making definitions for everything and tended to simplify concepts in scientific ways. Also, for easier control over the people by the ruling class, a lot of things might have been thrown away. What's left is a "civilized and simple" culture that has scientific proof or professional terms defined. That is why right now we are reexamining what we knew in a modern way that can be better accommodated to the knowledge we have now. 

    Talking about terms, we have someone mentioned the term "drag queen" today and pointed out how different this kind of phenomenon is from the topic we were talking about. It reminded me of another term "new half." This phrase is a Japanese invented term that seems like a borrowed word yet  not. That is also where I was first introduced to normalize the concept of transgender and see them with no difference, where the Japanese people actually are doing a great job. Of course, I was not taught to look down upon anyone but it was not suppose to be the normal things that I was used to in my system of education back in China. However, in recent years this topic has been more and more covered thanks to the internet. However, I still have the doubt about whether misunderstanding should be categorized into prejudice and discrimination. We recently had a case on the Chinese twitter about an old gay couple trying to get married. They tried to attract attention and get support by fans on the internet. Hundreds of thousands of people retwitted for them. Yet, on the day of the wedding, it was their sons who interrupted the ceremony. They were kind of sad and people were blaming the sons on the forums. But are the sons really the only ones to be blamed? After all gay marriage is not so widely accepted by the people in China, especially for those who DO NOT use internet at all. There might be difficulties for them to face because of the social conventions. I think every improvement needs a process. So as things here in the U.S. So as new identities.