On Sat, 17 Dec 2005 10:07:15 -0800, Bob Tiernan   
    wrote:   
      
   >> Many but not all American Indian nations defined 5   
   >> genders as opposed to the naive binary male-female   
   >> Anglo-European system.   
   >   
   >   
   >Yeah, and they also believed in a Sun God etc.   
   >Talk about naive.   
      
   "They" are several hundred American Indian nations in the US and many,   
   many more in Canada, Mexico, South America, etc., each with their own   
   spiritualities.  Maybe whichever specific one believed in a Sun God   
   did not have a multiple gender description.  The Comanches and at   
   least some Apaches didn't, for instance.  The dominant society   
   religious creation myths have a lot of problems if one actually looks   
   at them.   
      
   Maybe "naive" was the wrong word. How about "unrealistic and neurotic"   
   instead.  The binary model obviously doesn't match the reality, but oh   
   that's right -  scientific examination is no longer fashionable in the   
   US so such a match is irrelevant.  A 5 gender system seems to be a   
   accurate scenario and in fact a better match for the frontier rural   
   societies we've discussed. But realities may not matter in the face of   
   artificial deep seated prejudices.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)