Karankawa People - Gender Roles

Gender Roles

One unusual aspect of the Karankawa culture was their distinction in having three gender roles: male, female, and a third role taken on by some males. Males who took on this third role are called berdache (Karankawa: monanguia), and generally took on female roles and activities in daily life, while playing a special role in religious rites. According to some accounts, the berdache were passive sexual partners for the other males.

Read more about this topic:  Karankawa People

Famous quotes containing the words gender and/or roles:

    Most women of [the WW II] generation have but one image of good motherhood—the one their mothers embodied. . . . Anything done “for the sake of the children” justified, even ennobled the mother’s role. Motherhood was tantamount to martyrdom during that unique era when children were gods. Those who appeared to put their own needs first were castigated and shunned—the ultimate damnation for a gender trained to be wholly dependent on the acceptance and praise of others.
    Melinda M. Marshall (20th century)

    Productive collaborations between family and school, therefore, will demand that parents and teachers recognize the critical importance of each other’s participation in the life of the child. This mutuality of knowledge, understanding, and empathy comes not only with a recognition of the child as the central purpose for the collaboration but also with a recognition of the need to maintain roles and relationships with children that are comprehensive, dynamic, and differentiated.
    Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (20th century)