New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s seemingly scolding tone in her tweet above over the Texas abortion debate set me thinking about India; I mean in the particular context of two-spirit people.
The Indian Health Service (HIS), which is part of the Federal Health Program for American Indians and Alaska Natives, describes two-spirit people thus: “Native American two-spirit people were male, female, and sometimes intersexed individuals who combined activities of both men and women with traits unique to their status as two-spirit people. In most tribes, they were considered neither men nor women; they occupied a distinct, alternative gender status. In tribes where two-spirit males and females were referred to with the same term, this status amounted to a third gender. In other cases, two-spirit females were referred to with a distinct term and, therefore, constituted a fourth gender.”
The term that instantly came to mind while reading the Congresswoman’s tweet was the Indian (as in Indian from India) term अर्धनारीश्वर, Ardhanārīśwara, which has existed for millennia. It is a composite of both male and female forms represented jointly by Shiv and Parvati. In Sanskrit, the term means the lord who is half woman. The idea that one of Hinduism’s presiding deities can be half male and half female has existed for millennia in India without there being any controversy about it at all.
The composite broadly means that male and female principles and even energies are inseparable. This is enlightened androgyny.
I just wanted to make this limited reference in response to Representative Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet which some perceived as putting down those who are not necessarily aware of who two-spirit people are.
