In “Strange Country This,” the two-spirit people complicate common cultural narratives in the United States. Berdaches really challenge our common beliefs about biology in the United States. It’s odd for us, as a society, to see another society that so openly allows these two-spirit people to have both sexes simultaneously, though they don’t biologically. Our society has lasted for centuries with only acknowledging two biological sexes—males and females. We do recognize intersex people, but I feel like we don’t hear or learn much about them. It’s almost as if their biology is considered taboo. Especially regarding the video involved in lecture, doctors will so easily conduct these surgeries to make intersex people considered “normal” even if surgery is unnecessary. I don’t think our society would be so open to accepting people that display one sex, but through a supposed supernatural intervention, now can switch between the sexes. Attraction regarding two-spirit people is quite fascinating. There isn’t much known definitively about their sexuality; we do know that they would have relations with men and women, and it was accepted by the community. Our society has just recently become more accepting of same-sex relations, with the passing of same-sex marriage laws, and bisexuality. That doesn’t mean there still aren’t people that aren’t accepting of this, when you look at the sexually-motivated hate crimes that continue to occur.
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