Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Among certain Native American peoples, a person, usually a male, who assumes the gender identity and is granted the social status of the opposite sex.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun anthropology Among
Native Americans , a person who identifies with any of a variety ofgender identities which are not exclusively those of their biological sex; atransgender person.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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So, Annie says 'No, berdache is not transgender, either.'
MORE FROM GINNY BATES: CHRIS KASH-KASH Maggie Jochild 2007
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Until recently I would have used the generic anthropological term berdache - but I recently found out that it is considered disrespectful by most Native Americans - and I am truly sorry for my use of this word in the past.
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Two-spirited ones (formerly known as berdache) were commonly found in many Amerindian cultures.
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Explained to the idjit about how offensive the word berdache was, about how it didn't mean lesbian or gay.
MORE FROM GINNY BATES: CHRIS KASH-KASH Maggie Jochild 2007
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Most Native American tribes formally recognize -- and honor -- human homosexuality and transgender in the role of the 'two-spirit' person (sometimes formerly known as berdache).
THE MEDICAL NEWS John Lennon 2010
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Most Native American tribes formally recognize -- and honor -- human homosexuality and transgender in the role of the 'two-spirit' person (sometimes formerly known as berdache).
THE MEDICAL NEWS Ileonna Matthews 2010
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Most Native American tribes formally recognize -- and honor -- human homosexuality and transgender in the role of the 'two-spirit' person (sometimes formerly known as berdache).
THE MEDICAL NEWS 2009
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A male warrior could marry a berdache, which is a male that takes on the roles and positions of a female.
Conservapedia - Recent changes [en] Sardejo 2009
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Most Native American tribes formally recognize -- and honor -- human homosexuality and transgender in the role of the 'two-spirit' person (sometimes formerly known as berdache).
THE MEDICAL NEWS Zeigeist2012 2009
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The tribe watched what he took with him as he ran out, and if it was the basketry materials they reconciled themselves to his being a 'berdache'.
Two Spirits Renee 2009
mollusque commented on the word berdache
"Okay, in some cultures we're considered freaks," she went on. "But in others it's just the opposite. The Navajo have a category of person they call a berdache. What a berdache is, basically, is someone who adopts a gender other than their biological one....The berdaches are the shamans of the tribe. They're the healers, the great weavers, the artists."
—Jeffrey Eugenides, 2002, Middlesex, p. 489
August 17, 2008