2008 Woodie Awards
Videos show GLBT issues from a multi-cultural perspective
Trina Otero
Issue date: 10/31/07 Section: College News
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October isn't over yet and neither is GLBT History Month because there is still much to celebrate from the planning committee and Campus and Community Life.
One recent GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) History Month event was GLBT Rights Around the World, which displayed the existence of GLBTs in other countries and cultures, plus the issues they face. Instead of guest speakers or a drawn-out dialogue dominating the event, various documentary films by Frameline were featured with small discussions between.
Jack Price, Ph.D., a member of the GLBT History Month planning committee, introduced the first film, "Two-Spirit People." This documentary featured Native Americans who explained the difference between the terms gender and sexual roles, because many confuse them or assume both terms have the same meaning.
The term gender role was repeatedly defined as what one person does in his or her community - not what sex he or she is. The movie explained the male role in a tribe was to hunt and protect, but if a female child exhibited these male traits at a young age she was not considered a lesbian. If males exhibited typically female traits, he was not called gay. Instead, they were known as "two-spirited" or "berdache."
Charmayne Champion-Shaw, an IUPUI graduate student, is Southern Cheyenne of the Cheyenne-Arapahoe Tribe in Oklahoma. She said there is "berdache" tradition today, but it's not as prevalent because of the Christian ideologies forced upon Native Americans. But she said the tradition would be beneficial.
"The 'berdache' tradition allowed for the freedom to be who they were meant to be," she said. "I think that utilizing the idea of the 'berdache' tradition to introduce a change in American society would be wonderful."
The second film, "Swim Suit," was about a young woman who looked and dressed as a young man but attended an all-girls college and was on the swim team.
The young woman in the documentary, Calvin Gilbert, explained her experience as a transgendered person. She described her constant self-questioning of her body, especially while wearing a female bathing suit. She began to dread wearing the suit because she said she did not like that the audiences at swim meets viewed her as a woman. The rest of the film showed her mental and physical journey through her transformation into a man.
One recent GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) History Month event was GLBT Rights Around the World, which displayed the existence of GLBTs in other countries and cultures, plus the issues they face. Instead of guest speakers or a drawn-out dialogue dominating the event, various documentary films by Frameline were featured with small discussions between.
Jack Price, Ph.D., a member of the GLBT History Month planning committee, introduced the first film, "Two-Spirit People." This documentary featured Native Americans who explained the difference between the terms gender and sexual roles, because many confuse them or assume both terms have the same meaning.
The term gender role was repeatedly defined as what one person does in his or her community - not what sex he or she is. The movie explained the male role in a tribe was to hunt and protect, but if a female child exhibited these male traits at a young age she was not considered a lesbian. If males exhibited typically female traits, he was not called gay. Instead, they were known as "two-spirited" or "berdache."
Charmayne Champion-Shaw, an IUPUI graduate student, is Southern Cheyenne of the Cheyenne-Arapahoe Tribe in Oklahoma. She said there is "berdache" tradition today, but it's not as prevalent because of the Christian ideologies forced upon Native Americans. But she said the tradition would be beneficial.
"The 'berdache' tradition allowed for the freedom to be who they were meant to be," she said. "I think that utilizing the idea of the 'berdache' tradition to introduce a change in American society would be wonderful."
The second film, "Swim Suit," was about a young woman who looked and dressed as a young man but attended an all-girls college and was on the swim team.
The young woman in the documentary, Calvin Gilbert, explained her experience as a transgendered person. She described her constant self-questioning of her body, especially while wearing a female bathing suit. She began to dread wearing the suit because she said she did not like that the audiences at swim meets viewed her as a woman. The rest of the film showed her mental and physical journey through her transformation into a man.
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