Does Gender Matter in Heathenry?

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I have been writing a lot about Heathenry from a female perspective, but how important is gender (and also sexual identity) to Heathenry? The answer is, not very. I am talking about Heathenry from a female perspective mainly because when I was starting this blog I was not seeing enough women creating Heathen content even though as a religion there are actually a fairly large percentage of women in leadership roles compared to broader society. I felt a bit strange stepping into this role, while people around me seemed to think I was a good fit for it. Additionally, I have found in other Heathen circles that sometimes I am put into a position where the discussion is very male dominated, to the point that I have joked on occasion that perhaps I needed a beard to be a part of it. So I am pushing back against that, but it is really only a start.

Gender is a construct from the broader over-culture. We cannot know what the elder Heathens truly thought about gender and sexual identity.

There are some examples of gender non-conformity in the Lore, with of course Loki being the first example to come to mind, but whether this was an element of the storytelling to make it more interesting or whether it is reflective of actual Nordic society of that time is unclear.

As for gender roles of Vikings, for example, most of what we know is from a Christian perspective, so it again may not be accurate to how things actually were.

I think that gender and sexual identity in modern Heathenry should have no bearing on Heathen practice at all, but unfortunately we are still trying to break free of the expectations in the broader society. The first step in that in my mind is to push the boundaries of what is “women’s work” vs. “men’s work.” But of course the ultimate goal is eventually to not need that terminology at all.

I know in the broader world I am making the slow shift to using they/them pronouns for people unless they ask for specific other pronouns to be used. This is a slow process, riddled with mistakes, because largely my brain is a faulty processor most days and bad habits take time to be broken.

Please understand when I am saying that certain things are female knowledge or male knowledge in Heathenry, this is mostly to give a basis for understanding of perceived roles, but there is absolutely no reason to conform to that if it doesn’t sit right with you. In my own tribe we don’t even use terms like Goði and Gyðja, instead opting for “Godperson.”

There is really nothing saying you cannot break gender norms and even evidence in the Sagas that gender norms were broken without any repercussions from society. (A good example is Hervor, who takes charge of an army and goes into the tomb of her ancestor to retrieve the familial sword.) Nothing really stopped a woman from leading an army or a man from learning seiðr. While we see Ergi being tossed around as a derogatory term there is no way to know if this has to do with the seeming taboo about magic generally where practitioners were often pushed to the edge of society, or if the idea was the magic was receptive and therefore “unmanly.” In addition, all records of this were post-conversion so ideas about gender conformity may already have been shifting in Nordic society.

We have no basis for these prejudices in modern Heathenry, so then we must ask ourselves, what purpose does prejudice about gender or sexual identity serve in our communities? It can only be for the comfort levels of individuals who are stuck in antiquated thinking, when really a broader representation of human expression allows our communities to flourish. This is the 21st Century. Even the over culture is shifting. Excluding people or making them feel so uncomfortable they won’t come into your circles is not a benefit to your practice; it is a hindrance. We are making the wrong people comfortable. If someone is saying things that are harmful to other people in your practice, they should be called out. We are not apologists. It is the job of tribe to correct behaviour by calling out individuals going against the values of the tribe.

In Heathenry more broadly, there are gods and goddesses in Heathenry, but to push gender onto deity is limiting as well. We are human. The gods are greater than us and we only see them through the limitations of our own perceptions. So while I use god and goddess to describe various deities, it is merely a device to understand the relationships between them, and I cannot possibly know how accurate it is to how they perceive themselves.

Likewise, as a cis gender, female-identifying person, I have a limited perception of how gender affects people in Heathenry. I do identify as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, so I have slightly more understanding of sexual identity but I still feel uncomfortable speaking to the experiences of the community as a whole.

From what I see, Heathenry, and Paganism in general, has a higher than average number of people identifying openly as LGBTQ+, and a much higher average of people identifying as Trans, than the general population (Cragle, 2017.) That said, Pagan practice has not always been welcoming of the Trans community.) I believe that overall, Heathenry provides a safer space for inclusivity than a number of other religions, although I am also very aware that certain subsections of Heathenry are not very inclusive at all, and even when claiming they are, make derogatory statements along the lines of gender, or at the very least extremely ignorant ones.

I am proudly a member of Heathen Women United, which I have not touted on this blog enough, because they are truly that wonderful! And Heathen Women United also endeavours to be a safe space for members of the Trans community and have been more recently upping the emphasis on that allyship, which is wonderful to see. (I will link them below.)

I also want to point out the wonderful podcast called the Wyrd Thing, which has great discussions on accessibility and inclusion that you should check out. (Two of their episodes are linked below.)

As inclusive Heathens we need to make sure we are creating safe spaces for everyone to participate. This means listening to understand when any members of marginalized communities are joining us for ritual. This does not mean that any new person will be immediately welcomed into a tribe, but this is a matter of all new members gaining the trust of the tribe and should not be based on discrimination of any kind. We want to keep Heathenry safe for everyone, and that means standing up for marginalized communities whenever necessary. These are conversations we need to have broadly and openly in Heathenry.

In my Heathenry everyone is welcome. Thank you for coming to my TED talk!