The book “Neither Man nor Women” is an ethnography about the Hijras of India published in 1990. Serena Nanda, author of the book, is a professor of Anthropology in City University of New York. When beginning her fieldwork in the study of the Hijras, she only had brief information about the Hijras since there was not much written about them before. Nanda knew she would encounter conflict in communicating with the Indian community and that she would need translators. In the city she settled in, Bastipore
the transgender group is commonly called Hijras. The hijra population is the most visible (male to female) population in India and other transgender identities are associated with the hijra identity. They have religious-cultural and rich historical background. The term hijra is derived from the Urdu word meaning ‘impotent ones’, ‘eunuchs’ or hermaphrodites where the irregularity of male genitalia defines the term. “Within the Indian context the term hijra is used for people who identify themselves
conducted a study on “Problems Faced by Hijras (Male to Female Transgenders) in Mumbai with Reference to Their Health and Harassment by the Police”. The Male to Female (MTF) Trans-genders in India commonly known as the Hijras are one of the hardly researched, abused, scorned, and callously neglected groups in Indian Society. This paper was part of the doctoral research submitted to the University of Mumbai entitled ‘The Status of Hijras in Civil Society: A Study of Hijras in Greater Mumbai.’ The objectives
The Subaltern in the Play The play is a protest play against the gruesome treatment given to hijras. The transsexuals are not considered as human beings. They are neither a ‘he’ nor a ‘she’. And hence, they are referred to as ‘it’ in the play which is a reflection of the objectification of the hijra community done by society. This shows that hijras have no respectable life and identity in India. They have no acceptance by the society. Also, they do not have any protection towards the abuse and
worshipped by the hijra community. Hijras are both a blessing and curse and perform at wedding and births. They feel their “other worldliness” gives them respect in the Indian society. It is frowned upon by hijra elders for younger hijras to have intercourses with men. Some hijras even have husbands and perform all the husband duties. Some Indian women who will not practice certain sexual things, hijras will engage in them with other men. Men who have sexual relations with hijras have a wife and family
fluidity for all to identify as what they want, in South Asia, there is a legal third gender that goes by the name of Hijras, due to a law that was recently passed which recognizes them. The Hijra community goes all the way back to antiquity. They can be eunuchs, men who have been castrated, intersex, one whose anatomy does not quite fit either genders, or transgender people. Hijras have more freedom and are actually quite respected and held to a certain power in India as opposed to a regular transgender
to analyze and assess the hijras in Pakistan as a role and gender identity using Nanda and Jami as portrayed in the movie Bol. According to Jami, “hijra is an umbrella term used for men who are transgender, eunuch, transvestites, hermaphrodites/intersexed and bisexuals/homosexuals”. According to Nanda, “A hijra is a third gender role, who is neither man nor woman but contains the element of both.” Impotence, imperfection or absence of a penis are the reasons cited by hijras for the “not man” part of
they live in. The Hijra are a community of third gendered people who exist across South East Asia. They have established themselves in parts of Indian society through spiritual Hindu practices, but they are mostly followers of Islam and not Hinduism. The role Hijra play in society is based on the cultural practices they are involved in and the spiritual power they possess. Hijra cultural roles in the Hindu religion make them valuable and welcomed in Indian society. The Hijra are a group of people
Hijras deserve human rights because it would also lower poverty rates in India. If hijras were given decent job opportunities, they would be off the streets, less exposed to violence. One of the hijras Nanda interviews named Salima had left her hijra home because she had gotten married to a man named Ibrahim. She became very dependent on Ibrahim relying on him for money, food, shelter and other basic necessities. When Ibrahim left her, she went back to her hijra house and lived under the rules of
1. The reading that I chose was Neither Man Nor Woman: The Hijras of India by Serena Nada. Nada basically speaks about a group of individuals whom cohabit a region in India, and these people are known as the Hijra. Nada first meet the Hijra people in 1971, in Bombay. Hijras are “neither men nor women and the experienced gender identity of many Hijras as women”, and due to the way they felt they behaved as women, they would also dress up like women, wear traditional womens jewelry, they basically
of a larger, marginalized group that exists on the fringe of Indian society - the hijras1. Hijras include such minorities as eunuchs, hermaphrodites, transvestites, transsexuals, and homosexuals and “literally means neither male nor female”2. Most hijras undergo a secretive castration operation as part of their religious rites. Because of this secrecy it is unknown as to the exact number of hijras in India. They are described, and describe themselves, as the “ ‘third sex’ – somewhere inbetween
replace it. When people have loss, they cope in many way whether is drinking, working out or even moving. One cope mechanise usually used is trying to fill the void with someone else. Mr. Nishida’s ability to create a new family is similar to what the Hijras had to do when they decided to convert. In Japan, there’s a program named Family Romance which allows you to rent out individuals to fulfill a family member spot. In the article “Japan’s Rent-a-Family Industry” by Elif Batuman, Batuman talks about
are known as hijras which is a type of gender in India and they define themselves as neither male and female. It can be related back to queer gender, but it is still different due to the fact of cultural differentiation. In the article “Hijras as Neither Man Nor Women” by Serena Nanda it states that they all wear female clothes, male can still identify themselves as male, but can still take on female roles. Hijras are made up of various people. The people that would be considered hijras is if the males
third sex and in Western cultures there is little to no acceptance of a third sex. In a book called Culture and Human Sexuality: A Reader, written by David Suggs and Andrew Miracle. The book had a detailed and informative chapter solely about the hijras of India. The hijra’s are neither male nor female, but contain elements of both. They are believed to have sacred powers that have come from their... ... middle of paper ... ... that it is turning onto a social norm in Western cultures. Most religions
1) Describe the nadle in the Navajo society of Native Americans or the hijra in India. How do these so-called “third genders” challenge our traditional notions of sex and gender? Navajo berdaches, otherwise known as "nadles" are those in the tribe who are born male but take the role of a woman. A nadle could also be used to describe a biological woman who takes on the chores of a man such as hunting and warfare, although this is more uncommon. Males who take on the traditional role of a woman would
child was stolen by the colony, Rambhau explains that rather than stealing children, they pay “handsomely” to have them live in their colony (Dharmarajan, 2004, p. 75). Even though Rambhau repeats how her daughter surely is not there, a few of the Hijras must empathize with the older woman, as they help in searching to see if the daughter is at the
ostracized. The traits that we decide are so important to men and women are so engrained in our society, that they seem natural. But maybe they're not. Not all societies operate like ours. There are societies with a distinguished third gender, such as the Hijra in India, and the Kathoey in Thailand. If these “third genders” are acceptable, and normal, in other cultures, it seems unlikely that gender is biologically determined. Instead, learning gender is a social practice that begins before a child is even
that surround us in our every day lives. Works Cited Peoples, James, and Garrick Bailey. Humanity: An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. 9th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2003. Print. Nanda, Serena. Neither Man nor Woman: The Hijras of India. 2nd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub., 1990. Print. Zhou, Xiaoli. "The Women's Kingdom." Vimeo. German Camera Productions, n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013. Jahn, Beate. The Cultural Construction of International Relations: The Invention of the State
representation of trans* and intersex people. Hijras are a recognized community of trans* and intersex people in India. While this community has been stigmatized and ostracized, primarily due to the Christian British colonizers, historically and religiously hijras hold sacred value. The portrayal of the hijra community is still categorized according to the three qualifiers existing in the western media for the LGBT community. Majority of TV shows and films represent hijras as sassy and
of the Apex Court in the case of National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India and Others has attempted to affirm the transgender community their fundamental rights given in Part III of the Indian Constitution. The Court upheld the right of Hijras/Eunuchs who comes under the category of ‘Transgender Community’ to self-identify their gender and observed that the government must grant legal recognition of a ‘third gender’ even in the absence of any existing statutory regime. “Recognition of transgender