Transgender people in India
– a focus on their identities and problems
PART 1
The term 'transgender people' is generally used to describe
those who transgress social gender norms. Transgender is often used as an
umbrella term to signify individuals who defy rigid, binary gender constructions,
and who express or present a breaking and/or blurring of culturally prevalent
stereotypical gender roles. Transgender people may live full- or part-time in
the gender role 'opposite' to their biological sex.
In contemporary usage, “transgender” has become an umbrella term
that is used to describe a wide range of identities and experiences, including
but not limited to: pre-operative, post-operative and non-operative transsexual
people (who strongly identify with the gender opposite to their biological
sex); A transgender person assigned male at birth (AMAB), who transitions to
acquire a feminine identity, is referred to as a 'transgender woman'. On the
other hand, a transgender person assigned female at birth, who transitions to
acquire a masculine identity, is known as a 'transgender man'.
Besides the binary transgender people (i.e. people whom identify
themselves as either men or women), there is also a separate class of non
binary transgender people.
Non-binary is an umbrella term used to describe people who do not feel male or female. They may feel that they embody elements of both, that they are somewhere in between or that they are something different. Non-binary people can still have a strong sense of gender. They can find it very distressing to be told that they must identify themselves as male or female. Many identify as transgender.
Being non-binary is different from being intersex.
Most non-binary people are born with bodies that look conventionally male or
female, but grow up feeling different. Like most people, they usually develop a
sense of gender between the ages of three and seven. They may not describe
themselves as different until a lot later because they don’t have the words
with which to do so, and because there are very few visible non-binary role
models. Being non-binary has nothing to do with sexual orientation. Non-binary people
have the same range of preferences as other people.
Some non-binary people choose to have surgery or
take hormones to alter their bodies and help them feel more comfortable. Others
don’t feel that this could help them, or are satisfied with their bodies as
they are. Some present themselves androgynously while others look conventionally
male or female but may still ‘come out’ by discussing their identities openly.
Many try to blend in because they don’t want to risk rejection.
Transgender/
homosexual communities have existed in almost all parts of the world, with
their own local identities,customs and rituals. They have been variously known
as ‘baklas’ in Philippines, ‘berdaches’ among American Indian tribes, ‘xaniths’
in Oman, ‘serrers’ in Africa, and ‘hijras’, ‘jogappas’, ‘jogtas’, ‘shiv-shaktis’
in South Asia. The transgender expressions of sexuality or gender identity are
often hidden or stigmatized by the wider society. Resisting this stigma has
been part of the long struggle for survival of the transgender community to
live alongside the society at large. Historically, transgender communities, in
most cultures of the world, have attempted to appropriate (with varying degrees
of success) rituals, folklore and legends in order to obtain a sense of
self-validation and carve out a niche for themselves in the traditional social structures.
It is for this reason that their destinies have been inextricably interwoven
with the social arrangements and power structures of traditional society. Of
course it remains an open question as to what extent do they appropriate
existing rituals and to what extent are they unable to
escape from the circumscribed roles assigned to
them.
The
hijra community in India has existed with a recorded history of more than 4000
years. Alternately despised and honoured for undergoing castration, they were
part of a well-established so-called ‘eunuch’ culture in many societies, especially
in the middle-east, holding sanctioned positions in the royal court (e.g.
guarding the concubines where they were preferred to male guards since their
sexless status ensured that they wouldn’t seduce the women of the harem, taking
part in theatrical performances, serving as advisers, and so on). It is important
to understand these realities before we begin to consider the sexual non-conformity
of the hijras and kothis in the contemporary Indian context.
However,
mainstream society does not acknowledge that transgender people have their
histories and traditions rooted in the Indian context. This reality will increasingly
have to be taken into account by mainstream society and institutions.
In
various cultures, transgender people were seen as having special powers due to their
assumed ‘third sex’ dimension, and were allowed to take part in semi-religious ceremonies.
Often they were tolerated and allowed to live in the role of the other sex, to
pursue their occupations (including that of sex work), live in hamams (bath
houses), cross-dress, and display other forms of transgender behaviour.
Nevertheless
they were often segregated and excluded from many occupations and community
practices, and even traded as slaves.
The
hijra culture
The
hijras in India (‘hijra’ in Arabic means holy, and may have been derived from the
Urdu word ‘ezra’ that means a wanderer or a nomad) claim a sacred space in the
culture due to their third gender status which is called ‘pingala’ in Sanskrit,
and invoked as ‘shiva-shakti’, the image of Shiva as half-male and half-female,
representing a god who is ageless, formless, and sexless. Like other
communities, the hijras trace their origins to foundational myths in Ramayana
and Mahabharatha. The episode in
Ramayana involving hijras occurs when Rama is banished for 14 years. When he
leaves for the forest, he turns around to see a large number of his people
following him. Rama appeals to ‘all the men and women’ to return to the city,
but as the hijras belonging to neither category, they don’t feel bound by his
injunction and want to stay with him. Impressed with their devotion, Rama
sanctions them the power to confer blessings on auspicious occasions like childbirth,
marriage, and inaugural functions — hence the custom of ‘badhai’, in which
hijras sing, dance and confer blessings.
Another
legend is to be found in Mahabharatha involving Aravan, son of Arjuna and
Nagakanya, who offered to face Bhishma in battle and be slaughtered since
Bhishma had vowed revenge. Aravan had one condition for sacrificing his life:
he wanted to spend the last night of his life in a state of matrimony. Since no
one offered to marry him, Krishna assumed the female form of Mohini and married
him.
In
another legend, a king in Gujarat fell madly in love with ‘Bahucharimatha’, a
beautiful goddess riding a peacock. The king wanted to marry her, but she wanted
to remain a virgin. When he persisted in his entreaties, she relented but asked
him to first have a bath in a pond. On coming out of the pond, he was
horrified
to discover that he was emasculated, and could not consummate his union with
the goddess. The goddess consoled him by saying that he would found a community
of people who would voluntarily castrate themselves in his honour.
