Comments on: Indian Hijra Festival

Indian Hijra Festival

Spezzatura — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 08:41:15 -0800

Eunuchs' Day in the Sun: Eunuchs from all over India gathered in a small village, Koovagam, this week to re-enact a story from the Hindu scriptures in which they pretend to marry a warrior-god. Pictures from the festival.

By: xmutex

xmutex — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 08:46:24 -0800

*boy isn't all religion just dumb comment*

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 08:53:27 -0800

There begins the weeping and wailing, the mourning for what is no longer. Unfortunate choice of words...

By: Kafkaesque

Kafkaesque — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 09:06:50 -0800

Well, I hope they had a ball. Please, tip your waitresses.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 09:22:26 -0800

Whatta buncha nuts... Wait a minute...

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 09:26:39 -0800

But seriously... if the idea is to emulate Krishna becoming female for a night, why hasn't the eunnuch been supplanted by sex changed men? Is it an expense issue? Simple hacking off of the genitals seems outmoded at this point, but it's certainly cheaper...

By: willnot

willnot — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 09:39:43 -0800

It seems from the articles that these are basically transsexuals. It's not a religious or even cultural thing although there's probably some of that involved. The guys (or I guess they'd rather girls) are basically social outcasts. Is anybody more familiar with this phenomenon. Is it basically the same types of things that are driving US transsexuals, or is there something else at work here?

By: blue_beetle

blue_beetle — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 09:48:02 -0800

For more confusion on that whole gender thing, check out Hijra.

By: biscotti

biscotti — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 10:07:01 -0800

Yes, they are transsexuals, with quite intricate cermonies surrounding their surgeries. They are to some extent social outcasts (living in their own communities), but there's also a lot of superstition surrounding them - pregnant women, for example, should always be extremely nice to them and offer them money, lest the hijra curse their unborn child and cause it to be a hijra. A novel set partly in the world of the hiijra is Bombay Ice by Leslie Forbes, I found it interesting enough to do some more research on them (I love the book).

By: rocketman

rocketman — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 10:47:56 -0800

I have done a little reading on hijras, and from what I understand, the best way to describe them is as a third gender, not as transsexuals. They are usually men, but women can become hijras too, depending on the anatomy of their genitals (a woman with a dramatically enlarged clitoris, for example). Culturally, they exist as a combination of priest-beggar-prostitute-clown-entertainer. I am fascinated.

By: WolfDaddy

WolfDaddy — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 11:43:18 -0800

For more interesting information about eunuchs in history, check out the links from y2karl in this thread. I, too, believe in the 'third', or 'other' gender description. Binary labeling sucks.