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Classifying Sex:. A Brief Look at Gender and Orientation in India. Western Terms Do Not Apply: Men. Queer Vanita : “Most English speaking Indians still understand and use the word ‘queer’ to mean to mean ‘strange’ or ‘odd’ . . .” (248). Gay Cross-dresser.
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Classifying Sex: A Brief Look at Gender and Orientation in India
Western Terms Do Not Apply: Men • Queer • Vanita: “Most English speaking Indians still understand and use the word ‘queer’ to mean to mean ‘strange’ or ‘odd’ . . .” (248). • Gay • Cross-dresser
Western Terms Do Not Apply: Women, Transgenders, and the GLBT Community • Lesbian • GLBTQ • Transgender • Homosexual/ Bisexual
Hijra • Hierarchal community structure • Gurus(teachers) • Chelas(disciples) • Jamat(council of elders) • Believed to have spiritual power • Some are born Hijra (intersex) • Others have gender reassignment surgery • Some hijra can make a living wage preforming • Other hijra usually turn to sex work • Men who have relations with Hijra called Pantis • Shabnam "Mausi" Bano • Hijras were granted voting rights in 1994 in India.
Pantis • Men who take the dominate relationship with another man or a women • Do not identify as gay (neither do kothis or hijra) • Many pantis are married and have kids while in a relationship with a kothis
Kothis • Kothis are effeminate men who take a submissive position to pantis • Also called gandus by hijra • Like pantis many kothis get married and have kids • “garden kothi”
Narans and Lesbians • Reddy: “Naran was a generic term that encompassed all women, whether married, single, widowed, young, or old” (51). • No word for Lesbian in Hindi • Lesbians are excluded from the Indian feminist movements and organizations • Fire 1996 • Shiv Sanaiks stormed a Cinemax theatre in in Mumbai, smashing glass panes, burning posters and shouting slogans • Shiv Saniks reasoning against lesbianism is that it will lead to the collapse of the institution of marriage in India
Recap: • Hijra are either born intersex or have gender reconstruction surgery • Transmen are female to male transgenders • Pantis are all men who take the dominate role in a relationship with men or women • Kothis are all men who take the submissive role with another man, including hijra • Kothis that are not hijra are called gandus because they do not be long to a hijra house • Naran is a term that describes all biologically born women