Construction of gender in Neither Man nor Woman: The Hijras of India

 Nanda’s work Neither Man nor Woman: The Hijras of India is a defining pathway in gender studies. As stated in the introduction, the notion of ‘gender’ (attributes of masculine and feminine) is socially and culturally constructed, and in the recent past this has been brought to light by many anthropological and historical studies, slowly making it an acceptable fact. Neither Man nor Woman: The Hijras of India, is an anthropological work among the Hijras of India who do not confirm to the culturally and socially constructed gender norms but prefer to belong to a third category.

Introduction to the book begins with a narrative of her first encounter with a hijra in Mumbai in 1971 and how in the subsequent years her interest in alternative gender studies led to fieldwork for a detailed understanding of the lives of the hijras. Herein, she also tries to define the hijras and the problems related to the definition. The major issue was the disjunction between the cultural definition provided by people in general and the hijras who defined themselves based on a variety of roles played individually in the society right from being born as neither man nor woman, to a conflict with respect of gender identity leading to the emasculation ritual and becoming a member of the third gender, or being initiated as a hijra due to sexual impotence, an ascribed physical condition of intersexuality. Then again the question of hijras being generally referred to as prostitutes, which needed sensitive understanding. ‘Hijra Roles in the Indian Society’ has been taken up in the first chapter. Hijras in India play a culturally significant role as ritual performers. The author introduces the important social role of the hijras through which they have legitimised themselves and their acceptance in Indian society. The crucial subject of hijras being homosexual prostitutes has also been taken up in this chapter. This chapter begins with the description of two performances of the hijras, first on the occasion of the birth of a baby boy and second one after marriage. Traditionally, the hijras are known for these performances in India, the birth of a ___ ______ __________ _________ _________ _________ ____.
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