This is an article about the third gender in India, which was brought up a few classes ago. They are similar to the Two-Spirit community of Native Americans, but their social status is complicated by colonialism. The British Empire criminalized being hijra, which was recently reversed by the Indian government. There are currently many movements and advocacy groups for their acceptance and equality, which is fascinating to see! Our conversation about being confined by language is also relevant when we're talking about this group.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/04/23/why-terms-like-transgender-dont-work-for-indias-third-gender-communities/?utm_term=.36ea74fed02d
This is super interesting, Bhavika! I think it's particularly interesting to see the difference in social attitudes toward third gendered individuals, particularly where colonialism / Western ideas are concerned.
ReplyDeleteHere's a related article about muxes in Mexico, a similar third gender population. It's frame in the context of cooking, which relates to the women's role that these people take on: https://munchies.vice.com/en/articles/cooking-with-muxes-mexicos-third-gender
"We need to stop being treated as a tourist attraction.” Woah this is so cool! It's the intersection between culture and globalism. I wonder what these different third-gender communities think of each other, and if they meet up and talk about it which similarities/differences they would find. What's interesting is that most of the people in all three of these communities -- two-spirit, hijra, and muxes-- are biologically male. I wonder why that is.
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