Eunuchs: India's Third Gender is a 1991 ethnographic film documenting the lives of two castrated men, Kiran and Dinesh, who share their experiences after undergoing castration. The film covers a variety of topics, including gender, abuse of power, sexuality, homophobia, discrimination, and cultural anthropology. [1]
The ethnographic film uses a linear narrative covering three main themes: love, history, and exclusion within the Indian society, all presented in a non-chronological order.
Creating and maintaining an acceptable relationship with a eunuch is difficult, but Kiran and Dinesh loved each other very much. Their love is so strong that once Dinesh leaves for work as a driver, Kiran cannot function without him. She doesn't eat without Dinesh and only happy when they are together. Although eunuchs may live freely in India, they are subject to a widespread discrimination. Additionally, romantic relationships among eunuchs are considered a taboo.
Kiran has gone through castration to live fully as a eunuch. Eunuch castration is a highly symbolic act, and the surgical removal of male genitalia is prominent in the eunuch gender and community. Castration is usually performed after living in the eunuch community for many years. Although the community creates a sense of belonging, members are a subject to marginalization and discrimination brought upon them by the rest of society. However, many do not go through castration, feminizing surgery, hormone medication, growing hair, donning female attire, or other aspects of living as a eunuch.
Kiran lives in Kathiawar, a place where eunuchs are not welcome. Harish, an aspiring eunuch, frequents Kiran's home and has been taken under his wing. Harish had kept his desire to be a eunuch, a secret from his wife and children in fear of ruining his relationship with them. His family was not open to eunuchs and so he was worried that they would not accept his wishes. Eight months earlier, Harish's wife had left him and their children to go live with her parents. When she came back, Harish had almost gone through the process of castration. Harish's wife is at a crossroads. She is aware that he will never stop living as a eunuch, but the negative social stigma around gender is something she cannot fully accept.
In the state of Rajasthan, a eunuch community exists, overseen by Sharada Bai, the guru, and leader of over one-hundred eunuchs. She lives in a mansion with eight disciples and holds the power to appoint one-hundred other eunuchs from neighbouring territories. Eunuchs possess strong family ties, and being a disciple in Sharada Bai's family means she becomes a parent. The mansion in which the eunuchs lived is lavished with a rich history and cannot be sold or destroyed. Looking over the mansion is a sign of honour to the past and the history of a eunuch's purpose. The tradition of greeting the guru in the morning by bowing and touching the feet is a sign of respect, alongside castration, which is a sign of loyalty. Sharada Bai is claimed to have palliative effects on her family members, who look to the guru for guidance and hope.
Most cities in modern India aren't accepting of eunuchs, mostly due to cultural and religious prejudices. In Bombay, the guru Regamath lives with fourteen eunuch disciples. Bombay is more expensive than Rajasthan, and the eunuchs' only source of income is prostitution. Every evening the eunuchs head to the red-light district to sell themselves. Along with prostitution, eunuchs also engage in begging and clapping to intimidate the public into giving them money. They also lift their frilly garments to show their genitalia as another form of intimidation. This behaviour and occupation is one that causes more resentments and discriminations between modern eunuchs and modern Indian society. [1]
Eunuchs: India's Third Gender was produced by assistant producers Surinder Puri and Aruna Har Parsed. Parsed also narrates the film. [2] BBC Elstree Centre, in the United Kingdom, is the production company behind the film. [2] Michael Yorke, an anthropologist, directed and originated the concept for the documentary film. [2]
Director Michael Yorke was always fascinated with Indian culture. In 1962, he spent time hitchhiking in India, and he experienced the society, culture, and people close up. Yorke's main goal in all of his ethnographies is for the audience to explore the "Wiktionary: other-mother". [3] The success of Eunuchs: India's Third Gender derived from Yorke's ongoing fascination and excitement which is evident in the ethnography. According to Yorke, eunuch subjects are intelligent and analytical. Whenever he visited India for his fieldwork, they were fascinating, welcoming, and informative. A western observer like Yorke is always treated kindly by the eunuch community, which played a large part in successfully creating the film. [3]
A film review conducted by anthropologist Pauline Kolenda discussed Yorke's film along with Jareena: Portrait of a Hijda. Both films display the eunuch or hijra community in South Asia. Eunuchs: India's Third Gender along with Jareena: Portrait of a Hijda broadened discussion on sexuality and gender. [4]
The film was released in 1991 and was televised on the BBC Network. [2] It was later released on DVD and can be found on various university resource engines and in digital archives. [5]
Thirty years after the original 1991 debut, Yorke did a screening of the film at Lamaakan's open theatre. [6]
Eunuchs: India's Third Gender was Michael Yorke's most significant success. However, public reception of the film was mixed.[ citation needed ]
A eunuch is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function.
Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which a male loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy, while chemical castration uses pharmaceutical drugs to deactivate the testes. Castration causes sterilization ; it also greatly reduces the production of hormones, such as testosterone and estrogen. Surgical castration in animals is often called neutering.
Third gender is a concept in which individuals are categorized, either by themselves or by society, as neither a man or woman. It is also a social category present in societies that recognize three or more genders. The term third is usually understood to mean "other", though some anthropologists and sociologists have described fourth and fifth genders.
In the Indian subcontinent, hijra are eunuchs, intersex people, or transgender people who live in communities that follow a kinship system known as guru-chela system. They are also known as aravani, aruvani, and jogappa. The term is used in Pakistan as khawaja sira, the equivalent of transgender in the Urdu language.
Hindu views of homosexuality and LGBT issues more generally are diverse, and different Hindu groups have distinct views.
Emasculation is the removal of both the penis and the scrotum, the external male sex organs. It differs from castration, which is the removal of the testicles only, although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. The potential medical consequences of emasculation are more extensive than those associated with castration, as the removal of the penis gives rise to a unique series of complications. There are a range of religious, cultural, punitive, and personal reasons why someone may choose to emasculate themselves or another person.
Shabnam "Mausi" Bano is the first transgender Indian to be elected to public office (MLA). She was an elected member of the Madhya Pradesh State Legislative Assembly from 1998 to 2003.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in Tamil Nadu are the most progressive among all states of India. Tamil Nadu was the first state in India to introduce a transgender welfare policy, wherein transgender individuals can access free gender affirmation surgery in government hospitals and various other benefits and rights. The state was also the first to ban forced sex-selective surgeries on intersex infants, and also the first state to include an amendment in its state police guidelines that expects officers to abstain from harassing the LGBTQIA+ community and its members. The state also became the first to ban conversion therapy as well as the first to introduce LGBTQIA+ issues in school curricula.
The relationship between transgender people and religion varies widely around the world. Religions range from condemning any gender variance to honoring transgender people as religious leaders. Views within a single religion can vary considerably, as can views between different faiths.
Eunuchs have appeared in many films, works of literature, and in popular culture.
Hijron Ka Khanqah is an Islamic monument located in Mehrauli, South Delhi, India. The literal meaning of Hijron ka Khanqah is a "Sufi spiritual retreat for eunuchs", with the word hijron more widely referring to a specific community of transgender women throughout the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the many monuments located in the Mehrauli village within the Archeological Park. It is maintained well by the Hijras of Turkman Gate, in Shahjahanabad who are in possession of this 15th-century monument since the 20th century.
Gender systems are the social structures that establish the number of genders and their associated gender roles in every society. A gender role is "everything that a person says and does to indicate to others or to the self the degree that one is either male, female, or androgynous. This includes but is not limited to sexual and erotic arousal and response." Gender identity is one's own personal experience with gender role and the persistence of one's individuality as male, female, or androgynous, especially in self-awareness and behavior. A gender binary is one example of a gender system.
Laxmi Narayan Tripathi is a transgender/Hijra rights activist, bollywood actress, Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer and motivational speaker in Mumbai, India. She is also the Acharya Mahamandaleshwar of kinnar akhada. She was born in Malti Bai Hospital on 13th Dec 1978 in Thane. She is the first transgender person to represent Asia Pacific in the UN in 2008. At the assembly, she spoke of the plight of sexual minorities. "People should be more human-like. They should respect us as humans and consider our rights as transgenders," she said. She was a contestant on the popular reality show Bigg Boss in 2011. Her efforts helped the first Transgender team to scale a Himalayan peak in 2020.
Hijra Farsi is a secret language spoken by South-Asian Hijra and Kothi communities. Hijras are a marginalized transgender community that lives in sequestered groups in many cities of India and Pakistan. The language, also known as Koti Farsi, is spoken by the Hijra community throughout Pakistan and North India. The language is based on Hindustani and not Farsi, as suggested by the name. The sentence structure is similar to Urdu, but noticeable distinctions exist. Hijra Farsi is mainly spoken by Muslim Hijras; Hindu Hijras speak the Gupti language and its regional dialects.
There is little pre-colonial texts that have survived in Bangladesh noting on homosexuality, and also in overall, homosexuality in the country has a very short written history but concepts of the third gender has always been part of the culture.
A Revathi is a Bangalore-based writer and activist working for LGBT rights in India. She is a trans woman and member of the Hijra community.
Nagarkirtan is a 2017 Indian Bengali-language film written and directed by Kaushik Ganguly and produced by Sani Ghose Ray. The film stars Riddhi Sen as Parimal, a trans woman from rural Bengal, and Ritwick Chakraborty as Madhu, a flute player from the Kirtaniya town of Nabadwip.
The third gendered in Sri Lanka are not as openly discussed as in other parts of South Asia. Though a strong tradition of transgender people exists in Sri Lanka, and even though these people have been allowed to convert for a long period of time, third gendered people have mostly avoided mainstream discussion on the island. A number of reports state that the concept of third gender is not found on island, but binary concepts are found that are similar to third gender.
Serena Nanda is an American author, anthropologist, and professor emeritus. She received the Ruth Benedict Prize in 1990 for her monograph, Neither Man nor Woman: The Hijras of India.
Ruth Lor Malloy is a Canadian activist, journalist, travel writer, and photographer.
