The Hijra Community
During this week we have talked about the Hijra community in India. It was one of the most if not the heaviest topics of the whole module. One of the reasons why it was difficult for me to watch abuse and mistreatment in the documentaries was its contemporary element and how this all is happening as we discuss it in class. The Hijra community has a long-lasting history – it is thousands of years old and consists of individuals with gender-nonconforming characteristics. In the past, the community was revered, and its people were regarded as demi-gods, however, imperialism and the colonization of India altered this perspective. The most interesting part of the video for me was when Laxmi Narayan Tripathi spoke about how she never felt different, but society made her be seen as an outcast.[1] Colonization changed the way societies around the world function and how aspects of those societies are viewed. Shahnaz Khan introduces the term ‘coloniality of gender’ where they explore how ideologies set by colonialism affect the human body and gender expression. The views of the oppressors are then adapted by the members of the community as well, especially by individuals with a higher societal status.[2] The ‘coloniality of gender’ can be then seen across many other cultures that have been affected by colonization – like the two-spirit people in Native American cultures. But it also goes past gender as well: the structures of whole cultures were changed just to fit the Western structural view of them. This week’s material made me think of Monro who we discussed in week two, and her statement about internalized dominant ideologies. It is clear that the West would force its internalized dominant ideologies upon the colonized societies which would clash with their own beliefs.
[1] www.youtube.com. “Indian Activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi on the Third Gender.” Accessed April 2, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzhf29NBWbw.
[2] Khan, Shahnaz. “What Is in a Name? Khwaja Sara, Hijra and Eunuchs in Pakistan.” Indian Journal of Gender Studies 23, no. 2 (May 18, 2016): 218–42. https://doi.org/10.1177/0971521516635327.