Inequality,
Dominance and Abuse – Critical Discourse on Analysis of Indian Transgender
Literature with Case Study
Dr. M. Aravindh,
Assistant
Professor,
Department of
English,
Sona College of
Arts and Science, Salem,
Tamil
Nadu, India,
&
S. Preethi Shalina,
Assistant
Professor,
Department of
English,
Sona College of
Arts and Science, Salem,
Tamil
Nadu, India.
Abstract
This paper attempts to bring out the struggle and
difficulties faced by Transgenders in India.
The researcher has selected four Indian transgender autobiographies and
three case studies to explain the marginalisation of transgenders in India.
Each transgender autobiographies are addressing pathetic state of transgender
community in our nation who relentlessly face suffering from the day they feel
feminine in their body and the traumatic effect in the modern scenario. Their
existence is a big question mark without the solid care of family and
government. During the ancient time transgender are greatly valued by all
people. Even God respected transgender and that can be witnessed in Ramayana
and Mahabharata. These autobiographies are not only a records of their
recollections and experience but it is the record of the common plight of
numerous transgenders and their plea of not to be treated like a marginalised
group of society. In this study, the researcher speaks about the pitiful state
of third gender in our Nation and examines the autobiography of transgender,
with case study.
Keywords: Survival,
traumatic effect, marginalisation, current scenario.
“All human being are not created equal, and that is the
root of social evil” - Frank Herbert (Gao et al., Social Welfare in India
and China: A Comparative Perspective 180)
Objectives
1. To figure out the needs and barriers of transgender
community in India through their self-narratives and case studies.
2. To know the lives of transgender in literature and real
life to enhance their lives.
Type and design of
study
Objective study of autobiographies and case study.
Samples for
Analysis
The researchers performed an in-depth
examination, studying the
individual characters in four of the twenty first century trans-narratives and
case study method to distinguish the certainty and prerequisites of the hijras
effectively.The case studies were conducted during the
month of August 2019, in Salem district, Tamil Nadu.
Transgender
Literature shows a dynamic part in the lives
of every Tom, Dick, and Harry on the Earth. Literature is a cradle to ascertain
his/her own identity in the earth. Transgender’s identity is one of the main
issues in the current scenario. ‘Transgender’ was a term devised by Virginia
Prince in 1970. “The term transgender refers to those who reject their socially
assigned gender and refuse to place themselves in the men and women gender
binary” (Beasley 4). In India, transgenders have different namesin different
language like “They are “ali, aravani, chhakka, hijra, jogappa, khusra,
khasuaa, kinnar, kojja, maada, mukhannathun, napunsak, nau number, pavaiyaa,
Thirunangaietc, depending upon the region” (Saxena 6).
Existence of
Transgenders in Ancient period
The existence of Transgender is witnessed in Indian epics
the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. According to the recent reports it is confirmed that The Ramayana could have happened before
10000 to 12000years and The Mahabharata
could be somewhere between 1100 to
800BC.The portion of the
Mahabharata depicting the life of Aravan is seen as the first indication of
the transgender personality in written form. Aravan is considered as God by the
transgender community. Transgender community is gradually marching forward
against all odds and gained much ground in recent times. But only few
transgenders are leading a good and safe life and the rest of them are
incapable to discover their own place in their real world.
Marginalisation of
Transgenders in the Modern period
Transgenders are marginalised in the workplace,
education, language, marriage and society. “The reality of hijra experience is
invisible to the society. Isolated and humiliated they are considered as lowest
of the low, but they crave for family and love” (Jaspal Singh
107).Marginalisation mostly comes under three categories economic
marginalisation, social marginalisation and political marginalisation.
Economical marginalisation may happen to people who are from a non-economic and
financial background. The reason for their poor economic background is
discrimination by race, colour, sexuality, and religion.
Social marginalisation may arise from birth or born into
a marginal community like lower caste in India. Then, black people who are
living in countries like America, Britain and Australia may suffer lifelong and
critically decide their lived experience. Then, transgenders in all over the
world. Socially marginalised people are generally depressed of social
opportunities. They have very low opportunities to make a social contribution
and sometimes it is limited which directly affects their self-esteem and
confidence. They have limited access to job opportunities, schooling, housing,
medical care and income.
Political marginalisation means not allowing a particular
group of people to take part in democratically, in decision-making and taking.
It forces them to lose their basic right to all social, political and economic
welfare. In political marginalisation, men hold the maximum power and lead the
government around the globe. It directly affects the rights of the second
gender, third gender, minorities and disabled persons.
Basic rights are the foremost aspect of everyone’s life,
as without it an individual has to live a life by losing one’s self-respect.
Government has given numerous rights to diverse people. However, a significant
number individual is not aware of their rights, hence, their rights are still
violated. In India, most of the transgender people are not aware of the schemes
and reservations announced for them since most of them are illiterate. “Around
52 per cent TGs said that their rights have been violated... Inequality starts
from their homes and can be experienced in many public places too like in
hospital, toilets, shops, and railway stations, etc. Normal people treat them
as a shameless and useless object and treat them badly. (Panigrahi 159). “In a
dominant heterosexist society, the issues of the … [sexual] minority group are
often not well addressed. The dominant heterosexist society suppresses the
voices and concerns of this largely less visible … community, thereby leading
to further marginalisation” (Joseph 22).
Marginalisation in
Family
“The most egregious form of rejection that
anyone can ever experience is parental rejection”- Hardy (quoted in McADAMS et al. 28). Every individual
experiences a vital necessity to belong. The belongingness postulates a
“powerful, fundamental, and extremely pervasive” social impulse for developing
and sustaining a good relationship with fellow humans (Baumeister and Leary
497). In most families, the parents and siblings reject or marginalize transgenders
due to their sexuality.
In Revathi’s autobiography The Truth about Me: A Hijra
Life Story, she described her
family’s rejection over her sexuality. From the young age of Revathi, whenever
her brothers got anger by her act they used to scold her as ‘“You
mother-fucking sissy!”’ and they continuing it (Revathi10). Revathi was a
submissive member in her family and the family members had muted her voice.
Most transgender members were not allowed to reflect their inner selves in
their homes. They have to bundle their emotions and feelings from the family
members “We can’t be ourselves at home or do what we want” (Revathi20).When
Reavthi’s father decided to divide all he had with a lawyer’s help and through
the court, Revathi’s “brother came home when my father was not there and
threatened me, ‘Youpottai motherfucker! Be glad that we’ve let you be in a
sari! Think you can hang around with those number nines, with your cock chopped
off, and still demand your share of property?” (Revathi 168). The dominant
members of the family warned her to leave everything and ordered to sign a
statement saying that she do not want anything and have no claims on this property.
“If you do this, you can return to Mumbai alive. If not, we’ll finish you off
and there’ll only be charred ash the morning after!’” (Revathi 168).Revathi’s
brothers never consider her as human and she too had feelings and emotions like
others in society. It was not only the condition of Revathi but the condition
of many transgenders in India.
In India, transgender kids were considered as subhuman by
the parents and siblings. Even if parents were ready to accept transgenders in
the home mean siblings were not ready to accept the decision of parents. They
were stating a few reasons as; such sexualities will bring shame to them and
spoil their respect and status in society. Another reason was they were not
ready to share their family properties with a transgender member. When
Revathi’s parents allowed her to stay with them, “My brothers did not like me
staying with my parents and wanted me to out of the house. My parents too felt
that my presence could cause trouble” (Revathi 171). Revathi’s parent was unable
to counter their son's act and asked her to move out from the home. It shows
how their own family rejects transgenders in order to prevent this rejection;
government should provide awareness among parents as like hoe they provided
awareness for AIDS.
Marginalisation at
Educational Institutions
“Education develops both life and livelihood skills and
offers more opportunities; it has the potential to transform a society in a
single generation” (Ingutia 496). In Vidya’s autobiography I Am Vidya, she described how teachers and students humiliate
transgender students. In school, Vidya was the main source of entertainment for
students and “there was no shortage of taunts and jibes” (Vidya 32). Students
use to call her as number nine, ali and a coward. “Crude puns were invented by
my classmates to scribble my name along with them on the blackboard—for
instance, adding the suffix ‘ali’, a colloquialism for eunuchs, to regular
Tamil words to describe me”(Vidya 32). This was a regular occurrence. Vidya’s
life at school was intolerable with all the taunts and jibes. “My effeminate
ways hitherto an object of ridicule on my street now became the target of my
schoolmates’ taunts. Even kids from lower classes teased me at school. ‘Look at
this lady,’ they shouted after me” (IAV
31). The continuous embarrassments and harassments make her alone at school. “I
was finding it increasingly difficult to focus on my studies” (IAV 37). She secured eighty-four
percentage marks in the tenth standard board examination but a comparison with
her ninety-eighty to ninety-nine percentage in the previous classes revealed
the true state of affairs. The lack of support from family and friends started
affecting her studies and mental health. Such rejection at educational
institutions shattered her dreams and forced her to opt begging in future. The
government should introduce special schools for transgenders to avoid this
marginalisation.
Marginalisation at
workplace
In Manobi’s autobiography A
Gift of Goddess Laxmi, she described the workplace marginalisation of
transgenders. Even though, society rejecting her sexuality,
Manobi’s education fetch a lecturer to her. In the workplace, other professors
openly declared a war against her and “threatening to ruin my career since no
hijra had the right to become a professor” (Bandyopadhyay92). “Dominance occurs when one structure
blocks the power of actualization of the other, so that it has no ‘freedom of
action’” (Perceiving Women 25). Even
after getting a teaching job, she was unable to lead an independent life. The
(dominant people) other professors were not ready to share the staff room,
toilet and other facilities with a hijra. “They would lurk in every nook and
corner and pull my hair and clothes, saying they wanted to see if my hair was
real or if I was wearing a wig” (Bandyopadhyay94). They tortured her all the
time in college.
Once, two male professors held her hands and try to find
out what was beneath her clothes. “They pressed my nipples so hard that I
screamed out loud. ‘Keep shut, you hijra, don’t act smart” (Bandyopadhyay94).
They also warned her to keep the mouth shut while doing this. They opened her
“pants and take a look. Stand with your legs apart and let us see your size,’
Chandresh said” (Bandyopadhyay94). Gradually things become worst and she was
afraid to go to the staff room. They “constantly threatening to rape me”
(Bandyopadhyay94).The educated and educating professors’ behaviour was a big
shock to Manobi. One day “they caught hold of me and started hitting me in the
cheats with a paperweight till I was as baldy bruised that I fell unconscious
from the pain” (Bandyopadhyay94). No one comes to rescue her, instead, they
were pleased to watch her sufferings. It was a pathetic example to portray the
marginalisation of transgenders at workplace. The government must rethink about
the existing laws for the protection of transgenders in India. Strict laws for
the protection of TG’s at workplace can help them to work peacefully.
Economical
Marginalisation
In India, no transgender can escape from begging or sex
work. When Vidya decided to live as a woman, she “knew clearly what I was going
to do there. Begging, plain and simple. I had no other option as long as I did
not want to be a sex worker” (Vidya 88). Every transgender had to face this
cold truth in their life. She prepared to be a beggar and put MA in linguistics
into cold storage. Even though she prepared to beg, in the shop “my brain told
my hand to reach out, the hand refused to obey! Tears were welling up in my
eyes. At that moment I remembered my MA in linguistics of all things” (Vidya
91). Another transgender who accompanied Vidya shout at her as, “Your MA
doesn’t mean a thing here. Come on, hurry up and beg! Let’s each go to
different shop. Only then can we collect a decent sum” (Vidya 91). Sometimes
“We didn’t stop for lunch. Instead, we begged for snacks at some of the small
teashops. We even managed to get some pan to chew!” (Vidya 91). In the private
sector, transgender was never considered human. When transgenders wanted to
strike the path of a self-employed entrepreneur, no one was ready to give a
business or even finance their venture. “There is absolutely no social security
for transgender in this country. Who will step forward to help us, when the
government is unprepared to extend any kind of basic recognition to
us”(Vidya99). Vidya realised that any revolution in favour of gender
discrimination including discrimination against transgenders was merely lip
service and that “begging was my only practical source of income”(Vidya99).Vidya’s
life was an example to showcase that the educated transgenders also had no
options but to beg. People should encourage the startups of transgenders and
government should provide reservation in employment.
Marginalisation in
Health Aspects
In Me Hijra Me
Laxmi, Laxmi portrayed the behaviour of doctors towards the hijras “they
were no different from the untouchable of the past. When they went to the
District Civil Hospital in Thane (or to any other hospital for that matter), no
one touched them—neither the doctors, nor the nurses, nor even the ward boys
and ayahs. They were pariah” (Laxmi 91). Even in hospitals, transgenders were
not considered as a human. There were unable to access the basic health
supports in the dominant society. Special doctors and specialized hospitals can
provide hygienic treatment for transgenders.
Case Study
1. Selvi (a)
Kanagamaram is a twenty four years old transgender living in Sankagiri Taluk,
Salem district. She has an elder brother and a sister. When Selvi was sixteen
years old, she felt something odd in her behaviour. She started to behave like
a female. Initially, her parents cautioned and forced her to behave like a boy.
Even they beat her without any reason and considered her as a shame to the family.
They took her to the hospital but it did not help.
She was also suffered from muscular dystrophy. In school,
her friends used to make fun of her for ‘feminine behaviour. She lost her
concentration in studies due to the external factors like teasing, bullying and
rejection by society. Even with such discrimination, she completed her school
education but in college, she was unable to continue it. She discontinued her
degree due to the mockery and discrimination of students and teachers.
At the age of seventeen, she was thrown out of home. At
first, she had no place to go. No one is ready to provide a house for rent to
her. No one welcomed her except the transgender community. Fortunately, a
transgender named Ashwini provides her shelter and food. She hardly found jobs.
Her gender was a barrier in securing a job. She used to beg at the shops and
from the passengers in the bus stand. At the time her mind was filled with
suicidal thoughts but she never attempted suicide.
Whenever her parents saw her, they got irritated by her
presence till date. Even though her parents reject her, she want to help her
family financially and helped them whenever they asked help. Her biological
family speaks with her only they need money from her. At the same time, they
use to beat her to behave like a man. According to Selvi, problem makers are
her parents and relatives. The rejection of the biological family and relatives
made her lonely which affected her mentally. Complete acceptance is the only
solution for her problems.
2. Pramitha is a twenty seven year old transgender living in
Hasthamapatti, Salem district. She has a younger brother. When Pramitha was
fifteen years old, she felt some changes in her body. She started to behave
like a female. Her parents warned and forced her to behave like a boy. When she
continued to behave like a boy, they threaten to kill her. They took her to
temple and hospital but it did not help. At the age of nineteen, she left the
home. Initially, she hardly found a rented house. Then, she joined with the
transgender community.
In school, her friends used to make fun of her feminine
behaviour. She lost her concentration in studies due to the external factors
like teasing, bullying and rejection by society. However, she continued her
studies in the unfriendly environment.
Even with such discrimination, she completed her school education and
joined in college. She completed UG and PG degree with the financial help of
fellow transgenders. In college, teachers encouraged the students to tease her
and harass her. After completing PG degree, she joined as an Assistant
Professor in a private college at Salem district. In a week time, she resigned
her job because of the continuous mockery and harassment of the students. Then
she opted to beg at shops and trains. After a few years, parents accepted her
and now, she is doing agricultural work at her field. However, she was not
allowed to participate in family functions.
Pramitha was a postgraduate like Vidya, but with her
education, she was unable to pursue the desired job and begged at shops.
Students’ unawareness about transgenders forced Pramitha to resign her teaching
job within a week. Manobi also faced discrimination in college but it is from
the educated professor. Awareness about transgenders in India remains a big
question. All the characters in autobiography and case study suffered due to
the rejection of mainstream people in society.
Conclusion
To conclude, ever organism on this universe is created
with a purpose just as every drop of rainwater come down with the purpose to
fall on its blade of grass. Transgender women require understanding and support
from every individual in the society, from the government, doctors, from their
own family members. Hijras only demand was “Acceptance is what I seek”
(Bandyopadhyay viii). In India, Each hijra were equally talented and waiting
for the opportunity. They were not recogonised by the society, “transgenders
are the Dalits of Dalits, the most oppressed women among women. They enjoy no
equality, no freedom, no fraternity. They continue to lead a wretched life devoid
of pride and dignity”(Vidya142). All they need was social approval in the
society, “Once we gain social approval, our families will also accept us” (Vidya
143).
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