hijra (eunuchs)

Altaf Bhimji altaf at wco.com
Fri May 15 23:21:48 PDT 1998


On Fri, 15 May 1998, jf noonan wrote:
> > intreasting sub-culture of the sub-continent for anyone interested...)
>
> I'm interested, want to expound?

hijra: not to be confused with the muslim calender system also known as "hijra" (means migration in Arabic). There is a book out, i can't remember the name that gives a much better view of hijras than this one i found on the net... Hijra is often used in a similar sense as the word "sissy," though has a more negative connotation... so you see why none of the men rulers would want to be "eunuchs," and may feel the necessity for an explosion to prove their point.

altaf

EUNUCHS IN INDIA

_________________________________________________________________

It has been estimated that there are at least a million eunuchs in

India. They are known as hijra, and make their livings as beggars,

prostitutes and by removing "bad luck".

Visitors to India can frequently see groups of gaudily dressed hijra

outside large railway stations. They beg for money and, if you refuse,

you will be loudly cursed and they will expose the area between their

legs where their genitals used to be. Many of them have also had this

area branded, so that at first glance they appear to be women.

The prostitution side of their income is interesting. They act as

prostitutes for men who can not afford the price of a real woman. Of

course, they are also popular with men who like transsexuals.

Removing bad luck also provides part of their income. When a house is

built, the owners will frequently employ a eunuch to dance in each

room to take away any potential bad luck. This is because eunuchs have

suffered the very worst fate that could befall anyone, and

consequently do not mind accepting a little bit more for a fee. Groups

of hijra also turn up uninvited at weddings and dance around the

guests, ostensibly to take away any bad luck that may befall the groom

and bride. However, it is an expensive matter to get the hijras to

leave, making this a lucrative part of their income.

During the last few years they have found a new way of making money.

In a crowded country like India it is very difficult for young couples

to have time all by themselves. Consequently, they find secluded parts

of public parks to cuddle and perhaps make love. The hijras search out

these young couples out and demand money to leave.

Most hijras are transsexuals who have had the operation voluntarily.

The operation is expensive and most have had to save up to have it

done. It is performed out of doors and a group of hijras will gather

to sing songs as the operation is being performed. The eunuch-to-be is

usually drugged and the operation is performed with one cut, severing

the entire genitalia. The person is then made to walk around for an

hour or so before being allowed to rest. Surprisingly, even though the

operation is done with unsterile instruments, the mortality rate is

small. However, when I was in India a few years back I read a

newspaper article condemning the practice because some people die as a

result of the operation.

An excellent book called "Neither Male nor Female" describes the life

of the transsexual eunuchs. However, it makes no mention of the boys

who are kidnapped and castrated by members of the eunuch community.

This is one of two bad aspects of the hijras.

If a child is born with any deformity of the genitals they are

destined to join the hijras, whether they want to or not. The hijras

will wait until the child is twelve or thirteen and then gather

outside the house demanding the child as theirs. Even if the parents

do not want to part with the child, they ultimately do so.

It is a risky business being a small boy living on the streets in any

part of the world, but especially so in India, as there is the added

risk of being transformed into a eunuch. The eunuchs gain the child's

trust by providing food, shelter and friendship. There are two

photographs of a fifteen year old eunuch (one naked and the other

wearing women's clothes), kidnapped and castrated by the eunuch

community, in the book "Sex Watching" by Milton Diamond (Macdonald and

Company, London, 1984).

I have visited India countless times on business and my interest in

the hijras began on my first visit in 1969 when I stayed in a large

hotel in Bombay. The man who took my bags up to my room asked if I

wanted a woman for the night. I was exhausted after a long flight and

said "no". He then offered me a boy. When I said "no" to that also, I

was offered a eunuch.

[INLINE]

_________________________________________________________________

Return to culture



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list