Aravani as Citizen: The Forging of a Sexual Identity

Nina Roy Choudhury; C Harini

doi:10.21467/ajss.12.1.30-38

Authors

Nina Roy Choudhury SIES College of Commerce and Economics (Autonomous), Sion East, Mumbai-400022 https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9356-7705
C Harini SIES College of Commerce and Economics (Autonomous), Sion East, Mumbai-400022 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7674-5832

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21467/ajss.12.1.30-38

Abstract

Aravani is one of the transgender communities (male to female) in the state of Tamil Nadu who considers themselves as females trapped in male bodies. They are not mere cross dressers. Some of them undergo surgeries to realize their dream of becoming a complete female. They worship Aravana or Iravan, the son of Pandava prince Arjuna and Naga princess Ulupi. The Aravanis of Tamil Nadu identify themselves as the third gender like Eunuch, Hijra, Kinnar, Kothi, Shiv Shakthi and Jogappa communities in other parts of India. The Hijra population is the most visible transgender population in India. Much before the historic Supreme Court Verdict of 2014, Hijras were accepted as the third gender in India. While Hijras have mythological, religious, and cultural moorings, it is their search for social and political acceptance that this paper aims to study. Borrowing from mythology, the Tamil transgender community, Aravani, has attempted to carve out its own space within the LGBTQ spectrum. This paper examines the role of the Aravani movement in forging a sexual identity for transgender people and its impact and influence on promoting the rights of transgender people. Autobiographical records from the community and secondary sources with cultural, religious, and mythological references along with articles highlighting social and political developments were studied to map the journey towards a sexual identity. The primary texts used in this study are Our Lives Our Words and The Truth About Me.

Keywords:

Transgender, Hijras, Aravani

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Arondekar, A. (2009). For the Record: On Sexuality and the Colonial Archive in India. Duke University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv11313gb

Boxi, C. De. (2021). Transgender Identity in Pre-colonial and Post colonial India: A Study in Reversal. International Journal of Management Research and Business Strategy, 9(4), 2–9.

Chakrapani, V. (2013). The Case of Tamil Nadu Transgender Welfare Board: Insights for Developing Practical Models of Social Protection Programmes for Transgender People in India.

Chatterjee, T. (2018). Towards a room of their own: Negotiating the problems and politics of recognition of the third gender in India. In A. K. Gupta & G. Khobragade (Eds.), The third gender: Stain and Pain (1st ed., Vol. 1, pp. 53–61). Vishwabharati Research Centre.

Dasgupta, R. K. (2011). Queer Sexuality: A Cultural Narrative of India’s Historical Archive. Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, 3(4), 651–670.

Gayathri, N., & Karthikeyan, P. (2016). Inclusion and Exclusion of Third Genders – Social Hinderance in India. Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities, 6(3), 20–30. https://doi.org/10.5958/2249-7315.2016.00025.3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5958/2249-7315.2016.00025.3

Gururaj, G. P., Manohar, J. S., & Rao, T. S. S. (2023). Attitudes and opinions of the teaching faculty toward the LGBT community. Journal of Psychosexual Health, 5(1), 40–47. https://doi.org/10.1177/26318318221135716 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/26318318221135716

Hiltebeitel, A. (1995). Dying Before the Mahabharata War: Martial and Transsexual Body-Building for Aravan. The Journal of Asian Studies, 54(2), 447–473. https://doi.org/10.2307/2058746 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2058746

Hinchy, J. (2014). Deviant Domesticities and Sexualised Childhoods: Prostitutes, Eunuchs and the Limits of the State Child ‘Rescue’ Mission in Colonial India. In H. Choi & M. Jolly (Eds.), Divine Domesticities: Christian Paradoxes in Asia and the Pacific (pp. 211–247). ANU Press. https://doi.org/10.22459/DD.10.2014 DOI: https://doi.org/10.22459/DD.10.2014.09

Mishra, P. J. (2023). Social work interventions for reducing social stigma in transgenders. Journal of Advanced Education and Sciences, 3(2), 55–59.

Mondal, B., Das S., Ray D., & Banerjee, D. (2020). “Their Untold Stories…”: Lived Experiences of Being a Transgender (Hijra), A Qualitative Study from India. Journal of Psychosexual Health, 2(2), 165–173. https://doi.org/10.1177/2631831820936924 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2631831820936924

Naik, Y. (2017). Homosexuality in the Jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of India (1st ed.). Springer Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55435-8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55435-8_1

Nanda, S. (1990). Neither man nor woman: The Hijras of India. Wadsworth Pub. Co.

Pattanaik, D. (2014). Shikandi and other queer tales they don’t tell you. Zubaan and Penguin India.

Reddy, G. (2005). With Respect to Sex: Negotiating Hijra Identity in South India. The University of Chicago Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226707549.001.0001

Revathi A. (2010). The Truth About Me: A Hijra Life Story. Penguin Books Limited.

Revathi, A. (2012). Our Lives Our Words. Yoda Press.

Shanmugam, M., Navaneethakrishnan, K. K., Venkatachalam, B., Kandasamy, R., & Baalann, K. P. (2022). Assessment of oral hygiene and lifestyle pattern among transgender population in Tamil Nadu. International Journal of Life Science and Pharma Research, 12(1), 230–237. https://doi.org/10.22376/ijpbs/lpr.2022.12.1.L230-237 DOI: https://doi.org/10.22376/ijpbs/lpr.2022.12.1.L230-237

Suguna, M. (2015). Empowering Transgenders Through Self Help Groups in Tamil Nadu. Indian Journal of Applied Research, 5(3), 71–73.

Tom, L., & Menon, S. (2021). Living with the Norm: The Nirvanam Ritual in South Indian Transfeminine Narratives of Self and Transition. A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, 27(1), 39–59. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/10642684-8776848