hijra and eunuch

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hijra and eunuch

***** Location: India
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

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In the culture of South Asia, hijras /eunuchs are physiological males who have feminine gender identity, adopt feminine gender roles, and wear women's clothing. The Hijra sanaths (Hindi: हिजड़ा, Urdu: ہِجڑا‎, Kannada: ಹಿಜಡಾ, Telugu: హిజ్ర Punjabi ਹਿਜੜਾ) are also known as chhakka in Kannada and Bambaiya Hindi, khusra (ਖੁਸਰਾ) in Punjabi and kojja in Telugu.



In Pakistan, the hijra gender role includes true intersex people (khusras), crossdressers (zenanas) and eunuchs (narnbans).
Hijras are also known as Aravani/Aruvani or Jagappa in other areas.

Hijras/Eunuchs have a long recorded history in the Indian subcontinent, from antiquity, as suggested by the Kama Sutra period, onwards. This history features a number of well-known roles within subcontinental cultures, part gender-liminal, part spiritual, and part survival.

In South Asia, many hijras live in well-defined, organized, all-hijra communities, led by a guru.These communities have sustained themselves over generations by "adopting" young boys who are rejected by, or flee their family of origin. Many work as sex workers for survival.

The word hijra is a Hindustani word, derived from the Arabic root hjr in its sense of "leaving one's tribe," and has been borrowed into Hindi. The Indian usage has traditionally been translated into English as "eunuch" or "hermaphrodite," where "the irregularity of the male genitalia is central to the definition."owever, in general hijras are born with typically male physiology, only a few having been born with male intersex variations. Some Hijras undergo an initiation rite into the hijra community called nirwaan, which refers to the removal of penis, testicles and scrotum.

Since the late 20th century, some hijra activists and Western non-government organizations (NGOs) have been lobbying for official recognition of the hijra as a kind of "third sex" or "third gender," as neither man nor woman.
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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

autumn breeze —
a group of hijras bless
the newlyweds

springtime son . . .
khusras coerce the family
through dance moves

Shared by Sandip Chauhan
Haiku Culture Magazine - 2013


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Related words



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