Economist article about South Asia's non-binary communities

[BaronMunchausen]

I've just read a thought-provoking article in the Asia section of this week’s Economist and thought I'd share. The main focus is Hijra people as a ‘third gender’ on the subcontinent.

Some interesting takeaways are that Hijra people are deemed male at birth; that they are regarded as intersex (erroneously: very few are); that they are increasingly being rebadged as ‘transgender’ in order to appeal to western funders; and that they are recognised and accepted (as God-made intersex people) in countries where homosexuality is illegal. Laws reflect the intersex assumption, and positive action measures such as tax breaks have failed because they often require medical evidence.

For me, some key issues for western activists are cultural imperialism (adapting the western ‘trans’ norm which sends a ‘progressive’ signal to western funders while inevitably stigmatising indigenous Hijra) and homophobia (‘trans’ erasing homosexuality, as in Iran). Obviously there’s no suggestion in Asia that Hijra are actually women - though how long this holds up against western cultural pull and money remains to be seen.

The article is at www.economist.com/asia/2021/09/18/south-asias-non-binary-communities-worry-about-losing-their-identity (sorry, can’t find any share token option).

IME there is still a fundamental cultural disapproval of homosexuality among Thais. It is far more acceptable to be "the third sex" "ladyboy" than to be openly gay and this applies to both sexes. Among friends and family there are still sham marriages in groups of friends in order to conceal and facilitate gay relationships.
Thailand is a strange mix of ultra conservative middle classes and the awful sex trade and exploitation that is everywhere and mainly driven by extreme poverty.
I can see how easy jumping on the trans bandwagon would be, but I don't think the history and the thought processes behind it are the same as in the west. Thailand has tightened up the regulations around reassignment surgery in recent years, while in the USA 12 and 13 year old girls are getting mastectomies.
I have no personal experience of India.

I think too many westerners take the homosexual/heterosexual model that we are taught for granted and assume other cultures see it the same way. It makes it difficult for them to see some of the undercurrents in other places.

Many cultures don't see male homosexuality like that at all, it's more about the dominant vs passive role. So a man who has sex with men, but in the dominant role, isn't engaging in homosexual behaviour as such. So it shouldn't be a surprise to see a class of males who play the passive role but are either prostitutes, poor, young, etc in such societies.

And even more so in cultures where many women are more guarded sexually and may not be available for casual relationships.

The Stonewall view of sex and gender is hugely imperialist/colonialist.

Many years ago, when I was in India I came across some hiram groups. It was not a lifestyle to aspire towards. Yes, they were sort of accepted but as more or less a class of sex industry workers, the ones I met were invited to male celebrations where they'd have to flirt (and sometimes more) with guests. I don't know if hirjas' status has changed in the meantime but it didn't look a very enviable life and I'm puzzled about why they are held up as an example of transgender harmony.

Hirja not hiram

@EishetChayil

The Stonewall view of sex and gender is hugely imperialist/colonialist.

Yes!

There was a superb panel of speakers who spoke about this in a WHRC event: they referred to it as rainbow imperialism. E.g., Yeye Luisah Teish on Rainbow flag imperialism gave a fascinating overview of Yoruba traditions and how culture and traditions are ignored/suppressed by NGOs. She also shared her experience of being a black woman in the US.

Yeye:

Helen Joyce raises this issue in the latest installment of the excellent Wider Lens podcast -

gender-a-wider-lens.captivate.fm/episode/41-trans-a-conversation-with-helen-joyce

She say trans activists often like to seize on examples from other cultures as proof of something real, physical and enduring to gender identity, but that in reality those cultures never pretend or claim that people born biologically male are actually women. They just reserve a particular place for people born biologically male who won't or can't live within a normal (for the culture) male gender role.

The homophobia angle is interesting too. I understand that the country that performs the second most sex reasignment operations in the world (after Thailand) is Iran. Because calling people trans gives them a way out of having to accept that they're gay.

It's interesting how this third role in other cultures usually tends to be reserved for males who don't feel comfortable in the masculine gender role, but females who don't like the feminine gender role tend to have to lump it. Very interesting.

The cultural differences with western "trans" are marked. Samoan Faʻafafine compete in sport - but in their sex class, in men's events.

Entering women's events didn't occur to them. After Hubbard beat a Samoan weightlifter to the NZ Olympic team, several baffled officials talked about switching Faʻafafine into female sports, in order to keep up.