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silverfoxesclub-digest In this issue:
-Bangladesh's third sex
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Subject: Bangladesh's third sex
Headline:
(BBC News, 11/25/00)
Text:
There is even a small wire cage
with a couple of chickens in it.
This cramped living space in a
slum on the outskirts of Dhaka
is the home of Heera and
several of her family members.
Heera is around 40 years old,
with long, black hair and a gold
stud in her nose. She is
wearing a brightly coloured
sari and - it is easy to notice
these things when you are all
squeezed up together on one
large bed - she paints her
fingernails and her toe-nails.
But although she looks
decidedly female, Heera is not
a woman. Nor is she a man.
She belongs to what some
people call the Third Sex. She
is a hijra.
Hijras have been around since
time immemorial in South Asia,
and elsewhere. Some are born
as hermaphrodites - children
born with ambiguous genitalia
- neither girls nor boys. Others
are boys who, either by choice
or by force, have been
castrated at puberty.
In olden days, they were used
as harem guards, but these
days they are little better than
outcasts, paid to perform lewd
dances at social functions like
weddings.
Heera herself claims to have
been born a hermaphrodite.
Obviously it would be rude to
ask to see evidence - although
it is not uncommon for hijras,
at least in India, to threaten to
expose themselves. It is a form
of extortion that some hijras
use to extract small sums of
money.
They may be outcasts and seen
as bad luck, but hijras have
always had a role in south Asia,
offering blessings or sometimes
curses. They themselves are
cursed with the ultimate curse:
to be on the fringes of
humanity itself - neither men
nor women.
But even though many
ordinary Bangladeshis see her
as a freak of nature, Heera is
an exceptional person.
Over one week, I see her in a
variety of different social
situations. I see her at home,
where she lives with her hijra
followers, keeping order and
dispensing justice; dancing at a
religious function on the banks
of Dhaka's main river, where
she has been hired to provide
traditional hijra entertainment.
And acting in a theatre
workshop, where hijras are
being taught new skills, so they
can earn their livings without
having to resort to minor
blackmail.
In all these places, her strong
and attractive personality
shines through clearly: a
thoughtful and loving person,
with her own hopes, ambitions
and private grief.
The only time she seems less
than her true self is when we
stop at an up-market
restaurant for lunch. The
diners clearly recognise her as
a hijra. And hijras are
outcasts. They lack all basic
rights.
If their true identity is
revealed, they are immediately
sacked, even from menial jobs.
Hijra children tend to get
hounded out of school, which
means they cannot get decent
jobs in the first place.
It is almost impossible for them
to vote, to get a passport, or
even to open a bank account.
In Bangladesh, as in India,
they are lower even than
untouchables.
We meet with no overt hostility
in that restaurant - just
curious glances. Bangladesh is
a rather tolerant country in
most ways. But Heera seems to
shrink deep inside herself.
Usually dignified and
independent, she seems
somehow diminished - forced
by society into the sub-human
category which is assigned to
her solely on account of her
sexual difference.
Hijras and hermaphrodites are
not, of course, confined to
South Asia. But in the West, it
is routine to rectify such
perceived abnormalities by
surgery. An American
campaigning group called the
Intersex Society, says more
than 2,000 operations are
carried out in the US every
year, to assign a clear sex to
children of indeterminate
gender.
But it is a practice the Intersex
Society believes is wrong. It
says none of us is wholly male
or wholly female. And some
individuals are so evenly split -
either hormonally or
biologically - that they are in all
respects, members of a third
sex.
Although sexual minorities
have made huge strides in
winning their rights in recent
years, such concepts are
rather alien to Western
culture. In the UK, for
instance, even transsexuals
who have an operation are
legally padlocked forever to the
gender written on their birth
certificates.
In less developed societies,
though, where surgery is not
normally an option, there is
sometimes greater space for
those who do not fit the norm.
In some ways, hijras are better
off than their Western
counterparts - at least they are
not forced to disguise their
true sexual identities.
But they do face widespread
discrimination. That is why
there is a clear and compelling
case for hijras to be officially
recognised as a separate
group, with all the rights of
other minorities.
In India, where there may be
as many as 1,000,0000 hijras,
such a movement has finally
started to gain ground. This
summer, a hijra was even
elected to parliament - in a
country where corruption and
nepotism are rife, voters
thought someone without any
family connections might turn
out to be more honest than the
average politician.
And a few weeks ago, a fashion
designer decided to use hijras
to sashay down the catwalk in
Delhi.
But in Bangladesh, the
demand for more hijra rights is
still a mere twinkle in the eye of
one or two politicians. The
question is whether the
demand will grow and reach
fruition - or whether it too, will
be mutilated at birth.
Dear Ben,
this may come as a surprise but the Gay community in NZ are not altogether
happy with this legislation. Not because in essence they don't agree with
the ideas contained within, however, the Government still refuses to
legislate in favour of Gay marriages. The argument here within the Gay
community is, that society is now effectively recognising Gay marriages
after death, yet while we are alive they don't, therefore we are not
eligible for the social benefits of straight married couples.
It has now become quite a dilemma for this very socially responsible
government, who have yet to decide quite what to do about it all.
He says, "Let's get it on!" and this 68-year-old
hotshot silverfox means it, to. You can take him at his word in his new
Silverfoxes Clubhouse Locker Room.
You can also learn more about him by reading his
personal profile in the Silverfoxes Club E-mail List members section. Look
for Don.
Subject: Fwd: Vocabulary Test for the Dirty Minded
Vocabulary Test for the Dirty Minded
I challenge you NOT to think dirty.
None of the answers in this quiz are obscene in any way.
1) What is a four-letter word that ends in "k" and means the same as
intercourse?
2) What is it that a cow has four of and a woman has only two of?
3) What can you find in a man's pants that is about six inches long, has
a head on it, and that women love so much that they often blow it?
4) What word starts with "f " and ends with "u-c-k"?
5) Name five words that are each four letters long, end in " u-n-t " one
of which is a word for a woman?
6) What does a dog do that you can step into?
7) What four letter word begins with "f " and ends with "k", and if you
can't get one you can use your hands?
8) What is hard, six inches long, has two nuts, and can make a girl fat?
9) What four-letter word ends in "i-t " and is found on the bottom of
birdcages?
10) What is it that all men have one of; it's longer on some men than on
others; the pope doesn't use his; and a man gives it to his wife after
they're married?
ANSWERS:
1. (talk)
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