Same-Sex Desire in Indian Culture

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Author :
Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN 13 : 9781137570758
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (77 download)

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Book Synopsis Same-Sex Desire in Indian Culture by : Oliver Ross

Download or read book Same-Sex Desire in Indian Culture written by Oliver Ross and published by Palgrave Macmillan. This book was released on 2016-01-05 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores representations of same-sex desire in Indian literature and film from the 1970s to the present. Through a detailed analysis of poetry and prose by authors like Vikram Seth, Kamala Das, and Neel Mukherjee, and films from Bollywood and beyond, including Onir's My Brother Nikhil and Deepa Mehta's Fire, Oliver Ross argues that an initially Euro-American "homosexuality" with its connotations of an essential psychosexual orientation, is reinvented as it overlaps with different elements of Indian culture. Dismantling the popular belief that vocal gay and lesbian politics exist in contradistinction to a sexually "conservative" India, this book locates numerous alternative practices and identities of same-sex desire in Indian history and modernity. Indeed, many of these survived British colonialism, with its importation of ideas of sexual pathology and perversity, in changed or codified forms, and they are often inflected by gay and lesbian identities in thepresent. In this account, Oliver Ross challenges the preconception that, in the contemporary world, a grand narrative of sexuality circulates globally and erases all pre-existing narratives and embodiments of sexual desire.

Queering India

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1135305889
Total Pages : 263 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (353 download)

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Book Synopsis Queering India by : Ruth Vanita

Download or read book Queering India written by Ruth Vanita and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-18 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Queering India is the first book to provide an understanding of same-sex love and eroticism in Indian culture and society. The essays focus on pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial gay and lesbian life in India to provide a comprehensive look at a much neglected topic. The topics are wide-ranging, considering film, literature, popular culture, historical and religious texts, law and other aspects of life in India. Specifically, the essays cover such issues as Deepa Mehta's recent and controversial film, Fire, which focused on lesbian relationships in India; the Indian penal code which outlaws homosexual acts; a case of same-sex love and murder in colonial India; homophobic fiction and homoerotic advertising in current day India; and lesbian subtext in Hindu scripture. All of the essays are original to the collection. Queering India promises to change the way we understand India as well as gay and lesbian life and sexuality around the world.

Same-Sex Desire in Indian Culture

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Author :
Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN 13 : 9781137570758
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (77 download)

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Book Synopsis Same-Sex Desire in Indian Culture by : Oliver Ross

Download or read book Same-Sex Desire in Indian Culture written by Oliver Ross and published by Palgrave Macmillan. This book was released on 2016-01-05 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores representations of same-sex desire in Indian literature and film from the 1970s to the present. Through a detailed analysis of poetry and prose by authors like Vikram Seth, Kamala Das, and Neel Mukherjee, and films from Bollywood and beyond, including Onir's My Brother Nikhil and Deepa Mehta's Fire, Oliver Ross argues that an initially Euro-American "homosexuality" with its connotations of an essential psychosexual orientation, is reinvented as it overlaps with different elements of Indian culture. Dismantling the popular belief that vocal gay and lesbian politics exist in contradistinction to a sexually "conservative" India, this book locates numerous alternative practices and identities of same-sex desire in Indian history and modernity. Indeed, many of these survived British colonialism, with its importation of ideas of sexual pathology and perversity, in changed or codified forms, and they are often inflected by gay and lesbian identities in thepresent. In this account, Oliver Ross challenges the preconception that, in the contemporary world, a grand narrative of sexuality circulates globally and erases all pre-existing narratives and embodiments of sexual desire.

Same-Sex Love in India

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Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 1137054808
Total Pages : 390 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (37 download)

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Book Synopsis Same-Sex Love in India by : R. Vanita

Download or read book Same-Sex Love in India written by R. Vanita and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-08-02 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Same-Sex Love in India presents a stunning array of writings on same-sex love from over 2000 years of Indian literature. Translated from more than a dozen languages and drawn from Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, and modern fictional traditions, these writings testify to the presence of same-sex love in various forms since ancient times, without overt persecution. This collection defies both stereotypes of Indian culture and Foucault's definition of homosexuality as a nineteenth-century invention, uncovering instead complex discourses of Indian homosexuality, rich metaphorical traditions to represent it, and the use of names and terms as early as medieval times to distinguish same-sex from cross-sex love. An eminent group of scholars have translated these writings for the first time or have re-translated well-known texts to correctly make evident previously underplayed homoerotic content. Selections range from religious books, legal and erotic treatises, story cycles, medieval histories and biographies, modern novels, short stories, letters, memoirs, plays and poems. From the Rigveda to Vikram Seth, this anthology will become a staple in courses on gender and queer studies, Asian studies, and world literature.

The Spirit and the Flesh

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Author :
Publisher : Beacon Press (MA)
ISBN 13 : 9780807046111
Total Pages : 372 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (461 download)

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Book Synopsis The Spirit and the Flesh by : Walter L. Williams

Download or read book The Spirit and the Flesh written by Walter L. Williams and published by Beacon Press (MA). This book was released on 1988 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Love’s Rite

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Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 1403981604
Total Pages : 285 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (39 download)

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Book Synopsis Love’s Rite by : R. Vanita

Download or read book Love’s Rite written by R. Vanita and published by Springer. This book was released on 2005-10-20 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first book to examine the same-sex weddings and same-sex couple suicides reported in India over the last two decades. Ruth Vanita examines these cases in the context of a wide variety of same-sex unions, from Fourteenth-century narratives about co-wives who miraculously produce a child together, to Nineteenth-century depictions of ritualized unions between women, to marriages between gay men and lesbians arranged over the internet. Examining the changing legal, literary, religious and social Indian and Euro-American traditions within which same-sex unions are embedded, she brings a fresh perspective to the gay marriage debate, suggesting that same-sex marriage dwells not at the margins but at the heart of culture. Love's Rites by Ruth Vanita is a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award.

Same-Sex Love in India

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Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 1349621838
Total Pages : 390 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (496 download)

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Book Synopsis Same-Sex Love in India by : NA NA

Download or read book Same-Sex Love in India written by NA NA and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-04-30 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lambda literary award finalist, Same-Sex Love in India presents a stunning array of writings on same-sex love from over 2000 years of Indian literature. Translated from more than a dozen languages and drawn from Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, and modern fictional traditions, these writings testify to the presence of same-sex love in various forms since ancient times, without overt persecution. This collection defies both stereotypes of Indian culture and Foucault's definition of homosexuality as a 19th-century invention, uncovering instead complex discourses of Indian homosexuality, rich metaphorical traditions to represent it, and the use of names and terms as early as medieval times to distinguish same-sex from cross-sex love. An eminent group of scholars have translated these writings for the first time or have re-translated well-known texts to correctly make evident previously underplayed homoerotic content. Selections range from religious books, legal and erotic treatises, story cycles, medieval histories and biographies, modern novels, short stories, letters, memoirs, plays and poems. From the Rigveda to Vikram Seth, this anthology will become a staple in courses on gender and queer studies, Asian studies, and world literature.

Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex

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Author :
Publisher : Xlibris Corporation
ISBN 13 : 1453503161
Total Pages : 125 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (535 download)

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Book Synopsis Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex by : Amara Das Wilhelm

Download or read book Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex written by Amara Das Wilhelm and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2010-05-18 with total page 125 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex is a collection of years of research into a topic seldom discussed or easily found within the Hindu/Vedic scriptural canon. Based entirely upon authentic Sanskrit references and modern concurring facts, the book guides us through the original Hindu concept of a "third sex" (defined as homosexuals, transgenders and the intersexed), how such people were constructively incorporated into ancient Indian society, and how foreign influences eventually eroded away that noble system. It discusses how this concept can be practically applied in today’s modern world, the importance of all-inclusiveness in human society, and the spiritual principle of learning to transcend material designations altogether. Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex will be a valuable source of reference for anyone interested in Hindu/LGBTI studies whether they are newcomers to the field or seasoned veterans of Vedic knowledge. It offers a veritable treasure trove of fresh information and ideas that will likely challenge the reader to rediscover and rethink Hinduism’s traditional understanding and treatment of gay, lesbian, and other gender-variant people within its culture. "The recognition of a third sex in ancient India and Hinduism is highly relevant in many ways. Our own modern-day society has only recently begun to understand sexual orientation, transgender identity, and intersex conditions, and our legal and social systems are just beginning to catch up with and accommodate such people in a fair and realistic way . . . yet ancient India had already addressed and previously resolved this issue many thousands of years ago in the course of its own civilization ́s development. Indeed, there is much we can learn from ancient India ́s knowledge regarding the recognition and accommodation of a 'third sex' within society." -Amara Das Wilhelm "In India there is a system where such people (the third sex) have their own society, and whenever there is some good occasion like marriage or childbirth, they go there and pray to God that this child may be very long living." -A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada "Gay and lesbian people have always been a part of society from Vedic times to our postmodern times. They should be accepted for what they are in terms of their sexual orientation and encouraged like everyone else to pursue spiritual life." -B.V. Tripurari Swami "Initially, I did not really allow myself to go deep in trying to understand the third sex. I figured that this was necessary only for those who are insensitive, arrogant and fundamentalist . . . who think that they are compassionate and tolerant while basically being superficial and even condescending. It is quite amazing how most of us can be so prejudiced about so many things and not even know it . . . .I thank you and several others for your compassion and for your tolerance in making efforts to educate your Godfamily, so that we can be more authentic servants of the servant." -H.H. Bhakti Tirtha Swami

Same-Sex Desire in Indian Culture

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Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 1137566922
Total Pages : 211 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (375 download)

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Book Synopsis Same-Sex Desire in Indian Culture by : Oliver Ross

Download or read book Same-Sex Desire in Indian Culture written by Oliver Ross and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-04-08 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores representations of same-sex desire in Indian literature and film from the 1970s to the present. Through a detailed analysis of poetry and prose by authors like Vikram Seth, Kamala Das, and Neel Mukherjee, and films from Bollywood and beyond, including Onir's My Brother Nikhil and Deepa Mehta's Fire, Oliver Ross argues that an initially Euro-American "homosexuality" with its connotations of an essential psychosexual orientation, is reinvented as it overlaps with different elements of Indian culture. Dismantling the popular belief that vocal gay and lesbian politics exist in contradistinction to a sexually "conservative" India, this book locates numerous alternative practices and identities of same-sex desire in Indian history and modernity. Indeed, many of these survived British colonialism, with its importation of ideas of sexual pathology and perversity, in changed or codified forms, and they are often inflected by gay and lesbian identities in the present. In this account, Oliver Ross challenges the preconception that, in the contemporary world, a grand narrative of sexuality circulates globally and erases all pre-existing narratives and embodiments of sexual desire.

Queer sexualities in Indian Culture : Critical Responses

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Author :
Publisher : Booksclinic Publishing, Chhattisgarh, India
ISBN 13 : 9390192935
Total Pages : 198 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Queer sexualities in Indian Culture : Critical Responses by : Dipak Giri

Download or read book Queer sexualities in Indian Culture : Critical Responses written by Dipak Giri and published by Booksclinic Publishing, Chhattisgarh, India. This book was released on 2020-10-20 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The anthology Queer Sexualities in Indian Culture: Critical Responses surveys the queer (LGBTQIA+) space in Indian culture in reference to literature, movies and other important media of culture. Shedding light on the marginalised position of queer in Indian culture, the anthology seeks sympathy for this minority class of people from majorities. It traces out factors like gender stereotype, body politics, prejudism etc. causing these minorities to lead a life of invisibility. Along with a critical introduction and an interview with queer activist and author Ruth Vanita, the anthology has covered sixteen well-explored articles through which authors have tried to sincerely articulate their noble ideas on queer studies in Indian context. The book will be helpful not only for readers who want to know about Indian queers but also prove resourceful to scholars who intend to do further studies on it.

Same-Sex Love in India

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Author :
Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN 13 : 9780312293246
Total Pages : 370 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (932 download)

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Book Synopsis Same-Sex Love in India by : R. Vanita

Download or read book Same-Sex Love in India written by R. Vanita and published by Palgrave Macmillan. This book was released on 2001-10-21 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Same-Sex Love in India presents a stunning array of writings on same-sex love from over 2000 years of Indian literature. Translated from more than a dozen languages and drawn from Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, and modern fictional traditions, these writings testify to the presence of same-sex love in various forms since ancient times, without overt persecution. This collection defies both stereotypes of Indian culture and Foucault's definition of homosexuality as a nineteenth-century invention, uncovering instead complex discourses of Indian homosexuality, rich metaphorical traditions to represent it, and the use of names and terms as early as medieval times to distinguish same-sex from cross-sex love. An eminent group of scholars have translated these writings for the first time or have re-translated well-known texts to correctly make evident previously underplayed homoerotic content. Selections range from religious books, legal and erotic treatises, story cycles, medieval histories and biographies, modern novels, short stories, letters, memoirs, plays and poems. From the Rigveda to Vikram Seth, this anthology will become a staple in courses on gender and queer studies, Asian studies, and world literature.

Female Desires

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Author :
Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780231112611
Total Pages : 374 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (126 download)

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Book Synopsis Female Desires by : Evelyn Blackwood

Download or read book Female Desires written by Evelyn Blackwood and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This groundbreaking collection includes thirteen essays from historians, sociologists, and anthropologists who discuss transgendered females and same-sex desire among women in Asia, Latin America, Native North America, and Africa. Offering compelling evidence against the commonly accepted notion that non-Western women are generally passive victims of male domination and compulsory heterosexuality, these essays on lesbian desire in ancient and modern India, butch-femme social types in Indonesia and Peru, and the lesbian movement in Mexico dispel the myth that same-sex female desire is rooted in Western neo-imperialist culture.

Love in a Different Climate

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Author :
Publisher : Verso
ISBN 13 : 9781859848371
Total Pages : 204 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (483 download)

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Book Synopsis Love in a Different Climate by : Jeremy Seabrook

Download or read book Love in a Different Climate written by Jeremy Seabrook and published by Verso. This book was released on 1999 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this carefully researched and finely written work, Jeremy Seabrook deals with subjects rarely discussed in Western narratives about South Asia. Going beyond a straightforward contextualisation of the gatoei (lady-boys) in Thailand and the hijara (eunuchs) of India, he unravels the less familiar and more complex territory of homosexual and homoerotic encounters in general, and asks how valid Western models of sexual identity are in the South Asian context, and how effective they might be in dealing with global issues of sexual health, HIV awareness and gender politics. Much of the book is based on interviews which reveal the extent of the complexity at play: wives who traditionally vacate the marital bed to accommodate their husbands' friends; kotis—"passive" male sex partners of men—many of whom will be married but see their relations with the kotis as fulfilling their destinies as males; the fundamentalist politicians who curse the Western influence of "gay liberation" and continue to justify the punishment of life imprisonment for homosexuality; and the activist groups who are working towards a clearer and more helpful understanding of contemporary issues. The first work of its kind on India, Love in a Different Climate reveals how a traditional shrouding in mystery of sexual difference is slowly but surely giving way to a more open and essentially local celebration of that difference.

The Man Who Was a Woman and Other Queer Tales from Hindu Lore

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 131776630X
Total Pages : 200 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (177 download)

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Book Synopsis The Man Who Was a Woman and Other Queer Tales from Hindu Lore by : Devdutt Pattanaik

Download or read book The Man Who Was a Woman and Other Queer Tales from Hindu Lore written by Devdutt Pattanaik and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-01-09 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A god transforms into a nymph and enchants another god. A king becomes pregnant. A prince discovers on his wedding night that he is not a man. Another king has children who call him both father and mother. A hero turns into a eunuch and wears female apparel. A princess has to turn into a man before she can avenge her humiliation. Widows of a king make love to conceive his child. Friends of the same sex end up marrying each other after one of them metamorphoses into a woman. These are some of the tales from Hindu lore that this unique book examines. The Man Who Was a Woman and Other Queer Tales from Hindu Lore is a compilation of traditional Hindu stories with a common thread: sexual transformation and gender metamorphosis. In addition to the thought-provoking stories in The Man Who Was a Woman and Other Queer Tales from Hindu Lore, you'll also find: an examination of the universality of queer narratives with examples from Greek lore and Irish folklore a comparison of the Hindu paradigm to the biblical paradigm a look at how Hindu society and Hindu scripture responds to queer sexuality a discussion of the Hijras, popularly believed to be the “third gender” in India--their probable origin, and how they fit into Hindu society With the telling of each of these tales, you will also learn how the author came upon each of them and how they relate to the context of dominant Hindu attitudes toward sex, gender, pleasure, fertility, and celibacy.

Same-Sex Love in India

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Author :
Publisher : Penguin UK
ISBN 13 : 818475969X
Total Pages : 547 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (847 download)

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Book Synopsis Same-Sex Love in India by : Ruth Vanita

Download or read book Same-Sex Love in India written by Ruth Vanita and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2021-06-24 with total page 547 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2009, the Delhi High Court's historic judgment overturning Section 377 as violative of the Indian Constitution referred to Same-Sex Love in India. So did the 2018 Supreme Court decision which upheld that judgment. All the petitions against this anti-sodomy law have cited this landmark book to prove that homosexuality is not a Western import. Same-Sex Love in India is the book that brought to light the long, incontestable history of same-sex love and desire in the Indian subcontinent. Covering over 2000 years, from the Mahabharata to the late twentieth century, the book contains excerpts from stories, poems, letters, biographies and histories in fifteen languages. The editors' introductions to each period and text trace the changing depictions of and debates around same-sex relations, illuminating their social, political and literary contexts. These essays have been called 'outstanding works of scholarship'. Including writings that range from romantic to analytical, playful to thoughtful, this classic work will help you see Indian culture and society with new eyes.

Global Gay

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Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262346117
Total Pages : 297 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (623 download)

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Book Synopsis Global Gay by : Frederic Martel

Download or read book Global Gay written by Frederic Martel and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2018-04-27 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A panoramic view of gay rights, gay life, and the gay experience around the world. In Global Gay, Frédéric Martel visits more than fifty countries and documents a revolution underway around the world: the globalization of LGBT rights. From Saudi Arabia to South Africa, from Amsterdam to Tel Aviv, from Singapore to the United States, activists, culture warriors, and ordinary people are part of a movement. Martel interviews the proprietor of a “gay-friendly” café in Amman, Jordan; a Cuban-American television journalist in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; a South African jurist who worked with Nelson Mandela to enshrine gay rights in the country's constitution; an American lawyer who worked on the campaign for marriage equality; an Egyptian man who fled his country after escaping a raid on a gay club; and many others. He tells us that in China, homosexuality is neither prohibited nor permitted, and that much Chinese gay life takes place on social media; that in Iran, because of the strict separation of the sexes, it seems almost easier to be gay than heterosexual; and that Raul Castro's daughter, a gay rights icon in Cuba, expressed her lingering anti-American sentiments by calling for Pride celebrations in May rather than June. Ten countries maintain the death penalty for homosexuals. “Homophobia is what Arab governments give to Islamists to keep them calm,” one activist tells Martel. Martel finds that although the “gay American way of life” has created a global template for gay activism and culture, each country offers distinctly local variations. And around the world, the status of gay rights has become a measure of a country's democracy and modernity. This English edition, which has been thoroughly revised and updated, has received the French Voices Award for excellence in publication and translation, supported by a grant from the French-American Book Fund.

With Respect to Sex

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Author :
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226707547
Total Pages : 326 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (267 download)

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Book Synopsis With Respect to Sex by : Gayatri Reddy

Download or read book With Respect to Sex written by Gayatri Reddy and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2010-05-15 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With Respect to Sex is an intimate ethnography that offers a provocative account of sexual and social difference in India. The subjects of this study are hijras or the "third sex" of India—individuals who occupy a unique, liminal space between male and female, sacred and profane. Hijras are men who sacrifice their genitalia to a goddess in return for the power to confer fertility on newlyweds and newborn children, a ritual role they are respected for, at the same time as they are stigmatized for their ambiguous sexuality. By focusing on the hijra community, Gayatri Reddy sheds new light on Indian society and the intricate negotiations of identity across various domains of everyday life. Further, by reframing hijra identity through the local economy of respect, this ethnography highlights the complex relationships among local and global, sexual and moral, economies. This book will be regarded as the definitive work on hijras, one that will be of enormous interest to anthropologists, students of South Asian culture, and specialists in the study of gender and sexuality.