SOAN 1100 (01) – Introduction to Anthropology

Fall 2002

Review Questions for Neither Man nor Woman (ix-xxi, 1-12)

1) Who are the hijras? What makes them hijras? Is there a discrepancy (in ideal vs. real terms) between what theoretically makes a person an hijra and what practically makes them a hijra?

2) What does it mean to say that the hijras are an “alternative gender role”? What is the relationship between this claim that they are an alternative gender role and pronouns in Indian languages?

3) Why does Nanda include extended personal narrative chapters in her ethnography?

4) What are hijras’ primary roles in Indian society? Are they socially accepted? Are they respected? Why or why not?

5) How does hijras’ emasculation provide them with spiritual, mythological, or social power?

6) Why does homosexual prostitution detract from hijras’ social position? According to Nanda, should we see hijras as an example of institutionalized homosexuality?

SOAN 1100 (01) – Introduction to Anthropology

Fall 2002

Review Questions for Neither Man nor Woman (13-54)

1) What makes hijras “not men”? How are hijras like women? If they are like women, why does Nanda suggest that they are equally “not women”?

2) What is the connection between hijras and Hinduism? What sort of support does Hinduism provide for hijras and their roles in Indian society? What is the connection between hijras and Islam?

3) What is Nirvan? What does it mean? How does the emasculation ritual serve as a rite of passage? How do hijras gain ritual power as a result of this process?

4) What is “creative asceticism”? How does emasculation provide hijras with creative or generative power?

5) Who is Bahuchara? What is her connection to the hijra community?

6) How do hijras function as a religious group? How do hijras function like a caste?

7) Why are caste differences unimportant within the hijra community? What are the important organizing principles among hijras?

8) How does the hijra community replicate larger social principles or models? What is the nature of the guru-chela relationship? What is the difference between a hijra “house” and a hijra “household”? Why is fictive kinship important for hijras?

9) How do hijras support themselves economically? Is the hijra community a useful economic adaptation to Indian society? Why or why not? What is the relationship between hijras and the larger Indian society?

10) Why do hijras engage in prostitution? Why is prostitution stigmatized within the hijra community?

SOAN 1100 (01) - Introduction to Anthropology

Fall 2002

Review Questions for Neither Man nor Woman (55-112)

1) Who is Kamladevi? How closely does she fit the ideal standards for hijras?

2) What is the nature of Kamladevi’s relationship to her guru?

3) Why do you think Kamladevi is a hijra?

4) Who is Meera? What is her position within the hijra community?

5) How is Meera different from Kamladevi?

6) How did Meera become a “wife”? Is her role as wife compatible with her duties as a hijra?

7) How/why did Sushila become a hijra? How has she managed to “carry out the life plan for a woman of her culture” (84)? How has this affected her kinship networks?

8) Why is Salima an outcast? How has this influenced the way she lives her life? Has it affected her “hijra-ness”?

9) What is the nature of Salima’s relationship with Ibrahim?

SOAN 1100 (01) – Introduction to Anthropology

Fall 2002

Review Questions for Neither Man nor Woman (113-158)

1) What are the different motivations that lead someone to become a hijra?

2) How does having a husband serve as a source of self-esteem for hijras?

3) What other crosscultural examples of alternative gender roles does Nanda provide? What are the similarities and differences between these gender roles and that of the hijras?

4) Why are transsexuals in the United States not a third/alternative gender? How does this relate to the notion of “gender identity”?

5) What is the nature of the relationship between alternative gender status and sexual orientation? Who is labeled “homosexual” in the same-sex sex acts that Nanda talks about?

6) What is the connection between gender role/status and the cultural concept of the person?