This ethnography is a cultural study of the Hijras of India, a religious community of men who dress and act
like women. It focuses on how Hijras can be used in the study of gender categories and human sexual variation.
-Serena Nanda, a leading authority on the Hijra, provides access to an important body of knowledge and data on
the Hijras of India.
-Explores the relation between gender roles and culture particularly in the relation of both to sexual variation.
-Looks at transexualism in America and changes to the transgender movement in Chapter 10, "The Hijra in Cross-Cultural
Perspective".
-New perspectives on the Native American "Two-Spirit" people.
-New material on Polynesian liminal genders.
-New color photos.
-Expanded and updated bibliography.
Table of Contents
1. Hijra Roles in Indian Society.
2. Hijras as Neither Man nor Woman.
3. Emasculation Ritual Among the Hijras.
4. Social Organization and Economic Adaptation.
5. Kamladevi: A Prostitute.
6. Meera: A New Guru.
7. Sushila: Achieving Respect.
8. Salima: An Outcast.
9. Hijra Lives on Context.
10. The Hijra in Cross-Cultural Perspective.
