The Third Sex: A Peep into the Lives of Eunuchs

chillibreeze writer — Abhilasha Singh

Eunuchs are addressed by many names: hijra, kinnar, transsexuals, the third sex, or the other sex. The very first image that comes to our mind when we think of eunuchs is that of a man-body clad shabbily in a sari. The face caked in whitish powder and cheeks circled with cheap rouge, bright red lips, and dark kohl-eyed people – and the ludicrously odd travesty of womanhood clapping clamorously in a busy market hustling for five or ten rupees.

Eunuchs in India are deprived of normal rights as our law codes recognize only two sexes: male and female. Eunuchs are generally dressed as females, adopt feminine names and referred to as “she” and “her”. They are still fighting for their rights to education, jobs, voting and above all, social acceptance.

Eunuchs live in their own communities - a separate world of their own. They have their own Gods, they follow their own laws and everyone who belongs to this world has to abide by these laws. Among these ostracized eunuchs, many of them are castrated, few are genetically born hermaphrodite, that is, they have genitals of both sexes, and few are transvestites, that is, a female mind trapped in male body or vice versa.

History of eunuchs is eons old. In earlier times, they were appointed as guards of kings’ harems to avoid the sexual relationships with royal queens. This sexual perversion still exists in society and they are forced to live their lives in isolation. Now the survival instincts drive them to unsafe and insecure corners of sex trade, extortion and crime.

There are a few exceptions though. Shabnam mausi has created the history by being elected as an MP of Madhya Pradesh. But her overwhelming victory is disillusioned by political agenda. People think that because eunuchs have no family of their own, maybe they would work for the common people without any selfish reasons as representatives from other parties would not have.

Eunuchs have lost their faith in humanity that they should expect from their fellow beings. In every phase of their lives they are being tormented by their own parents who leave them and tag them as “ill-omened”, harassment and torture by policemen, and humiliation and insult by media. The poor mortals are oppressed, with no hope of reprieve. Justice, equality, dignity, and liberty: they have been drowned in the hollowness of these words.

Millions of such souls in our country lead lifeless lives. The government has taken few steps to bridge this gap. In passports, ration cards, and other utility forms O (for other sex) or E (for Eunuch) has been added under the ‘sex’ category. But still, a lot needs to be done. This can only be achieved once we change our mindset and by spreading awareness to every stratum of the society. It’s high time to think seriously about the oppressed lives eunuchs live in India. It’s not about what we can give to them. It’s about the respect, love and status they actually deserve as human beings.

 

 

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Chillibreeze's disclaimer: This is a contributed article and was published on Chillibreeze in January, 2011. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article. The relevance of the facts and figures cited (if any) could change after a period of time.

 

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