How does a study of the Hijras contribute to an understanding of gender as culturally constructed?

Question

To what degree is gender biological in this case.

Answer 1

First, you cannot call Hijra the same as transsexuals in the Western world, so don't.  The DSM-IIIR said that explicitly.  The Hijra are not just a gender but also a s*x.  They are neither male nor female.  Western transsexuals have a liminal phase called transition but they do not fall outside the male/female binary system.  Because they are not the same, I do not know any studies to determine if Hijra have biological differences in common with intersex or transsexuality.

Answer 2

Not at all. The distribution of sexual variance is well understood by scientists and to say " gender " is " culturally constructed ", is to be incoherently erecting some " straw man " argument for ideological purposes.

What matter that Hijras say things about themselves. 50,0000 to 5000000 of them is just tail behavior in a population of 1 billion Indians. As usual, you ideologues want the " tail to wag the dog. "

Answer 3

In the American culture, we have this very black or white view of gender.  People are either male or they are female.  There is no acceptable middle ground.  Even for those born with the sexual organs of both s*x, the family chooses which gender the child should be instead of just letting the mix up of nature occur.

In the Indian culture where the Hijras originated, the Hijras are regarded as being special and are invited to partake in various ceremonriies.  However, at the same time they are somewhat barred from normal life and they often stick to themselves somewhat removed from the regular community.

Comparing the two cultures, you can see that depending on the "gender" of the person...whether they are male, female or both, there are certain characteristics that are imposed upon them from other members of that particular culture.