Alternative Sexualities In India

This volume explores existing and emerging sexual cultures of contemporary India and the predicaments faced by abjected and sexual marginalities. It traces the sexual politics within popular culture, literary genres, advertisement, consumerism, globalizing cities, social movements, law, scientific research, the Hijra community life, (alternative) families and kinship and sites that define the cultural other whose sexual practices or identities fall beyond normative moral conventions. The chapters examine a range of connected sociological and political issues including questions of agency, judgments around intimate sexual relationships, the role of the state, popular understandings of adolescent romance, notion of legitimacy and stigma, moral policing and resistance, body politics and marginality, representations in popular and folk culture, sexual violence and freedom, problems with historiography, structural inequalities, queer erotica, gay consumerism, Hijra suicides and marriage and divorce. The volume also proposes certain transformative possibilities towards envisioning and (re)scripting sexual equalities. This interdisciplinary book will be important for those interested in sexuality studies, queer studies, gender studies, cultural studies, sociology, law, history, literature and Global South studies as well as policymakers, civil society activists and nongovernmental organizations working in the area.

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.

The discourse on sexuality and alternate sexualities in India's public space has grown in volume, and those who practice same-sex relations have become more visible. Among these are the MSM (men who have sex with men) and TG (transgender) groups. A People Stronger provides a comprehensive analysis of the collectivization efforts of these groups in India. The book describes the journey of a marginalized closeted community and its gradual assumption of a place within society, providing compelling examples of social action. Further, through its description of the 'coming out' of the insular society of hijras, it provides useful insights into real-world acculturation. The book is also a riveting history of these communities in India from pre-Vedic times to the present. The fundamental principle guiding this work is that sexual minority groups must get acceptance within the framework of India's constitution of their existence as citizens of the country, equal in dignity and in rights, having the same sovereignty as other citizens and of the same realization of their social identities.

First published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

While sexual violence is an area that is well mapped by feminist scholarship, this volume focuses on transgresive and marginalised sexualities. It brings together writings on India that highlight the transgression of norms-of heterosexuality. Of geminist and mascline behaviour, of recognisably gendered bodies-that declare ungovermed desire to be illegitinate. Sexualities also includes a selection of campaign documents from diverse sexuality movements in the country.

The product of many years of research, this unique book presents fascinating perspectives on contemporary lesbian life in India and unravels some of the history of lesbian desire from centuries past. Through detailed examination of mythology, cosmology, ancient art and artefacts and her exegesis of ancient Sanskrit texts, Thadani constructs a tapestry of feminine kinship, genealogy and sexual or erotic bonding between women (sakhiyani) in ancient India. The author offers an historical perspective on the effect of colonization upon lesbian identities in India, showing how women were viewed by Western imperialists either as soft victims or as sexually dangerous, possessing an overgrown clitoris and in need of heterosexual domestication. The second half of the book focuses on contemporary lesbian realities and issues, including lesbian marriages, suicide pacts, forging lesbian space, lesbian human rights, lesbophobia, sexual exile and the different construction of gender, family and possible kinship alliances.

Although the challenge to the hegemonic status of the institution of marriage in India is grabbing the limelight in popular media, it has received comparatively less attention in the social sciences. This path-breaking collection presents an analysis of marriage from historical, social, cultural, psychological and legal perspectives. Some of the essays argue that marriage continues to retain its prime overwhelming importance in reproducing the social order and its claim to be the only legitimate structure of the family rather than one among many. Nevertheless, changes wrought by globalisation, by information technology and by the increasing social visibility of queer life forms and practices have had considerable impact on the homogeneous imagination of the 'Indian family', with the traditional marriage system as its base. The essays in this collection look behind and beyond the institutional framework of marriage to critique the structures of our everyday lives and to explore new horizons and possibilities in the domain of the intimate. The collection is divided into four parts, moving from a historical perspective to present-day concerns: Part I - 'Historicising Mar-riage: Marriages Are Made in Scriptures'; Part II - 'Contextualizing Marriage: Class, Caste, Masculinity and Violence'; Part III - 'Repre-senting Marriage: Sex, Conjugality and Videotapes' and Part IV - 'Recasting Marriage: Singlehood, Coupledom and Intimate Others'.