Hijras, often referred to as "transgender" by Westerners, are a distinct community whose identity underpinnings transcend sexual orientation alone. This "third gender" is presented with great finesse in this book, which examines, among other things, family structures, perceptions of aging, human rights issues, and rituals of all kinds – from birth to death to community integration, marriage, or castration.
Based on field studies and interviews, the book describes a complex and astonishing world of people who live on the margins of society while struggling for the legitimacy of a status that would allow them to be fully part of it. Three stories in particular bear witness to the daily practices of the hijras and their philosophy and thus provide this study with valuable insight of direct experience.
