EUNUCH - the 3rd gender

Their face is their fortune. Caked in cheap rouge, kajal, powder

and lipstick, they dress in ill-fitting blouses and colourful saris
giving a touch of womanhood as they roam the busy
marketplaces in groups, terrorizing peoples, hustling for ten or a
hundred rupees. These are not your average beggars on the
street. With male voices shouting, palms meeting crossways in a
trademark clap, they prey on susceptible passersby, who will part
with their cash sooner than be treated to the sight of the group
collectively lifting up their saris and flashing castrated genital
areas right in their faces.
Eunuchs - castrated males - have been in existence since the 9th
Century BC. The word derives from the Greek "keeper of the bed"
because castrated men were in popular demand to guard royal
harems. Hijras in India are divided into seven `Gharanas'. Each
house has a Nayak at its head, below whom come several Gurus.
All they in their life is their flawed body which leaves them with no
other option but to use their flesh-mass to earn money.
The sexual minorities in India are still struggling a lot. Especially
the eunuchs or Hijras or Hijadas or Zenanas or transsexuals or
transvestites. They are known by so many names but it all means
that they are neither male nor females for the society and are a
sexual minority.

• In hospitals, they are made to wait endlessly as their sex

cannot be determined. Some officials use this precarious
situation to create a comic scene in the hospital. All this is
happening when there is clear directive that the Hijras
should be put under female category. The Hijras in India are
fighting to get the category of Hijras in official records.
• Eunuchs in India also find it difficult while traveling,
especially in buses and other public transport systems. It is
better not to talk about the problems they face while using
public toilets.
 • Majority of the Hijras in India follow the Hindu religion. But
little has the Hindu society done for the welfare of Hijras.
Most people are not even interested in discussing the issues
faced by these sexual minorities.
• Educating the eunuchs and accommodating them in the
mainstream society is the only solution to end the numerous
troubles faced by them. Most of them can be pulled out of
prostitution by providing employment.

• The Hijras in India find it hard to get a good education.

Employment opportunities are very rare. Most public and
private companies use several excuses to deny employment.
The end result is that they are forced into prostitution.
• People who scoff at the Hijras during daylight approach them
for perverted sex. Most of the eunuchs are forced to offer
sexual service to such perverted minds for their daily bread.
Most of the Hijras end up having various sexually
transmitted diseased including AIDS.

• An unfortunate law in India is that eunuchs are not entitled

to their father’s property.
• The feeling that life has shortchanged them often prompts
their perverse and obscene behavior in public. "What more
do we have to lose?". "They are anyway treated worse than
an untouchable. If they overdo the kind of behavior what
difference does it make..?

These suppressed species suffering from God’s disgrace has no

good status in the society. This is not the question of ‘the 3rd
gender’ but of “HUMANITY”.

By Siddharth Dixit – sidix31@gmail.com

Refrences :
www.eunuch.org
www.google.com
www.wikipedia.org
www.timesofindia.com
www.countercurrents.org