Guest guest Posted April 10, 1999 Report Share Posted April 10, 1999 If I wasn't certain whether I was a gentleman or a lady, I might feel that the heading "Gentleman (and ladies)!" was offensive, or at least discriminating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 10, 1999 Report Share Posted April 10, 1999 At 12:10 PM -0400 4/10/99, WWW: Sthita-dhi-muni (Dasa) SDG (Alachua FL - USA) wrote: >[Text 2223544 from COM] > >If I wasn't certain whether I was a gentleman or a lady, I might feel that the >heading "Gentleman (and ladies)!" was offensive, or at least discriminating. > Well, if you want to cover all your bases, there's always the term "hijra" which means neither ... nor. Ys, Madhusudani dasi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 11, 1999 Report Share Posted April 11, 1999 > At 12:10 PM -0400 4/10/99, WWW: Sthita-dhi-muni (Dasa) SDG (Alachua FL - > USA) wrote: > >[Text 2223544 from COM] > > > >If I wasn't certain whether I was a gentleman or a lady, I might feel > >that the heading "Gentleman (and ladies)!" was offensive, or at least > >discriminating. > > > > Well, if you want to cover all your bases, there's always the term "hijra" > which means neither ... nor. > > Ys, > Madhusudani dasi In India a Hijra is a male eunuch, who dresses in Sari etc. Just before I left India there was a lot of problem with Hijra's forming gangs and terrorising people. Dodgy types nowadays. YS Samba das Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 11, 1999 Report Share Posted April 11, 1999 >> Well, if you want to cover all your bases, there's always the term "hijra" >> which means neither ... nor. >> >> Ys, >> Madhusudani dasi > >In India a Hijra is a male eunuch, who dresses in Sari etc. The term "hijras" is used to denote a rather heterogenous group of men, from uncastrated transvestites, to castrated men, transexuals, hermaphrodites and pseudo-hermaphrodites. Some support themselves by singing and dancing, others by prostitution or other activities (both legal and illegal). It's a complex culture that has received a great deal of study. I've interviewed several hijras for one of our research projects and woulde be glad to recommend literature if you are interested in learning more. However, my original comment above was simply a suggestion for a term one could use if you needed to describe a third gender, that is referred to even in sastra. Ys, Madhusudani dasi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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