Neither Man nor Woman Critique

1179 Words5 Pages
Anthropology of Gender Critique Neither Man Nor Woman Within our Western culture, we believe that only two genders, which are attached to two sexes, exist. We find it very odd when given the idea that there are other cultures may have more than one gender. However, these sorts of cultures actually exist. Places like India and South America have more than two genders. In the cultures there are men, women, and “hijras”. These hijras believe they are neither men nor women. Serena Nanda, the author of Neither Man Nor Woman, studied this group in 1981. Her work gave great insight into what gender actually is and what the implications for more genders are. Gender is defined as a social construction of characteristics based on one’s sex. Neither Man nor Woman illustrates this point. The following quote taken from Nanda shows how only the Western people remain caught up in the gender binary: “the view that both sex and gender and dichotomous, oppositional, and permanent, continues to be central in Western thought…and highly resistant to alternative cultural constructions of reality”. Western society may never completely understand multiple genders, but Nanda certainly helps readers at least think about the possibility. Serna Nanda is a cultural anthropologist and professor. Much of work has involved Indian culture. She has even done work surrounding the judicial system in India. Her dissertation research for her doctorate degree at New York University was conducted on social relationships in India. Her connection is to Indian culture is easily illustrated in this book as she delves deeply into the way the hijra identity is perpetuated in Indian history and culture. The book begins with an exploration of the hijra’s societal roles. Hijras are known to dance at weddings and bless newborn children. Even though the hijras are around to bless these

More about Neither Man nor Woman Critique

Open Document