By Dr Jeanette Pinto –
‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’ (Gen 1:2) God the Creator had a beautiful plan to share His joys with life on the planet. After creating the complete environment He created humankind. “He created man in his own image in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them,” (Gen 1:27) just two genders. In India however there has emerged since early times a third gender called Eunuchs or in common parlance referred to as hijras. Who are these people? Is there a third gender?
Eunuchs are castrated males. They have been in existence since the 9th century BC according to some references. The word is derived from the Greek “keeper of the bed”, because castrated men were in popular demand to guard royal harems. It is believed that this practice began in China where at the end of the Ming dynasty there were as many as 70,000 eunuchs in the grand palace of the Emperor. India perhaps is the only country where the tradition of eunuchs is still prevalent today. It is believed that there are about a million of them, but their roles have changed drastically, they are often referred to as the ‘Third Gender.’
Eunuchs or Hijras are people who sadly are feared in society. Nobody wants to be accosted by one of them; be nudged with their elbows, stroked on the cheek, taunted or cursed. They are truly treated as rejects of society. In response to the discomfort and embarrassment they cause, they find themselves shunned by people; this forces the hijra community in this 21st century India to make a living by begging which forms their main source of income. It’s an age old custom in our country to have hijras bless child births, weddings, house warming ceremonies and other auspicious occasions. People believe that eunuchs possess occult powers and their blessings and curses are both considered potent.
The Emperors of ancient China had many thousands of eunuchs in the royal quarters. In the 1930s, when American journalist Vincent Starrett visited Beijing, he interviewed 33 palace eunuchs, ranging in age from 60 to 80. In his journals, he described the surviving eunuchs as “thin, hairless, fat-lipped and bejowled…with shrill voices and hair which hang down to their necks.” The feeling that life has short-changed them often prompts their perverse and obscene behaviour in public. “What more do we have to lose?” says Sita. “We are anyway treated worse than an untouchable. If we overdo the kind of behaviour that is expected of us, we can twist people’s arms and make them pay for our sustenance. It’s the least that society can do for us.”
The freedom this deviant existence affords within the community, however, is not without some restrictions. Their society is strictly hierarchical and a eunuch’s life is governed by regulations laid down by his immediate superior. Hijras all over the country are divided into seven `houses’. Each house has a Nayak at its head, below who come several Gurus. The Gurus in turn rule over the community members and regulate their day-to-day life. While the houses of north India have very rigid systems, the ones in the south are said to be more relaxed in the way the members dress and behave.
Not quite so much in the media glare, is a number of social bodies such as the Hijra Kalyan Sabha and the Dai Welfare Society which are working alongside these eunuchs to give them a proper place in society. “We too want to go to restaurants, visit cinema halls and parks,” says Revathi, a hijra activist who was in Calcutta recently at a social meet. “We also want to educate ourselves and improve our prospects. We want to enjoy the privileges of being an Indian, and I believe that in time we will achieve our dream. Hijras have already won elections and entered into mainstream society.
Have you come across the term eunuchs in the Bible? It was common in Biblical times for the rulers of conquering nations to take pre-pubescent boys from among the new conquered subjects and castrate them. These boys would be used for duties close to the king. Also they would be unable to leave a genetic legacy, and they would be more loyal to the monarch. They were often used for harem guards and security body servants of the king.
Jesus mentions the unique place of eunuchs in His kingdom (see Mathew19) He had explained to his disciples the biblical grounds for divorce which were stricter than Jewish society allowed. The disciples responded saying that if it was so hard to divorce, it would be easier to never marry at all. Jesus then said, “For there are eunuchs, who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this let him receive it.” (Mathew 19: 12) It is clear therefore that those ‘who have made themselves eunuchs’ namely take the vow of Chastity, are persons who do so for the sake of the kingdom of God.
What should be our Christian approach toward hijras? Firstly we should understand that the hijras are victims of a prevalent social evil. They were born male, but along life’s journey they were castrated. They may be compared to the lepers of biblical times, people who were discarded, shunned and rejected because of their highly contagious disfiguring disease. As persons they have human dignity. We may not like the behaviour of the hijras and the way they thrust themselves on people, or hurl abuses, but perhaps it is their way of gaining attention, being accepted or gaining recognition.
We should however have a pro-life attitude and be kind, understanding and sensitive to their feelings and relate with them politely empathising with their condition. They deserve our compassion and need to be treated as human beings. Let us also be very clear that there are only two genders male and female, as created by God, there is no third gender.