- Author(s): Serena Nanda
- Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing
- Release Date: 30 November, 1998
- Media: Paperback
- ISBN: 0534509037
- Sales Rank: 206,244
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Top Customer Reviews
 review of neither man nor woman
I found this book very interesting and informative. I had read accounts of this type of goddess worship in ancient records (greek and roman)when I was a teenager but there was little cultural context and no rationale concerning the practices of emasculation. This book answered a lot of questions, why the operation, what the benefit to the devotee, who were these worshippers. I enjoyed finelly getting the answers to decades long questions.
Unforgettable!
A classic, absolutely fascinating study of the transvestite eunuch hijras of India. Combining objectivity with sympathy and respect, the writer allows us to glimpse the feelings and aspirations of these people, whose lives encompass joy, sadness, degradation, liberation, hope. The reader comes to know the hijras as real people while gaining an understanding of a very ancient and significant way of life. Nanda's lucid writing and subtle insights are augmented by a marvelous collection of color photographs and vivid case histories, including numerous first person accounts. This book is a model for ethnographic study and will leave an indelible impression on the heart and mind of anyone who reads it.
 Interesting ethnography
This was a very interesting book on a very interesting group of people. Nanda did a superb job of describing the Hijras in the context of Indian society. The personal accounts of individual Hijras added a great perspective. My one problem with this book is that throughout, while striving to show the validity of the concept of more than two genders, Nanda gave the impression that she feels that the Western cultural concept of gender dichotomy is backward and naive. To me, this felt like an attack on Western culture, which I do not look for in supposedly unbiased ethnographies.
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