The constructed "naturalness" of a world made up of two sexes, two genders, and heterosexual desire as the only legitimate desire has been continuously questioned and challenged by those marginalised by these norms. This forces us to ask some important questions: How is gender really understood and constructed in the world that we inhabit? How does it operate through the various socio-political-cultural structures around us? And, most crucially, how is it lived?
No Outlaws in the Gender Galaxy answers these questions with a research study that attempts to understand gender through the lives of queer persons assigned gender female at birth. The lived realities of the respondents, echoing in the book through their voices, help to interrogate gender as well as provide clues to how it can be envisioned or revisioned to be egalitarian.
This book explores how gender plays out in public and private institutions like the family, educational institutions, work and public spaces. Looking at each of these independently, it elaborates the specific ways in which binary gender norms are woven into each arena and it also explores the multiple ways in which interlocking systems of heteronormativity, casteism, class and ableism are enmeshed within patriarchy to create exclusion, marginalisation, pathologisation and violence. This book illustrates the multiplicity of ways in which people live gender and testifies that even if there are gender laws, in a just world there can be no gender outlaws.
NO OUTLAWS IN THE GENDER GALAXY
Chayanika Shah identifies as a self-defined atheist woman. She is an optimist activist at heart, a physicist by training and a teacher by choice. She has worked in areas like politics of population control, communalism, feminist studies of science, and sexuality, which seem to have no connection with each other but which have come together of late to define her as a queer feminist.
Raj Merchant identifies their gender as a work in progress. They have worked in a variety of fields ranging from micro-finance to marketing to animal behaviour to engaging with queer feminist activism. Working on this research and book helped them greatly (re)shape their gender.
Shals Mahajan identifies as genderqueerbut prefers being called nirale and is a queer feminist activist and writer. Ze loves reading, cats, writing fiction and lounging around, and is roused from these exciting activities to work on gender, sexuality, communalism and other structural inequalities because of the rage they generate. Ze has also published a childrens book, Timmi in Tangles .
Smriti Nevatia identifies as a feminist who prefers the pronoun she for herself. She enjoys dark beers, dark chocolate and reading about the dark depths of humanity in crime fiction while studiously avoiding it in real life. She has worked in documentary filmmaking and as a film festival curator, and has published a few (very few) short stories, poems and essays.
ZUBAAN
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First published by Zubaan Publishers Pvt Ltd 2015
Copyright Chayanika Shah, Raj Merchant, Shals Mahajan and Smriti Nevatia
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eBook ISBN: 9789384757854
Print source ISBN: 9789384757687
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Zubaan is an independent feminist publishing house based in New Delhi with a strong academic and general list. It was set up as an imprint of Indias first feminist publishing house, Kali for Women, and carries forward Kalis tradition of publishing world quality books to high editorial and production standards. Zubaan means tongue, voice, language, speech in Hindustani. Zubaan is working in the areas of the humanities, social sciences, as well as in fiction, general non-fiction, and books for children and young adults under its Young Zubaan imprint.
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Contents
List of Tables and Figures
Tables
| Region-Wise Distribution of Respondents |
| Break-up According to Religious Background |
| Distribution across Age Groups |
| Respondents Articulations of Their Current Gender Identities |
| Education Levels across Gender Identities |
| Age of Starting Paid Work |
Figures
| Distribution across Castes |
| Class Distribution of Natal Families |
| Levels of Education |
| Gender Identity Categorization |
| Current Monthly Income |
Acknowledgements
As we approach the bittersweet end of an incredible journey from the idea, to the research, to the first published report and sharing it with community, to the occasional paper in academic journals, and now this bookthere are some heartfelt acknowledgements that wed like to make.
It is difficult to articulate our feelings towards our respondents, mixed as they are in jostling measures of gratitude, love, awe, solidarity, fierce protectiveness, despair and immense hope. We salute your courage and generosity in sharing your lives, experiences and ideas so openly with us, and trusting our politics and persons with them. Both have been deeply enriched by these conversations.
The strength and conviction of what one feels, the commitment to live on ones own terms, the ability to love oneself and others despite everything, the himmat to take on the world and its ridiculous norms, the gall to be able to say, Just because everyone in the world says something, that does not make it right!this spirit that came through again and again gives us hope and spurs us on.
We send a huge shout-out to the other members of the original research teamGeorgina Maddox, Hasina, Kranti, Meena Gopal, Meenu, Sabala and Shruti. Thank you for all the camaraderie, the hugs, the discussions that threatened to tear us apart but strengthened us, the endless rounds of tea and coffee (and other spirits).
A project of this magnitude would not have been possible without the generous support of our queer and feminist comrades and friends. To thank them all here is a task we find ourselves unequal to, since it is not just about the naming of names but also the innumerable ways in which they have been part of our individual and collective lives. We send you love and heartfelt thanks, and hope you know who you are and how important you are to us.
To all the comrades, activists, friends and readers who gave us feedback at different stages of the work, thank you. Amalina Kohli Dave and Aparna Joshi, thank you for reading our manuscripts and giving us detailed feedback. A huge thank you to Shweta Vachani and the wonderful team at Zubaan for their keenness to publish this and their patience thereafter.
And in the title of the book, we tip our nibs to Kate Bornstein, who started us as well as many others on our explorations and adventures with transfeminism.
