User:AMishra19/sandbox

I have assigned to myself the article of "Transgender people and religion." My first contribution to this article was the inclusion of the official name for transgenders which is "Hijras." I further wrote about how Hijras classify themselves as "incomplete men, that they do not have the desires (for women) that other men do", and how they attribute this to their defective organ. And, most importantly I clarified how Hijras have to emasculate themselves if they are born with a (male) organ.

Bibliography:

Nanda, Serena. Neither Man nor Woman: The Hijras of India. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1999. Print.

Pattanaik, Devdutt. Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata. New Delhi: Penguin, 2010. Print.

Pattanaik, Devdutt. Sita: An Illustrated Retelling of the Ramayana. Gurgaon, Haryana: Penguin, 2013. Print.

Sections to be added for draft:

Transgender people in ancient society:

Within the Hindu context, Hijras have always been considered a part of the third gender diaspora, and hence the term Hijra, Transgender, Third gender will be used interchangeably.

Due to their classification as third gender and being sexually neutral, Transgender people, especially the devotees of Lord Krishna, have been historically shown to bestow blessings. And, being sexually neutral was considered especially auspicious in Vedic culture because, the attraction between a man and woman was thought to create further attachments such as children due to procreation, and a home in terms of property, which would result in the living entities being entangled in samsara, the cycle of repeated birth and death.

The people of the third sex have had a prominent role in the arts and entertainment.Historically referred to as Nartaka At the birth of a baby, Nartaka dancers would arrive, and dance and sing the name of the God Krishna, and bless the baby. As per custom, they were given precious jewellery and silks by the family of the baby for their contribution.   

One more example of Transgender people being portrayed in Hindu history is that of Lord Arjuna being depicted as Brihannala in the Mahabharata, who was a person of third gender. Brihanalla was shown to be an instructor singing and dancing in King Virata’s court. But, Lord Arjuna/ Brihanalla was first tested for his third-sex nature by assuring he had no lust for females, and would have been examined for testicles if he had been a eunuch. This is not the first example of the presence of a person of third gender in Hindu texts, but this example most pertains to the topic of third gender people and their auspiciousness.

An additional source I found for my article:

Wilhelm, Amara Das. Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex: Understanding Homosexuality, Transgender Identity, and Intersex Conditions Through Hinduism . books.google.com/books?hl. Accessed 10 Mar. 2017.       

Transgender people in contemporary society:

In October of 2013, "India's Supreme court stated that transgenders have remained untouchable in society with restricted access to education, health care and jobs. The justices criticized the government for such discrimination during a hearing of public interest litigation filed by the National Legal Services Authority" Cite Wooster book. This problem for Hijras first began during the British rule (1757-1947) with the introduction of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code in 1860 which declared homosexuality as a crime, and had an extended listing which has declared "Transgenders as criminal elements in society" (Agoramoorthy, Govindasamy, and Minna J. Hsu). 

Transgender people have been treated as outcasts within Indian society and thus being "deprived of social and cultural participation for nearly two centuries."Many biologically male Hijras undergo a ritualized castration called nirva (sex reassignments)"Cite wooster book. They have limited access to education, health care and public facilities even today. To make matters worse, they are treated as nonentity legally, which is indeed in violation of the Constitution of India" (Agoramoorthy, Govindasamy, and Minna J. Hsu). Serious effort needs to got into rehabilitating Transgender people into mainstream society because despite being recognized as legal citizens, only an estimated 25% of Transgendered people have obtained the national identification (Aadhar card). And, this excludes the fact that they are unable to "exercise their democratic rights in marriage, adopting/raising children and utilizing financial support system such as free and subsidized health care, surgeries and medical treatments" (Agoramoorthy, Govindasamy, and Minna J. Hsu).

But, there has been support for Transgender people as "The Supreme Court has directed the central government to place transgendered people in the other backward classes (OBCs) to classify their castes denoting their socially and economically disadvantaged status in society" (Agoramoorthy, Govindasamy, and Minna J. Hsu) as they fall within the socially and educationally backward classification of people as is quoted in Article 15 (4) of the Constitution of India. The Supreme Court of India has directed all Indian states to build separate toilets for Transgendered people, and "to establish welfare agencies to enhance their health and medical needs." (Agoramoorthy, Govindasamy, and Minna J. Hsu).

Found an additional journal for my research:

Agoramoorthy, Govindasamy, and Minna J. Hsu. “Living on the Societal Edge: India’s Transgender Realities.” Journal of Religion and Health, vol. 54, no. 4, 2014, pp. 1451–1459., doi:10.1007/s10943-014-9987-z.                                  

Citations are needed for anything in quotations. I am wondering what the word eunuch means in the third paragraph at the end of the last sentence. You can put in a hyperlink to a Wikipedia article to allow readers to find definitions easily. Because I do not see a bold word in the first sentence of your first paragraph, I am assuming you are missing your lead sentence. Also, it's always good to proofread to check for typos like "a special" in your first paragraph and the "o" under your last paragraph. Hfoust7 (talk) 00:43, 1 April 2017 (UTC)hfoust7