Dani Thompson's Colonization Artwork

These paintings were done for Dr. Whitney Duncan’s Anthropology of Globalization class where students were asked to create an un-essay project which addressed the process of globalization on a topic of the student’s choosing.

I chose to address globalization through the westernization of global sex/gender system, with Indian third gender categories as the focus. Both historically and contemporarily, one term used for those who fit into the South Asian third gender category was and is Hijra, people whose lives are spent in the liminal spaces of society in terms of gender and their acceptance. In the past, those who identified as Hijras experienced elevated positions in society due to religious associations as devotees to Shiva and/or Bahuchara Mata. They often lived self-sustaining lives in small communities led by gurus (other Hijras) where they would devote themselves to worship as chelas (disciples) and traveled to other communities to offer badhai’s (blessings).

Through British imperialist efforts to enforce control over South Asia through ethnocide, many nomadic groups, including Hijra communities were criminalized through the Criminal Tribes Act which began a long line of laws that pushed Hijras further and further into the fringes of society. Like other queer communities all over the world, Hijras adapted to these restrictions to exist under the radar of British policy through tactics such as the creation of Hijra Farsi which served the same purpose as other secret languages such as Polari in the UK. Modern pushes for LGBTQ+ rights in the Western world have bled over to India in the form of more tolerant government policies which now formally recognizes third gender individuals to allow them access to education, healthcare, and employment. Despite this, life for many who identify as Hijras is still that of a second-class citizen. Often Hijras are seen begging on the street, exchanging badhai’s and performances for money or become a part of prostitution circles run by gurus.

The Transgender Persons Protection of Rights Act, which although benevolent sounding, further serves to marginalize third gender people by requiring trans people to undergo sex reassignment surgery as well as register with district magistrates as transgender and change their official documentation from male to female or vice versa. These modern pressures cloaked as attempts at progressive politics undermine the history of being a third gender individual in Indian culture. These paintings serve to expose the effects of colonialism still present in India which have not faltered from pushing Western understandings of gender and what is and is not acceptable in terms of how a person understands their own gender and how they may choose to express it.