From mandarin to mendicant

Violence and transgender bodies in urban Pakistan

Bibliographic Data

ID12292425
AuthorsDaanish Mustafa (0000-0002-1637-3763, Department of Geography, King’s College, corresponding author), Abdul Rehman (0000-0001-7809-5124, Proceedings Wing, National Assembly of Pakistan), Komal Kumar Bollepogu Raja (0000-0001-7538-9805, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München), Komal Raja (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München), Aisha Mughal (Director Programmes, Wajood Society)
Year2022
Volume30
Issue6
Pages812-834
Publication date2022-05-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGender Place & Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0966-369X • E-ISSN: 1360-0524
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0966369x.2022.2069685
OpenAlexW4281568104
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited61

Transgender bodies very effectively undermine social norms of gender binaries. We use a case study of transgender people in the twin cities of Rawalpindi/Islamabad in Pakistan to understand how social violence, middle class morality and relations to the state are embodied in transgender bodies. While in pre-colonial times the transgender people in South Asia were mandarins of the empire, during colonial and post-colonial times they have been reduced to the role of mendicants. We find that the research participants’ notions of a transgender identity are contradictory, in that they draw upon the idea of a feminine soul in a male body, but simultaneously they also consider it a constant process of becoming through deed. In urban Pakistan, it is through violent encounters with transgender bodies that toxic masculinities are relationally enacted. We argue, however, that transgender bodies also hold an emancipatory promise to bodies imprisoned in toxic masculinity

Geography · Linguistics · Mandarin Chinese · Sociology · Transgender · Gender Studies · Philosophy · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · Sex work and related issues · South Asian Cinema and Culture

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