Neither Man Nor Woman: The Hijras of India

Nanda does a succinct job giving a quick insight into the lives of the hijras in Indian culture. A required text for a course I'm attending in college, this book is clear-cut, easy to read, and filled with personal accounts. Incidentally, I wasn't a big fan of the personal accounts, but they are none the less crucial in giving a series of possibilities in gender configurations. That being said, Nanda lays out her study in a rather comprehensive manner, allowing for a good balance of personal accounts and theoretical framework — whichever interests or excites you more.

Fascinating book about the Hijras, a group of men in India that dress, act, and do whatever they can (surgeries, hormones) to be considered women. This book is not good for the close minded or immature as there are pages of entire lives of specific hijras, their struggles, and intimate secrets. It also demonstrates that tying the origins of hijras to myths and even Religion grants them a status of a Third gender and in some parts of India an incredible amount of respect. Shows the rigidness of the dichotmous western world and how this rigidness results in anger and hatred of the things that do not fit in the both categories.

I was required to read the book for school, but nevertheless I read the book cover to cover. It's extremely detailed which can cause readers to be distracted, however it can enhance the readers perspective.I believe I am more competent in gender and human sexuality after reading this piece. I recommend to adults who are mature and looking to enlighten themselves on other cultures and the complexity of human sexuality and implications of future on human sexuality. I believe this book should be read with an "open mind".

I picked this book to do a presentation on for my anthropology class. It was very interesting overall. The first few chapters are overwhelming with tons of information but it became a good read through the middle and end of the book. The author also uses a lot of quotes from interviews that she did and so that made the book easy to read and informative.

I fully believe this is a valuable resource, but...I didn't get far into this book before having to look into the year it was published, something I should have done before. It was published in 1998 and has many inaccuracies. If you're looking for a book on hijras, I recommend you check out  With Respect to Sex: Negotiating Hijra Identity in South India (Worlds of Desire: The Chicago Series on Sexuality, Gender, and Culture) . It was published seven years later and, when compared to various other resources, is far more factual.

While used as a college text it is also a good read for anyone interested in culture.

This book was required for one of my college classes a long time ago and the analysis and perceived social position of the Hijras is very interesting to read about and quite unexpected. Interesting take on gender studies.

The author translated all the non-gender pronouns to "she". It is in the intro. So basically when individuals were describing themselves as gender neutral, Nanda assigned them one. Yes just what I want from an ethnography, western constructs restructuring the subject to be more palatable. Hated it and never took the book or Nanda seriously after that. A new addition and an apology needs to be issued ASAP!