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Podcast: Today In History with The Retrospectors
Episode: Write E For Eunuch
Description: India’s Hijra community – who for centuries held a significant cultural, political and spiritual role in Indian society – were officially recognised on 9th March, 2005, when a new option appeared on passport forms, allowing applicants to select M for Male, F for Female, or ‘write E for Eunuch’.Although being labelled as a ‘third sex’ was considered by some to be stigmatising, it also reflected an understanding of the Hijra (a group including trans women, intersex people and castrates) as ‘eunuchs’, a depiction with its roots in both Hindu mythology and British colonialism.In this episode, Ario...