Hijras as Neither Man Nor Woman.

The article focuses on the gender identity of hijras. The view of hijras as an alternative gender category is supported by linguistic evidence. The most widely used English translations of the word hijra, which is of Urdu origin, is either "eunuch" or "hermaphrodite." Both terms, as used in India, connote impotence--an inability to function in the male sexual role--and the word hijra primarily implies a physical defect impairing the male sexual function. In both cases the irregularity of the male genitalia is central to the definition: Eunuch refers to an emasculated male and intersexed to a person whose genitals are ambiguously male-like at birth. Impotence is the force behind both the words "eunuch" and "hermaphrodite" as they are used in India, and impotence is central to the definition of the hijra as not man.