Revisiting the hijras in South Asia: Pleasure, power and masculinity

LGBTQ+ History Month 2024

Thursday, February 27, 2025
Studio 2, Mazumdar Shaw Advanced Research Centre, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Revisiting the hijras in South Asia: Pleasure, power and masculinity

LGBTQ+ History Month 2024

Thursday, February 27, 2025
Studio 2, Mazumdar Shaw Advanced Research Centre, Glasgow, United Kingdom

What you need to know

This is an in-person event for UofG Staff and Students Only.  A valid UofG Staff or Student email address is required to book your ticket.  


Abstract: Based on long-term ethnographic research with hijras, the emblematic figure of South Asian sexual and gender difference, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, this talk proposes the hijra as a counter-cultural formation that embodies not only a direct contrast to hegemonic patterns of masculinity but also as an alternative subculture offering the possibility of varied forms of erotic pleasures and practices otherwise forbidden in mainstream society. While most studies view hijras as an asexual, emasculated, third sex/gender, this talk calls into question the phallocentric logic that obscures alternative sites and sources of bodily power and pleasure, emphasizing how hijras craft their own subject position.

  

Brief bio: Adnan Hossain is the author of Beyond emasculation: Pleasure and power in the making of hijra in Dhaka, Bangladesh (Cambridge University Press, 2021) and co-author of Badhai: Hijra-Khwaja Sira-Trans performance across borders in South Asia (Methuen drama 2023). He was an assistant professor of gender studies and critical theory at Utrecht University before taking up a lectureship in sociology at the university of Glasgow  in 2024. 

Light Refreshments will be available.

Location

Studio 2, Mazumdar Shaw Advanced Research Centre
11 Chapel Lane, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G11 6EW United Kingdom

https://www.accessable.co.uk/university-of-glasgow/access-guides/mazumdar-shaw-advanced-research-centre-the-arc-building



Accessibility

For queries on accessibility at the ARC, please contact us on ARCEnquiries@glasgow.ac.uk or call our reception on +44 (0)141 330 4170.

Step-free access

We have step-free access to Level 2, our publicly accessible ground floor.

Toilets

Accessible and ambulant toilets are available throughout the building, as are gender neutral toilets. We have a Changing Places toilet located on Level 1, our lower ground floor; please ask at reception for support.

Baby feeding and changing

Baby feeding and changing facilities are available on Level 2. This includes access to a fridge, microwave, bottle warmer and sink.

Assistance dogs

You’re welcome to bring along your assistance dogs. Water bowls can be provided at Reception.

Blue Badge parking and drop off

The closest Blue Badge parking bay is located on University Place. Please contact ARCEnquiries@glasgow.ac.uk should you need to arrange accessible drop-off and parking immediately next to the ARC.

Induction loops

All microphones in the building work in conjunction with an infrared hard of hearing system.

When

  • Thursday, February 27, 2025 2:00 PM
  • Doors open 2:00 PM
  • Timezone: United Kingdom Time
  • Add to calendar

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