The Invisibles: A Tale of the Eunuchs of India

by Zia Jaffrey

In this superb work of investigative reporting, Zia Jaffrey pursues the riddle of India's most elusive subculture, the cross-dressing and often-castrated figures known as "hijras" whose very name means neither male nor female. Are the hijras lucky or dangerous? Are they a nurturing community of outcasts or a criminal network that kidnaps and mutilates recruits? Do they number in the thousands or in the millions? As she talks with policemen, a unionizer of eunuchs, and with the hijras themselves, Jaffrey unravels veils of rumor and deception to locate the nature of our sexual and social thresholds, and the people who dwell on them. Deeply resonant, uniquely insightful, The Invisibles is an enthralling work.



"A magnificent journey. Jaffrey writes about this fascinating and delicate subject with human understanding and warmth."--Ryszard Kapuscinski


"Sensitively written...eloquent...and compassionate."--New York Times Book Review

Genres: Nonfiction, India, History, Asia, Sociology, Travel, Sexuality

316 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Zia Jaffrey is the author of The Invisibles: A Tale of the Eunuchs of India, and is writing a book on AIDS in South Africa. She has covered the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, the global AIDS pandemic, South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings, and Pakistan under General Musharraf, and has written cover stories, features, and book reviews for numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Nation, The Village Voice, Harper's Bazaar, and Mother Jones, among others. She teaches international fiction and non-fiction in The New School’s M.F.A. program.

from newschool.edu

Reviews

[Paige · Rating 2 out of 5]

I actually didn't finish this book. I got maybe 2/3 of the way through. It's not BAD, it's just, as other reviewers have noted, not all that interesting. Instead of hearing about the eunuchs of India, we hear about Zia Jaffrey's quest to find out about the eunuchs of India. What did she find out? From what I read, not much. At least there are not many definitive answers, and instead of discussing it in a more historical or factual or academic fashion, it's a lot of "this person presenting as a hijra said this, and this other one said that, and this person who watched a ceremony said this but this other person who had a hijra in their home said that, and then this primary source, who also happened to be a) not from the culture they were observing, and b) bigoted, said THIS." Well all righty then. What is YOUR take on it, Zia Jaffrey?

Also she really could have done with researching trans* communities in the US. Mostly just for accuracy's sake--she conflates all kinds of different notions (sexual orientation, gender identity, assigned sex, gender presentation/expression, and then like, castration and pedophilia and kidnapping? I was like, wut?) and it seemed muddled to me. But also so that her target audience (which I assume is English-speaking as the book is written in English and she is from the US herself) would have that shared vocabulary to go on. There was one time where a guy said that herpes was "homosexual" or something, and she shut him down pretty fast, but I could've done with more of that attitude throughout the book.

This seems like it could have been really interesting from a historical perspective, or from an enthographic "how hijras live now" perspective, but that sort of information is apparently really hard to come by, so instead this is like a 250 page question mark.

[terrystad dit Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

L’auteure, Zia Jaffrey, est une femme d’origine indienne née aux États-Unis et y ayant grandi. À l’âge adulte, lors d’un voyage pour participer à un mariage en Inde, elle découvre les Hijras et décide d’en faire un sujet d’investigation.

Les hijras forment des communautés très structurées en Inde, les chelas (disciples) autour d'un guru (enseignant-e) comme chef. Chela signifie « esclave », mais toustes les hijras pourraient se traduire par personne Transgenres dans notre perception occidentale.

L’autrice s’intéresse aux origines des hijras et fait rapidement le lien entre hijras et eunuques de la période précoloniale mais aussi après celle-ci. En effet, les eunuques (hijras) en Inde ont continués d’exister en réaction envers le colonialisme et les britanniques. Cela en se ré-attachant aux vieilles traditions perçues comme indiennes, ou pré-coloniales, comme celles des eunuques.

D’autant plus que puisque les eunuques étaient utilisés dans les palais, en avoir à la maison pouvait représenter un signe de distinction sociale.

Un essai des plus intéressant. Un bon complément avec le livre Les hijras de Mathieu Boisvert (2019).

[Jenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

How can a book about a long cultural history of gender-bending eunuchs be boring? Somehow, that's what I remember about this book.

[sheena d! · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although the subtitle of this text reads 'A Tale of the Eunuchs of India," I would argue that this book is no solitary tale; Zia Jaffrey gently and gracefully weaves multiple, sometimes contradictory, tales together here. The tales she shares are not one-sided or predictable, nor are they complete, and I was relieved that she doesn’t try to convince us otherwise. She brings us along on a murky journey, and we see her engage with hijras directly and indirectly, through delicate (and rarely heated, though sometimes tense and obtrusive) conversations, independent research, and hearsay from a wide range of people who have varying connections to, and (oft biased) thoughts about, hijra communities. First hand, we watch her succumb to ‘the way in which India work(s)’ and find her way through ‘a labyrinth of names and connections.’

I appreciated her sense of humor; as she is being waxed and prodded and asked about marriage in Delhi, she jokes, though I suppose there’s more here than comedy, that she has come to "study the culture, not to become one of its victims." In gathering stories and oral histories, she encounters blatant falsehoods, contradictions, discouragement, and an overall muddiness that make us realize how impossible it is to know any 'truths' about this subculture. It just doesn't matter what your intel is insider or outsider. That said, we still learn a bit about hijras’ place in society, that they aren’t a monolith, and that there are complex ways others judge, value, and regard them, that is, if they pay notice to them at all. Jaffrey embraces the elusive and presents both the outrageous and mundane, offering insight without making declarations. Also, I think there are at least two times where she calls out some willfully ignorant meanies, who are talking smack about hijras, on their bullshit. It’s great.

This is a book for the pandemic, when most of us are not flying across the world or regularly seeing or engaging with people who are much different than we are. Whether you’re curious about hijras, thinking of taking a class with Zia (...which is what drew me to this book) or simply wanting a play-by-play from a beautiful writer seeking to cover and explore something that strikes her curiosity, you may enjoy it.

[Nate Rabe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book to be a drag. The writer claims to be sympathetic but comes across as arrogant, judgmental and distant. You 'sort of' learn about the hijras but she continually casts doubt on what her informers tell her. She brings all of her outsider personality (she was born and raised in America) and very little of her insider (Indian) heritage.

If you really want to know about the society of India's eunuchs I would seek out an anthropological study and skip this rather poorly written smug piece of pseudo-investigative journalism.

[Becca · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not what I expected. Abandoned halfway through as I began to find it unbearably repetitive. The same tidbits of information about the eunuchs of India are presented over and over between overly-detailed recountings of the author's personal journey to connect with them. 132 pages in, I know as much about the author's struggle with a knit swimsuit at a nice hotel as I do about the eunuchs of India. Disappointing.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started off really enjoying the book and found the topic fascinating. I don’t think I have read any anthropological based books since uni - and I have forgotten how much I love to learn about cultures, traditions and people.

However, I really lost interest half way through. It became very repetitive and despite the very interesting topic it became mundane. I skimmed the last few pages.

[Becca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um. Interesting information, but it follows the story of the author doing research. So the actual info wasn't put together well. And it's pretty dated, so the discussions of sexuality and gender identity aren't handled well.

[Pri Bamford · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought it would be an interesting read. However, the book lacked structure and coherency. Poor narrative.

[Mallee Stanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

In search of the practices and beginnings of the Hijrahs of India, the author travels to parts of India to meet and talk with the unique community.

[Eloise · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Dhwani Swadia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The subject is interesting. I really wanted to like this book but the writing is quite boring. I read until page 76 and learnt more about the author than anything else.

[Geeta · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautiful work

[Toni · Rating 3 out of 5]

I fluctuated in my opinion of this book. It's hard for me to categorize. I guess it's extended journalism, with a whole lot of research involved. There seems to be a good bit of published material out there about eunuchs in India, but Jaffrey doesn't seem to trust it, perhaps with good reason. This book kind of meanders through the subject, trying to get a feel for the culture that supports/produces/accepts/rejects hijras. The mutilation is horrifying, especially in that many claim it to be done by the individuals themselves. I have a hard time getting my brain around transsexuals who go under the knife in an antiseptic, drugged hospital situation, but to do the damage to yourself.... And there are perhaps millions of them. Amazing. But Jaffrey's work seems kind of dilletante-ish. She did the preliminary work with the intent of making a movie, then returned to India and the topic and characters ten years later. The whole thing didn't hold together for me, as horrifyingly fascinating as the topic is.

[DoctorM · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating book about the hijra, the traditional community of...well...(some, not all) eunuchs and transgendered dancers/entertainers in India. I read "The Invisibles" in law school, where I was working as a researcher for one of my professors, who was examining the law codes developed by marginalised and outcast communities, and Zia Jaffrey's account--- while not that of a professional ethnographer ---is sympathetic and well-done. In the twenty years since Jaffrey's book first appeared, Indian hijra have obtained some political visibility, but also seen many of their traditional communities and roles disrupted by the economic and social changes of 21st-c. India. Still--- very much worth reading, both as an account of the hijra themselves and as a consideration of non-Western ideas of gender and gender stability.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could have been so good. But there was too much focus on the author's struggle to get the information she needed. I also wonder if the parts I found confusing would have been less so if my cultural background was of Indian origin. But alas. Much of the language and conversations were very difficult to follow. I would have appreciated a glossary with translations or even footnotes. That being said, no author is obligated to write with the foreigner's gaze in mind. Maybe one wasn't meant to grasp every detail. Maybe the intent was to reflect how she sometimes struggled to understand a people/culture she identified with more through obligation than experience.

Still, the difficulties I had took away from my experience and what I wanted to learn.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm, what to say. I found this study of the hijras, basically eununchs, of India very thought-provoking. It made me think of the plight of transsexuals and similiar in our western world and the differences between the two societies, not that I pretend to know anything personally. Hijras live a very complex life in comlex "family" situations and there is much discussion of truths and untruths. The author, who incidently is the daughter of Madhur Jaffrey, has done a lot of on-site research. Ultimately the reader is left with more questions than answers.

[Amy Flores]

the book Thw invisibles : a tale of eunchs of india ,this book had not really been to interesting .. it has a slow start and truthfully im not so in to it . A woman had gone back to india to see how tye living had been . She had been expressing how south asia looks at people when they have a different way . She needed too try and blend in with all the indian women . She had been some what a middle class family .she said that india is no longer in the cave world but the tecnology

[Yoonmee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know why, but for some reason I couldn't get into this book. The subject matter is interesting, the writer is relatively engaging, and it's written for the average person (in other words: not a lot of snooty academic jargon, not a lot of theory, etc.), but for some reason I just couldn't get into the book. I might give this book another chance some other time.

[Shelagh Plunkett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book about the Hijra caste in India. While traveling there a few years ago I met some of these people so was hoping to learn about them. The book, however, revealed more about the author than her subject. A bit hard to get past the author voice in places but her writing soared when describing the people she met in her research. I'd like to read her fiction.

[SuZanne]

What a strange and unusual journey Zia Jaffrey goes on to undercover and share with us the mostly hidden world of modern eunuchs in India. Through a complex web of personal associations and interviews she shares her discoveries along with archival documents from others from past centuries to shed light on an often-hidden group of people, who, believe it or not, still exist.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read. It was a long time ago that I read it first, but it paints a very clear vision of a sub-group in the Indian society. It was the the introduction to a long stream of books on eunuchs.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be a helpful insight into another culture, one that I had not read about before. I appreciated the author's frustration as she was trying to find out about the facts/myths regarding the Eunuchs/hijras of this sub-culture that has existed for years in India.

[April Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy Indian works. This book was the first time that I had heard about the eunuchs and their role in Indian society. I have seen them many times now in other stories such as "Behind the Beautiful Forevers", by Boo.

[Shreya Agrawal · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is too lengthy and very detailed, but I like the way Jaffrey puts history texts in between- before every chapter. The history evidences are interesting to read.

[Riya Patel]

hii