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Struggles and Transformation of a Transgender in I Am Vidya

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Struggles and Transformation of a Transgender in I Am Vidya INFOKARA RESEARCH ISSN NO: 1021-9056 Struggles and Transformation of a Transgender in I Am Vidya 2 Aravindh Muthusamy1#, Dr. K. Sindhu * Department of English, Periyar University, Salem. 2* 1#Ph.D Research Scholar, Assistant Professor [email protected], [email protected] Abstract This paper attempts to bring out the struggle and difficulties faced by Living Smile Vidya in her autobiography I am Vidya. The autobiography Vidya (transgender) is the address of transgender community in our nation who relentlessly face suffering from the day they feel feminine in their body and the traumatic effect in the modern scenario. Their existenceisa big question mark without the solidcare offamily and government. During the ancient timetransgender aregreatlyvalued by all people. Even God respectedtransgender and that can be witnessed in Ramayana and Mahabharata. The autobiography of Vidya’s I am Vidyais notonly a records of herrecollections and experience but it is the record of the common plight of numerous transgenders and their plea of not to be treated like amarginalised group of society. Inthis studythe researcher speaksabout the pitiful state of third gender in our Nationand examine the autobiography of transgender, Vidya who had a transition from aone gender (man) to another gender(woman). Key Words: Survival, traumatic effect, current scenario, marginalised. About Transgenders Literature plays a dynamicpart in the lives of everyone on the Earth. It mirrors on every aspect of human’s lives. Literature is a source to identify his/her own identity in the earth. Transgender’s identity is one of the main issues in the current scenario.The term ‘Transgender’ was coined by Virginia Prince, is a pioneer in the cross dresser movement in the United States in 1970. “The term transgender refers to those who reject their socially assigned gender and refuse to place themselves in the men and women gender binary” (Beasley 4). Stephen Whittle in the Foreword to The Transgender Reader indicates: Volume 8 Issue 8 2019 214 http://infokara.com/ INFOKARA RESEARCH ISSN NO: 1021-9056 trans as a stand- alone term did not come into formal usage until it was coined by a parliamentary discussion group in London in 1998, with the deliberate intention of being as inclusive as possible when negotiating equality legislation. Cultural spaces and historiographies are constantly reframing the community, the identities, the cultures, and the language. We see new languages being developed constantly; for example ‘per’ as a pronoun was developed by UK community members with non-existent gender identities, and similarly the US term ‘hir’ for those who have both. (Stryker XI-XII) In India people use to call transgenders with their own language like“They are “ali, aravani, chhakka, hijra, jogappa, khusra, khasuaa, kinnar, kojja, maada, mukhannathun, napunsak, nau number, pavaiyaa, Thirunangai etc, depending upon the region”(Saxena 6). Existence of Transgenders in Ancient period The existence of Transgender is witnessed in Indian epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.According to the recent reports it isconfirmed that The Ramayana could have happened before 10000 to 12000years and The Mahabharata could be somewhere between 1100 to 800BC.The portion of the Mahabharata depicting the life of Aravan is seen as the first indication of the transgender personality in written form. Aravan is considered as God by the transgender community. Transgender community is gradually marching forward against all odds and gained much ground in recent times.But only few transgenders are leading a good and safe life and the rest of them are incapable to discover their own place in their real world. Vidya’s Life and Struggle In the recent time though, transgenders are prepared to write about their world themselves. “Autobiography is a biography written by the subject about himself or herself” (Abrams, M. H. 30). “Hence apart from being collective as well as personal narratives, autobiographies also offer its creator a chance to have made sense of their lives and experiences as they have answered the question, who am I?, as observed by Diane Bjorklund, who researched on the genre of autobiography in America” (Bjorklund 89). The study of autobiography I am Vidyaby Living Smile Vidya from India has presented a historical session on transgender’s lives.Vidyawas originally named as Saravanan by her parents and she is an M.A linguistic graduate. She once said in a meeting that there are works that speaks of the transformation of man into women. But almost no literature speaks about the transformation of women into a man. In this work,she also speaks about her transformation from a male to female. Volume 8 Issue 8 2019 215 http://infokara.com/ INFOKARA RESEARCH ISSN NO: 1021-9056 Defining what it means to be a boy or a girl is not simple as biology. It is often dictated by culture and society. For centuries, this nursery rhyme “What are little boys made of ?” has reflected how most people think of the different genders: What are little boys made of? Frogs and snails and puppy Dog’s tails, That’s what little boys are made of. What are the little girls are made of Sugar and spice and all things Nice, That’s what little girls are made of (1-8) This rhyme, which many children learn when they are very small defines boys as being rough and playing in the dirt with animals. In a similar way, boys are often given toys such as guns, soldiers and cars. But girls are described as being sweet and more fragile. They play with baby dolls and stuffed animals. Even clothes are designed to reflect gender role. For transgenders, there are no defined clothes. Here Vidya set a new tread of dressing. “Approaching the issue in a smarter way than before, I realised that wearing obviously feminine clothes was the problem. The solution lay in unisex clothes. Combination like kurtas or other neutral tops and jeans were common to both sexes” (Vidya33-34). Due to her internal urge she wants to wear female costume after the age of twelve. She thinks that a female body can be the solution for all her current hindrance but she is not conscious of the problems faced by woman in this earth. In the modern world, men treat women with respect and gave equal rights because womanremains the sameas women but a trans-woman will not be counted as woman contextually.The appearance of a body is not the destination to be called as a woman. What is important is the self -identity that a person claims to be. This could be one of the reasons why trans-women were not granted their basic rights from both the first and the second gender. Even though trans-women are looked like any other woman the society is not ready to accept them as women. Volume 8 Issue 8 2019 216 http://infokara.com/ INFOKARA RESEARCH ISSN NO: 1021-9056 In schools, children like Vidya experience inequality, violence, verbal and physical harassment more than the gay, lesbian and bisexual students. Such insecure school atmosphere influences their performance and attendance. They eventually leave the school for protection. This bitter experience of harassment and violence coincides with the increased usage of drugs in trans-adolescents. In addition, those who are frightened at school have higher rates of depression and suicide attempts. To reduce this peer bullying, the author suggests: At school, in Arivolilyakkam, in other non-formal school, tirunangais can be introduced to students as a part of their lesson, so that they learn to treat difference with compassion and dignity. Children should be told about the sufferings of transgender. Film censor boards must firmly root out scenes depicting them in a vulgar manner.(Vidya 143) Transgender adolescences are exposed to suffering in many ways. Many experience physical andemotionalattacksfor coming out of home, or fright being found out on a daily basis. Others may take on at- risk behaviours as a way to cope with misperception about their gender identity. I was girl. Unfortunately, the world saw me as a boy. Inwardly I wanted to be a girl, but I made every effort possible to hide my feminity from the outside world. I took particular trouble to remain inconspicuous atcollege,the unpleasant memories of my bitter experienceat school still fresh in my mind. I lead a false life of strenuous attempts to swagger like a man and speak like one;(Vidya 40) Family members are not ready to accept the transformation which the soul undergoes. Vidya’s childhood effort to sustain her feminine was even worse. Vidya’s father is a sturdy dictator. He has not givenany room for simple delights and freedom of babyhood.At the age of six started to realise the feminine within her. She used to take pleasure in disguising herself with her sister’s clothes and in solitudeused to dance to music. She was not interested to be recognised as a boy and did not wish to have the privilege given to her. She started toquestion “what‘s wrong with my preference? Why should a boy only wear shirts and trousers? I like skirts and blouses whycan‘t I wear them? Why do people find something odd in what comes to me naturally?”(Vidya 29). During the death of her mother, she locked up herself in a room, wore her sister’sclothes and started to dance to the song of I am the king‘s daughter, A fresh new rose. Volume 8 Issue 8 2019 217 http://infokara.com/ INFOKARA RESEARCH ISSN NO: 1021-9056 Will my dreams come true? (Vidya 28) Vidya through her autobiography presents the distinction between the sex reassignment operation carried in other countries that legally acknowledged them and the Nirvana operation carried out in India without proper government approval.
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