Self as an Interpreter of Stigma: The Everyday Life Agony of the Hijras of North Bengal

Abstract

Social stigma is ubiquitous and characteristic of almost all human societies. Any supposed “anomalous” behaviour is often deemed as socially “reprehensible” eliciting in the process, social proscriptions to impose conformity and enforce consensus. The hijras of India constitute one such stigmatised ilk wherein they routinely experience social opprobrium and censure for irregularities vis-a-vis their gender and sexual identities that diverges from the heteronormative straitjackets normalised by society. Centring on “social stigma”, the present paper attempts to qualitatively apprehend the meanings that arise as and when the hijras interact/encounter “normal” in mainstream or hijra household settings. Drawing on the life story method and Goffman’s work on stigma, the paper seeks to foreground individuals as interpreters of stigma who consciously formulate meanings in their everyday lived social and interactional contexts.