Caught between Sexes

Brandon Teena is an enthusiastic and popular guy from the small town of Nebraska. He loves to hang out with guys drinking, cussing, and bumper surfing and since his boyhood, he has been the centre of attraction for many young girls for whom no other guy in the world is so sensitive and considerate. Life was quite beautiful as he was dating with Lana, a beautiful lady from the same town. But one thing he forgot to tell and that is no less important that she was born as female. When his best friends make this discovery, Brandon's life is ripped apart.

This is a story of the film, “Boys Don’t Cry”, which I watched during my college days. The recent incident of Pinki Pramanik, the famous athlete from India who has been in news recently for alleged rape of a woman, reminds me the story of the film. In both the cases, the protagonists had to suffer for their sexual identity. 

A set of drama followed the arrest of the 26 year old retired sprinter who was charged with impersonation, rape, and physical assault by a lady, who claims to be her/ his soul mate. The story of the famous athlete who brought pride for India by wining Gold medal in women’s 400-metre relay in Doha Asian games in 2006 and also a silver medal in Sydney Commonwealth Games in the same year, sent shock waves not only to the athletics community but also to the intellectual readers. 

However, this kind of controversy did not appear for the first time. Let us look back to the history. During 1960s, it was mandatory for all women athlete competing at International level to go for gender tests to confirm that they are not possessing male qualities. The tests involved appearing in naked in front of a group of doctors. The First women athlete to fail in the test is Ewa Kłobukowska from Poland who won gold in the women's 4x100 metre relay and was third in the women's 100 metre. She was banned from all kindof  International competition.

But this practice could not last long as female athletes vehemently protested against the rule. In current situation, someone can be tested if such kind of charges arises against her. But the procedure is much more scientific now days.

In December’ 2006, Santhi Soundarajan, a female athlete from India who won silver medal in Asian games in 800-meter race was alleged to hide her sexual identity. She was stripped of her medal, though result of her gender test was not revealed. The list may go on and on as there are quite a good number of athletes who faced such trials.

How do they decide the gender?

The first step of the sex determination involves anatomical test which is done by a Gynaecologist. The doctor will look for the primary and secondary characteristics of womanhood such as presence of female genitals, uterus, ovary, menstruation history etc. Though the exam seems to be straight forward, results may come out to be complicated as there is a fraction of women who born with abnormal anatomy. It happens quite often that female athletes do not menstruate due to lack of fat in the body or due to their intake of performance enhancing drugs.

In the next step, blood test will be done to check the hormone level. Men typically have more testosterone in their bodies, while women typically have more oestrogen. Perhaps, both sexes have both the hormones in their bodies, and there are no absolute rules for how much testosterone and oestrogen determines a woman. In such circumstances, only genetics can confirm the gender of a person.

Each cell in the body bears the genetic information which includes information relating to gender. A woman usually has two X chromosomes in each of her cells (XX), where as a man usually has an X chromosome and a Y chromosome (XY). However, a female with genetic abnormalities may have some cells with XY chromosomes in spite of having female genitals. In such situation, she may exhibit some male characteristics.

However, is it possible to declare a woman, who grew up with a female gender identity, to be man for having an occasional Y chromosome in her cells? It's not distinct what role the psychological evaluation plays in determining femaleness, although its inclusion implies that personal gender identity -- the way one looks at oneself in terms of sexuality -- is taken into consideration in a gender test.

What happened with Pinki ?

Pinki was released from the jail after 26 days custody after the experts commented that she is almost male but yet she is not capable of raping. But the trauma she had to face during these 26 days throws a question to the civil society. Does a Gold medallist in Asian Games deserve such kind of treatment? The way she was taken into custody, the way her MMS of giving sex test leaked hit a serious blow to the humanity and also to the judicial system. Why it took 26 days to prove her gender? It is to mention here, Santhi Soundarajan, who was stripped of the silver medal in Asian games in 800-meter race for not being able to prove her femininity, tried to commit suicide, reportedly by consuming a veterinary drug at her residence. It’s time to rethink so that no Pinki or Santhi face such humiliation in life.

Abused in the Name of Vows

 “Marriage is for woman the commonest mode of livelihood, and the total amount of undesired sex endured by women is probably greater in marriage than in prostitution.....”

                                                  -  Bertrand Russell, Marriage and Morals.

History has many evidences that women have been treated as object of lust and sex since ages. This is the reason why Draupadi has to be Panchali and share bed with five husbands born from the same womb. Did anyone bother about her wish? After so many years, situation has not changed at all. Till today, Kashmiri girls are forced to marry extremists at gun points.

The above quote may sound a bit feministic in tone and a section of people just may just feel disturbed to read this story. But never the less, it is a common story to many women, especially in Indian society. Though marriage is said to be the sacred beginning of a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman, for many people it is just a licence to rape.

Laxmi, a 25 years old housewife, got married last year. Her husband is a reputed lawyer, with handsome looks and established career; he has everything that she wanted in her husband. She came to her husband’s place with her heart filled with hopes of happy conjugal life. But she never knew that her ‘suhag raat’ will be a night of nightmare. She was brutally raped by her husband and from that night onwards, it has become common story in her everyday life. In almost one year of her married life, she may count in her hand how many days her husband talked to her properly. But, there would be hardly any day when her husband had not forced her to intercourse. Her heart breaks everybody.  She used to cry with pain of hell but she can’t express to anyone as her husband has got licence to play with her body.

Though marital rape is the most common and disgusting form of masochism in Indian society, it is hidden behind the colourful curtain of marriage. Social practices and legal codes in India mutually enforce the denial of women’s sexual freedom and physical integrity.

Various types of marital rapes:

Battering rape: In “battering rapes”, women experience both physical and sexual violence in the relationship and they experience this violence in various ways. Some are battered during the sexual violence, or the rape may follow a physically violent episode where the husband wants to make up and coerces his wife to have sex against her will. The majority of marital rape victims fall under this category.

Force-only rape: In what is called “force-only” rape, husbands use only the amount of force necessary to coerce their wives; battering may not be characteristic of these relationships. The assaults are typically after the woman has refused sexual intercourse.

Obsessive rape: Other women experience what has been labelled “sadistic” or “obsessive” rape; these assaults involve torture and/or “perverse” sexual acts and are often physically violent.

(Ref: Marital Rape — Myth, Reality and Need for Criminalization by Saurabh Mishra & Sarvesh Singh)

However, there is not enough scope for justice in Indian Criminal Justice System in regard of marital rape. But, law is not enough to ensure justice to women in such crimes unless and until our society undergoes a behavioural change. Many women who are victims of marital rape have great difficulty in defining it as such. The traditional idea that it is impossible for a man to rape his wife and that somehow, in taking marriage vows the couples have abdicated any say over their own body and sexuality, basically denied themselves the right to say 'no', is still prevalent amongst wives as much as amongst their husbands. A wife being raped will often question her right to refuse intercourse with her husband, and while she may realise that legally it now constitutes rape, there are many reasons which may prevent her from perceiving it in such a light.