Link: http://www1.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/articleshow?msid=745697
'Lesbians want space, not publicity' BACHI KARKARIA TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 2004 01:36:31 AM ] Let us call her Anamika. She does not want us to reveal her identity, and hers is "the love that dares not speak its name". Still. She is 40, middle-class, intensely political about gender, and articulate to match. But, no, she does not sport a moustache or biceps. She doesn't eat men for breakfast, or proposition the nearest woman. All that's different about Anamika is her sexual orientation. Different, not "abnormal" or "perverted", and definitely not "un-Indian". Her advocacy group, "Prism", speaks for the rights of all categories of marginalised sexuality. On Friday, it issued a press release against the controversial "Girlfriend" and the goons who vandalised the cinema-halls. "Both are equally homophobic. Razdan pathologises lesbianism, tracing it to child sex abuse, instead of simply accepting it. In this he is no different from those who, threatened by anything outside the mainstream, demonise it." Anamika may find Razdan's portrayal harmful, but "as a group that knows what it means to be silenced, we don't want a ban. Still, freedom of expression implies responsibility." She goes on to cite a friend who argued that "the film has given us the opportunity to grapple publicly with these dangerous myths, so some good has come of it." Anamika takes pains to point out that the Gay/Lesbian political identity is a modern construct, and only a small number of people define their personhood by their sexual preference. But same-sex desire is as old as heterosexuality, and those who practise it are legion. If you throw in bisexuality, then what is defined as "normal" would be hopelessly in the minority. "Reality doesn't fit into the neat binaries that society has ordained." This is also the reason why she refuses to quantify the issue. "There are so many overlapping kinds of sexuality, so little space to express them, so great a threat of repercussion.To talk numbers is not only unhelpful, it's impossible." Women with a same-sex preference are doubly disadvantaged. They don't even have the equivalent of the male label, MSM ( Men who have Sex with Men). "The males can cruise in parks, they have their own bars, and regular discos hold Gay Nights where there'll be 300 men, but hardly three women. A woman needs to explain her whereabouts much more; she doesn't have the same financial freedom." She adds, "Women in India are not entitled to any sexuality, so you can imagine the additional trauma of those who do not 'fit'. Till she meets someone else or, more happily, a group, she feels she is the only freak in the world who feels this way. Then there is the pressure to marry, and there are well documented cases of suicides in Kerala traceable to this. The fact that all these women came from the labouring class throws out the 'elite, Western corruption' stereotype." However, unlike some of her sisterhood, Anamika accepts the patriarchy that exists in the Gay fraternity as much as in 'straight' society. "It's unfortunate, but just because they are different in their sexuality doesn't mean that they are obliged to be progressive elsewhere." ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/WfTolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Group Site: http://www.gaybombay.info ========================== NEW CLASSIFIEDS SECTION SEEKING FRIENDS? VISIT www.gaybombay.info click on classified section and type your message in the post section once the link opens What's hot? What's not? Where are the LGBT parties being held and when? Click here!! http://calendar.yahoo.com/YYY,04497/srt,0/gaybombaygroup/?v=42&POS= Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gay_bombay/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
