Description
Zubaan Shikhandi And Other Queer Tales They Don't Tell You by Devdutt Pattanaik
Patriarchy asserts men are superior to womenFeminism clarifies women and men are equalQueerness questions what constitutes male and femaleQueerness isn’t only modern, Western or sexual, says mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik. Take a close look at the vast written and oral traditions in Hinduism, some over two thousand years old, and you will find tales of:Shikhandi, who became a man to satisfy her wifeMahadeva, who became a woman to deliver a devotee’s childChudala, who became a man to enlighten her husbandSamavan, who became the wife of his male friendand many more . . .Playful and touching—and sometimes disturbing—these stories when compared with tales of the Mesopotamian Gilgamesh, the Greek Ganymede, the biblical Sodom or the Chinese ‘cut sleeve’ Emperor reveal the unique Indian way of making sense of queerness.Devdutt Pattanaik’s new book builds on profound ideas that our ancestors shared but which we have rarely inherited.This book has content for mature audiences. Discretion advised.