“Claps” as we all are familiar with, are sometimes perceived as unsavory. Many times, claps depict contentment, euphoria, optimism, and so on but at times; it also symbolizes the deprivation, isolation, agony, the dim and blurry voice of transgender people. ‘Hijras, Kinnar, Chhakka, etc’ are prevalent terms that society uses for transgenders and they have been identified as more of a “sexual gender” in the eyes of mankind.
They have been considered an “undignified” and “voluptuous” gender who rely only upon the sexual activities at large for their survival. The appearance and sound of clapping are judged, create the basis of discrimination, and subjugate their identity. There are different categories within the sex workers, For instance: Nochi (Young female trainee under a tawaif), Low-class uncultured tawaif, Tawaif (A sophisticated, elegant, and cultured worker), and many more.
Transgender people have had to fight for their rights for years, and they still are not able to enjoy their basic rights.
On that account, we must know what is identity? Who defines the identity of transgender? What are the parameters for measuring the identity? So, identity is something that defines your personality, not your character, identity is something which specifies your ‘abilities’, not your morality, identity is concerned about the presence of courage, it does not rely only on arbitrary action. Furthermore, the identity could be visible in any form depends on the way of seeing.
It is true in many senses that the identity of transgender is being constructed by the people of a society based on their work and it defines a certain amount of disparity towards them. The struggling story of transgender is not hidden to any one of us; they have been fighting for many years for their inherent rights and their political identities in which they have yet to succeed. The propagation of construction of identities of transgender based on fabricated perception does not recognize their character as a whole. The comprehensive nature of the exploitative world makes them feel that they have no right to live, nor to enjoy their basic rights.
The existence of transgender identity fades amid the cultural and moral practice of society. The classification of the method of earning money seems the reason for acceptance or discrediting the human identity. Moreover, the transgender identity connects to their sexuality, probably because they have to do sex work to earn money. Hence, in that case, we cannot justify that based on the constructed identity, sexuality is created, or based on sexuality, identity is being built.
The position of transgender in our society is confined only to a sex object which is used only for enjoyment purposes. Traditional blessings ceremonies, selling bodies, or begging are the major source of income, we hardly see any transgender in any other position apart from this. An ostracized group that is seen as a source of entertainment. They are stigmatized for their work on the other side, it is also a matter of fact that society doesn’t want to accept transgender to be a part of a reputed community because they thought they could harm their social norms and values.
The paradoxical nature of society is responsible for damaging the identity of transgender in many ways. The heterosexual communities, who criticize transgenders more, take maximum advantage out of them. The diplomatic behavior of patriarchy seems when men take pleasure in sex in all possible ways but to appear as civilized, their approach towards transgender must be negative or condemning. The identity of transgender becomes a subject to be discussed but we don’t even think how difficult it would be to live that identity their whole life.
It needs a lot of courage to survive like this. Of course, they do it as a matter of job but we have no right to judge them, to exploit them, to make fun of them. We have to stand for the right thing and raise our voice against wrong. The question to be raised here is who creates the feeling of exclusive or otherness? Definitely society and socio-economic factors are also responsible to defame or dishonor the identity of transgender.
The community of transgenders should not be considered inferior for their jobs. Men who perpetrate that crime should be more responsible to be punished. The lives of transgender are filled with pain, disgrace, or disrespect. As birds need the sky to fly, people need respect to live. Their painful sound of clapping that is unclear to us, the shore of tolerance, the everyday mocking expression of the people, considering them the object of shame, have become an intrinsic meaning of their lives. Their dreams are crumbling under the shadow of prostitution. There is no appropriate clap; every clap has something to say. One should be a humanitarian above all; this is the best way to look at it.