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Gender remains one of the preeminent ways in which all human societies are structured. Its imprint on urban spaces may be recognized throughout India's long history, from the Harappan Civilization to the present day. Our cities have recorded the existence of people of a variety of gendered and sexualized identities and behaviors. These include and go beyond the categories that we now understand as male, female or transgender, as well as the spectrum of sexualized distinctions which are common to the modern world, i.e., gay or lesbian, bisexual, heterosexual, etc.
In this course, we will study the historical traces of gender and sexuality upon the urban landscape as they intersect with other forms of belonging. How were spaces gendered in our urban past? What counted as male or female, or that which was considered in-between? What kinds of spaces did women and queer people inhabit? How did gender interact with other distinctions of age, caste, race, ritual, class and slavery? What legacies from this history survive today?
To understand the dynamics of gender and its evolution throughout the history we were introduced to certain historical texts and readings.
READINGS :
Therigatha
It is a collection of early enlightened women who were elder nuns in the Sangh and had turned towards Buddhism to get out of the cycle of life and rebirth. Through the poems they speak about their conflicts in life and their path towards nirvana. It marks the emergence of monastic space for women.
Arthashastra - Kautilya
This is a descriptive text on statecraft and political science for men of noble birth. It talked about various tactics to ensure the safety of the king, techniques to prevent oligarchies, who the king should be guarded by and why. It also talked about how the main threats to the king that are present are the members of his own family, that is the queens and princes. It introduces the role of women and people of various gendered identities inside the court.
Kamasutra - Vatsayana
It is a prescriptive text about what people should do in order to live a life of pleasure and fulfillment. It explains how spatially the space gets differentiated according to gender, class, region and social status.
It gives an insight into the life of the men-about-town, their daily routine and talks about the courtesans and the life of the women in the harem.
Same-sex marriage [Khusro and Barani]
The text we read dwells more into how different people from the same time wrote about sultans of the Khilji dynasty; Alauddin and Qurubuddin Khilji, their lovers Malik Kafur and Khusro Khan– talking about love, going insane with it and societal norms of that period.
It provokes us to question history, who is talking about it and learning the methods of finding the middle ground for evidence.
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