Navigating Family Ties as a Cross Dressing Dancer
This is Chaina and Rakesh with their respective families, belonging to the Meena community of Rajasthan
This is Chaina and Rakesh with their respective families, belonging to the Meena community of Rajasthan
Rakesh is a 24 year old cross dancer from a village in Dausa. Chaina is from Raimalpura. He is 32 and married. Both of them come from a family of farmers. Both recall that it was their mothers or aunts, who would dress them up as girls when they were young and encouraged them to participate in the celebratory dancing and singing in the family. As children, it was completely accepted and adored, as adults, it has been a different story.
Cross-dressing has been viewed, by some people of this community, as a divine experience, a moment where the goddess enters the body of a man and he dances as if in a trance. For a man to be able to transform into a woman is in itself considered an art form deeply rooted in spirituality. However, in modern times and with a more patriarchal viewpoint, for a man to dress up as a woman brings dishonour to the family. A man is supposed to get a government job, get married and raise his children to further the family name.
While Rakesh’s parents objected to his choice of picking up dancing as a woman in local gatherings and celebrations, the income generated soon convinced them otherwise. Chaina’s story though didn’t find a similar closure. His parents have ostracised him from the family and financial will. He lives alone with his wife and two children in a makeshift home made of straw and grass supported on the trunk of a palm tree.
Your career choices determine your place in the community. Dressing up as a woman is not a very celebrated profession but it is helping Chaina and Rakesh keep their passions alive and put food on the table.
