The Concomitant Subversion of the Gender Binary through the Assertion of Transgender Identity: A Study of Manobi Bandyopadhyay’s A Gift of Goddess Lakshmi

Abstract

In their attempt at gender identity assertion, the transgendered simultaneously subvert the gender binary norm. The reclamation of one’s gender identity aids the transgender individual to correct the biological mishap that results in a female psyche trapped in a male body and vice versa. The intense psychological conflict and the horrific transphobic violence from family and society, often drives the transgendered to suicide. Lisa R Miller and Eric Anthony Grollman in “The Social Costs of Gender Non-Conformity for Transgender Adults: Implications for Discrimination and Health” claim that the 2008 NTDS (the National Transgender Discrimination Survey) proves that frequent stigmatization and assault often drives the identity minorities towards substance abuse, alcoholism and/or suicide (Sociological, 826). However, the accomplishment of gender identity transforms the hitherto diffident individual to express oneself fully and articulate his/her personality in its entirety. Manobi Bandyopadyay’s A Gift of Goddess Lakshmicharts her struggle to become the woman in her mind in the face of ridicule and harassment from the academic circle. Her determination and persistence to assert herself paved her way to become the first transgender principal in India. Therefore it may be assumed that the subversion of normative dichotomy of gender results in the establishment of the transgendered’s true gender, which assists in the expression of one’s personality.