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Cursing as a corollary of impotence

The hijras’ use of obscenity tends to interest commentators far morę than their use of gossip; Indian journalists often devote fuli paragraphs to the hijras’ abusive dis-plays, not just at birth performances but also in their daily interactions with inno-cent bystanders. The hijras’ strategy of shouting obscenities in front of outsiders appears to be just one contemporary realization of what has been traditionalły identified as “the hijra curse.” Since the early 1800s, and perhaps long before that, people in a variety of Indian communities have believed that the hijra, by virtue of her own impotence, has the power to prevent the birth of małe children; her curse has therefore been viewed as a performative in the canonical Austinian sense, which, if uttered in the context of the birth celebration, serves to interrupt the family lineage. Because this belief is still extant in many communities, particularly in Indian villages, the hijras often provoke fear among their clients.

Rupa,¹⁵ who shares a house with an Indian family in Banaras and considers herself to be the/>*ra*/r7‘priest’ of the hijras living in the city, expands on this point. She explains that Banaras residents, fearing the pronouncement of a curse like “may your child die,” will respond to the hijras with izzat ‘honor’, ‘respect’: