Sadhin

[ikhet_sekhmet]

Haven't written up a subject: sex and gender posting about alternative genders in forever, so let's have a few notes on the sadhin of the Himalayan foothills. "A sadhin can take on many of a man's social roles and behavioural attributes, can wear men's clothes and can cut her hair short like a man. Becoming a sadhin is regarded as a respectable alternative to marriage for a female." The sadhin, who remains female, adds the suffix Devi to her name. Shaw points out that a man can become an ascetic at any time in his life, while the sadhin takes on her role only at puberty.

More on the sadhin here:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3630617
Phillimore, Peter. Unmarried Women of the Dhaula Dhar: Celibacy and Social Control in Northwest India. Journal of Anthropological Research. Vol. 47, No. 3 (Autumn, 1991), pp. 331-350 (20 pages)

ETA: In turn, Phillimore mentions this article, about the transgender jogamma ("male, ascetic women"), disciples of the goddess Yellamma:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3629673
Bradford, Nicholas J. Transgenderism and the Cult of Yellamma: Heat, Sex, and Sickness in South Indian Ritual. Journal of Anthropological Research Vol. 39, No. 3 (Autumn, 1983), pp. 307-322 (16 pages)

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Alison Shaw and Shirley Ardener (eds). "An Introduction." in Changing Sex and Bending Gender. Berghahn Books, New York; Oxford, 2005.