Final Year Project

Project Title

Where Is South Asia's Transmasculine?

Description

South Asian queer discourse (particularly Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh) does not pay the needed attention to the transmasculine. The term transmasculine is for individuals assigned female at birth who do not adhere to the heteronormative structure of gender identity and sexuality. These bodies exist under the nation-state whereby they are recognized by the state's judicial system. Despite the increase in queer literature within South Asia, the transmasculine remains unacknowledged. I investigate theories of semiotics to understand how the mind perceives an invisible entity. The purpose is to uncover why these people go largely unacknowledged socially. I explore how certain fixed beliefs might be affected by encountering these bodies. And understand how the disturbance of belief reacts to something unknown. Later, I attempt to present a possible framework that attempts to protect these individuals and analyses how we can move towards an inclusive and safe society for queer bodies.