Queering Emotion in South Asia

Abstract

A paucity of scholarship on emotions in South Asia through a queer lens prevails, as the field is relatively new, and thus, majorly normative. Discussions around emotions, particularly guilt, remain heteronormative. The act of queering emotion not only challenges the dominant gendered affective discourse, but also proposes an alternative framework to understand and elucidate emotions pertinent to queer lives in South Asia. The study analysed ethnographic accounts of 32 gay men from the Eastern Indian state of Odisha. The objectives of this study are threefold. One, it examines the validity of the hypothesis that guilt among gay men is not just an internal orientation, but can be induced by people’s complicitous actions. Two, it uncovers how guilt based on “reciprocity” is roused among gay men in a social system (Lebra, 1971). Society urges gay men to repay their parents, siblings, and caretakers by fulfilling their heteronormative expectations. Three, it foregrounds how gay men respond when apprised of their indebtedness to individuals. The study examines emotions in South Asia through a queer lens by investigating the complex manner in which the queer subjects negotiate with their affectual spaces, viz. social institutions of family and other alternative kinship structures.

Care and Loyalty in the Closet: A review of scholarship on sexual identity disclosure in queer South Asian women

“…For queer people of colour, these concepts of lying, concealing, and leading a double life run parallel to the idea of 'the closet'. Just as individuals conceal actions and behaviours from their parents by lying to achieve some sense of freedom (Handa, 2003), coming out of the closet can mean a loss of trust and freedom (Mishra, 2020). Studies on lying and concealment in (presumably heterosexual) South Asian women propose an exciting way to look at and understand the lives of queer South Asian women.…”

“…Rather, the closet can be felt to be a means of protecting yourself and those around you. For example, Mishra (2020) outlines that in an 126 Indian family, one is expected to behave in an approved heterosexual way to gain your family's love and avoid hurting or disappointing them. Even imagined scenarios of pain and hurt that the family may go through may be enough to cause instances of guilt in queer South Asian individuals.…”