Ardhanarishvara : The Androgyne Probing the Gender Within/Alka Pande. New Delhi, Rupa Co., 2004, 193 p., photographs, $72. ISBN 81-291-0464-4.

    Contents: Genesis. 1. Ardhanarishvara: the androgyne God. 2. In time and space: antiquity and locale. 3. The 'other': and the 'both'. 4. Sacred texts and meditational literature. 5. The mystery of the threshold. 6. Artistic representation of Ardhanarishvara. 7. Performance and practice: representation and reality. 8. The pleasure of looking. 9. Masculine women and feminine men: Dilly dallying on transvestite avenue. Glossary. Index.

    "Heterosexual, bisexual, transgendered, third gender, transsexual, gay . . . same-sex love, hermaphrodite, cross-dressing, femininity, masculinity. . . from straitjacketed definitions, some of which bear the stigma of ostracisation, the twenty-first century is finally ready to probe the challenging confusions and dynamics of the 'accepted' and the 'aberrant'.

    While western perceptions have always classified human beings into either male or female, the Indian belief in the androgynous nature of humans stems from the divine concept of Ardhanarishvara - literally half man-half woman. More a philosophical construct than a social or cultural expression, the divine nature of this ideology lent it an initial acceptability. Today, however, it has emerged from the closet as a social manifestation, causing the blurring of traditional sex roles.

    Does your anatomy determine your gender? Are environmental influences responsible for moulding gender identities?  Is there a man in every woman and a woman in every man? What determines the 'natural' and the 'unnatural'? Is it a matter of tolerance, taboo or treading a path of realisation and acceptance that the human race is diverse and sexual expressions differ?

    Ardhanarishvara-The Androgyne: Probing the Gender Within is a book that dares to challenge, question, muse over, analyse and compel you to stretch the frontiers of your mind towards the hard-hitting reality of gender expression. Thoroughly researched and appropriately illustrated, it propels you through the uncharted territory of the 'different'. A must-read for those with any genuine interest in the human race." (jacket)

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