Such a deep title for fieldwork you might say... and you are right. This blog post is a result of quite a bizarre set of events that transpired today.
So I want to preface this post with the fact that I have not felt unsafe at all since I have been in Bangladesh... minus the very regular near death on rickshaw experiences. I have even been going out on my own after 10pm (I don't even do that in Gainesville haha) and have felt very safe. However, today after getting home from the field all of us were sitting at the dining table doing work and they were chatting (in Bangla of course) and I thought I heard "tranny" so I asked what they were talking about. They had heard that the transgenders were in our area looking for money. I thought.. "oh, that is so cool that the trans population here is so charitable". Oh no... I was way off base, guess I forgot where I was for a minute. To give this some background, I have to say that due to the predominantly Muslim culture in Bangladesh anyone out of the "normal" (not my words) are not accepted. This includes transgenders and gays... because of the shunning they cannot find jobs. I am not saying this gives them an excuse for their actions, I couldn't even tell you my opinion at this point. The guys told me that if there are children in the house they will grab them and hold them until the family does what they say and give them money -- if not they will take the children and do "not socially acceptable" things to them and to the parents. They are "not shy" so they will grab at the men and be forceful as well. This is a problem not even the cops address because they are "not shy". This paints the transgender community here very badly... they are accepted only because they are feared. OKAY, so about an hour after they told this story, Hossain (one of the guys on my team) started yelling something and two others got up very quickly and ran to lock all the locks on the door. They told me to turn my music off and the other guys shut the balcony door of the front room. Sure enough the transgenders that they heard were around found out that a foreigner was staying in our apt building. It was not hard to find ours since we have about 9 pairs of shoes outside of our front door. It started with loud banging on the door, jiggling the door handle , clapping, and yelling in Bangla to let them in. We thought it might die down but they kept being very forceful at our door so Al-Amin started talking with them through the door (no idea what was said) and they were threatening to make a mess (poop and pee kind of mess) in our doorway if we did not let them in. Finally Emran said they should just open it and negotiate with them (everything here is negotiable). As always I go hide... my room is in the very back of the house but you can see in my door from the main room. I went to my bathroom with my laptop (grab the expensive stuff right?!) in case I had to lock the door. Within a minute Al-Amin came in and shut my main door and told me to lock it as well (there are deadbolts on every door in Bangladesh). After about 10 minutes they were able to negotiate with the 2 people that came and paid them 200 taka. I think we lucked out because Sumit doesn't look Bengali so they thought he was the foreigner... that could have been worse. Not knowing they were gone I was just waiting in the corner of my room like a sissy pants. All of a sudden very loud, aggressive knocking happens at my door. *Pee myself a little* -- It was just Al-Amin being a jerk face and scaring me haha. The guys all had a laugh when Al-Amin told them I was in my bathroom when he came to lock my door. In the crazy, locking my door I pulled one of the locks too hard or something and it broke so I was locked in my room and they had to come through the balcony entrance to break me free. hahahahaha Yes... it was as ridiculous as it sounds. After all of this transpired we all were obviously talking about it and I kept asking questions on why they do that, if the police do anything, if they are accepted anywhere, etc. I asked about how gay people are perceived here and of course "not accepted" was that answer as well. I was a little saddened when I asked if they had met any gay people and they were shocked and said "no way, why would I?"... I responded with "how do you know they are bad if you have never met one?" -- religious and society response. I told them about drag shows, Caitlyn Jenner (olympian who transitioned) and growing up playing volleyball with trans women... they were in shock. Why does the US think we are so much more evolved than other developing countries? We still have people that don't accept others -- I think I have found them a new home. Maybe living here would make those people realize they have bigger problems than fighting the good fight to stop gays from marrying. All in all I finally had a super sketchy moment in Bangladesh and I am extremely saddened at the lengths the transgender community has to go to just to make a living.
2 Comments
Diane
7/8/2015 09:46:36 am
OMG Steph. What an experience and you seemed to handle it pretty good. Peed your pants....I would have too. Doubt that that country will ever accept gays and it makes us proud that we do. How do you feel about going out after 10:00pm now? Be careful. This is all so interesting and much better then Natl. Geo. LU
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Michelle Weldon
7/19/2015 02:39:54 am
Oh, geez, Steph . . . sad and scary on so many counts. I'm glad you're safe (please stay that way!) I think you should write a book when you return. Michelle
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Steph CinkThis is my way to share both my personal and research experiences with my family, friends and those that are interested.
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