Includes bibliographical references (p. [306]-330) and index.

Gender pluralism and transgender practices in early modern times. Some gendered themes in the political cultures of pre-and early modern states ; Transgender practices and gender pluralism in early modern times -- Temporary marriage, connubial commerce, and colonial body politics. Temporary marriage ; From temporary wives to concubines and prostitutes ; Colonial body politics and the constriction of pluralism -- Transgender practices, same-sex relations, and gender pluralism since the 1960s. Some insular southeast Asian cases ; The case of Burma -- Gender, sexuality, and body politics at the turn of the twenty-first century. Transgendered ritualists and Pondan ; "Asian values" and new types of criminality ; The pink triangle, the urban/sexual underground, and the struggle for sexual equality ; Engaging "tolerance," open secrets, and governmentality.