Archive · 15 Nov 2025
Book Review: 'Forbidden Desire' Critiqued for Ignoring Caste in Queer History
Imagine a book that tries to uncover India's history of love and relationships that weren't considered 'normal' by old rules, especially how British rulers changed things.
The book is called 'Forbidden Desire' and it suggests that before the British came, India was more open about different kinds of love.
However, a reviewer says the book misses a very important piece: the caste system.
This system, like a strict social ladder, has deeply affected who people could be close to, love, or marry for a very long time, even before the British.
The reviewer believes that to truly understand India's history of relationships and love, especially for queer people, we must look at how caste created barriers and violence, not just focus on the British influence.
Ignoring caste makes the story incomplete, like telling a story about a house without mentioning its foundation.
A review criticizes Sindhu Rajasekaran's book 'Forbidden Desire' for allegedly downplaying the role of caste in shaping India's queer past.
The book attempts to decolonize queer history by highlighting how British colonialism impacted views on desire and intimacy in India.
The reviewer argues that caste, as a violent social order, profoundly structured relationships and desires long before British rule, a point the book inadequately addresses.
The critique contends that the book's focus on broader categories like 'womxn' and 'Indian women' overlooks caste-based hierarchies and the specific experiences of marginalized groups like Dalit women.
A truly decolonial recovery of queer history, the reviewer asserts, must simultaneously consider caste, gender, sexuality, and material realities, not solely colonial influence.
- Who
- Sindhu Rajasekaran (author of 'Forbidden Desire'), Kamna Singh (reviewer), Muktabai Salve, Dr B.R. Ambedkar.
- What
- A review critiquing Sindhu Rajasekaran's book 'Forbidden Desire' for its alleged oversight of caste's role in shaping Indian queer history, arguing that a decolonial approach must incorporate caste alongside gender and sexuality.
- When
- The book covers precolonial and colonial India; the review was published recently.
- Where
- India; discusses Indian history, social structures, and literature.
- Why
- To argue that a complete decolonial recovery of India's queer past requires a thorough understanding of how caste, alongside gender and sexuality, has shaped desire, intimacy, and power dynamics throughout history.
Book's Perspective (Forbidden Desire)
Reviewer's Critique
Colonial Impact on Queer History
Book's Perspective (Forbidden Desire)
The book argues that British colonialism is the primary cause of India's erased queer histories.
Reviewer's Critique
While colonialism played a role, the reviewer contends that desire and intimacies in India were already structured by caste long before British arrival, and the book fails to adequately address this.
Role of Caste
Book's Perspective (Forbidden Desire)
The book treats caste as a cultural difference and a marker of diversity.
Reviewer's Critique
The reviewer argues that caste should be understood as a violent social order that governed access, desire, and intimacy, not merely a difference. It critiques the book for presenting precolonial India as a space of free social mingling across castes without sufficient evidence.
Decolonial Ambition
Book's Perspective (Forbidden Desire)
The book attempts to decolonize queer history by recovering lost queer pasts.
Reviewer's Critique
The reviewer asserts that the book's decolonial ambition is incomplete because it overlooks the significant role of caste in shaping social fabric, oppression, and privilege, leading to a 'Savarna reimagining' rather than a true decolonial recovery.
Representation and Voice
Book's Perspective (Forbidden Desire)
The book aims to explore gender, sexuality, and intimacy in India through colonial archives and various historical sources.
Reviewer's Critique
The reviewer questions whose voices and desires are centered, noting the book's reliance on Savarna perspectives and the exclusion of Dalit, Bahujan, and Adivasi voices, and oral histories. The reviewer also critiques the use of terms like 'womxn' and the homogenization of 'Indian women'.
- Book Title
- Forbidden Desire: How the British Stole India’s Queer Pasts
- Author
- Sindhu Rajasekaran
- Core Argument of Book
- Precolonial India was largely protofeminist and queer before British colonization shaped its perception.
- Critique Focus
- Book's failure to fully address the structuring role of caste in Indian desire, intimacy, and social order.
- Influential Text Cited in Critique
- About the Grief of the Mangs and Mahars by Muktabai Salve
- Contrasting Work Mentioned
- Merchants of Virtue by Divya Cherian
- Key Historical Figures/Thinkers Mentioned
- Muktabai Salve, Dr B.R. Ambedkar, Jotiba Phule, Pandita Ramabai, Sujatha Gidla, Devdutt Pattanaik
