John Powers, A Bull of a Man
Serenity Young, Courtesans and Tantric Consorts
Padmanabh Jaini, Gender and Salvation

Important sources on the male body as the normative body, the male body as the 
superior body, and explicit or implicit demonization of women and female 
sexuality, including (as warnings) stories about sex change in current or 
future lives.

Tracy Coleman
Colorado College

From: INDOLOGY <[email protected]> on behalf of Marco 
Franceschini via INDOLOGY <[email protected]>
Date: Friday, March 13, 2026 at 2:47 PM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: [INDOLOGY] Gender change in pre-modern Sanskrit literature

This email originated outside Colorado College. Do not click links or 
attachments unless you know the content is safe.

Dear friends and colleagues,

one of my students is writing her undergraduate thesis on the theme of gender 
change in pre-modern Sanskrit literature.
So far, we have identified the following cases:
- Ila/Sudyumna-Ilā (Rāmāyaṇa, Bhāgavatapurāṇa, Viṣṇupurāṇa, Vāyupurāṇa)
- Bhaṅgāsvana (Mahābhārata)
- Śikhaṇḍin (Mahābhārata)
- Mūladeva (Vetālapañcaviṃśati)
- Rūpāvatī (Divyāvadāna)
- Arjuna (Mahābhārata)

As for studies on the subject, we have been able to identify only these three:
- M. Bloomfield, On the Art of Entering Another's Body: A Hindu Fiction Motif
- N. Brown, Change of Sex as a Hindu Story Motif
- R. Goldman, Transsexualism, Gender, and Anxiety in Traditional India

I would be grateful for any additional suggestions you might wish to provide.

Thank you in advance for your suggestions.
Best wishes,

Marco
---
Marco Franceschini
———————————---
Associate Professor
University of Bologna
Department of History and Cultures
Personal web page<https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/marco.franceschini3/en>
Academia web page<http://unibo.academia.edu/MarcoFranceschini>
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