My attire of choice is draping South Indian Sarees, especially Sarees from Tamil Nadu. My affinity towards Sarees stem from the fact that I’m a Lower caste, Tamil, Gender non-binary person who grew up in a patriarchal, sexist, racist and LGBTQIA hating household; where all the women went to bed and got up in Sarees. As a child I would wrap myself in those gorgeous fleets of fabric, until I was too big of a boy to do that. Post colonialism and westernization of South Asia, reserved Sarees to biological women and restricted it to other genders. To many women a Saree became a symbol of confinement but to me it’s freedom. Freedom to embrace the liberty to drape a piece of fabric which is restricted and controlled by patriarchy. By draping a Saree, I challenge the notions of gender, morality, ethics, culture and tradition constructed by upper caste patriarchy and westernization. Most Sarees that I wear are exclusively handwoven and/or printed by artisans and craftspeople. I drape a Saree with the knowledge and the satisfaction that I’ve contributed to nurture the craft. To me a Saree doesn’t carry a gender, it’s just a piece of beautiful fabric and as a gender non-binary person, I don’t work towards becoming a version of a man or a woman, rather a version of me and my Sarees are a part of me and my identity.
Ajayini Sathyan is a Gender non-binary/non-conforming LGBTQIA activist, certified LGBTQIA peer counselor and artist. Ajayini studies Gender and Diversity in Germany and when possible, Ajayini actively represents queer refugees/queer people of color, engage in politicized topics like race, (Neo) colonialism, Critical whiteness, gender and sexuality through the spoken word/poetry, art and conducting interactive lectures, workshops and discussions.
Find Ajayini on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/true.diversity.queer.poc/
https://www.facebook.com/truediversity.Queer.LGBTQI.POC/
https://www.instagram.com/gender.non.binary.saree.draper/
https://www.instagram.com/goth_of_color/