Dr. Ruth Vanita is a pioneering scholar in literature and women’s studies, specifically focusing on same-sex relationships in religious, historical, and cultural contexts. Through her work, she challenges established conventional norms while advocating for greater inclusivity, understanding, and respect for diverse identities and expressions of love.
Dr. Vanita's scholarly journey is marked by an intellectual curiosity that spans cultures and disciplines and a deep commitment to social justice. From her groundbreaking books to her public lectures and activism, she has helped bring the study of same-sex relationships into mainstream academic and public discourse in India and beyond. Her contributions to the study of sexuality and religion, particularly in the Indian context, have been instrumental in challenging stereotypes, promoting inclusivity, and advocating legal and social change.
BACKGROUND
Dr. Vanita was raised in a culturally rich and educationally oriented but lower-income family in New Delhi. Her mother and family members were highly educated, and her upbringing was shaped by their values of intellectual curiosity. Raised in a small dissenting Protestant group akin to the Plymouth Brethren, Dr. Vanita grew up immersed in a disciplined spiritual practice, reading around 14 chapters of the Bible weekly and attending church services four times a week. Her early exposure to religious and literary texts and intellectual engagement played a crucial role in shaping her future academic work on religion, women, and sexuality.
In her early years, Dr. Vanita was made aware of the possibility of life outside traditional norms, especially with respect to marriage. Her mother informed her of the "facts of life," and there was an understanding within her family that not everyone was expected to marry. Her family fostered a progressive attitude toward education and ensured she received a quality education by sending her to a private school despite their limited financial means, encouraging her to pursue learning as far as her ambitions allowed.
ACADEMIC CAREER
Dr. Vanita began her academic career with two decades of teaching in the English Departments of Miranda House, an undergraduate women’s college at Delhi University, and the Faculty of Arts at Delhi University. Her academic writing took shape in the early 1990s, with her first essay, "'Shall We Part, Sweet Girl': The Role of Celia in As You Like It," published in the Delhi University English Department’s journal in 1990. This essay was the first to analyze Celia and Rosalind’s relationship as a romantic one. Her academic interests continued to evolve, and Dr. Vanita expanded this initial work into a chapter for her book, Shakespeare's Re-Visions of History: Violence, Social Collusion and Resistance in Nine Plays (Primus Books, 2025) which explores Shakespeare's depictions of medieval religion, particularly in Measure for Measure, The Winter's Tale, and Henry the Eighth. Her essay on the latter two plays, published in 2000 in the U.S. journal Studies in English Literature 1500-1900, remains widely cited.
In addition to her contributions in India, Dr. Vanita served as Professor of Liberal Studies and English at the University of Montana from 1997 to 2022, where she founded and directed South and South-East Asian Studies from 1997 to 2022, further enriching her scholarship and expanding her academic reach across disciplines and regions.
SCHOLARLY APPROACH
Dr. Vanita's approach to scholarship is informed by her personal philosophy. She advocates an intellectual focus on what brings joy and inspiration rather than solely on what needs to be criticized or rejected. Her academic work is driven by a love for knowledge and a passion for uncovering truths rather than being guided by ideology. She emphasizes the importance of rigor in one's scholarship, ensuring that work is guided by facts—especially textual facts—rather than preconceived ideological notions. She also stresses the importance of being open to various approaches, including those that may challenge one's perspectives.
Dr. Vanita's scholarly integrity is reflected in her commitment to working with primary sources, especially those that are pre-20th century and in languages other than English. She encourages scholars to engage with non-English texts and explore untapped sources, particularly those from other non-Western cultures, to avoid the repetitive and narrow focus on modern Indian texts written in or already translated into English, enrich one's understanding of history and culture, and expand future research and scholarship possibilities.
SCHOLARSHIP
Dr. Vanita's work spans a remarkable range of disciplines, including the history of sexuality, Indian and English literature, cinema, and culture. Her scholarly approach is informed through her study of primary texts, historical context, and cultural understanding, with a focus on work that is excellent and beautiful by both major and minor writers. She is particularly interested in exploring same-sex relationships within historical and religious traditions, demonstrating that same-sex love has deep roots in multiple cultural and religious contexts, especially Hinduism and other traditions in India. While her research often delves into same-sex relationships and their representation, she does not identify as an "LGBT+ scholar." In her writings, she intentionally refrains from using academic jargon or reliance on theoretical frameworks. She attempts to reach both general readers and scholars. She thinks far beyond the confines of LGBT+ studies. She has also published books on Bombay cinema and on the Sanskrit epics.
PUBLICATIONS
Her research on same-sex relationships in literature and religion has significantly altered how scholars and the public view the history of same-sex love, particularly in India. Her books Same-Sex Love in India and Love's Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West stand out as key works in the field, challenging the idea that same-sex love is a Western import and offering a rich historical and cultural perspective on same-sex relationships in India.
Same-Sex Love in India traces the presence of same-sex love in ancient,medieval and modern texts, exploring its portrayal in literature, religious practices, and cultural history. In this book, she put together and introduced the sections on ancient and medieval Hindu texts and also worked on Hindi and other Sanskrit-based language texts in modern India. Dr. Vanita's meticulous research uncovers the long history of same-sex desire in India, offering a comprehensive analysis of texts that span centuries. The book was significant not only for its scholarly depth but also for its ability to challenge dominant notions that homosexuality is a modern or foreign phenomenon.
In Love's Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West, she challenges traditional view of biological family as the only kind of family. She presents often-overlooked chosen families, friendship, and fictive kinship. The book integrates diverse cultural systems and religious teachings to provide an inclusive perspective on same-sex relationships. Through frameworks like eudaimonia (human flourishing), she presents the way many couples have reinterpreted spiritual and ceremonial narratives to sanctify same-sex relationships.
She introduces Hindu religious teachings, including the Hindu concept of rebirth, to create an intersectional framework for understanding same-sex relationships. She addresses complex questions of spirituality and relationships, demonstrating how spiritual narratives that embrace same-sex relationships can be and have been reinterpreted by couples as well as Hindu gurus to cultivate more inclusive rituals and spaces that embrace diverse expressions of love and family. In her research, she interviewed several Hindu gurus to explore religious views on same-sex marriage. Among these, Swami Bodhananda stood out for his progressive stance, officiating one of India's earliest same-sex weddings in 1993. Swami Bodhananda eventually became a mentor to Dr. Vanita, deepening her understanding of the intersection between faith and sexuality.
Gender, Sex and the City: Urdu Rekhti Poetry in India 1780–1870 (2012) is another pioneering work where she translated many Urdu poems for the first time, about both male-male and female-female romantic and sexual relationships in the 18th and 19th centuries - largely overlooked facet of India's literary and cultural history. She also explored the literary and cultural context for these relationships, particularly in courtesan households and among male literati, mostly Muslim. The book delves deeply into same-sex relations, both male and female, and discusses Islam and Islamic mystical practices, given that all the poets were Muslim.
Her work studying same-sex relationships has been groundbreaking in academia and broader cultural discussions about LGBT+ rights in India. The impact of Dr. Vanita's scholarship reached the Indian legal system, where her books were submitted as evidence in two significant Supreme Court cases—one challenging the anti-sodomy law and the other asking for marriage equality. In both cases, Dr. Vanita's work was cited to demonstrate that same-sex relationships have been a part of Indian culture and traditions for centuries, challenging the notion that such relationships are foreign or unnatural.
ADVOCACY
In addition to her academic work, Dr. Vanita has worked for LGB rights and women’s equality, particularly in India and the US. In the 1980s and early 1990s, she was involved in the Indian women's movement, where she was the co-founder of Manushi, India’s first nationwide feminist magazine, which was tremendously influential in shaping media and political opinion on women’s issues. She volunteered in the Manushi organization for 13 years, working on civil rights generally and women’s rights in particular. Her advocacy continued in the US, where she was a founding member of Outfield, a faculty and staff group at the University of Montana dedicated to LGBT+ rights.
Dr. Vanita's activism extended to legal advocacy, as she and her wife supported an Outfield lawsuit in the Montana Supreme Court, which successfully secured domestic partnership rights. They put in a year’s intensive work to help a petitioner couple whose house was burned down after they appeared on television. The couple faced severe harassment, including defamation from local police and firefighters. Dr. Vanita's efforts in advocating LGB rights have significantly impacted legal reform and public perception. She has given numerous talks to LGBT+ organizations, written non-academic articles for publications like daily newspapers Indian Express, Hindustan Times. etc., and magazines such as Hinduism Today and Tikkun Olam, and created a more inclusive discourse surrounding same-sex love.
LEGACY
Dr. Vanita considers her books Sappho and the Virgin Mary: Same-Sex Love and the English Literary Imagination; Same-Sex Love in India; and Love's Rite important in the field. Her scholarship on same-sex relationships in Indian and Western religious traditions has helped make the case for including LGBT+ voices in public discourse, legal systems, and religious traditions, inspiring countless scholars, activists, and individuals worldwide. Through her books, lectures, and public engagements, Dr. Vanita has helped shape a more inclusive, nuanced, and historically grounded understanding of women, sexuality, and identity. Her legacy inspires future generations of scholars and activists, ensuring her work remains influential for years.
(This biographical statement was written by Salaphaty Rao Marrao for a Fall 2024 Queer & Trans Theologies class at the United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities from an interview with Vanita and the sources below).
PUBLICATION LIST
Books
1, Shakespeare’s Re-Visions of History: Violence, Social Collusion and Resistance in Nine Shakespeare Plays (New Delhi: Primus Books, 2025)
2. A Slight Angle [a novel ]. Penguin, 2024
3. The Broken Rainbow: Poems and Translations (New Delhi: Copper Coin, 2022).
4. The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics: Debates on Gender, Varna and Species (New Delhi: An University Press, 2022).
5. Memory of Light [a novel ] (New Delhi: Penguin, 2020).
6. Pariyon ke Beech [novel ] New Delhi: Rajkamal Prakashan, 2021.
7. Dancing with the Nation: Courtesans in Bombay Cinema (Bloomsbury Academic, New York; Speaking Tiger, New Delhi, 2018).
8. Edited with a Introduction, India and the World: Postcolonialism, Translation and Indian Literature: A Festschrift for Harish Trivedi (New Delhi: Pencraft, 2014).
9. Gender, Sex and the City: Urdu Rekhti Poetry in India, 1780-1870 (New York: Palgrave-Macmillan; New Delhi: Orient Blackswan, 2012).
10. Love’s Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West (New York: Palgrave-Macmillan;zNew Delhi: Penguin India, 2005). Updated edition 2020. Commemorative edition 2023.
11. Gandhi’s Tiger and Sita’s Smile: Essays on Gender, Sexuality and Culture (New Delhi: Yoda Press, 2005, reissued as an e-book 2015).
12. With Saleem Kidwai, Same-Sex Love in India: Readings from Literature and History (New York: Palgrave-St Martin’s, 2000). British Edition, Macmillan, 2000. Indian Edition, Macmillan 2001. Lambda Literary Award Finalist. Updated edition Penguin India, 2008.
13. Edited, Queering India: Same-Sex Love and Eroticism in Indian Culture and Society (New York: Routledge, 2002). Lambda Literary Award finalist.
14. Sappho and the Virgin Mary: Same-Sex Love and the English Literary Imagination (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996). Indian edition Pearson, New Delhi, 2007.
15. Co-edited with Madhu Kishwar, In Search of Answers: Indian Women’s Voices from Manushi (London: Zed Books, 1984, revised edition Horizon Books, Delhi, 1991).
16. A Play of Light: Selected Poems (New Delhi: Penguin India, Viking Books, 1994).
Books: Work in Progress
1. More Lives than One: Sketches and Stories
2. Essays on Literature, Translation, and Cinema
3. Reborn: Western Incarnations of an Indian Idea
Translated Books
1. Translated and edited with an Introduction. On the Edge: 100 Years of Hindi Fiction on Same-Sex Desire (Penguin, 2023).
2. Translated and edited, with an introduction, My Family by Mahadevi Varma. New Delhi: Penguin, 2021.
3. Translated and edited, with an introduction, Alone Together: Selected Stories of Mannu Bhandari, Rajee Seth and Archana Varma (New Delhi: Women Unlimited Press, 2013).
4. Translated and edited, with an introduction, The Co-Wife and Other Stories by Premchand (New Delhi: Penguin, 2008). Some stories from this book also appeared in a low-priced edition in the penguin Evergreen Classics series, under the title The Shroud (2011).
5. About Me (autobiography of Pandey Bechan Sharma Ugra), with an introduction (New Delhi: Penguin, 2007).
6. Translated and edited, with an introduction, Chocolate and other Writings on Male Homeroticism by Pandey Bechan Sharma Ugra (North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2009; with a somewhat different title and introduction, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2006).
7. The Great Feast (English translation of Mannu Bhandari’s Hindi novel, Mahabhoj) (New Delhi: Orient Longman, 2002).
8. Strangers on the Roof (English Translation of Rajendra Yadav’s Hindi novel Sara Akash) (New Delhi: Penguin India, 1994). New edition with a new introduction, 2014.
9. Dilemma and other Stories (English translation of short fiction by Vijay Dan Detha) (New Delhi: Manushi Prakashan, 1997).
Forthcoming
1. Portraits from Memory by Mahadevi Varma (Harper Collins 2024)
Chapters in Books (selected)
1. “‘Something Beyond’ and ‘Unspeakable’”: A Passage to India as a Vedantic Novel” in Centenary Essays on A Passage to India ed. Harish Trivedi (New Delhi: Orient Blackswan, 2024).
2. “British Translators, Bhagat Singh, and ‘Atheism’: How ‘Reverse Translation’ Alters the Meaning of Philosophical Concepts,” in Language Ideologies and the Vernacular in Colonial and Postcolonial South Asia ed. Nishat Zaidi and Hans Harder (London: Routledge, 2024), 165-79.
3. “Exiled and Separated: Aspects of Migration for Same-Sex Couples,” in Dissent with Love ed. Parul Bhandari (Routledge, 2024).
4. “The Comprehensiveness of Sympathy’: Gender and Species in Tagore” in English and Indian Literature: Precolonial to Postcolonial: Essays in Memory of G.K. Das ed. R.W. Desai, Christel Devadawson, Rajiva Varma. (Delhi: Aakar Books, 2022), 68-80.
5. “Teaching in Translation: Teaching Gender and Sexuality,” in Literature, Language and the Classroom ed. Sonali Jain and Anubhav Pradhan (New Delhi: Routledge, 2021), 64-73.
6. “Goddess, Lesbian, Cow: Teaching Suniti Namjoshi in Montana,” in Teaching Anglophone South Asian Women Writers ed. Deepika Bahri and Filippo Menozzi (New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2021).
7. “Sappho in India,” Chapter 32 in The Cambridge Companion to Sappho ed. Adrian Kelly and Patrick Finglass (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020), 457-72.
8. “A Web of Intimacies: Marriage in India, Cross-Sex and Same-Sex,” Chapter 13 in Courtship, Marriage, and Marriage Breakdown: Approaches from the History of Emotions ed. Katie Barclay, Jeffrey Meek, Andrea Thomson (New York: Routledge, 2020), 16 pages.
9. “Male-Female Dialogues on Gender, Sexuality and Dharma in the Hindu Epics,” Chapter 13 in The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Indian Philosophy and Gender ed. Veena Howard (New York: Bloomsbury Academic 2019), 299-323.
10. “Goddess, Saint and Journeying Soul: Courtesans and Religion in Bombay Cinema,” Chapter 7 in Bad Women of Bombay Films ed., Saswati Sengupta et al (New York: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2019), 113-130.
11. “Still Flowing Rivers: Gender and Sexuality in Modern Hinduism,” in Hinduism and the Modern World ed. Brian Hatcher (New York: Routledge, 2016), 275-89.
12. “Free to be Gay: Same-Sex Relations in India, Globalised Homophobia and Globalised Human Rights,” in Human Rights in Postcolonial India ed. Om Prakash Dwivedi and V. G. Julie (New Delhi: Routledge India, 2016), 315-32.
13. “Hinduism,” in Struggling in Good Faith: LGBT+QI Inclusion from 13 American Religious Perspectives ed. Mychal Copeland and D’vorah Rose (Skylight Paths Publishing, 2015), 61-75.
14. “India,” in The Fin-de-Siecle World ed. Michael Saler (New York: Routledge, 2014), 283-99.
15. “Chatnī, Chocolate and Pān: Food and Homoerotic Fiction,” in Gay and Lesbian Subcultures and Literatures ed. Sukhbir Singh (New Delhi: Indian Institute of Advanced Study, 2014).
16. “Lamb Unslain: Non-Human Animals and Shelley’s Panentheism,” in Godly Heretics: Essays on Alternative Christianity ed. Marc Paolo (McFarland & Co., 2012), 98-113.
17. “Hinduism and Homosexuality,” in Queer Religion ed. Donald Boisvert & Jay Johnson (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2012), Vol. I, 1-24.
18. “More Lives than One: My Years in Manushi and the Women’s Movement,” in Making a Difference: Memoirs from a Movement ed. Ritu Menon (Women Unlimited, New Delhi, 2011), 11-36.
19. “Democratizing Marriage: Custom, Consent and the Law,” in Law like Love: Queer Perspectives on Law ed. Arvind Narrain (New Delhi: Yoda Press, 2011), 338-354.
20. “Different Speakers, Different Loves: Urban Women in Rekhti Poetry,” in Subalternity and Difference: Investigations from the North and the South ed. Gyanendra Pandey (London & New York: Routledge, 2011), 57-76.
21. “Naming Love: The God Kama, the Goddess Ganga, and the Child of Two Women,” in The Lesbian Pre-Modern ed. Noreen Giffney, Michelle M. Sauer and Diane Watt (New York: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2011), 119-30.
22. “‘The Homoerotics of Travel: People, Ideas, Genres,” in The Cambridge Companion to Gay and Lesbian Writing (Cambridge Companions to Literature) ed. Hugh Stevens (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 99-115.
23. “Uncovenanted Joys: Catholicism, Sapphism, and Cambridge Ritualist Theory in Hope Mirreles’
Madeleine: One of Love’s Jansenists,” in Catholic Figures, Queer Narratives ed. Lowell Gallagher, Frederick S. Roden and Patricia Juliana Smith (New York: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2007), 85-96.
24. “Together in Life after Life: Same-Sex Marriage and Hindu Traditions,” in Defending Same-Sex Marriage ed. Mark Strasser, Vol. II, Our Family Values: Same-Sex Marriage and Religion ed. Traci West (Praeger, 2006), 3-18.
25. “ ‘Bringing Buried Things to Light’: Homoerotic Alliances in To the Lighthouse,” in Virginia Woolf: Lesbian Readings, ed. Eileen Barrett and Patricia Cramer (New York: New York University Press, 1997), 165-79. Reprinted in Illuminations: New Readings of Virginia Woolf ed., Carol Merli (New Delhi: Macmillan, 2004), 175-90.
26. “‘At All Times Near’: Love between Women in Two Medieval Indian Devotional Texts,” in Same-Sex Love and Desire among Women in the Middle Ages ed. Francesca Canade Sautman and Pamela Sheingorn (New York: Palgrave, 2002), 233-50. Reprinted in Signifying the Self: Women and Literature ed. Shormistha Panja, Malashri Lal, et al (New Delhi: Macmillan 2004). 2
7. “Tragic Love and Cultural Convention: Reading The Well of Loneliness in India and the U.S.,” in Mastering Western Texts: Essays on Literature and Society for A.N. Kaul ed. Sambudha Sen (New Delhi: Permanent Black, 2003), 262-279.
28. “‘Shall We Part, Sweet Girl?’: The Role of Celia in As You Like It,” Yearly Review, 4 (1990), 43-55. Reprinted in Critical Theory, Textual Application ed. Shormishtha Panja (New Delhi: Worldview Press, 2002), 128-42.
29. “Dosti to Tamanna: Male-Male Love and Normative Indianness in Hindi Cinema,” in Everyday Life in South Asia ed. Diane Mines and Sarah Lamb (Indiana University Press, 2002), 146-58.
30. “The Straight Path to Postcolonial Salvation: Heterosexism in the Indian Academy,” in Lesbian and Gay Studies and the Teaching of English: Positions, Pedagogies and Cultural Politics, ed. William J. Spurlin (Urbana, IL: NCTE, 2000), 272-87.
31. “Embracing the Past by Retelling the Stories,” in A Sea of Stories: The Shaping Power of
Narrative in the Lives of Gay Men and Lesbians, ed. Sonya Jones (New York: HaworthPress, 2000), 139-63.
32. “‘What Sort of Beast Was I?: Thinking Beyond Gender in India,” in Gender and Politics in India, ed. Nivedita Menon (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999). Reprinted in ‘Feminism’ in India ed. Maitrayee Chaudhuri (Series: Debates in Contemporary Indian Feminism ed. Rajeswari Sunder Rajan, New Delhi: Kali for Women Press), 69-79.
33. “‘Less Without and More Within’: The Rewriting of Male Remorse from Much Ado to Cymbeline,” in Shakespeare: Varied Perspectives, ed. Vikram Chopra, introd. Kenneth Muir (Delhi: B. R. Publications, 1996).
34. “Throwing Caution to the Winds: Homoerotic Patterns in The Waves,” in Re-Reading, Re-writing, Re-Teaching Virginia Woolf, ed. Eileen Barrett and Patricia Cramer (New York: Pace University Press, 1995), 299-304.
35. “Love Unspeakable: The Uses of Allusion in Flush,” in Virginia Woolf: Themes and Variations, ed. Vara Neverow-Turk and Mark Hussey (New York: Pace University Press, 1993), 248-57,
36. “Mansfield Park in Miranda House,” in The Lie of the Land: English Literary Studies in India, ed. Rajeswari Sunder Rajan (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1992, rep. 1993), 90-98.
Forthcoming
1. ‘The Non-Mystical Urdu Ghazal,’ in The Cambridge History of Indian Literature ed. Francesca Orsini (Cambridge University Press).
2. ‘Writing Same-Sex Desire in the Absence of Literary Community,’ in Human Rights and Indian Literary Communities ed. Swatie.
3. “Desire, Dharma and Gender in a Dialogue between a Male and a Female Sage,” in
Revisiting the Mahabharata ed. Balaganapathi Devakaronda and Geetesh Nirban.
Articles in Journals
1. “The More You Think of It, the Less the Difference”: Animals and Upanishadic Thought in Thoreau and Tagore,” in Sophia (7 June 2023).
2. “Self-Delighting Soul: A Reading of Yeats’ “Prayer for My Daughter” in the Light of Indian Philosophy,” Connotations, 24: 2 (2014/15), 239-57. Updated version in Kipling and Yeats at 150: Retrospectives/Perspectives ed. Promodini Varma and Anubhav Pradhan (New Delhi: Routledge, 2019).
3. “Acknowledging Mutual Influence: India and the West,” in special issue of The Scholar and Feminist Online 14:2 (Fall 2017) ed. Brenna Munro and Gemma Pilar (Barnard Center for Research on Women, Columbia University).
4. “Wilde’s Will: Shakespeare as Model in In Carcere et Vinculis,” The Wildean: A Journal of Oscar Wilde Studies, 47 (July 2015), 90-100.
5. “The Romance of Siblinghood in Bombay Cinema,” in South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 36:1 (2013), 25-36. Reprinted in Unfamiliar Ground: Security, Socialisation and Affect in Indian Families ed. Ira Raja (New York: Routledge, 2013), 23-34.
6. “Playing the Field: Lesbian Studies Today,” in Feminist Studies, 39:2 (2013), 365-71.
7. “Plato, Wilde and Woolf: The Poetics of Homoerotic ‘Intercourse’ in A Room of One’s Own,” Journal of Lesbian Studies 14: 4 (2010), 415-31.
8. “Same-Sex Weddings, Hindu Traditions, and Modern India,” Feminist Review 91, 2009 (Special Issue on South Asian Feminisms ed., Firdous Azim et al), 47-60 (reprinted in Tikkun, July-August 2010).
9. “Full of God: Ashtavakra and Ideas of Justice in Hindu Texts,” Religions of South Asia 3:2 (2009), 167-81.
10. “Renewed Pleasures: Loving Friendship and Friendly Love in the Long Nineteenth Century,” Journal of Women’s History (Lead essay in “Book Forum” on Martha Vicinus, Intimate Friends) 20:4 (Winter 2008), 132-41.
11. “Eloquent Parrots; Mixed Language and the Examples of Hinglish and Rekhti,” International Institute for Asian Studies Newsletter (Leiden) No. 50 (Spring 2009), 1-2.
12. “‘When Men and Women are Alone’: Framing the Taming in India,” Shakespeare Survey, 60 (September 2007), 84-101.
13. “Lesbian Studies and Activism in India,” Journal of Lesbian Studies, 11 (2007): 3/4, 243-253.
14. “Born of Two Vaginas: Love and Reproduction between Co-Wives in Some Medieval Indian Texts,” Gay and Lesbian Quarterly, 11: 4 (September 2005), 547-77.
15. “ ‘Wedding of Two Souls’: Same-Sex Marriage and Hindu Traditions,” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 20: 2 (Fall 2004), 119-136. Translated in Brazilian French-language online journal, Labrys Nos. 6 and 7. www.unb.br/ih/his/gefem
16. “Married Among their Companions: The Representation of Female Homoerotic Relations in Nineteenth-Century Urdu Rekhti Poetry,” Journal of Women’s History 16:1 (Spring 2004), 12-53.
17. “The Self is Not Gendered: Sulabha’s Debate with King Janaka,” NWSA Journal 15:2 (Summer 2003), 76-93.
18. “Gandhi’s Tiger: Multilingual Elites, the Battle for Minds, and English Romantic Literature in Colonial India,” Postcolonial Studies, 5:1 (2002), 95-112.
19. “Mariological Memory in The Winter’s Tale and Henry VIII,” Studies in English Literature 1500-1900, 40: 2 (Spring 2000), 311-338.
20. “The Woman Hater as Beaumont and Fletcher’s Reading of Hamlet,” Hamlet Studies 17 (1995), 63-77.
21. “‘Proper’ Men and ‘Fallen’ Women: The Unprotectedness of Wives in Othello,” Studies in English Literature 1500-1900, 34: 2 (1994), 341-356. Reprinted in Shakespearean Criticism: excerpts from the criticism of William Shakespeare's plays and poetry, from the first published appraisals to current evaluations. (Detroit, Mich.: Gale Research Co., 2002), Vol. 67.
22. “Men Beware Men: Shakespeare’s Warnings for Unfair Husbands,” Comparative Drama, 28: 2 (1994), 201-220.
23. “Hamlet in Virginia Woolf’s Between the Acts,” Hamlet Studies, 14 (1992), 83-87.
24. “Three Women Sant Poets of Maharashtra: Muktabai, Bahinabai, Janabai”, in Manushi 50-51-52 (1989), 45-61.
Encyclopedia Entries
1. “Homeroticism in Hinduism,” in Oxford Bibliographies in Hinduism, 2019, www.oxfordbibliographies.com
2. Inshāʾ Allāh Khān,” The Encyclopaedia of Islam (Leiden: Brill, 2019), 77-80.
3. “Hinduism and Sexuality,” in Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism (Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands, 2012), Vol. 4: 740-53.
4. “Indian Literature,” in The Routledge International Encyclopedia of Queer Culture ed. David Gerstner (Routledge, 2011), 57, 59, 295-96.
5. “India Considers Abolishing Sodomy Laws,” in Great Events from History: GLBT Events 1848-2006 ed. Lillian Faderman et al (Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 2006).
6. “Radclyffe Hall,” “Sappho,” and “Same-Sex Friendship,” in The Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender ed. Monica Hubbard and Deirdre Blanchfield (Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007).
7. “Hinduism,” in Homosexuality and Religion: an Encyclopedia ed. Jeffrey Siker (Greenwood Press, 2006), 269-76.
8. “Hindus and Hinduism,” in Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History in America ed. Marc Stein (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2003).
Videorecordings
Ruth Vanita GFP Interview by Global Feminisms Project U-Mich
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6UsWce28wM
Justice, Sexuality, Gender and Dharma: A conversation with Dr Ruth Vanita by Meru Media
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiLXHnsdz9Q
Women And Hinduism Podcast Series #02: Book Discussion With Prof. Ruth Vanita by INDICA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=-b1J7omzuK0
Love, Desire and Identity - Conversation with Dr Ruth Vanita on Gender and Sexuality by Dhaara Magazine https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=j-Scom7LZ6Awww.oxfordbibliographies.com
Biography Date: July 2025
“Dr. Ruth Vanita | Profile”, LGBTQ Religious Archives Network, accessed July 23, 2025, https://lgbtqreligiousarchives.org/profiles/ruth-vanita.