CONTENT ANALYSIS

ON
A GIFT OF GODDESS LAKSHMI
BY
MANABI BANDYOPADHYAY

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Ms. karthika Elizabeth Atley Joe Chacko

Assistant Professor, 1st Year M.Sc Psychology,

Department of Psychology, K.E College, Mannanm

K.E College,
Mannanm
 Content Analysis

Content analysis is a research technique for making replicable and valid inferences from data to their
context for their use. This definition encompasses those of Bernard Berelson, which equates content
analysis with the scientific “description of the content of communication,” and of Harold D. Lasswell,
which emphasizes the quantification of the “what” that messages communicate. Content analysis is
also referred as technique document analysis. Content analysis is a systematic for gathering and
analysing the content of a text. The term content refers to words, pictures, symbols, ideas, themes or
any message that can be communicated. Whereas, the text is anything written, visual or spoken that
basically serves as a medium of communication. It may include books, newspaper, magazine, article,
advertisements, official documents, filing or video- tapes, photographs musical lyrics, article of
clothing or work of art. Thus, content analysis basically involves undertaking examination of
documents or messages to locate specific characteristics and then making an inference based on their
occurrences, and anything that occurs in sufficient numbers and has reasonably stable meaning for a
specific group of people may be subjected to content analysis. Content analysis is a non-reactive
measure because the process of placing words, symbols, messages etc. in text to communicate to a
reader or receiver occurs without any type influence from the investigator, who actually analyses the
content.

The key components of content analysis are unitizing, sampling, recording/coding, reducing data to
manageable representations, abductively inferring contextual phenomena, and narrating the answer to
the research question. Together, the first four components constitute what may be summarily called
data making creating computable data from raw or unedited texts. The fifth component, is unique to
content analysis and goes beyond the representational attributes of data.

Types of content analysis

There are two general types of content analysis: conceptual analysis and relational analysis.
Conceptual analysis determines the existence and frequency of concepts in a text. Relational analysis
develops the conceptual analysis further by examining the relationships among concepts in a text.
Each type of analysis may lead to different results, conclusions, interpretations and meanings.
Conceptual Analysis

Typically people think of conceptual analysis when they think of content analysis. In conceptual
analysis, a concept is chosen for examination and the analysis involves quantifying and counting its
presence. The main goal is to examine the occurrence of selected terms in the data.

Relational Analysis

Relational analysis begins like conceptual analysis, where a concept is chosen for examination.
However, the analysis involves exploring the relationships between concepts. Individual concepts are
viewed as having no inherent meaning and rather the meaning is a product of the relationships among
concepts.
 Manobi Bandyopadhyay

Manabi Bandyopadhyay was born in Naihati, West Bengal to parents Chittaranjan Bandyopadhyay
and Rima Bandyopadhyay in an educated family as a man. She is the first PhD professor in India who
accepts her identity as a transgender person. Manobi Bandyopadhyay became India’s first third-
gender principal at Krishnagar Women’s College in Nadia district in West Bengal on 9 June 2015.
Selected for this post purely on merit, her message to her community is: ‘Education: If we learn, all
our problems will be solved.’ She holds a PhD in Bengali literature and was previously an associate
professor of Bengali at the Vivekananda Satavarshiki Mahavidyalaya in Jhargram. In 1995, she
started the first Bengali transgender magazine, Abomanob (Subhuman). She has written two books:
Ontohin Ontorin Prositovortika (Endless Bondage), a bestseller, and Third Gender in Bengali
Literature. At present, she is the vice chairperson of the West Bengal Transgender Development
Board, Government of West Bengal, and executive council member of Kalyani University.

After completing her PhD in 2006, she took charge as Principal of Krishnagar Women's College on 7
June 2015 after a decade of struggling against patriarchy and convoluted notions regarding the third
gender. Unlike men who would have applied for the same post, and women, who would have been
appointed earlier, she had to garner support by projecting her career spanning over 16 years as a
teacher, made possible by the intervention of the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Ms. Mamata
Banerjee. Manabi is a devotee of Sarada Devi and she was introduced to spiritual life by Swami
Atmasthananda. She wrote several books in the Bengali literature.
 A GIFT OF GODDESS LAKSHMI

A Gift of Goddess Lakshmi is a candid biography of India’s first transgender principal, Manabi
Bandyopadhyay. The extraordinary and courageous journey of a transgender to define her identity and
set new standards of achievement.

When a boy was born in the Bandhopadhyay family, all rejoiced. A son had been born after two girls
and finally the conservative father could boast about having sired a son. However, it wasn’t long
before the little boy began to feel inadequate in his own body and began questioning his own identity:
Why did he constantly feel like he was a girl even when he had male parts? Why was he attracted to
boys in a way that girls are? What could he do to stop feeling so incomplete? It was clearly a cruel
joke of destiny which the family refused to acknowledge. But unknown to them, the boy had already
begun his journey to becoming Manobi—the quintessential female, as nature meant for her to be.

With unflinching honesty and deep understanding, Manobi tells the moving story of her
transformation from a man to a woman; about how she continued to pursue her academics despite the
severe upheavals and went on to become the first transgender principal of a girls’ college. And in
doing so, she did not just define her own identity, but also inspired her entire community.
 Mature Personality

In Allport’s view, the healthy personality changes and grows from being a biologically dominated
organism in infancy to a mature psychological organism in adulthood. Our motivations become
separated from childhood and are oriented toward the future. According to Allport our social
interaction with our parents is vitally important throughout all the stages of development of the
proprium. Most important of all, however, is the infant–mother bond as a source of affection and
security.

If the mother or primary caregiver provides sufficient affection and security, the proprium will
develop gradually and steadily, and the child will achieve positive psychological growth. Childhood
motives will be free to be transformed into the autonomous propriate strivings of adulthood. A pattern
of personal dispositions will form and the result will be a mature, emotionally healthy adult.

Allport described six criteria for normal, mature, emotionally healthy adult personalities:

1. Mature adults extend their sense of self to people and activities beyond the self.

Mature people continually seek to identify with and participate in events outside themselves. They are
not self-centred but are able to become involved in problems and activities that are not centred on
themselves. They develop an unselfish interest in work, play, and recreation. Social interest, family,
and spiritual life are important to them. Eventually, these outside activities become part of one’s
being.

2. Mature adults relate warmly to other people

Mature adults relate warmly to other people exhibiting intimacy, compassion, and tolerance. They
have the capacity to love others in an intimate and compassionate manner. Warm relating, of course,
is dependent on people’s ability to extend their sense of self. Only by looking beyond themselves can
mature people love others no possessively and unselfishly. Psychologically healthy individuals treat
other people with respect, and they realize that the needs, desires, and hopes of others are not
completely foreign to their own. In addition, they have a healthy sexual attitude and do not exploit
others for personal gratify.

3. Mature adult’s high degree of self-acceptance helps them to achieve emotional security

Mature individuals accept themselves for what they are, and they possess what Allport (1961) called
emotional poise.

4. Mature adults hold a realistic perception of life

They do not live in a fantasy world or bend reality to fit their own wishes. They are problem oriented
rather than self-centred, and they are in touch with the world as most others see it.

5. Mature adults have a sense of humour and self

Mature people know themselves and, therefore, have no need to attribute their own mistakes and
weaknesses to others. They also have a no hostile sense of humour, which gives them the capacity to
laugh at themselves rather than relying on sexual or aggressive themes to elicit laughter from others.

6. Mature adults subscribe to a unifying philosophy of life

Healthy people have a clear view of the purpose of life. Without this view, their insight would be
empty and barren, and their humour would be trivial and cynical. The unifying philosophy of life may
or may not be religious.

By meeting these six criteria, adults can be described as emotionally healthy and functionally
autonomous, independent of childhood motives. Allport indicated that human beings are always in the
process of becoming. The urge to grow and fulfil oneself is present from birth. We have the ability to
develop and follow a creative life-style. Further, with maturity we can cope with the present and plan
for our future or consciously design and effect our plans without being hindered or victimized by
unconscious forces of the past. The normal or mature person is qualitatively different from the
abnormal or immature one.
 Qualitative analysis of “A Gift Goddess Lakshmi”

Manabi Bandyopadhyay’s “A Gift of Goddess Lakshmi” is qualitatively analysed here on the basis of
Allport’s view of healthy adult personality. By meeting the above mentioned criteria for mature
personality we can analyse whether a person possess psychologically healthy adult personality.

1. Extension of Sense of Self

Mature people continually seek to identify with and participate in events outside themselves.
They are not self-centred but are able to become involved in problems and activities that are
not centred on themselves. They develop an unselfish interest in work, play, and recreation.
Social interest, family, and spiritual life are important to them. Eventually, these outside
activities become part of one’s being.

“My biggest success was that I was able to kindle a flicker of interest in my students, who,
despite coming from extremely challenged circumstances, still wanted to study so that they
could fight poverty and find jobs. That urge was pure. They just needed a push and I tried to
give them that push, ignoring my personal struggle against all-round hostility.” (p. 72)

“I helped Kaushik by finding him a job in a hotel in Puri.” (p. 76)

“I did not think twice about helping her and went up to the office.” (p. 79)

“Many tell me that I have opened the gates of freedom for them.” (p. 86)

2. Warm relatedness to others

Mature adults relate warmly to other people exhibiting intimacy, compassion, and tolerance.
They have the capacity to love others in an intimate and compassionate manner. Warm
relating, of course, is dependent on people’s ability to extend their sense of self. Only by
looking beyond themselves can mature people love others no possessively and unselfishly.
Psychologically healthy individuals treat other people with respect, and they realize that the
needs, desires, and hopes of others are not completely foreign to their own. In addition, they
have a healthy sexual attitude and do not exploit others for personal gratify.
“I decided to help Jagadish in my own way and invited her to teach dance to my students at
the school.” (p.59)

“I could feel her desperation and pitied her.”(p.60)

“I expected him to do well but, honestly, I too was happily surprised when he topped his
batch in the university; no mean feat for a boy who couldn’t even afford two square meals a
day and dreamt of a schoolteacher’s job.”(p.73)

“The boys in the hostel were so poor that their stories moved me to tears. I would take time
off to help them with their studies and share their food, which was either coarse or puffed rice
and mashed potatoes.”(p.77)

“My success lay in the fact that I was able to create a space for transgendered people in the
public mind.”(p.83)

“I soon grew very close to the family, especially because I found that they loved music and
cultural activities.” (p. 91)

“I was immediately love-struck and blushed, grinning from ear to ear.”(p. 93)

“It wasn’t just looks, his very presence spelt romance of the kind that you read about.”(p.94)

“I ached and pined just for a glimpse of him and was desperate to be alone with him.”(p.94)

“I found myself rushing into his arms and soon our lips were locked in a kiss.” (p. 96)

“I also remember what I told him after the long kiss. ‘Ami tomake etho kore dilam; ekhon
tumi amar [I have tasted you; now you are taken].’ “(p. 96)

“I sensed that deep inside Arindam was a lonely man and that he too needed someone steady
to hold his hand and lead him through life.” (p. 97).

“This had left a deep scar and I felt that whenever he was with me, he looked for a mother’s
attention and care, without saying so explicitly. I promised myself that I would fill him with so
much love and care that he would forget his pain.” (p. 97)

“Despite all that had happened till then, I still loved him deeply, desperately”. (p. 106)

“My heart went out to him.” (p. 108)

 “I told him that he should not feel scared of anything as I would take good care of him. I told
him to leave everything that was holding him back and come to me. (p. 108)”

“Every time he sat down to eat with me he looked so happy that my heart went out to the poor
boy.” (p. 124)

“I will remain forever grateful to the young and immature boy who would really fret over my
well-being and whose world was this mother who hadn’t given birth to him; it was for him
that I finally came back to life.”(p. 125)

“I feel sad every time I remember how my poor mother suffered all her life, pining for the
safety of her youngest child.” (p. 128)

“I have given Deba everything a mother can give her son to make him happy—good food,
clothes, money to go shopping occasionally and to eat out.” (p. 131)

3. Emotional Security (Self-acceptance)

Mature individuals accept themselves for what they are, and they possess what Allport (1961)
called emotional poise. They have a high tolerance level for frustration because they have
reached the point of self-acceptance. Immature persons, in contrast, tend to act impulsively
and to blame others for their own mistakes. Unlike mature persons, they do not bide their time
or make plans to circumvent obstacles in their path. In brief, they lack the kind of self-control
that characterizes the mature person.

“I have always had very strong instincts about who I am and what I am.” (p. 41).

“I came to the conclusion that I was a woman and that I had to come out of my shell at any
cost.”(p. 82).

“Finally, my soul had found its body, and I had a sense of completeness that had been denied
to me at birth. (p. 99).

“And yes, I became the country’s first transgender college principal. The impossible had
happened!” (p. 130).

4. 4) Realistic perception of reality

They do not live in a fantasy world or bend reality to fit their own wishes. They are problem
oriented rather than self-centred, and they are in touch with the world as most others see it.
They do not continually distort reality. They are problem solvers and have developed the
appropriate skills to complete their assigned tasks and work. Moreover, their work is not a
burden to them; it is a responsibility whose challenge can be accepted without self-pity.

“I found college to be yet another place where I would have to fight for my identity and
respect.” (p. 33)

“As a twenty-three-year old, I realized that I needed a steady job because I had to fund my
own expenses, which were not necessarily limited to cigarettes and drinks! I wanted to watch
theatre, attend musical soirees, buy unisex clothes from Anandam or from Tyagraj Hall
exhibitions and, of course, lipstick, kohl and what not! Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait too
long.” (p. 51)

“But I now see how new beginnings have always held my hand when endings seemed
permanent. (p. 54)

“Each time I arrived at the same conclusion—this is not me.” (p. 81)

“I came to the conclusion that I was a woman and that I had to come out of my shell at any
cost.” (p. 82)

“I knew that my life ahead would be far more difficult than what I had already faced.” (p. 82)

“I decided to register for my PhD because I knew that an MPhil was not enough if I wanted
to succeed in academia.” (p. 82)

“I realized that despite the reservations I had expressed about my parents and sisters
opposing my sexuality, I could not deny their contributions to my life.” (p. 84-85).

“I realized that my insecurities had increased earlier because I had distanced myself from my
familiar urban world and had been trying to fight my personal battle in an unfamiliar remote
rural setting where I was an outsider.” (p. 86)
 “Much later, when I realized that I had no one to anchor me, no one to hold my hand and
lead me on, I took diksha at Belur Math. It has helped to make me calmer and has turned me
into a deeply spiritual person.” (p. 114)

5. Self-objectification
Mature people know themselves and, therefore, have no need to attribute their own mistakes
and weaknesses to others. They also have a no hostile sense of humour, which gives them the
capacity to laugh at themselves rather than relying on sexual or aggressive themes to elicit
laughter from others.

“The only silver lining was the fact that I was extremely good in studies.” (p. 13)

“It was then that I realized that dancing comes naturally to a transgender person.” (p. 16)

“I was naturally good at languages and did not need any guidance there. “(p. 28)

“After taking admission in the Bengali department I was relieved that I would not have to
forcibly study science, but on the first day, I realized that I was to again become the centre of
attention and ridicule despite being a good student.” (p.33)

6. Unifying philosophy of life

7. Healthy people have a clear view of the purpose of life. Without this view, their insight would
be empty and barren, and their humour would be trivial and cynical. The unifying philosophy
of life may or may not be religious.
 Quantitative Analysis

Table 1.1: Frequency of occurrence of characteristics of mature personality in Manabi

Bandyopadhyay’s autobiography “A Gift of Goddess Lakshmi” and the percentage of
occurrence in the whole book.

Sl.No. Categories Frequency Percentage

1 Extension of the 4 9.75
sense of self
2 Warm relating to 19 46.34
others
3 Self-acceptance 4 9.75
4 Realistic 10 24.39
perception
5 Self- 4 9.75
objectification
6 Unifying 0 0
philosophy of life
Figure 1.1. Percentage of occurrence of characteristics of mature personality in Manabi

Bandyopadhyay’s autobiography “A Gift of Goddess Lakshmi”.

10% 0% 10%
Extension of the sense of self
Warm relating to others
24% Self-acceptance
Realistic perception

46% Self-objectification

10% Unifying philosophy of life

Conclusion
“A Gift of Goddess Lakshmi” is a candid biography of India’s first transgender principal, Manabi
Bandyopadhyay. The extraordinary and courageous journey of a transgender to define her identity and
set new standards of achievement is the essence of the book. The book “A Gift of Goddess Lakshmi”
contains only contains the experience of the author till the point where she lived. As a result, it is
evident from going through the book that the author, Manabi Bandyopadhyay’s personality satisfies
five of the six characteristics of Allport's mature personality, including extension of the sense of self,
warm relating to others, self-acceptance, realistic perception, and self-objectification excluding
unifying philosophy of life.
 Reference

Bandyopadhyay, M. (2017). A Gift of Goddess Lakshmi. Penguin Books.

Frager, R. & Fadiman, J. (2007). Personality and Personal Growth. Pearson Education, Inc.

Krippendorff, K. (2018). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology (4th Ed).

Sage publications.

Ryckman, R.M. (2008). Theories of Personality (9th Ed). Thomson Wadsworth.

Schultz, D.P. & Schultz, S. E. (2017). Theories of personality (11th Ed). Cengage learning