the third sex

There is a piece in one of the London newspapers this morning about the increasing acceptance of India’s third sex, the hijras. The article does however make the point that although progress is being made, the hijras still face not only discrimination but hostility. Clearly, there is a long way to go before they are regarded as being equals.

In Thailand, I don’t think there is any hostility at all towards ladyboys. Individual cases do occur, of course, but what I mean is there is no general public reaction against them. A ladyboy can walk down any street and not be in fear of violent abuse. The worst she is likely to face is little kids making fun of her.

This holds true in even the rougher areas. In fact, if you walk through a Bangkok slum you are likely to find ladyboys living there, having decided that they can make more income from the sex trade than from the unskilled work that is the lot of the poorly educated working-class male.

I was thinking this over yesterday, when I was in one of the rougher parts of the city. I†was cutting through the area to visit an interesting old temple, when I saw two ladyboys walking, arms linked, along the lane. They passed a group of men drinking outside a grog shop, and rather than attract ribald comments†they†didn’t attract a second glance. At the corner of the lane was a group of motorcycle taxi riders, a tough looking bunch,†but again there wasn’t even the raising of an eyebrow. The ladyboys were simply part of the scenery. In fact, the†girls hopped onto the back of a couple of the bikes to ride off to the shops.

There are several reasons for this acceptance. The Buddhist culture, of course. The fact that ladyboys are such an accepted part of society that Thai men regularly take them for sexual partners without any qualms at all. And the sheer number of ladyboys,†which means†they are such a common†sight that no one is startled to see a ladyboy in full rig, even in the middle of the day.

Then there is the sheer beauty of so many ladyboys. There are plenty of ugly ones about, naturally, but I would say from personal experience that the greater number are attractive and that they embellish a crowded mall or busy street rather than appear as an oddity.

As I have mentioned before, there is an increasing trend on the part of employers to take on ladyboy staff and put them in upfront positions where they deal with the public. This is very indicative of the way in which the third sex in Thailand is accepted.

There is an ever-increasing number of Thai youngsters deciding to become ladyboys, and so acceptance can only continue to grow. Very little academic work appears to have been done on this very interesting subject, which is a great pity because it could provide all kinds of guidance for other countries struggling to assimilate the transgendered.