When I waved goodbye to Jody, Mark, Michael, Ed, Dorothy and Darioush in Hanoi, I hoped we would meet again in Bangkok. A lot could have happened and we could have missed each other but we didn't. And I was overjoyed when we got together again. At some point, Mark, Michael, Ed and I started talking about Thai ladyboys and what I found out blew my mind.
The predominant religion in Thailand is Theravada Buddhism and, according to the Buddhist concept of rebirth, each life can take a large number of states of being including the human, any kind of animal and several types of supernatural being - it all depends on the karmas of previous lives. This means that it is possible for a person to be born in the "wrong" body. It also means that Thai society accepts that a man, who is actually a woman, dresses up and behaves like a woman for that is the expression of his true self.
I used to think that this point of view was the ultimate act of openness and tolerance; I used to think that this kind of acceptance was a fine way to express respect for each person's pursuit of happiness. The thing is that there are also men who behave like men and like men, a concept which Thai society does not understand. So what ends up happening is that many gay men dress up like women because it is accepted, not because it's the way to express their true selves. All this to say that tolerance towards ladyboys is actually camouflage for intolerance towards gay men.
Learning this was somewhat disappointing because, judging from the level of acceptance of ladyboys in Thai society, I was convinced that each person could show what they truly are in this country. But it did not prevent me from having a great night out with my friends. We drank and danced until we couldn't drink and dance anymore. All of a sudden, they took off again and I was once more left hoping to meet them soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment