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I added an update to the end of my previous post about that M/F website visitor calculation, if anyone is interested.
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In this news item about a Thai school having created a separate bathroom for transsexuals, I found these 2 statements intriguing:
"The headteacher, Sitisak Sumontha, estimates that in any year between 10% and 20% of his boys consider themselves to be transgender - boys who would rather be girls."
"A ratio of 10% to 20% of boys calling themselves transsexual in a provincial high school does seem very high, but Mr Sitisak assured me that in his experience it was not unusual."
If the percentage of MTF transsexuals in Thailand is truly that high (higher than the percentages I have heard estimated for anywhere else, except perhaps for the area in Mexico where muxe are common), I wonder what might explain this higher percentage. Do Thais have a genetic predisposition which makes males more likely to be transsexuals? The article did not mention anything about FTM transsexuals in Thailand, so apparently FTMs are not as common there as MTFs.
Or could it be that there is something about Thai culture which causes males who in other cultures would be more likely to identify as gay, to instead identify as transsexual? Could it be that there is something about non-Thai cultures which causes males who would otherwise be likely to identify as transsexual, to instead id as gay or as a feminine male or as a straight transvestite?
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In this news item about a Thai school having created a separate bathroom for transsexuals, I found these 2 statements intriguing:
"The headteacher, Sitisak Sumontha, estimates that in any year between 10% and 20% of his boys consider themselves to be transgender - boys who would rather be girls."
"A ratio of 10% to 20% of boys calling themselves transsexual in a provincial high school does seem very high, but Mr Sitisak assured me that in his experience it was not unusual."
If the percentage of MTF transsexuals in Thailand is truly that high (higher than the percentages I have heard estimated for anywhere else, except perhaps for the area in Mexico where muxe are common), I wonder what might explain this higher percentage. Do Thais have a genetic predisposition which makes males more likely to be transsexuals? The article did not mention anything about FTM transsexuals in Thailand, so apparently FTMs are not as common there as MTFs.
Or could it be that there is something about Thai culture which causes males who in other cultures would be more likely to identify as gay, to instead identify as transsexual? Could it be that there is something about non-Thai cultures which causes males who would otherwise be likely to identify as transsexual, to instead id as gay or as a feminine male or as a straight transvestite?
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no subject
Date: 2008-08-02 04:56 pm (UTC)From:I know a few people who haven't come out of the closet to greater society/their families because they don't want to deal with all the baggage that comes along with being labeled "gay". I bet if people were totally cool with it (having dedicated bathrooms or whatever so they would feel comfortable in society) we'd have a higher percentage of people who would admit their true orientation. I mean, look at advertising - there's NEVER been a gay or lesbian commercial on network TV. We're getting there (Brokeback Mountain was a HUGE step forward) but it's slow going.