Word: kathoeys
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...Buddhist-majority Thailand displays what may be the world's most tolerant attitude toward what locals call kathoey, loosely translated as "ladyboys." The term, which does not have an exact counterpart in English, refers to people who are born physiologically male but, as one Thai saying goes, "have a female heart." Kathoeys include everyone from occasional cross-dressers to those who have completed gender-reassignment surgery...
...Although kathoeys do face some stigma and bureaucratic hurdles in Thailand - those who have undergone sex-change operations, for example, are still listed as men on their national I.D. cards - they are also a normal and visible part of society. A Bangkok travel agency I use is staffed by kathoeys, and a cashier at my local grocery store is rapidly transitioning toward womanhood. One of the Immigration Department officers who last year helped me renew my work visa had both an Adam's apple and lavish mascara. Kathoeys star on TV soap operas and grace catwalks at fashion shows, while...
...Kampang school isn't the first one to accommodate its kathoey pupils. Several years ago, a technical college in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai unveiled what it called "pink lotus" bathrooms, reserved for kathoeys. Now Thailand's Education Ministry is considering introducing similar bathrooms and dormitories on the university level, even though many colleges require ladyboys to wear male clothing on campus. (For the most part, however, kathoey students can choose feminine hairstyles and wear jewelry, nail polish and makeup...
...Some kathoeys say they don't need specially designated bathrooms, arguing they should be able to use either male or female toilets. Others would rather have educational funds go to combating the stereotype that the only jobs kathoeys can expect to excel in are in the beauty or entertainment - read sex - industries. Certainly, career prejudice is a lingering problem: one Thai teachers' college, for instance, refuses to enroll kathoeys. Nevertheless, Thailand is a far more open-minded place than even the United States. And the tolerance isn't just a liberal, urban phenomenon. Kathoey beauty pageants are popular in Thai...
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