The Third Sex Kathoey, Thailand's Ladyboys Richard Totman
Format: Paperback 213 pages Date of publication: 2003 Publisher: Silkworm Books / Souvenir Press ISBN: 9749575261 / 9780285636682
The ladyboy cabarets of Thailand are a leading tourist attraction but the glamorous and attractive men, who are now women, are a modern expression of an archaic attraction. The kathoey, the Thai term for ladyboys, have long been part of the cultural landscape of Thailand. Many communities accept a "third sex", from Thailand and Samoa to American Indians and the Philippines. Only in the West has savage repression occurred. If the existence of a "third sex" is a universal property, is Western society so repressed by its cultural heritage that the Thais represent a norm in nature? Why are there so many kathoey in Thailand? Why are there so few in the Western world? In this book, the author introduces us to three individuals who started life as boys, but while at school, decided to become kathoey. We follow their rites-of-passage in becoming fully-fledged kathoey. This perceptively written, deeply researched and accessible guide places these lives in the context of the cultural, historical, religious, biological and psychological aspects of trans-gender.
"Candid interviews with the 'kathoey' themselves, a history of the phenomenon and a whole buncha science make this a ... winner" - 'Literary Review', May 2003
"Amongst the personal stories, which Totman tells with sensitivity and insight, there are plenty of statistics ... alternately entertaining and poignant." - Bizarre, June 2003
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