Katoey — and Other Dirty Words

Katoey with a fan.

It’s quite strange how the usage of some words comes and goes; they come into vogue one minute, then out of fashion the next.

Some words are used by, seemingly, everyone for a short period of time, and then cast off to the large rubbish dump of obsolete words in the sky. In fact, the younger, more tech savvy generation are far more adept at bringing new words into everyday usage; more so than the generation before Internet became so widespread. New “buzzwords” seem to abound very week or so before quietly evaporating . . . into space!

Then, we have words which evolve in meaning but remain in usage, essentially describing the same thing or person but with a different emphasis or slant; or words which are acceptable or popular for a year or so, but which then begin to irritate or upset people as ideas, perceptions or tastes change — or maybe even excessive political correctness takes hold. Cue: Transvestite; Tranny; Transgender(ed); T-Girl; (what next?)

Apart from ourselves in the T community, our gay friends have not been immune from this “name calling” either as, over my lifetime I’ve heard names/labels/phrases in use such as: puffs, bender, queers, “one of them” and, finally, gays (save for the latter, none of them particularly pleasant).

Filipina Bakla

Sadly, many of the words which the majority in any community uses to refer to minorities such as T-people begin as slang, or derogative or pejorative words. Maybe it’s simply that others don’t know what to call us but, in an ideal world, there is really no need to start from a base of bias or derision.

Which brings me to some of the words in use in Asia for T-people, words which are in common usage yet whose meaning is not always pleasant; of course the tone of delivery can impact the meaning, as can the accompanying body language or facial expressions used when people are saying these words.

Katoey is one of these words; widely use within and outside of Thailand to describe a T-person. This, plus the ubiquitous “Ladyboy”, are the most common words in use for T-people but both have negative connotation, especially Katoey, when they are sort of said/sneered by the local population.

In other Asian countries we have Hijra (India), Bakla (Philippines, see below), Third gender, New-half, Second-woman and so on — all of which are not altogether positives. Still, maybe to cap it all, the official legal term for LGBT people in Indonesia of “Cacat” actually means mentally handicapped!

Hijra in India

Having said all this, I do admit it can be very confusing for the layman (or woman) as sometimes minorities themselves embrace the (offending) word(s) as a label to show their solidarity or defiance, or maybe simply as the minorities themselves don’t know how to refer to each other! For example, Bakla in the Philippines, which actually really refers to effeminate gay men — is in widespread use both by the majority and the T-minority (inthe Philippines all T-people are considered to be gay).

So, by and large, we have a collection of words being constantly directed at the T-community, most of which stem from an unpleasant or unacceptable origin.

Racial discrimination is widely, rightly frowned upon. Persons using derogatory words about race are fined, chastised or even, in extreme cases imprisoned. Verbal discrimination against gays and lesbians is not tolerated.

But T-people? Tolerated but not accepted; within society, but not integrated . . . maybe one of last minorities to be truly understood and given any empathy from the majority of the public at large.

Anyway . . .  call us what you will. We shall overcome!

By the way, in the last few paragraphs of this article, I’m not just talking about Asia; it seems to me, having recently watched a heart wrenching, You Tube mini documentary about the life and fall of a Caucasian T-person in the US, that life for some Ts in “the West” is equally as bad, if not worse than, in Asia — if interested, have a look:

[youtube]ZagseNXTCBk[/youtube]

Available from Club Lighthouse Publishing

Tags: featured, Identity, opinion, Thailand, Transgender

Category: Transgender Body & Soul, Transgender Opinion