Have You Ever Mistaken A Man For A Woman?

[farang prince]

While I hate to get hung up on terms that are used for transsexuals, I did put in a phone call to a lovely shemale friend of mine in the Philippines. The term Troppo used..."Bakla"...is tagalog for "gay." Other tagalog or visayan words for "gay" are "bayot", "charing" and "darna." These are considered by gays and shemales to be slurs, similar to how ladyboys in Thailand view the term "katoey" as a slur. So transgendered persons in the Philippines, as I said before, prefer to be called "shemales" and TG's in Thailand prefer to be called "ladyboys". But most often, as my friend in the Philippines says, they would like to be called by their nicknames. And that is what I do. I would suggest that you do the same.

[WaiWai]

TG's in Thailand prefer to be called "ladyboys".

Is there any equivalent Thai word ?

But most often, as my friend in the Philippines says, they would like to be called by their nicknames. And that is what I do. I would suggest that you do the same.

A very good point .

[cm-happy]

Whats the big deal??

TRY IT, YOU MIGHT LIKE IT!!

[Neeranam]

similar to how ladyboys in Thailand view the term "katoey" as a slur.

Do you mean being called 'katoey' by 'farang' speaking English?

The 'kateoys' I have known seemed to have no problem with the word.

Edited November 10, 2007 by Neeranam

[Bagwan]

Just think how some of the girls feel when they are mistaken for ladyboys. I can think of a few on the Ban Chang strip that wouldn't be out of place on the England front row.

Only a few?

[farang prince]

similar to how ladyboys in Thailand view the term "katoey" as a slur.

Do you mean being called 'katoey' by 'farang' speaking English?

The 'kateoys' I have known seemed to have no problem with the word.

Neeranam, they don't want to make a scene. Next time ask them how they really feel about being called a katoey. Some will probably shrug. Most ladyboys try to live in the shadows (except those who are in the sex trade and are trying to hustle a trick), without drawing attention to themselves. But most will be very honest with you and you will learn the truth.

[liketobe]

In other countries, most notably the Philippines, ladyboys are called "shemales" and very few of them desire to have transgendering surgery. From my limited experience in the Philippines, most shemales have taken hormones or have had breast implants. But the majority of shemales are involved in the sex trade there and their conversion from gay male to shemale is more a financial decision within the scope of the prostitution industry than a psycholigical commitment to becoming a female. The same can be said of the transsexual community in Brazil.

I don't know where you heard this, but in many years of living in the Philippines I have NEVER heard the expression "shemales".

"Bakla" is the word they use.

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I spent quite a bit of time in Subic Bay in the early seventies and I can tell you definitely there were no Balakas. Definitely...

Things tend to change over thirty years and Subic bay then is not representative of the whole Philippines today.

Myself I'm looking forward to visiting Da Nang this winter, the changes and the fact that I'm an old guy now