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SOME GIRLS

Thailand Transgendered Community

But Gender is a kind of imitation for which there is no original

 Judith Butler


For many of Thailand’s ladyboys, to be a woman is to be the ultimate woman, to become the prevailing and sometimes grotesque realization of a social fantasy. For some, it is a road plagued by stereotypes and hardships in a world that is loathe to recognize a sliding scale for gender. For others still it is a journey and celebration of self-actualization.

In its way, Thailand’s unique relationship with ladyboy culture creates a stage where the myths and stereotypes of gender are enacted with a vibrancy rarely seen elsewhere, where boys and girls can be reborn or transform in whatever ways they see fit.