#1 ·
Transgender people strike me as a pretty fascinating phenomenon. It isn’t just about the individuals themselves—though there has already been plenty written about gender dysphoria in Psychology here and here—it’s also about how everyone else reacts to them.
It seems that even in places where transgender visibility is relatively high, like Thailand or Brazil, they aren't entirely shielded from social stigma. They still tend to exist in a sort of half-world. Take Thailand, for example: you see them everywhere, and they aren't getting jumped in the streets or called slurs constantly, but finding a job outside of the sex industry is an uphill battle. Most end up in janitorial work. It’s a similar story in Brazil. I have better intel on that because I used to be friends with a Brazilian gay man—not trans himself, but he knew quite a few during his time in New York City. He told me the biggest hurdle is employment. They fare better on the street, where demand is high and the pay for sex work is actually better than what men earn, but if someone wants a "normal" career, the options are incredibly narrow, usually circling back to cleaning houses.
That said, while there is significant social stigma surrounding such a radical shift in gender roles (which often involves "cosmetic" changes rather than full surgical reassignment—think silicone implants, removing the Adam's apple, and standard hormone therapy), things look different when you strip away the social norms and look at it from an individual level. As I touched on earlier, transgender prostitutes in New York City (according to my friend) can out-earn men in the same business. And everyone knows they are a major pillar of the sex industry in Thailand. My takeaway is that they simply tap into a market that exists beyond the traditional male homosexual demographic. In Thailand, this is even more obvious; a huge portion of their clientele consists of middle-aged, heterosexual white Australians. These guys identify as straight and only sleep with women, except for these specific encounters.
For the skeptics, here’s an even more interesting case... That Brazilian guy I mentioned is the type of effeminate man whose sexual orientation you can spot from thirty yards away. Honestly, he doesn't even try to hide it; it shows in his clothes, his gestures, and his facial expressions. Once, a buddy of his—just a friend, not a partner—came to visit him, and they ended up getting jumped on a beach here in the States. A group of guys saw them, identified them as gay (especially since one was clearly effeminate), and decided they needed to teach them a lesson. It traumatized my friend so much that for the rest of his trip in America, he was terrified of being attacked by strangers.
On the flip side, there was another instance involving an art project. He had to dress as a woman for the stage (he’s done this before, and I can vouch that his camouflage was top-tier—he actually looked better as a woman than he did as an effeminate man). After the work was done, he and the crew went out to a club in the city. He stayed in his feminine disguise (so, a typical transvestite without the breast implants or the missing Adam's apple...). He told me that throughout the night in that packed club, a massive number of men were hitting on him. Like, a lot. Between being attractive (😁), speaking English and Portuguese with a Latin accent, and being all dolled up and made up... it worked. What was particularly strange was that a good portion of those men kept flirting even after he told them he was male.
What I'm getting at is that while social stigma is one thing, when you look at the psychology, you see something else entirely. The typical male disdain for homosexuality often softens the moment the person looks like a woman. You have these "hardcore" straight men who probably think they sit at a 0 or maybe a 1 on the Kinsey scale, yet they'll travel to Thailand and flirt shamelessly with a gorgeous, stunning woman with beautiful clothes, perfect makeup, fragrant hair, smooth skin, and a small penis and testicles. Some even go as far as more than just flirting. How does that work?
It seems that even in places where transgender visibility is relatively high, like Thailand or Brazil, they aren't entirely shielded from social stigma. They still tend to exist in a sort of half-world. Take Thailand, for example: you see them everywhere, and they aren't getting jumped in the streets or called slurs constantly, but finding a job outside of the sex industry is an uphill battle. Most end up in janitorial work. It’s a similar story in Brazil. I have better intel on that because I used to be friends with a Brazilian gay man—not trans himself, but he knew quite a few during his time in New York City. He told me the biggest hurdle is employment. They fare better on the street, where demand is high and the pay for sex work is actually better than what men earn, but if someone wants a "normal" career, the options are incredibly narrow, usually circling back to cleaning houses.
That said, while there is significant social stigma surrounding such a radical shift in gender roles (which often involves "cosmetic" changes rather than full surgical reassignment—think silicone implants, removing the Adam's apple, and standard hormone therapy), things look different when you strip away the social norms and look at it from an individual level. As I touched on earlier, transgender prostitutes in New York City (according to my friend) can out-earn men in the same business. And everyone knows they are a major pillar of the sex industry in Thailand. My takeaway is that they simply tap into a market that exists beyond the traditional male homosexual demographic. In Thailand, this is even more obvious; a huge portion of their clientele consists of middle-aged, heterosexual white Australians. These guys identify as straight and only sleep with women, except for these specific encounters.
For the skeptics, here’s an even more interesting case... That Brazilian guy I mentioned is the type of effeminate man whose sexual orientation you can spot from thirty yards away. Honestly, he doesn't even try to hide it; it shows in his clothes, his gestures, and his facial expressions. Once, a buddy of his—just a friend, not a partner—came to visit him, and they ended up getting jumped on a beach here in the States. A group of guys saw them, identified them as gay (especially since one was clearly effeminate), and decided they needed to teach them a lesson. It traumatized my friend so much that for the rest of his trip in America, he was terrified of being attacked by strangers.
On the flip side, there was another instance involving an art project. He had to dress as a woman for the stage (he’s done this before, and I can vouch that his camouflage was top-tier—he actually looked better as a woman than he did as an effeminate man). After the work was done, he and the crew went out to a club in the city. He stayed in his feminine disguise (so, a typical transvestite without the breast implants or the missing Adam's apple...). He told me that throughout the night in that packed club, a massive number of men were hitting on him. Like, a lot. Between being attractive (😁), speaking English and Portuguese with a Latin accent, and being all dolled up and made up... it worked. What was particularly strange was that a good portion of those men kept flirting even after he told them he was male.
What I'm getting at is that while social stigma is one thing, when you look at the psychology, you see something else entirely. The typical male disdain for homosexuality often softens the moment the person looks like a woman. You have these "hardcore" straight men who probably think they sit at a 0 or maybe a 1 on the Kinsey scale, yet they'll travel to Thailand and flirt shamelessly with a gorgeous, stunning woman with beautiful clothes, perfect makeup, fragrant hair, smooth skin, and a small penis and testicles. Some even go as far as more than just flirting. How does that work?
