Transvestites in Salalah

1970s (عفة وحياء)

2010 (خلع وتبرج)

Ok... So we have decided to throw a party (Jalsah) for a friend who was getting married, fine. We rented a house somewhere outside Salalah and agreed with the singing band to keep a low profile coz we wanted it to be private (Dhofari guys are nosey and once they hear of a Jalsah they will flee to that place). However, one of us was holding a surprise for all of us (a bombshell that will blow us all). After we all gathered (around 20 of us including the band) and the party started, our friend got a phone call and he rushed to the door and there we go, 5 girls coming through the door (4 of them were wearing face veil and abayas and one was wearing a light blue elegant dress with full makeup and a crown on a blond hair wig. I was shocked, girls in this remote area and at this time of the night, what brings them here and where are their families. what has the world become to?  

It happened that those 5 girls where nothing more than transvestites who came to dance in the party. As sad as it was to see fine young men with a lost sexual identity and nowhere to get help and attention from, the situation was hilarious. Damn those boys can they dance or what!!!! So girls, you think you can dance!!!!!! All what I’m gonna say is you've got competition.

Enough of the story part and let us discuss what exactly makes a perfect young man dresses like women and even dances better than most girls. In my opinion there are two reasons for that:

• 
  
  Genetic disorder which might lead to gender confusion. Initially, the body releases both Estrogen and Testosterone in different quantities depending on our gender (more Testosterone in males and more Estrogen in females). However, as mentioned above, a genetic disorder might lead the body to release more of the opposite sex hormones leading to this confusion.
• 
  
  Psychological: some of the transvestites in Salalah have been known to be raised among women and been affected by their feminine behavior. However, this is also debatable as this might have originally stemmed from a genetic disorder as well.

Now... though Transvestites enjoy a degree of popularity in Oman, they are still looked over by the society as an abnormality and they rarely get accepted even within their own families. This leads transvestites into further victimisation and exploitation. This victimisation and exploitation that leads to further confusion, even amongst the transvestites themselves, to whether they're homos, transsexuals or just men with fetish to dress and act like women.

In my humble opinion, the society has been so rigid in attending these issues. In fact, for social and religious considerations, the subject was classified as Taboo and there were no attempts to identify the problem and try to find solutions.

The floor is open for discussion. However we have to remember that we're not discussing whether this is right or wrong as much as we are trying to find a solution to an existing problem.

p.s. the post applies for women as well as men because women transvestites do exist.