A few Sundays ago I spent an evening at Belgravia’s Mango Tree restaurant. The management, Eddie and Joyce Lim, were hosting their annual LadyBoy Beauty Contest. I had never attended one of these events before, but being an open-minded person I thought I would go along and take it in. There were some beautiful women – around 11 contestants in all – gliding across the stage in the most exquisite day wear, evening wear and swimwear. I think it was around contestant number 3 of the swimwear section where my thoughts could no longer take it in and I lent over to a lady sitting next to me and asked “when are the Lady Boys coming out”, to which she replied “are you asleep? These are the Lady Boys”.
I had
to draw breath. These transgender contestants took care of every inch of their bodies from the tip of their heads to the soles of their feet. Every hair was in place; foundation flawless; eye shadow colours matched their outfits; lips glistening, with lip liner enhancing the shape of their lips; nails perfectly manicured and painted with intricate care; feet displaying the results of a deluxe pedicure and clothing that was out of this world.
I can only assume that there was an element of confusion or perhaps self-hate that was experienced as their original sex, but once they “crossed over” and had the operation to change sex and become a transgender it increased the level of love that they have for themselves so high that they then become openly free to express who they really want to be. You could see how much they loved their new sexual preference, it was all over them. No one could question whether these transgenders loved themselves – it was evident for all to see. Their faces, their smiles, their eyes, their body language, it was all there.
The group of women I sat with agreed that we need to take better care of ourselves and felt quite embarrassed at one point when we looked at our nails that needed re-painting, our cuticles that could have done with a little cuticle oil. In fact we sat there and criticised ourselves, but it gave us the kick start we needed to really take a look at the way we took our femininity for granted and these transgenders paid financially, emotionally and medically to become women and purchase what we were given for free.
Next time you feel a little down because of a spell of bad skin, a bad hair day, or a few pounds piled on where you didn’t want them, leave the pity party, get down to the gym, go to the hairdressers and do your cleansing, toning and moisturising. Embrace who you are and do what it takes to become high maintenance if that’s the direction you want to move towards. There are many who would love to have what you have.
