July 23, 2005

Woman Grows Penis

I thought that perhaps this might be my last entry that was penis related, but maybe I should run with this as long as possible. Cotillion Tuesday would break the streak. I could mesh the two but it would most definitely be vulgar.

Anyway, in searching for the lastest penis news I ran across this one. (If you only knew the sites I had to visit to find just the right story for my blog. When you Google penis you enter into territory angels fear to tread. My computer is no longer a virgin.)

From News.com.au

THIN Sandar, a chicken seller in Myanmar, had always dreamed of being a man. When she inexplicably grew a penis last month, the 21-year-old treated it as an awe-inspiring omen - as have the thousands of stunned villagers who have traveled to a pagoda to see him.

"On the morning of the full moon day of June 21, I noticed my thing (sex organ) was not the same as before," Thin Sandar, who now goes by the male name Than Sein, told AFP.

"And my breasts disappeared," Than Sein added. "So I called out and showed it all to my mom and dad. It was very strange."

Woman grows penis.jpg

Strange enough that he has attracted significant attention in this deeply superstitious country, where the unexplained can quickly be exalted to hold powerful spiritual significance.

People privately concede Than Sein is a hermaphrodite. Several medical experts have examined him, and he awaits test results from the central women's hospital.

But few have come forward with a medical explanation of the transformation as they await an official report by the health ministry, whose experts have also examined Than Sein.

"We can not say right now if she has really undergone a sudden gender change," said a township official who declined to be named, adding that Than Sein's birth certificate shows that he was born a girl.

"It can be confirmed when we receive the report from the health ministry, although some medical checkups have shown her to be a true man," he added.

Hermaphrodites, also known as intersexuals, are often born with ambiguous genitalia, or have both testicular and ovarian tissue in a single person.

Medical doctor Aye Sanda Khaing put it in layman's terms in a local journal: "Her penis appeared at the site of her clitoris," the doctor was quoted as saying.

Regardless of the official findings, local villagers and other curious Myanmar nationals are flocking to the Aung Myay Thar Yar pagoda, in this new satellite township 19km from Yangon, to see Than Sein for themselves and make donations to him or the temple.

Up to 400 gather at the pagoda each day, often in a courtyard under colorful umbrellas to ward off the sun's rays, waiting for the chance to talk with and touch Than Sein.

"I have never heard of anything like this, so I came to see him," 21-year-old housewife Thandar Win told AFP.

"If I was not married, then I too would want to become a man!"

When word spread of Than Sein's transformation, locals raced to his home to see for themselves. Authorities, sensing a possible security hazard - and, perhaps, an opportunity - hastily arranged for him to be moved to the pagoda to accommodate more visitors.

Than Sein appeared comfortable with the sudden attention in the new surroundings. Wearing a checkered longyi, the traditional Myanmar pants commonly worn by men, he sat on a rug in the pagoda's side building, flanked by his parents.

"I was so happy," father Kyaw Htay, 46, said about his son's developments. "I wanted other sons so they could offer themselves as Buddhist monks, but I had only two daughters."

Occasionally Than Sein stepped out to talk with excited visitors, who shook his hand, stroked his arm, and wished him well.

A Myanmar state television crew has already interviewed him and awaits the military junta's permission to air the broadcast nationwide.

As he waits for the final test results, Than Sein said he firmly believed he had been transformed, and would enter the monkhood for a period of time and seek spiritual contemplation and guidance before deciding whether to marry and raise a family.

"Whenever I went to the pagoda I prayed to become a man in my next life," he said, referring to the Buddhist concept of rebirth.

"Now I'm happy because my dream won't have to wait until my next life, it's already come true."

The part that gets me is where her dad is happy because now he has a son that can be a buddhist monk, WTF? Or how the 21 year-old housewife stated that if she wasn't already married to a man she would like to become one too!

Good Lord people!!!! These cultures where being a man is exalted drive me insane! It's kind of hard to create men without a uterus! VALUE ME DAMMIT, VALUE ME!!!

Posted by Stacy at July 23, 2005 12:17 PM | TrackBack
Comments

If I could grow a vagina, I'd never leave the house.

Posted by: Admin Worm at July 23, 2005 07:21 PM

With both sex organs I could finally do what many have told me to do over the years.

Stacy, when you find a story about a hen growing a penis, I think you will have hit your peak and then it's time to retire!

Posted by: BobG at July 23, 2005 07:33 PM

Someone here needs to be re-grooved, it appears. Yikes!

Posted by: bob at July 23, 2005 07:38 PM

It's pretty sad when half of an entire culture isn't happy being a normal female.

Then again, we have the whole feminist movement, whom that statement describes perfectly.

Posted by: The Exile at July 23, 2005 08:03 PM

I didn't know your computer was a virgin.

Posted by: Nettie at July 23, 2005 09:27 PM

BobG-did you notice the part about her/him being a chicken seller? Draws me closer to the story. LOL

Worm-their kind of a pain. You have to carry a billy-club with you all the time.

Bob-who needs to be re-grooved? I think I might have missed something.

Exile-my SIL married into a VERY Chinese family. They didn't like her until she bore 2 sons. Definitely WTF?

Nettie-she's upset right now. The first time can be difficult sometimes.

Posted by: Stacy at July 23, 2005 11:03 PM

Well, penises seem to keep raising their ugly heads all over the place.

But, that aside, I strongly suspect that the "transformation" was a social one, not a physiological one: meaning, Thin/Tran has always been a hermaphrodite, but just hid the fact (and relevant "parts") until now.

Posted by: Jeff H at July 24, 2005 01:39 PM

Yea Jeff, that's what I thought too. Overnight? That's just too difficult to believe. Unfortunately in that society it will be deemed as something of a spiritual nature not biological.

Posted by: Stacy at July 24, 2005 02:08 PM

Crazy stuff! By the way...you are valued! ;)

Posted by: Jay at July 24, 2005 02:13 PM

That huge oversight has been taken care of and a commentary of sorts in response to your post there too.
Go see, you can take it!

Posted by: Paul of York at July 24, 2005 11:36 PM

Not a prude I, following your unusual posts this week I have found myself stunned into silence, more so by the Toronto post, than the She/He of Myanmar. There will not be an end to the self-promoting prizes, gifts and testimonials thrust upon themselves by themselves by the Gay Community. Now that Same Sex Marriage is the hottest legal thing in Canada, just imagine the next statute.
As far as Myanmar Missy, sounds fishy doesn't it? But, if someone can see images on burnt toast, I guess someone can see new plumbing down there. I had read something once but doubt I should repeat it here. So I won't.
What's next? I was checking your site several times a day.....it's more than that now!!!!

Posted by: Paul of York at July 24, 2005 11:49 PM

"Statue" not Statute. Although a couple new statutes should be enacted and enforced there and here.

Posted by: Paul of York at July 24, 2005 11:53 PM

Freudian slip. God save Canada!

Posted by: Stacy at July 25, 2005 12:21 AM

Maybe not a Freudian slip: Canada will probably be passing even crazier laws now.

And Paul, I see Elvis on my toast all the time; what are you saying about me, exactly?

Posted by: Jeff H at July 25, 2005 09:27 AM

Thank yew, thank yew very much...

I'll be appearing on toast at Jeff's house thru Thursday, along with the fabulous Jordanaires.

I have left the building...

Posted by: Elvis Parsley at July 25, 2005 10:10 AM

Yeah, you left the building and took all the peanut butter, jelly and bananas with you, you big fat dead hog!!!

Posted by: Jeff H at July 26, 2005 10:35 PM

Oh my gosh, what did I just do?

Elvis, I didn't mean it, come back!!!

Posted by: Jeff H at July 26, 2005 10:35 PM