[Buddha-l] Why can't a woman be more like a man?

[jkirk]

At least, her transformation will bring support to the monastary coffers.
But what it says about women in this Buddhist country is daunting.
Joanna
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>> Mystery 'sex change' has curious flocking to Myanmar monk-to-be
>>
>> /Tue Jul 12,10:53 PM ET/
>>
>> HLAING THAR YAR, Myanmar (AFP) - 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. Mystery 'sex change' has curious flocking to Myanmar
>> monk-to-be
>>
>> "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 in an interview at his home.
>>
>> "And my breasts disappeared," Than Sein added. "So I called out and
>> showed it all to my mom and dad. It was very strange."
>>
>> 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 19 kilometers (12 miles) 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."