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The challenge of travel
I’ve just returned from a most enjoyable holiday in Europe and Turkey. My traveling wardrobe now has few concessions to the stereotypical “international traveller” – and for 4 weeks on planes and off, I presented as… well as me. If you need a picture in your mind, think long haired man in tight pants with boobs and a handbag. Well, it certainly confused a few people when it came to the pat down at airport security – opinions seemed to be split down the middle as to whether I would appreciate a man or a woman frisking me (answer: both are OK by me)!
In general my experience was that people responded to the ambiguity with a smile and no one appeared upset. But one challenge to those who don’t dress to conform is always the dilemma between men and women’s toilets. This is particularly so when you are traveling in a strange country with different customs.
I spent several weeks in Eastern Turkey, in the areas near to the borders with Syria, Iraq and Iran. Many of the places we visited don’t get many tourists, and are quite conservative (though the Kurds are more liberal minded than some of the fanatics further south). In that part of the world toilets frequently have a cleaner who collects a Lira from “customers” as they exit. These employees on the bottom rung of society clearly hadn’t heard of gender diversity (it isn’t mentioned in the Koran) and certainly couldn’t recognise it. On many occasions as I approached the door of the gents there would be a worried shout and a gesture directing me to the other door. Not wishing to trigger a further escalation of the Arab Spring I would point to myself, say “Bay” (Turkish for man), smile, and carry on.
Contrast this with the informed ladies managing the public loos at Gare Du Nord in Paris. I fronted up to the counter (men to the left, women to the right) and handed over my payment. The lady took a quick glance at me and pointed me to the disabled toilet. I didn’t complain! I skipped the queue and got a nice big clean toilet.
The Muslim world is much divided between the roles of men and women (though our female guide did point out that none of the rules were actually in the Koran). For instance, should I have worn a scarf in Mosques to avoid upsetting men who thought I was a woman? Or would a man in a scarf be viewed even worse? I chose not to scarf, but then I did get some strange looks from worshipers. Maybe that was just because I was such an obvious infidel!
Traveling does broaden the mind, and the trip made it very clear that the challenges presenting as gender diverse in the UK and Eastern Turkey are poles apart. It makes me realise how lucky we are to have the opportunities here in Australia. Standing on the Turkish border and looking out over the plains of Syria one can so easily see how much worse things could be.
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5 Replies
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Seems as if the His and Hers toilets issues are world wide perhaps we should go back to squatting in the bushes the way our ancestors did. PS Glad you made it safely back hon.
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Brave Amanda. I think that I would have to decide just what I presented as and stick to it.
Having said that it sounded as a brilliant holiday, enlightening, informative and educational, both ways. The challenge of travel? I suppose if you’re not challenged to some degree, then travel becomes pointless; living permanently in a comfort zone.Welcome back.
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It’s reassuring to know that one can travel overseas without too many problems even on the borders of Syria. I am a little surprised that you say the Koran does not mention anything about gender diversity. We do know that homosexuality is severely repressed in Muslim countries (such as Iran) and perhaps gender diversity may be seen as an extension of that. I have a TG friend who lives in Cairo and is extremely careful to keep her existence secret.
The Bible (in the book of Deuteronomy) specifically excludes the imitation of women by men and this has been attributed to Moses. As Moses gets significantly more mentions in the Koran, it is surprising that similar commandments are not forthcoming. Of course the Koran is written in verse, and like the predictions of Nostradamus is open to a variety of interpretations as any jihadist will tell you.
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Welcome back Adrian,sounds like you had fun.
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Well done Adrian!!
And I thought it a slight deal to have to emulate the beauty shot I had used on my F passport 9 years ago when I zipped through Los Angeles Immigration and Customs last August. Wisely, they took another shot of a more mature me and made sure that they had an impression of each of my finger paws
