Credit to Pulseman for finding this. Also, don't worry, it doesn't show any images or anything. It's appropriate... and it's... news... kind of... I... oh, geez...
But, if it is crossing the line, feel free to delete it.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15925999-13762,00.html
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."
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."
Err. Thoughts?
Davidus Ent: Wow.
Davidus Ent: This is like anime or something.
Davidus Ent: An asian woman grows a penis... What next?
Evolution...? I mean Ive heard of a species of fish that can do that if the alpha male of school dies and there are no males to take his place, the female will change into a male. But this is rather odd.
*Jabs Wesu for actually posting this*
The whole story is actually disturbing... I feel sorry for the terror that everyone must now suffer.
1 in every 1000 babies is born "ambiguous", often the doctor makes the decision whether or not the baby becomes a boy or a girl. Sometimes it's not externally apparent.
It's is very weird that it grew this way though. I don't like how the official used the word "gender" to describe these physical changes. Gender has nothing to do with what's between your legs.
I don't like how the official used the word "gender" to describe these physical changes. Gender has nothing to do with what's between your legs.
Agreed. Maybe the writer felt it was less confusing to use the gender?
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1 in every 1000 babies is born "ambiguous", often the doctor makes the decision whether or not the baby becomes a boy or a girl. Sometimes it's not externally apparent.
Are you seriuos Astrid. Sweet thats actually an interesting tidbit. Thanks Astrid. As for this asian woman growing a penis...maybe i'm not a huge fan of asian women anymore. *smacked*
That's obviously a big freakin' hoax. I laugh at anyone who 100% believes this. The line that gives it away is: "I woke up and my breasts had disappeared."
... Yeah, hoookay, crazy laaadyyyyy.
The line that gives it away is: "I woke up and my breasts had disappeared."
There are plenty of logical explanations for this, Jin. They could have... you know, gotten bored and fallen off, or... were flattened... by... an anvil... and...
Yeah, it probably is.
Haha I just actually clicked the link. Dude, you could have mentioned the totally madeup guy posing as the old lady.
BUT AT LEAST I SPREAD KNOWLEDGE CONCERNING THE INTERSEX COMMUNITY TODAY!
And as a Feminist Studies major... it's a serious life goal. 
Now I know it's time for bed. My brain has been officially fried by Dennys.
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Gender has nothing to do with what's between your legs.
or lack thereof. ;p
I still wonder how can someone lose her breast during a night's sleep.
** insert "It's a hoax!" picture here **
This stinks of hoax, but:
1 in every 1000 babies is born "ambiguous", often the doctor makes the decision whether or not the baby becomes a boy or a girl. Sometimes it's not externally apparent.
It is, however, genetically apparent. And measurable by today's science.
Arbitrary external gender reassignment by doctors was largely justified on the entire basis of the case of one normal little boy who lost his penis in an accident as an extremely tiny baby, and was raised as a girl alongside his twin brother to see what would happen.
However, when told the truth in his teens, since he was getting more and more unhappy as a "woman", he took a male name, had genital reconstructive surgery and even went on to get married.
He went public only to discredit the whole idea of arbitrary reassignment.
But he committed suicide a few years later.
The case is documented in these articles here. Feel free to read as many as you can:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1175/is_3_33/ai_62215090
http://slate.msn.com/id/2101678/
http://www.dartreview.com/issues/10.2.00/nature.html
http://www.mermaids.freeuk.com/reut001.html
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/reimer/
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1 in every 1000 babies is born "ambiguous"
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5972 registered members
O_______o;;; We should have about six on the Mofo then... That's quite a few. And that story is FRIGGIN' scary!
Ewwww.
I feel sorry for the terror that everyone must now suffer.
Tell me about it. I'll surpressing nightmares for the rest of my life.
They could have... you know, gotten bored and fallen off
I do believe this is true. It sounds quite logical to me. And it's scientifically possible.
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It is, however, genetically apparent. And measurable by today's science.
Very true. I'm glad you mentioned that.
I was thinking more specifically though of the fact that there are still "standards" in place for sex (a baby penis being a certain length, a clitoris being a certain size). If your body doesn't measure up after you are born, the doctor can use his or her discretion in which sex to make you. It's less common in the Western world now, but some parents still insist the doctor make the decision.
If your body doesn't measure up after you are born, the doctor can use his or her discretion in which sex to make you. It's less common in the Western world now, but some parents still insist the doctor make the decision.
Hence I brought up the Bruce/Brenda case, which is one by which a lot of doctors justify the fact that they have that much power over someone's entire identity - or was before "Brenda" went public with what happened next. 🙁
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1 in every 1000 babies is born "ambiguous"
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5972 registered members
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O_______o;;; We should have about six on the Mofo then... That's quite a few. And that story is FRIGGIN' scary!
XDXD! Holy shiz what if-. *shudders*
Oh, no, there's not 6000 posters - only about 1000 of those are peopel, the rest are alts and banned people and so on. That's what the forum tally.
I'm...shocked o.0 but it MUST be a hoax...if it isn't I'll uh....jump out a window...I promise.
....For free.
~T2K
Nobody's life is perfect. Who's to say that anyone growing up gender reassigned won't live in a family with issues?
The point of the experiment was to show that, hormones and whatnot notwithstanding, gender was an externally created concept, which is why arbitrary reassignment was okay.
And in that respect, it failed gloriously.
I hope i do not change gender! I am not being sexist just i do not like the thought of mutatation.
Dude, this topic is almost a year old. Why the hell did you bump it?
Ewwwwwwww...
Well, since it's bumped, I'll reply.
The whole thing is possible, if her hormones went completely out of control. The breasts dissapearing part might scream hoax to some, but if she already had small breasts (which is quite common among Asian woman and perfectly possible) and her estrogen levels plummeted, they could lose mass.
Disgusting to some, but all that really matters is that new man and his family are all very happy.
TUS, don't bump crap unless you have something to add.
I copied a reply to this last year, and I'm posting some posts I find on my hard drive.
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This is very tragic, but I wonder if this truly was a completely controlled gender-switching "experiment." The general conclusion is that David's nature as a born male overcame his nurture as a woman, but there were other variables. For example, because David was biologically a man, he obviously looked masculine, which contributed to him feeling out of place as a woman, and his peers treating him differently. And his parents, who knew he was a boy, might have treated him differently than a daughter. In general, people who are trying very hard to disguise something, by their efforts, behave differently than people who are sincere. His family also had a history of clinical depression, and the appalling involuntary surgery and coerced sexual roleplay (with his *brother*, no less!) was extraordinarily traumatic.
I do wonder to what extent David can be used as an pure example of "boy raised as a girl," versus "seriously abused and exploited child." Would things be different if a girl was raised as a boy? Anecdotally (look at *me*, for God's sake), it seems easier for girls to adopt masculine behaviors than for boys to adopt feminine ones.
Not to be insensitive here. Just a line of thought.
Troop brought up what I was thinking. This case is being used to support nature vs. nurture theories, and it's just evidence that a child was abused. A born female in the same environment, with similar hormonal/physical issues, might have the same results.
1. The twins were psychologically tortured by the psychologist with bizarre sex simulations and it sounds like these simulations might have been misogynist in nature.
2. Brian/Brenda/David's brother committed suicide first and the whole family had a history of depression.
3. The procedure was done at 7 months, meaning lots of socialization.
4. The child obviously had male physical traits that others noticed easily.
5. Most suspiciously, Brian resisted a dress, and his mother assumed he knew he wasn't a girl. Are we supposed to believe that there is some genetic predisposition to modern fashion styles? Especially when skirtlike clothes have been unisex in various cultures for centuries? This might have been resistance to an unfamiliar or cumbersome outfit. If it did have anything to do with gender identity, that would prove that Brian had been taught to read clothes as gender classification, which would probably mean gender classification in self-concept. And it sounds like the parents probably were excessive in pushing gender stereotypes, even subconsciously (like Troop said, they probably wouldn't treat Brian just like they would any daughter), which is always a bad idea.
The rejection of the dress and the parents' reaction is practically proof that the experiment was compromised.
I consider direct genetically programmed sex-related brain structure differences to be valid examples of mental sex differences. And that means corpus collossum, verbal centers, very vague tendencies more subtle than even the difference between individuals, and hypothalamus, not the traditional things that some people would love to validate.
Don't let the case of abused child be used to justify stereotypes. This case has been used by some to support gender discrimination or prejudice.
