Ladyboy Terminology
This is just a fun post I decided to make to give those that are new to the world of Trans an idea of what some of the common terms are in regards to these sexy girls. None of these terms are set in stone, just what I personally see what each term means to me. When it comes to TS terminology you will have many people in debates on what each word means but this should give you a general understanding.
Transsexual or Trans – the most common definition I see is someone that has gone through a sex change operation. However that is pretty vague. I would say a person that is a transsexual is someone that lives their life as the opposite sex to the one they were physical born as. This can go both ways, one can be born a male physically and live their live as a female. Or the other end of the spectrum, one could be born a female physically and decide to live their life as a male. One thing is clear those that do go this route usually always believe that they were born into the wrong body and emotionally have always believed they truly belong as being a member of the opposite sex.
Tgirl – Is just a short or slang version of the world Transsexual. It is used in regards to the person that was born physically a man but now lives their life as a woman. Presently this term is a bit more accepted.
Tranny – Another shorten version of the word transsexual and is still used in the adult industry but over the years has become more offensive including to many models in the industry.
Ladyboy – Ladyboy is a term mostly used in Asia to describe an Asian TS. It is common in countries like Thailand, Philippines and the like. You can also use it to describe Trans in any part of the world as long as they have an Asian Heritage such as the USA but it probably would be seen as more offensive. In places in Thailand it is quite common to hear the term ladyboy being used especially among foreigners but also locals. It is actually quite accepted in Asian countries like Thailand and is used a lot but have seen a few Asian models lately started to push back on the term.
Katoey – In Thailand the actually term ladyboy when translated into the Thai Language is Katoey. Most foreigners think it pronounced with a K sound but in Thailand the K used in this word is actually a “G” sound and is pronounced like this “Ga-Turr-Ee” with the “Ga” being short, the “Turr” being longer and the “Ee” being short as well.
Newhalf– in Japan the term Ladyboy is also used but it is more common to call then Newhalf or Newhalves. The name means they have a new half, it is simply as that, half-male and half-female. Though to my ears does not sound very nice translated to English. The word is very similar to the shemale term which we will discuss soon.
Post-Op – A Post-Op transsexual, Newhalf or Ladyboy all mean pretty much the same thing. It is a Trans person that has removed their male genitalia to further complete their transition into being a woman. It means post operation, or after the operation. Not all trans girls become Post-Ops and there can be many reasons such as some Trans girls want to keep their male genitalia, some can’t afford the cost of the operation and others decide the risks of a major surgery may be to great would be some examples.
Pre-Op– A Pre-Op Transsexual, Newhalf or Ladyboy all pretty much mean the same thing as well. It is a trans that still has male genitalia or before the operation.
Shemale – I am not sure where the term first started but it is a term that is most associated with the adult porn industry of a male to female TS Models. It can be used to describe TS from all over the world. Such as American Shemales, Black Shemales, Asian Shemales, Brazilians Shemales and so forth. The term is very common with Internet Porn and probably the one adult site fans would be aware of the most. It is a term usually familiar to Western and European societies. In fact many Trans People would be offended if you called them a shemale as the term is somewhat offensive as it associates them to the porn world. Over the last few years many adult sites have actually dropped the term “shemale” from their site name and stay away from it, that also includes the term Tranny. Most adult sites (not all) focus more on Tgirl or Trans in the domain title now. You will find a lot of the free sites (many that steal) still use the term shemale as they really don’t care about the culture but instead just profits and want to draw in users with the most popular term for searches. Even though the term Shemale is out of favor and is being phased out it still is the most searched term when fans are looking for adult content on TS models.
Transvestite– a person and especially a male that dresses and usually behaves as the opposite sex in order to obtain emotional or sexual gratification. This is different from a trans as this person usually does not live their life as a woman and do not believe they were born in the wrong body. More of a fetish that is used for sexual excitement.
Crossdresser – is one that dresses in the clothes designed for the opposite sex. It is much like a Transvestite but probably a nicer term as the term Transvestite has a lot of negativity associated with it. Many people not familiar with the term are unaware that many individuals that dress up as the opposite sex are actually straight and are not interested in sexual relations with the same sex but enjoy the act of dressing strictly for pleasure and/or sexual release.
So there you have it just a small sampling of some of the terms and how I see them. Sure all these terms are up to debate in some form or another but for this writer it is what I have come to understand. I would love to hear your comments or any terms you would like to add. I will be doing more of these in the future such as a Ladyboy Bar Term guide for instance. Since this post was written many years ago there is now a huge list of different terms such as Binary, Non Binary and the list goes on and on, the above is the more common terms that many of us have grown up with and an update on them through the years. This is not an exact science and there are many different views of what each term means and implies so it can always be up for hopefully a healthy debate.
Though all these terms are interesting and have different meanings to different people. I still think the best way to approach a TS person is not by using any of these terms but instead ask them their name. I have been all over the world from USA to Thailand to Europe to Brazil and I have never found the need to bring up any of these terms. I politely ask them their name and that is good enough for me, this was just a post to show you many of the terms used in the adult industry and red light district areas but that doesn’t mean you need to use them at all.
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