34
Popular Culture Review
Interestingly, altering one's sex does not incur negative karma but
fighting against one’s condition may produce negative karma (Jackson 1998).
Interviews conducted with kathoey found that 47 percent of kathoeys explained
their transgender in terms of karma (Winter 2002b).
Buddhist acceptance of kathoey can be seen in Buddhist monks
blessing marriages between men and kathoey,6 and in the staging of annual
beauty contests at Buddhist temples “to raise money for temple works'’ (Winter
2005