Why did very different patterns emerge in the explanations employed by these two groups for their own transgenderism?
Perhaps the bakla, having grown up in a less accepting social environment, indeed had less reason to believe that they had been influenced by parents, siblings, other relatives and friends. But a closer examination of the data on parents’ reactions is useful here. First, the two groups surveyed were compared with each other. True, kathoey more frequently reported favourable parental reactions to their transgenderism than did bakla, but kathoey whose parents had reacted positively were more numerous than their bakla counterparts by only one or two out of every ten participants. It seems unlikely that this could account for the eightfold difference in endorsements for ‘parental influence.’ Second, each group was examined individually. Within each group, there appeared to be no significant relation between, on one hand, one’s parents’ reactions to an individual’s transgenderism and, on the other hand, the perception that they had influenced her to become transgendered. Those parents who h
