up, so I seldom go out that way. It’s too uncomfortable. How can you stand all those
people giving you weird looks? It’s embarrassing. I seldom go out during the day and, if
I do go out, I wear men’s clothing.”90Likewise, Xiao Dongbei says, “When I go shopping,
I buy enough food to last me several days so I don’t have to go out so often.”91
Prejudice is not the only fear. Xiao Bai told us: “I usually go out fairly late, because
going out early I’m more likely to run into some neighborhood lady. I come home after
midnight, when they’re all sleeping. I had to move once because of the inconvenience
this caused. Even going out at night in my female get-up isn’t very convenient, and I do
my best to avoid exchanging greetings with the neighbors.”92
Haima also takes precautions, but once when neighbors found her out, she was
expelled from her apartment:
“I lived in my original apartment for half a year. I never went out until nine or ten
o’clock at night. Once on a Sunday I went out at 7:30, and my neighbors saw
me. The neighbors said I was a female impersonator and reported me to the
neighborhood committee. Then the neighborhood committee brought a police
officer to inspect my temporary residence permit, and the landlord wouldn’t let
me stay there anymore.”93
Yimeina was discovered by a neighbor while working the park: “I lived in that residential
area, and I went out every day all dressed up, telling others I had a performance to
go to. But a neighbor saw me working on the street [as a sex worker] in the park and
notified my landlord, and my landlord threw me out.”94
Xue’er uses her own method of dealing with popular prejudice:
“There’s always someone giving me weird looks and ridiculing me. I had a hard
time getting used to it at first. Now I feel I’m living for myself, and I don’t need
to pay attention to how others look at me. My ability to psychologically adapt is
much stronger than before. If anyone stares or laughs at me, I don’t fight back.
But if a woman attacks me verbally, I’ll stand in front of her, push up my breasts,
rub my thigh and wriggle my hips, and look at her with a charming smile. Most
women will bow their heads in shame. Not all women have figures as good as
90 Interview with Tiantian, Beijing, May 23, 2014.
91 Interview with Xiao Dongbei, Beijing, April 28, 2014.
92 Interview with Xiao Bai, Beijing, March 25, 2014.
93 Interview with Haima, Beijing, March 21, 2014.
94 Interview with Yimeina, Shanghai, April 29, 2014.
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