Thursday, June 28, 2007

SIDE TRIP 37: Bangladesh He-Men

Michael Jackson must have been a Bangladeshi in a past life. Remember his trademark crotch grab? Well, Bangladeshi men do it all the time. They frequently hold their crotches over their skirts. You'd be surpised to know men wear skirts in Bangladesh. Not skirts really but lungi, their version of the malong. Instead of pants, they drape the lungi around their waists and presto! they’re ready to go. I was told they don’t normally wear briefs under that piece of cloth so I guess it makes sense that they want to be reassured all the time that their birds haven’t flown the coop.

It is also not uncommon to see two Bangladeshi men hold hands while walking in the mall. How sweet. I guess it takes a lot of confidence to do that unselfconsciously (and wear the damned skirts at the same time!).

But what floored me was the sight of a Bangladeshi man urinating: he squats like a female does! Well, you try wearing that damned skirt and I guess you’ll see why; you’d squat, too, or you’ll pee all over yourself hehehehe.

Come to think of it, since most Bangladeshi men go around naked under that skirt all the time…. and grabs and rubs and scratches their crotches all the time, ready to shoot…. does it have a direct bearing with being one of the most populous countries in the world? Their land area is only half the size of the Philippines but their total population is twice ours. That’s 150 million Bangladeshis! Yay.