Gendered Ambivalence:
Representations of K athoey in Thailand
Thailand’s kathoey (ladyboys) have been subject to scholarly scrutiny
over the last fifteen years (Jackson 1995, 1998, 2004; Rattachumpoth 1999;
Matzner 2002; Winter 2002a, 2002b, 2003a 2000b, 2003c; 2005; Van Esterick
2000; Totman 2003) partly due to the growth of Queer Studies in the West, as
well as the spread of AIDS in Asia. While such theoretical attention has
provided a sensitive insight into the world of kathoey, greater analyses are
needed into the social representations of kathoey, and how kathoey are
constructed as “Other.”
This paper is concerned with representations of kathoey in Thai society
and media, and how they are posited on ambivalence. I am influenced by
Jackson’s notion of “intersubjective ambiguity,” which prioritises the social
aspect of human relationships and how they are constituted.1 According to
Jackson (1998:8), “intersubjectivity is a site of constructive, destructive, and
reconstructive interaction.” In other words, human constructions of others move
between these two poles, reflecting the “instability of human consciousness”
(1998:9-10). For example, the 1970s cult figure “Dirty Harry” embodied he
American tropes of both modem day hero and avenger. Dirty Harry’s tall,
laconic character moves between the social margins—between illicit and
socially sanctioned behaviours, emulating the anti-heroes of the “wild west.”
The focal point of Dirty Harry’s persona, his 44 Magnum pistol, highlights his
indeterminacy.
On this theme, Straayer (1996) et al. have indicated that western
representations of gender are being increasingly challenged via the popular
cultural icon of the “she-male.” For Straayer, the she-male is a site for
contesting notions of gender. The she-male represents a physical arena where
gendered fixedness is violated, smashed, diminished, and transcended. I would
argue that in Thai society, kathoey embody a similar role. Since kathoey have
co-existed with heterosexual Thais for centuries, an historic overview of kathoey
is necessary in order to understand modem representations of them.
K athoey : Social, Historic, and Religious Dimensions
From a western viewpoint the term kathoey is “somewhat nebulous”
and embraces various kinds of transgendered and homosexual males.2 Although
historically the term denoted “hermaphrodite” (Jackson 1998, Taywaditep et al,
1997), modem renditions of kathoey include pamia/pumae (male-female), pet
tee sam (third sex), kathoey tee sai suer pha phuying (kathoey dressing as a
woman), ork-sao (outwardly a woman) and sao-dao-thiam (artificial woman)
(Winter 2002a). Winter (2002a) notes that “all of these terms make reference
either to a clear female gender identity, or to one that is decidedly non-male.”