Gendered Ambivalence
35
kathoey were used in stories about this case, and transgendered men as a group
were reported by the media to be violent and unstable.”7 Consequently, the
Rajhabat Institute, which represents teachers colleges, banned homosexuals and
kathoey "from being employed as teachers.”8 Storer points out that the murder
case highlighted the Thai media penchant for positioning homosexuals,
including kathoey, in negative terms based on Thai social stereotypes.9 Negative
qualities associated with kathoey and homosexuals include withathaan
(perverted), wipparit (perverted) and pit pairt (abnormal, wrong sex).10 In the
Thai daily newspaper The Nation (January 7, 2002), a kathoey called Pok added
that in Thai popular culture kathoey are viewed as social deviants.11
This fixation in positioning kathoey and homosexuals as the ‘‘deviant
‘Other’” were corroborated in The Nation (January 25, 1997, p. 1) in an article
called “Psychologists on Fence Over Gay Ban.”12 The article reported how
psychologists “neither condemned nor supported educational institutions
banning homosexuals” and kathoey}1 "Dr. Thongchai Thawichachat, deputy
director general of the Mental Health Department, and other psychologists gave
a press conference,” in which Thongchai said homosexuals should be viewed
with "sympathy and understanding.”14 Thongchai’s comments seemingly reflect
Thai historic and religious constructions of kathoey and homosexuals as victims
needing societal pity.13 In an interview for The Nation, a kathoey, Pok, claimed
that medical and psychological studies conducted by Thai researchers are
discriminatory. According to Pok, "In-department research, even by professors,
on types of ‘kathoey,’ the reasons for being ‘kathoey,’ to effects on health such
as AIDS, reflect discrimination, so that one must be ‘normal', as opposed to
‘kathoey’, which is ‘abnormal.’”16
The portrayal of kathoey as "deviant Other” has been informed by Thai
media in relation to commodification, hi short, kathoey are increasingly
becoming a “selling point for commercialism.”17 According to Ayuttaya,
kathoey have become a central topic for television and print medias.18 While
there has been more potential for kathoey to be included by Thai media, the
level of inclusiveness is based mainly on the "marketability” of kathoey}9 The
apex of commercialism has been characterised by the Miss Tiffany kathoey
beauty pageant which has received much national and international media
attention. Beginning in 1997, the Miss Tiffany’s pageant has been crucial in
defining Thai feminine beauty. The Miss Tiffany pageant, which occurs in
March in Pattaya at the same time as the Miss Thailand competition, has rivaled
the latter in popularity and prestige.20 Interestingly, the winner of the Miss
Tiffany pageant is the “only Thai representative to the Miss International Queen
Pageant.”21 Competition between the two pageants received coverage from CNN
and Reuters “with headlines such as: ‘Tiffany boys out to prove gender gap
narrowing,’ ‘Thailand’s newest beauty queen is no lady,’ and ‘Battle of Queens
on national TV.’”22 Moreover, in 2001 the Las Vegas Review nominated the
Tiffany show as “t