A heteropatriarchy in moderation: Reading family in a Thai Boys Love lakhon | Intellect Skip to content
1981
Volume 7, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 2051-7084
  • E-ISSN: 2051-7092

Abstract

A subgenre of popular culture, Thai Boys Love (BL) series is increasingly significant within Asia, but it remains under-researched in the light of new series that push the parameters of viewer acceptance of homoerotic romance in Thai society. Drawing upon a close reading of the BL lakhon , this article explicates how Thai cultural concepts surrounding the family are reflected in the series. While acknowledging the impact of East Asian popular culture on Thai understandings of gender and sexuality, the article highlights how the themes of familial dynamics and parental acceptance in represent a glocalization of the BL genre, or BL with Thai characteristics. By introducing the concept of ‘moderated heteropatriarchy’ and sketching the role of family in Thai queer lives, the article suggests that there is still space for subtle challenges or changes to the heteronormative structure as plotted in , even as the lakhon continues to uphold national and patriarchal principles that deny overt expressions of homoerotic romance.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/eapc_00040_1
2021-04-01
2024-04-30
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Baudinette, Thomas. ( 2019;), ‘ Lovesick, The Series: Adapting Japanese “Boys Love” to Thailand and the creation of a new genre of queer media. ’, South East Asia Research, 27:2, pp. 11532.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Chaloemtiarana, Thak. ( 2007), Thailand: The Politics of Despotic Paternalism, Ithaca, NY:: Cornell Southeast Asia Program;.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Farmer, Brett. ( 2011;), ‘ Loves of Siam: Contemporary Thai cinema and vernacular queerness. ’, in Peter A. Jackson. (ed.), Queer Bangkok: 21st Century Markets, Media, and Rights, Hong Kong:: Hong Kong University Press;, pp. 8198.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Fongkaew, Kangwan,, Khruataeng, Anoporn,, Unsathit, Sumon,, Khamphiirathasana, Matawii,, Jongwisan, Nisarat,, Arlunaek, Oranong, and Bryne, Jensen. ( 2019;), ‘ “Gay guys are shit-lovers” and “Lesbians are obsessed with fingers”: The (mis)representation of LGBTIQ people in Thai news media. ’, Journal of Homosexuality, 66:2, pp. 26073.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Fuhrmann, Arnika. ( 2016), Ghostly Desires: Queer Sexuality and Vernacular Buddhism in Contemporary Thai Cinema, Durham, NC:: Duke University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Jackson, Peter A.. ( 1995), Dear Uncle Go: Male Homosexuality in Thailand, Bangkok:: Bua Luang Books;.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Jackson, Peter A.. ( 2000;), ‘ An explosion of Thai identities: Global queering and re-imagining queer theory. ’, Culture, Health & Sexuality, 2:4, pp. 40524.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Jackson, Peter A.. ( 2011;), ‘ Capitalism, LGBT activism, and queer autonomy in Thailand. ’, in Peter A. Jackson. (ed.), Queer Bangkok: 21st Century Markets, Media, and Rights, Hong Kong:: Hong Kong University Press;, pp. 195204.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Jirattikorn, Amporn. ( 2017;), ‘ Thai popular culture: A new player in Asia media circulation and Chinese censorship. ’, CSEAS Newsletter, 76:3, pp. 79.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Kang, Dredge Byung’chu. ( 2012;), ‘ Kathoey “in trend”: Emergent genderscapes, national anxieties, and the re-signification of male-bodied effeminacy in Thailand. ’, Asian Studies Review, 36:4, pp. 47594.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Kang, Dredge Byung’chu. ( 2017;), ‘ Eastern orientations: Thai middle-class gay desire for “white Asians”. ’, Culture, Theory, and Critique, 58:2, pp. 182208.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Kang, Dredge Byung’chu. ( 2019;), ‘ The softening of butches: The adoption of Korean “soft” masculinity among Thai toms. ’, in S. Heijin Lee,, Monika Mehta, and Robert Ji-Song Ku. (eds), Pop Empires: Transnational and Diasporic Flows of India and Korea, Honolulu:: University of Hawaii Press;, pp. 1936.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Kusolkusari, Rachyd. ( 2014), Lovesick, The Series, Thailand:: MCOT;.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Kwon, Jungmin. ( 2019), Straight Korean Female Fans and Their Gay Fantasies, Iowa City:: University of Iowa Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Massad, Joseph A.. ( 2007), Desiring Arabs, Chicago:: University of Chicago Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. McLelland, Mark,, Nagaike, Kazumi,, Suganuma, Katsuhiko, and Welker, James. (eds) ( 2015), Boys Love Manga and Beyond: History, Culture, and Community in Japan, Jackson:: University of Mississippi Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. McLelland, Mark, and Welker, James. ( 2015;), ‘ An introduction to “Boys Love” in Japan. ’, in Mark McLelland,, Kazumi Nagaike,, Katsuhiko Suganuma, and James Welker. (eds), Boys Love Manga and Beyond: History, Culture, and Community in Japan, Jackson:: University of Mississippi Press;, pp. 322.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Morris, Rosalind C.. ( 1994;), ‘ Three sexes and four sexualities: Redressing the discourses of gender and sexuality in contemporary Thailand. ’, Positions: East Asian Cultures Critique, 2:1, pp. 1543.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Nagaike, Kazumi. ( 2015;), ‘ Do heterosexual men dream of homosexual men? BL Fudanshi and discourse on male femininization. ’, in Mark McLelland,, Kazumi Nagaike,, Katsuhiko Suganuma, and James Welker. (eds), Boys Love Manga and Beyond: History, Culture, and Community in Japan, Jackson:: University of Mississippi Press;, pp. 189209.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Nagaike, Kazumi, and Aoyama, Tomoko. ( 2015;), ‘ What is Japanese “BL Studies?”: A historical and analytical overview. ’, in Mark McLelland,, Kazumi Nagaike,, Katsuhiko Suganuma, and James Welker. (eds), Boys Love Manga and Beyond: History, Culture, and Community in Japan, Jackson:: University of Mississippi Press;, pp. 11940.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. O’Flaherty, Wendy Doniger. ( 1980;), ‘ Karma and rebirth in the Vedas and Puranas. ’, in Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty. (ed.), Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions, Berkeley:: University of California Press;, pp. 337.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Prasannam, Natthanai. ( 2019;), ‘ The Yaoi phenomenon in Thailand and fan/industry interaction. ’, Plaridel, 16:2, pp. 6389.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Sakveerakul, Chookiat. ( 2007), Love of Siam, Thailand:: Baa-Ram-Ewe;.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Sanders, Douglas. ( 2011;), ‘ The Rainbow Lobby: The sexual diversity network and the military-installed government in Thailand. ’, in Peter A. Jackson. (ed.), Queer Bangkok: 21st Century Markets, Media, and Rights, Hong Kong:: Hong Kong University Press;, pp. 22950.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Sawatmaneekul, Siwaj. ( 2018), Love by Chance, Thailand:: Studio Wabi Sabi;.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Sawatmaneekul, Siwaj. ( 2019), Until We Meet Again, Thailand:: Studio Wabi Sabi;.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. ( 1985), Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire, New York:: Columbia University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Sinnott, Megan. ( 2004), Toms and Dees: Transgender Identity and Female Same-Sex Relationships in Thailand, Honolulu:: University of Hawaii Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Sintanaparadee, Bundit. ( 2019), TharnType, The Series, Thailand:: Me Mind Y;.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Sintanaparadee, Bundit. ( 2020), TharnType Special: Our Final Love, Thailand:: Me Mind Y;.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Vincent, J. Keith. ( 2012), Two-Timing Modernity: Homosocial Narrative in Modern Japanese Fiction, Cambridge, MA:: Harvard University Asia Center;.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Warner, Michael. ( 1999), The Trouble with Normal: Sex, Politics, and the Ethics of Queer Life, New York:: The Free Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Watts, Jonathan S.. ( 2009;), ‘ Karma for everyone: Social justice and the problem of re-ethicizing karma in Theravada Buddhist societies. ’, in Jonathan S. Watts. (ed.), Rethinking Karma: The Dharma of Social Justice, Chiang Mai:: Silkworm Books;, pp. 1336.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Weerasethakul, Apichatpong. ( 2004), Tropical Malady, Thailand:: Kick the Machine Films;.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Wongyannava, Thanes. ( 2008;), ‘ Policing the imagined family and children in Thailand: From family name to emotional love. ’, in Shigeharu Tanabe. (ed.), Imagining Communities in Thailand: Ethnographic Approaches, Chiang Mai:: Mekong Press;, pp. 2157.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Zhao, Jing Jamie,, Yang, Ling, and Lavin, Maud. ( 2017;), ‘ Introduction. ’, in Maud Lavin,, Ling Yang, and Jing Jamie Zhao. (eds), Boys’ Love, Cosplay, and Androgynous Idols: Queer Fan Cultures in Mainland China, Hong Kong:: Hong Kong University Press;, pp. xixxxiii.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Chan, Ying-kit. ( 2021;), ‘ A heteropatriarchy in moderation: Reading family in a Thai Boys Love lakhon. ’, East Asian Journal of Popular Culture, 7:1, pp. 8194, doi: https://doi.org/10.1386/eapc_00040_1
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/eapc_00040_1
Loading
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error