Sex and Gender in Thailand

I’ve found it increasingly frustrating in recent years that the media, from a fear of using the word ‘sex’, has chosen to use the word ‘gender’.  Any week you can see the cover of some magazine blaring the news of a celeb pregnancy and the gender of their child.  The problem is, sex is a biological term and gender is a cultural one.  Sex refers to actual biological differences between potential mating pairs.  Of course there are some gray areas, such as in the chromosomal anomalies of XXY, XXX, and non-specific genitalia occasionally identified at birth.  Gender on the other hand, refers to culturally defined norms for human behavior.

[Sidebar here: race is also a cultural term and not a biological one.  Homo sapiens is a single species, with no subspecies.  And despite our numbers, DNA shows us that we aren’t even a particularly variable species.]

Gender is expressed a multitude of ways, depending on the culture a child is raised in.  U.S. parents trying to raise their children with a broader spectrum of non-gendered behavior will find themselves frustrated by family members, teachers, schoolmates, and media that try very hard to slot people into the binary male/female roles.

Thailand has proven to be surprising in the numbers and variability of non-standard (to Western perceptions) gender roles.  We have encountered what are called lady-boys and boy-girls virtually every day.  Not in the brothel settings you hear about (since we haven’t been in any brothels, I really can’t speak to that), but in everyday travel life as wait staff, tour guides, and merchants.  The general acceptance of these individuals is high.

One difficulty I have encountered is that the Thai language is gendered.  Different endings are used by men and women.  One person we spent time with had a male body, female dress and makeup, and used the female language.  I wasn’t attuned enough to the norms to know whether I should refer to the person as he or she (tho s/he did use the men’s WC).  I’ve known several trans people in the US and they have been vocal and particular about their pronouns.  I wish I had a better grasp of the phenomenon.    

I didn’t find this to be accurate to our experiences, but it is a start in understanding the culture of Thailand:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathoey