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

Cooking

Per Lindsey’s request, we spent a day at the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School.  As I imagine most of you know, my cooking skills are not the best.  I was a bit worried about lighting myself on fire (again).  But this was great fun.  The teaching style is very engaging, and they setup for each station makes it very easy to focus on the recipe.  The day flew by.  Maybe I like cooking.  What I don’t like is grocery shopping!  We learned six recipes including a soup, fishcakes, green curry, phad thai, chicken salad, and water chestnut dessert.  For the most part, they were delicious.  I overcooked my phad thai, and the texture on the water chestnuts was odd.  I’m thinking of making that one with apple instead.

Action shot - fishcakes.

Obligatory food shot.

I made this!

Elephants

We spent a day with the elephants at one of the many rescue centers up in the hills.  We got to feed the elephants, touch them, bathe them, and feed them again.  The elephants were magnificent creatures, very beautiful and interesting.  However, the experience felt very contrived.  I know it’s for the tourist dollar, but they have crafted their message so carefully about how great they are, rescuing elephants from the abuses of logging, forced labor, etc.  When people rub your nose in how compassionate they are, don’t you always get a little suspicious?  It winds up feeling a bit cultish.  They have weeklong packages to stay with them and I wonder how people come away from the experience.  We were glad to have done it, but glad to be done with it.

Okay, one month old elephant is a world of cute.

Thai Massage

No, that’s not a euphemism.  It seems like every fifth storefront in Chiang Mai is a massage parlor.  Some are just stools and pails, offering foot massages.  Some are full spas.  They are all pretty cheap.  We’ve taken to having one service a day.  We started with a foot massage during the Sunday Market, on the sidewalk.  Then we tried a body massage (clothed) that you do in a communal room on a mat on the floor.  Then another foot massage.  Today we’re off to one of the fancy spas for facial, body scrub, and hot oil massage.  We’re working our way up.  The first experience was 70 baht, which is about $2.20USD.  We still haven’t spent more than $4.  Amazing and addicting.  

Bangkok

Whomever came up with the phrase “assault on the senses” likely spent time in Bangkok.  We only spent one night there, but it felt like a battering.  Hot, noisy, smoggy, traffic, craziness.  We wandered around, saw Chinatown and the royal palace, had dinner, and called it a day.  The most comfortable spot?  The air conditioned and very clean metro.

Cambodia!

At the Killing Fields.  

Phnom Penh

Oh right, still the wet season here.

Birthday Time!

Angkor Wat

Why yes, we did just climb hundreds of stairs in 90+ heat.  Why do you ask?

And more temples!