Claiming Thailand has no/does not conform to the gender binary is disingenuous, incorrect and straight up lying.
Male and female gender roles were always a part of Thailand’s history.
Society very clearly revolved around a binary, with strict and rigid sex roles.
A woman’s role was to be a submissive wife and mother (sometimes concubine and basically servant), subordinate to her husband. Women were excluded from the public or political sphere, as their only place was in the home. They are conspicuously absent from most historical records and lacked voices.
Legal recognition of male superiority/patriarchal inheritance was established during the Sukhothai period. (some interpretations of Buddhism were used to prop up that idea)
The idea that the “third gender” was a prevalent, open thing is wrong. It was a term with negative connotations, that othered homosexual people, forcing them to hide their orientation or risk ostracism and possibly punishment.
(In Buddhism, people of the “third gender” were pitied as they were disqualified from becoming monks)
The actual meaning of “เพศที่สาม” (third gender) in the Thai language is vague and nebulous. Most people think of it as referring to people of “the other gender”, which include and are limited to homosexual people.
It’s a blanket term or short descriptor for the following:
- กะเทย/ตุ๊ด (Kathoey or “ladyboy”: gay men who like crossdressing or homosexual transwomen)
- ทอม and ดี้ (analogous to butch and femme lesbians)
There are no native Thai concepts or words for genderless/nonbinary people or heterosexual transsexuals. (what words do exist are loanwords that were introduced by western ideologies)
If you ask people as to whether เกย์, ทอม and ดี้ (gay men and lesbians) are in fact men and women or a third gender, you’ll get different opinions. It’s not particularly a clear-cut definition, and the “third gender” label can sort of be called slang.
(Oh, and fun fact: nobody views kathoeys as women. We know)
TL;DR third gender = homosexuals, with a special category for kathoeys.
While Thai society is passively accepting of the LGBT community*, to call it a totally progressive and modern culture is incorrect. It’s still very much a country with traditional norms and values, especially when it comes to gender roles (as mentioned above)
*In most households being gay or a kathoey will definitely disappoint your mother and family before they eventually resign themselves to it.
Women are still raised to be more submissive and deferential, to preferably keep their virginity for their husband, and to prioritize children over their own careers.
It’s widely accepted for men to visit prostitutes, even after marriage. (Obviously it’s forbidden for women to do the same)
The tradition of having multiple wives (เมียน้อย) is still in practice today, among higher levels of Thai society. (despite it not being strictly legal)
Thai women have a different view of relationships than western women (relationships are also economic), and are less independent. Many of them become prostitutes to earn a living and try to find a long-term boyfriend or sugar daddy (A lot of western men come for the sex tourism and end up marrying prostitutes)
Abortion was illegal for the longest time until this year when they finally passed a law allowing them during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. (Women had to get illegal abortions that were dangerous and could result in infertility)
Speaking in such a condescending tone and assuming you know everything about Thailand because you, as a foreigner, lived there for a few years reeks of colonialism.
Stop appropriating Thai (or really, any other) culture and attempting to redefine what it is to fit your own western ideological narrative.
- Sincerely, all of ethnic radblr.
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