Out & About

The sexual object for many gay men, according to a paper presented at a recent sexuality conference, is not a musclebound model but an ordinary working man, such as a motorcycle taxi driver or a construction day labourer.

Published on February 15, 2008

Weekend Magazine

Who says size doesn't matter? For newspaper columnists, your performance is measured in inches. Fortunately, there are times when filling the allotted column space is a piece of cake. After "foreplaying" Thailand's first conference dedicated to sexuality two weeks ago, now it's time for the meaty action.

For those to whom "alternative sexuality" stirs the image of something perverse, outrageous and definitely gay, there would be rude awakening. As it turned out, some of the "straight" papers at the International Lesbian and Gay Association conference were no less risque than "gay" ones. For example, the one on the Camfrog video chat network made the gay equivalent look like children playing hopscotch. The vulgar language the "DJs" use in order to coax female participants to expose more of their bodies to the webcam makes yours truly feel so lucky to be gay.

Like most straight papers, it also made painfully obvious the sexual hierarchy inherent in heterosexuality. But of course, turning people into sex objects isn't the monopoly of straights. Witness the muscle fetish and youth obsession in gay culture.

Although the gay Camfrog paper was mute about the power dynamics between gay men, the one on bluecollar worker fantasies got it right on the G spot. This paper describes the shift of gay male fantasy object from the handsome models to the folksy men, mainly from the Northeast, who earn their living as day labourers and other bluecollar jobs. Gleaning his source from gay webboards, the author retold steamy stories, real or imaginary, of sex with construction workers, taxi drivers, motorbike taxi drivers, security guards, etc. The paper hypothesised the shift in term of accessibility, as these men in the lower socioeconomic stratum are thought to be more approachable with help from monetary "lubrication".

On the other end of the libido scale, the paper on gays in the monkhood unfortunately didn't add much new to the ongoing debate. Although I more or less agree with the author's final verdict that the Thai Sangha will never officiate the ordination of selfproclaimed homosexuals, the venerable's conclusion was based more on instincts than analysis.

It would be more educating to include a study on the Sangha's decision making process (or the lack thereof) concerning other controversial issues such as female ordination or famous monks caught having sex. Although the paper touched upon ordination of gay priests in Britain and the issue of bhikkhuni (female monks), these were not rigorously pursued. It makes me wonder if this is a uniquely Thai phenomenon. Again, there was no mention of situations in other Buddhist cultures such as Laos, Burma, Sri Lanka, Tibet or medieval China and Japan.

Other papers dug deeper into local samesex history by looking at hints from interesting places. The analysis of samesex acts on temple wall paintings as derogatory and limited to a punitive context was enlightening, although not all surprising, as it goes in line with how Siamese society has always looked at katoey. Equally interesting was the comparative study between Thai "toms" and Western lesbians through films and literature, reaching back to an early Rattanakosinperiod poem, which poked fun at a famous lesbian relationship between two court ladies. Hopefully, these two studies will encourage wider and deeper examinations of disparate clues to reconstruct the jigsaw puzzle of the life and roles of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders/transsexuals and intersex people in Thai society.

The FAC Games (not open to the public) were held recently to promote friendship among the subscribers of five local gay webboards (aboutg.net, thailandout.com, and others). If it's hard to imagine playing badminton in drag, try playing volleyball in high heels in 2009!

Ayor

Share ideas on gay issues via email: ayor@nationgroup.com.