Male Bodies, Women's Souls Personal Narratives of Thailand's Transgendered Youth

Get a detailed look at the Thai sex/gender system—through analysis of the personal stories from transgendered youth in ThailandThe Thai term sao braphet song (a “second type of woman”) describes males who reject the gender of masculinity for femininity. Male Bodies, Womens Souls: Personal Narratives of Thailands Transgendered Youth uses the narrative method, stories in the words of these “second type of women” to analyze these transgendered experiences. This previously ignored perspective of the Thai sex/gender system gained through this theoretical and methodological approach offers students and general readers a rich, more readily accessible foundation of knowledge about gendered subjectivity and sex/gender systems.Male Bodies, Womens Souls: Personal Narratives of Thailands Transgendered Youth features in-depth, autobiographical life histories from individual Thai transgendered youth. Life stories, told in the participants own words, provides an engaging, at times touching, always insightful look at Thai cultures sex/gender system. The authors then expertly analyze the narratives to illuminate common themes and constructions within this group, allowing an opportunity for contrast and discussion on transgender experiences in other nations. Male Bodies, Womens Souls: Personal Narratives of Thailands Transgendered Youth analyzes the major themes in the stories, including: identities definitions and descriptive labels etiologies of sao braphet song-ness the notion of acceptance narrator motivations for participating in the projectMale Bodies, Womens Souls: Personal Narratives of Thailands Transgendered Youth is illuminating, reflective reading for educators, undergraduate students, graduate students, researchers, or anyone interested in discovering more about transgenderism in a specific cultural context.

Foreword (Anne Bolin) Acknowledgments Note on Thai Transcription Chapter 1: Introduction The Project Positioning the Researchers and Project Goals Why “Personal Narrative”? Organization of the Book Chapter 2: Gender and Sexuality in Thailand What is “Thai”? Ideologies of Gender and Sexuality Alternative Genders and Sexualities Kathoey: Semantics and Identities Religious Ritual in Northern Thailand Kathoey in the Thai Mass Media Western Academic Research on Kathoey Voices of Sao Braphet Song Chapter 3: Narrative Methodologies Why Use the Narrative Method? Translation and Representation Chapter 4: Sao Braphet Song Narratives The Setting Personal Narratives Essays About Rosepaper Chapter 5: Analyzing Sao Braphet Song Narratives Our Analytical Approach Identities Definitions and Descriptive Labels Etiologies Acceptance Motivations for Participating in the Project Where to Go From Here Notes References

LeeRar Costa (Author)