Orientalist obsessions: fabricating hyper-reality and performing hyper-femininity in Thailand's kathoey tourism

Tan, Qian Hui

doi:10.1080/11745398.2014.906312

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…30 There are currently no studies on the prevalence of transgender persons in Thailand, although some studies have suggested a prevalence of 0.3–0.6%—roughly 10,000–660,000 people—of male-to-female transgender individuals in this country, but these figures may be significantly underestimated. 31 , 32 , 33 Transgender persons are becoming more visible in Thailand, with several healthcare facilities catering to their specific needs. Previous data from Thailand on increased gender dysphoria symptoms and poor quality of life are consistent with those from other studies and patients’ self-reports in other countries, although the Thai studies have not focused on gender confirmation surgery.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality of Life, Self-Esteem, and Depression Among Thai Transgender Women Before and After Male-to-Female Gender Confirmation Surgery: A Prospective Cohort Observational Study

2022

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Introduction Previous studies have reported low quality of life scores and a high prevalence of depression among transgender women in Thailand; however, there is still little research on the effects of gender confirmation surgery among this population. Aim This study aims to prospectively evaluate the overall quality of life, self-esteem, and depression status among male-to-female transgender individuals in Thailand. Methods This prospective observational cohort study was conducted between January 2018 and December 2020 and included 41 participants who underwent gender confirmation surgery. All participants underwent a psychiatric evaluation and received 3 sets of questionnaires preoperatively and 6 months postoperatively to evaluate quality of life, self-esteem, and depression: the Thai abbreviated version of the World Health Organization quality of life questionnaire, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, respectively. We examined scores from each questionnaire and depression status before and after gender confirmation surgery, with P < .05 considered significant. Main Outcome Measure This study's primary outcomes measured quality of life, depression, and self-esteem before and after gender confirmation surgery. Results Thirty-seven participants completed all sets of questionnaires (response rate 90.2%). The mean age of the participants was 26.2 ± 4.7 years at the time of surgery. Five (13.5%) participants met the criteria for mild depression preoperatively, but none did postoperatively. There were no signs of major depressive disorder, suicidal ideation, or suicidal attempts in any of the participants. There was a significant improvement in quality of life (P < .001) and self-esteem (P < .001), as well as lower depression (P < .001) after gender confirmation surgery. The greatest quality of life improvement was related to participants’ sexual relationships. Conclusion Male-to-female gender confirmation surgery significantly contributes to improving quality of life, self-esteem, and depression in Thai transgender women. Persons diagnosed with gender dysphoria who intend to undergo gender confirmation surgery should be supported by healthcare providers in accessing the medical facilities and treatment needed to improve their quality of life.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality of Life, Self-Esteem, and Depression Among Thai Transgender Women Before and After Male-to-Female Gender Confirmation Surgery: A Prospective Cohort Observational Study

2022

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“…Numerous studies declared the use of interpretive or constructivist paradigm in passing, and only a few provided an in-depth discussion of the positionality of the researcher(s) (Coetzee et al, 2019;Gao & Kerstetter, 2016;Mura & Yuen, 2019;Pan, 2017;Wijesinghe, Mura & Culala, 2019b). Among the small proportion of qualitative studies that had moved beyond descriptive narratives to a more critical investigation of Asian tourism, postcolonial theory/lens was often cited (Mura & Sharif, 2015a;Mura & Yuen, 2019;Ranasinghe & Li, 2017;Tan, 2014;.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Redefining Asian tourism

Yang

Ong

2020

Tourism Management Perspectives

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“…But it is in the discussion of “third order simulacra” that Baudrillard forges ground that has proven so productive for scholars of (auto‐)Orientalist tourist markets (e.g. Kasfir ; Steiner ; Tan ), as this category no longer refers to reproductions of the ostensibly “real,” overt or concealed, but a shift wherein representation, drawing on a cultural imaginary, itself produces realities. In Baudrillard's words, “the territory no longer precedes the map… [it is] the map that precedes the territory” (1994, 1).…”

Section: Orientalizing the Orientmentioning

confidence: 99%

Either Here or There: Short‐Term Study Abroad and the Discourse of Going

Barkin

2018

Anthropology & Edu Quarterly

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This article examines practices surrounding short-term study abroad, focusing on how its outsourcing to professional agencies can shape student encounters abroad. Through ethnographic work in Southeast Asia, I explore the "exposure model" of intercultural learning relied on by many programs. I argue that for-profit providers, catering to administrative and neoliberal exigencies in higher education, have fostered an uncritical "discourse of going," which subordinates consideration of pedagogical goals and outcomes to the imperative of increasing participation. [Experiential education; intercultural learning; short-term study abroad; Southeast Asia; study abroad] Over the past fifteen years, study abroad at American institutions of higher education has shifted dramatically away from semester-long programs that are commonly connected with overseas universities, and toward short-term programs (Institute of International Education and Farrugia 2018), which demonstrate much greater variability of pedagogical approach and practice (Mercer 2015; Tarrant, Rubin, and Stoner 2014; Willis and Beyene 2018). This change has been wrapped in a narrative of progress and accomplishment that originates both from scholars and practitioners (e.g. Bellamy and Weinberg 2006;Chieffo and Griffiths 2004;DeLoach et al. 2003), many of whom are themselves involved in directing short-term programs, or who have taken on the objective of "internationalization" for their campuses (Fischer 2008;Kreber 2009). This project takes as foundational the belief that getting students out of the country-as part of an academic agenda, broadly construed-should be the primary goal of internationalization advocates at American colleges and universities, and that the nature of that academic agenda is at best a secondary consideration. In this article, I argue that the rise of this "discourse of going" is best understood as another dimension of the shift toward a discursively corporate lens and the neoliberal model of higher education that Readings (1996) termed the "university in ruins." Unlike practices generally opposed by faculty, such as the market-based ranking of scholars or increasing reliance on adjunct instructors, that are commonly associated with Readings' discussion (Vora 2015), this shift depends on a less visible penetration of the market via the promotion and "provision" of short-term faculty-led study abroad (hereafter STFLSA), which is often endorsed and celebrated by faculty as part of an undifferentiated advocacy for international education. This shift toward short-term programs depends on a powerful lacuna in the oversight of pedagogy abroad (Lemmons 2013) which not only transpires in a literal and figurative "overseas" space, but trades on the unrevised conception of travel as inherently educational and conferring of status. This conflation travel with global citizenship and experiential learning (Bennett 2012;Brodsky-Porges 1981;Robalik 2006) mirrors what La Brack and Bathurst term the "contact hypothesis" (2012, 208). In this article, I f...

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Orientalist obsessions: fabricating hyper-reality and performing hyper-femininity in Thailand's kathoey tourism

Cited by 11 publications

References 55 publications

Quality of Life, Self-Esteem, and Depression Among Thai Transgender Women Before and After Male-to-Female Gender Confirmation Surgery: A Prospective Cohort Observational Study

Quality of Life, Self-Esteem, and Depression Among Thai Transgender Women Before and After Male-to-Female Gender Confirmation Surgery: A Prospective Cohort Observational Study

Redefining Asian tourism

Either Here or There: Short‐Term Study Abroad and the Discourse of Going

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