Historical Discourse Analysis of Lesbian in Thai Media from 1996 to 2020

Abstract

The purpose of the research article is to analyze the conditions and formation of the gender identity discourse of lesbians in Thai media texts. The research used an analytical framework based on Michel Foucault's genealogical approach by analyzing statements in Thai media texts published between 1996 and 2020, including newspapers, magazines, novels, television dramas and series, movies, news media websites, and variety shows. The results show that the gender identity discourse of lesbians in Thai society is shaped by power and knowledge under a system of gender binary, heterosexual norms, patriarchy, and homophobia which is reinforced by society's sexual morality combined with modern scientific knowledge such as psychoanalysis and behavioral science. The gender identity of lesbians thus emerges as an object of discourse linked to emotional disorder, sexual deviance, and cultural decline. On the other hand, this discursive situation allows the gender identity of lesbians to form its subjectivity through the reinforcement of rights, liberalism, and individualism, resulting in a social network of lesbians in alternative communication spaces such as Anjaree. In the context of the growth of the commercial entertainment media industry in 2007, identity became a space of consumption and commodification. A lesbian gender identity may anchor itself in the discursive space by integrating itself into the moral and cultural knowledge framework of society, such as being good, beautiful, handsome, successful in life, and skilled. It also integrates itself into the normative definition of romantic love of heterosexual love. However, integrating the self into the moral and cultural framework of society creates a situation that deceives one into believing that freedom is already available. The existence of this identity still faces tensions such as being discriminated against in the law and being expected to assume the role of woman and man according to the gender binary. Ultimately, this tension gives rise to another discourse dynamic influenced by Queer Theory that proposes a gender diversity ontology. The binary gender system is questioned. And there has been a movement to make the gender identity of lesbians a space that is more open and inclusive of gender diversity, no longer being tied to the straight female.