What It Means to be a Drag Queen in Thailand: A Qualitative Study

Despite its burgeoning popularity in recent years, “drag queen” is a relatively new concept to the Thai public. This qualitative study aims to investigate how the meaning of drag queens in Thailand is being constructed through their narratives and to look into how being drag queens affects their liv...

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Main Author: Sopitarchasak, Sakol
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Published: Animo Repository 2023
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Online Access:https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/apssr/vol23/iss1/2
https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/apssr/article/1482/viewcontent/RA_201.pdf
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spelling oai:animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph:apssr-14822024-06-24T09:24:03Z What It Means to be a Drag Queen in Thailand: A Qualitative Study Sopitarchasak, Sakol Despite its burgeoning popularity in recent years, “drag queen” is a relatively new concept to the Thai public. This qualitative study aims to investigate how the meaning of drag queens in Thailand is being constructed through their narratives and to look into how being drag queens affects their lives, especially regarding the experience of discrimination and abuse. Ten professional drag queens, aged 19 to 34, who based their activities in Thailand, were interviewed via phone calls in semi-structured in-depth interviews. Two participants identified as transwomen, while eight identified as gay. The interview recordings were transcribed, and the transcripts were analyzed with a hybrid approach of theoretical and inductive thematic analysis. The participants regarded drag as a form of artistic expression through physical bodies and described four important characteristics of drag queens that they had been constructing through their performativity: (1) the performing element, (2) transformation, (3) over-the-top quality, and (4) individuality. Sexuality was discussed as an important factor in being recognized as a drag queen, with the majority of participants supporting transwomen’s inclusion. The participants’ experiences related to being drag queens were grouped into seven themes: (1) happiness from being drag queens, (2) investing in drag, (3) family acceptance, (4) love lives, (5) discrimination and abuse, (6) drag queens’ limited space, and (7) Thai people’s attitude towards drag queens. Many participants had been rejected by their parents because of their sexuality and/or because they had become drag queens, but all had reconciled prior to the data collection for this study. Most gay participants experienced difficulty in establishing romantic relationships, in which femmephobia seemed to be at play. Despite acknowledging the growing, yet still limited, acceptance from the public in recent years, the participants reported discrimination and verbal harassment against them or their peers in public spaces. Drag queens, by transforming themselves between men and women and combining both masculinity and femininity in their performances, arguably challenge the conventional definition of sexuality and the concept of gender binary. They also seem to challenge the meaning of other sexualities whose definitions have been constructed by expressions of masculinity and/or femininity, especially the traditional concept of gay men. 2023-03-30T07:00:00Z text application/pdf https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/apssr/vol23/iss1/2 info:doi/10.59588/2350-8329.1482 https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/apssr/article/1482/viewcontent/RA_201.pdf Asia-Pacific Social Science Review Animo Repository drag queens sexuality gender equality performativity femmephobia LGBT LGBTQ LGBTQI Thailand
institution De La Salle University
building De La Salle University Library
continent Asia
country Philippines
Philippines
content_provider De La Salle University Library
collection DLSU Institutional Repository
topic drag queens
sexuality
gender equality
performativity
femmephobia
LGBT
LGBTQ
LGBTQI
Thailand
spellingShingle drag queens
sexuality
gender equality
performativity
femmephobia
LGBT
LGBTQ
LGBTQI
Thailand
Sopitarchasak, Sakol
What It Means to be a Drag Queen in Thailand: A Qualitative Study
description Despite its burgeoning popularity in recent years, “drag queen” is a relatively new concept to the Thai public. This qualitative study aims to investigate how the meaning of drag queens in Thailand is being constructed through their narratives and to look into how being drag queens affects their lives, especially regarding the experience of discrimination and abuse. Ten professional drag queens, aged 19 to 34, who based their activities in Thailand, were interviewed via phone calls in semi-structured in-depth interviews. Two participants identified as transwomen, while eight identified as gay. The interview recordings were transcribed, and the transcripts were analyzed with a hybrid approach of theoretical and inductive thematic analysis. The participants regarded drag as a form of artistic expression through physical bodies and described four important characteristics of drag queens that they had been constructing through their performativity: (1) the performing element, (2) transformation, (3) over-the-top quality, and (4) individuality. Sexuality was discussed as an important factor in being recognized as a drag queen, with the majority of participants supporting transwomen’s inclusion. The participants’ experiences related to being drag queens were grouped into seven themes: (1) happiness from being drag queens, (2) investing in drag, (3) family acceptance, (4) love lives, (5) discrimination and abuse, (6) drag queens’ limited space, and (7) Thai people’s attitude towards drag queens. Many participants had been rejected by their parents because of their sexuality and/or because they had become drag queens, but all had reconciled prior to the data collection for this study. Most gay participants experienced difficulty in establishing romantic relationships, in which femmephobia seemed to be at play. Despite acknowledging the growing, yet still limited, acceptance from the public in recent years, the participants reported discrimination and verbal harassment against them or their peers in public spaces. Drag queens, by transforming themselves between men and women and combining both masculinity and femininity in their performances, arguably challenge the conventional definition of sexuality and the concept of gender binary. They also seem to challenge the meaning of other sexualities whose definitions have been constructed by expressions of masculinity and/or femininity, especially the traditional concept of gay men.
format text
author Sopitarchasak, Sakol
author_facet Sopitarchasak, Sakol
author_sort Sopitarchasak, Sakol
title What It Means to be a Drag Queen in Thailand: A Qualitative Study
title_short What It Means to be a Drag Queen in Thailand: A Qualitative Study
title_full What It Means to be a Drag Queen in Thailand: A Qualitative Study
title_fullStr What It Means to be a Drag Queen in Thailand: A Qualitative Study
title_full_unstemmed What It Means to be a Drag Queen in Thailand: A Qualitative Study
title_sort what it means to be a drag queen in thailand: a qualitative study
publisher Animo Repository
publishDate 2023
url https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/apssr/vol23/iss1/2
https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/apssr/article/1482/viewcontent/RA_201.pdf
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