Day 1 of Sinnott's Toms and Dees for Transnational Perspectives of Gender and Sexualities

1. Toms and D
ees--Megan
Sinnott
11/8/12

2. Sinnott:
1. homo/hetero obsession creates a binary that can be reductive. Sinnott (15): Sexual orientation says little
about gender.
2. There isn’t a clear line about what constitutes sex between women and its importance.
3. INHERENT ambivalence of all terms about sex and gender—nothing is timeless, though it might have history. Yet,
many things are constructed as timeless through constantly negotiated practices.

3. Historical Junctures
Western/Tradition Binary
history: len puan (47)
tom/dee (51-3)
female masculinity and breasts (53-4)
karma 54

4. Historical Junctures 2
Karma 54
Marriage 55
Female Possession (religious) 57
juridical 62

5. Economic Boom
70s and 80s meant change for socioeconomic status as
well as tom, dee emerge in 70s
thai daughters are considered to be responsible to
take care of families
thai women marry later than other asian nations

6. Resistant?

7. What makes
a Dee?
What makes a tom?

8. What makes a Tom? What makes a
dee?
Dees have a precarious identity. They don’t fit Thai understanding of homosexuality. 80. 81 temporary 82
(ordinary, not misgendered), and attracted to masculinity 81
Toms:
Comparable to men: 70, 104
--imagined category 105
sometimes men (among themselves) 78
used interchangeably sometimes by dees w/men, or w/sharp distinctions: soft, gentle, good listener 8f3+
among themselves: different from mena and women 84
not women, not REAL men 84
knew how to please women /better than men 85
suffering
softer
providing

9. Inconsistencies (at least to us)
western influence,
class expectations,
what categories represent, (dees should be wives and mothers 103)
masculine and which is feminine (Toms take care of Dees and service dees—in a feminized manner—so they are not
purely masculine
OUR EARLIER GENDER ONLY/SEX ONLY structure not always working.
Identities fundamentally different than our earlier self-identity exercise (110)