A heteropatriarchy in moderation: Reading family in a Thai Boys Love lakhon

Ying-kit Chan

No jt6h7, SocArXiv from Center for Open Science

Abstract: A subgenre of popular culture, Thai Boys Love (BL) series is increasingly significant within Asia, but it remains under-researched in the light of new series that push the parameters of viewer acceptance of homoerotic romance in Thai society. Drawing upon a close reading of the BL lakhon Love by Chance, this article explicates how Thai cultural concepts surrounding the family are reflected in the series. While acknowledging the impact of East Asian popular culture on Thai understandings of gender and sexuality, the article highlights how the themes of familial dynamics and parental acceptance in Love by Chance represent a glocalization of the BL genre, or BL with Thai characteristics. By introducing the concept of ‘moderated heteropatriarchy’ and sketching the role of family in Thai queer lives, the article suggests that there is still space for subtle challenges or changes to the heteronormative structure as plotted in Love by Chance, even as the lakhon continues to uphold national and patriarchal principles that deny overt expressions of homoerotic romance.

Date: 2021-03-31
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:osf:socarx:jt6h7

DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/jt6h7

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