Who Gets to Tell the Non-Normative Stories? Cisgender Positionality in Constructing Thai Gay Identity
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Abstract
This study analyzes heteronormative discourse in constructing Thai gay identity through cisgender positionality in Watchara Pan-Iam’s 1997 non-fictional text Maa Pen Gay Gan Toe (Let Us Be Gay). Through systematic close reading analysis of linguistic patterns, semantic structures, and thematic elements, this study demonstrates how Pan-Iam’s text reinforces cisheteronormative perspectives through strategic use of gender-neutral language, reduces gay identity to stereotypical roles in entertainment and beauty industries, and deflects engagement with non-normative rights through superficial activist discourse. The findings reveal how cisgender author positionality can perpetuate systemic inequities in Thai non-normative representation, contributing to both queer literary criticism and Thai gender studies by establishing frameworks for evaluating cisgender-authored narratives about marginalized identities.
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