MODERN WOMAN, MODERN MAN: THE DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF SEXUAL PROPRIETY IN SIXTH-REIGN SIAM (1910-1925)

Abstract

King Vajiravudh (r. 1910-1925) defined the notion of ?Thainess? in terms of his subjects? loyalty to the absolute monarchy, but the notion gradually came to entail ideal gender roles as well. The start of his reign was marked by the abolition of the royal harem, the rejection of arranged marriage, and the promotion of monogamy and romantic love according to Victorian values. Modern Thai femininity was to reflect premarital chastity, social skills, and Western dress, while men?s loyalty to the throne was measured by sexual restraint and avoidance of intercourse with foreign women. If men who failed to abide by this moral code were stigmatized as unpatriotic, women, though still subordinate to men, were granted greater space in social life. But the royal construction of gender roles was not without contradictions as the protagonists of Vajiravudh?s own plays exhibited a Western lifestyle and homoeroticism thrived among the inner court circle.