Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftliche Fakultät - Institut für Asien- und Afrikawissenschaften

29. Mai: YOUTH, GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN THE THAI TEEN DRAMA 'Hormones the Series'

Most research on teenage sexuality focuses on the implications of Thai social ideology with regard to gender roles, Buddhism and the sexual double standard but does not critically question the very concept of adolescence. This work addresses this gap through the analysis of the controversial Thai television series _Hormones the Series (HTS)_. Drawing on scholarship that re-defines both sexuality (Foucault) and adolescence (Lesko) as cultural constructs, this research analyzes representations of adolescent girls in _HTS._ In doing so it discusses: 1) How adolescence is constructed, and how the concept of adolescence is gendered. This discussion is embedded in the existing body of research on Thai social ideologies as well as recent developments in Thai government policy. 2) Can the hegemonic discourse on adolescence be understood as a discourse surrogate for broader social, political and nationalistic concerns? The analysis is then based on the hypothesis, that the valuation of teenage girls' sexual innocence has to be understood as a recent discursive construct that reflects middle-class values. It comes to the conclusion that, on a deeper level, counter-hegemonic depictions of sexually active teenage girls in _HTS_ still favor moralizing messages, tied to a hegemonic, conservative discourse on femininity and sex. However, despite its conservative bent, Hormones consistently tells its stories from the point of view of the female teenage protagonists. As such, it shifts the perspective on an area that is usually silenced in the discussion around teenage sexuality: the ways in which teenagers negotiate conservative normative requirements.
  • 29. Mai: YOUTH, GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN THE THAI TEEN DRAMA 'Hormones the Series'
  • 2017-05-28T10:00:00+02:00
  • 2017-05-28T11:00:00+02:00
  • Most research on teenage sexuality focuses on the implications of Thai social ideology with regard to gender roles, Buddhism and the sexual double standard but does not critically question the very concept of adolescence. This work addresses this gap through the analysis of the controversial Thai television series _Hormones the Series (HTS)_. Drawing on scholarship that re-defines both sexuality (Foucault) and adolescence (Lesko) as cultural constructs, this research analyzes representations of adolescent girls in _HTS._ In doing so it discusses: 1) How adolescence is constructed, and how the concept of adolescence is gendered. This discussion is embedded in the existing body of research on Thai social ideologies as well as recent developments in Thai government policy. 2) Can the hegemonic discourse on adolescence be understood as a discourse surrogate for broader social, political and nationalistic concerns? The analysis is then based on the hypothesis, that the valuation of teenage girls' sexual innocence has to be understood as a recent discursive construct that reflects middle-class values. It comes to the conclusion that, on a deeper level, counter-hegemonic depictions of sexually active teenage girls in _HTS_ still favor moralizing messages, tied to a hegemonic, conservative discourse on femininity and sex. However, despite its conservative bent, Hormones consistently tells its stories from the point of view of the female teenage protagonists. As such, it shifts the perspective on an area that is usually silenced in the discussion around teenage sexuality: the ways in which teenagers negotiate conservative normative requirements.
  • Wann 28.05.2017 von 10:00 bis 11:00
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Rosalia Namsai Engchuan holds an MA in Modern South- and Southeast Asian Studies from Humboldt University, Berlin and a BA in Asian Studies and Management from HTWG, Konstanz. She is now a doctoral candidate at Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle.

 

Poster RV Gender and Media Studies final