GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN SOUTHEAST ASIAN HISTORY
History 4160/6160
Spring 2015
Tamara Loos
Office Hours: W 2-4
Place TBA, W 10:10-12:05
Email: TL14@cornell.edu
Office: 301 McGraw
Course Description: Seminar participants will explore comparative and transnational
studies of gender and sexuality in historical and contemporary Southeast Asia. The
course is divided into four segments. Section one on the Histories of Gender and
Sexuality offers a critical assessment of gender and sexuality in Southeast Asia’s varied
historical, geographic and cultural contexts. Section two on Colonialism, Gender and
Sexuality demonstrates the centrality of sexuality and gender to imperial conquest and
colonial rule in Southeast Asia. Closely related, section three on Nationalism and
Sexuality analyzes how gender and sexuality were embedded in the construction of
nationalisms in the Philippines and Vietnam. And section four on Transgenderism
examines third gender histories and cultures, and the fault lines in debates about
transgender in the US versus Southeast Asia.
Required Texts: All books and the film are on 2-hour reserve at Uris Library and can be
purchased at the Campus Store. Other texts are available on e-reserve through History
4160’s Blackboard website. All students must create a Blackboard account in order to log in
to the course, which gives you access to the e-reserve materials. Sign up at
www.blackboard.cornell.edu.
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Barbara Andaya, The Flaming Womb: Repositioning Women in Early Modern
Southeast Asia (Honolulu: U. of Hawaii Press, 2006).
Paul Bacigalupi, The Wind Up Girl (San Francisco: Night Shade Books, 2009).
Chie Ikeya, Refiguring Women, Colonialism, and Modernity in Burma (Honlulu: U.
of Hawaii Press, 2011).
Raquel A.G. Reyes, Love, Passion and Patriotism: Sexuality and the Philippine
Propaganda Movement, 1882-1892 (Singapore: NUS Press, 2008).
Jean Gelman Taylor, The Social World of Batavia (Madison: U. of Wisconsin Press,
2001).
Vu Trong Phung, Dumb Luck (University of Michigan Press, 2002).
Rec: Susan Morgan, Bombay Anna: The Real Story and Remarkable Adventures of
the King and I Governess (Chiangmai: Silkworm Books, 2008).
Course Requirements:
1. Seminar Participation (15%). Seminar participants are required to complete all
readings for each week and to participate substantively in all class discussions.
2. Short Essay (20%). To help focus discussions, each week one member of the class
will prepare a short critical review (appx. 3-5 pages) of the assigned readings. The
purpose of this assignment is to wrestle imaginatively yet carefully with the ideas and
dilemmas presented in the readings under discussion. The student responsible for the
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review should send (via Blackboard or email) the review to all class members by 8
PM on the Monday prior to the Wednesday class. Please note that reviews must
adhere to all the formal standards of any textually circulated paper (spell-check and
proof-read them).
3. Discussion Leadership (15%). Each week, a second member of the class will serve
as discussion leader. The discussion leader has two tasks. The first is to stimulate
thought by distributing several questions to the other members of the class, also by email or Blackboard. These questions are also to be distributed by 8 PM on the
Tuesday prior to the Wednesday discussion. The purpose of these questions is to
stimulate a thought-provoking discussion that engages the main issues presented in
the readings and in the short essay. One possible approach is to relate a question to a
specific quotation in the assigned reading; another is to point out contradictions
among the readings; and so on. Note that broad descriptive questions such as “What
does Andaya say about women in Southeast Asia?” usually evoke silence as a
response. The questions should also take account of the short critical review prepared
for that set of readings. The second responsibility of the discussion leader is to begin
class discussion with a brief oral statement (five to ten minutes long) that both
explains the reasons for his or her questions and addresses the significance of the
issues raised in the student reviews. The discussion leader will then lead the seminar.
Outside material can be brought in to facilitate the discussion, but is not required.
4. Research Paper (50%). Complete a research paper (20-25 pages) on a topic that is
related to the course and that is chosen in consultation with the instructor.
• March 4: Each of you will meet individually with me during office hours by
March 4 to select a research paper topic and to discuss sources. Topics can be
comparative historically or geographically or could focus exclusively on a single
topic and place.
• March 24, 5pm: due by email is an outline, a draft of your main arguments to
date, and a bibliography (10%). The more complete the ideas, the better your
instructor will be able to provide guidance.
• March 25: individual meetings during seminar time and office hours to discuss
research papers.
• May 18, 3pm: a hard copy and electronic of your research paper is due (40%).
In this course, we respect University policies pertaining to racial or ethnic
discrimination, sexual harassment, assistance available to handicapped, visually and/or
hearing impaired students, the observance of religious holidays, and plagiarism. All
students are advised to become familiar with the respective University regulations and
are encouraged to bring any questions or concerns to our attention. I also will observe
University policy in regard to plagiarism.
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PART I: HISTORIES OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN SEA
1/21
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1/28
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Week One: Introduction
What constitutes a history of sexuality and gender? How might this be written in
Southeast Asia as opposed to the U.S. or Europe? What does the structure of
comparative or transnational history have to offer a history of sexuality and
gender?
Suggested: Tamara Loos, “Transnational, Colonial and National Histories of
Sexualities in Asia,” American Historical Review 114 (Dec. 2009): 1309-1324.
Women and Sexuality in Early Modern Southeast Asia
Barbara Andaya, The Flaming Womb, 70-196.
Andaya’s book provides a history of women and, implicitly, femininity and
sexuality, in Southeast Asia between 1400 and 1800. She introduces Southeast
Asia and its normative gender systems to us through discussions of religion,
economics and political power as they relate to women. No single book on the
history of sexuality in Southeast Asia exists, so we will extrapolate information
about sexuality from Andaya’s text.
PART II: COLONIALISM, SEXUALITY AND GENDER
2/4
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2/11
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Colonial State and Family in Indonesia
Jean Taylor, The Social World of Batavia. Read all but chapter 6 (recommended
only). There is an e-copy in addition to the hardcopies on reserve. Note: only one
person can read e-copy at a time. Taylor’s path-breaking book not only is one of
the first transnational histories written but it also demonstrates the inextricability
of gender/sexuality to “political” power. It treats the mutual influences of Dutch
metropolitan, Dutch colonial, and “Indonesian” institutions and cultures on power
hierarchies in the Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia).
Boundaries of Power: Heterosexuality, Race, and Class in Colonial SEA
Ann Laura Stoler, “Rethinking Colonial Categories: European Communities and
Boundaries of Rule.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 31, 1 (1989):
134-161.
Ann Laura Stoler, “Carnal Knowledge and Imperial Power: Gender and Morality
in the Making of Race.” In Stoler, Carnal Knowledge and Imperial Power: Race
and the Intimate in Colonial Rule (Berkeley: U. California Press, 2002): 41-78.
Stoler’s work is now considered classic and pathbreaking for understanding the
complex dynamics of race, gender, and class relations in the imperial era.
2/18
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Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I. Film in class.
Tamara Loos, “King Mongkut’s Siam.” Lincoln Center Review.
2/25
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Anna Leonowens: Gendered Politics of Scholarship on Siam
Susan Morgan, Bombay Anna, 1-11, 46-50, 75-111, 133-149.
Alfred Habbeger, Masked, 3-14, 199-214.
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3/4
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Femininity, Masculinity and Colonialism
Chie Ikeye, Refiguring Women, Colonialism, and Modernity in Burma (Honolulu:
U. of Hawaii Press, 2011). Ikeye offers an exciting and original book on gender
relations and colonial modernity in Burma.
By 3/4, each student must have met individual with instructor to choose a
research paper topic.
PART III: NATIONALISM AND SEXUALITY
3/11
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Politics and Sexuality in the Philippines
Raquel A.G. Reyes, Love, Passion and Patriotism: Sexuality and the Philippine
Propaganda Movement, 1882-1892 (Singapore: NUS, 2008). Reyes argues that
nationalist movement (politics) and sexuality of its main protagonists must be
studied together to understand the nature of political movements.
Methodologically, this study of a small group of key politicians (men) provides
insight into a broader national movement.
3/18
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Fiction and Nation: Gender and Society in Vietnam
Vu Trong Phung, Dumb Luck, transl. Peter Zinoman. Novel set in late colonial
Vietnam that satirizes Vietnamese aspirations for progress. Gender and class are
the vehicles through which these aspirations are expressed and ridiculed.
3/24
Paper outline, draft of arguments, and bibliography due by 5pm (e-copy).
3/25
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Individual meetings with instructor/Library research.
3/25 Individual meetings with instructor to discuss research paper progress.
Spring Break, March 27-April 5
PART III: TRANSGENDERISM
4/8
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Transgenderism – Past and Present in Southeast Asia
Michael Peletz, “Gender Pluralism and Transgender Practices in Early Modern
Times,” in Gender Pluralism: Southeast Asia Since Early Modern Times (NY:
Routledge, 2009): 20-83.
Peter Jackson, “Performative Genders, Perverse Desires: A Bio-History of
Thailand's Same-Sex and Transgender Cultures,” Intersections: Gender, History
and Culture in the Asian Context. Issue 9 (Aug. 2003).
http://wwwsshe.murdoch.edu.au/intersections/issue9/jackson.html.
Transgenderism arguably has a longer history in Southeast Asia than it does in
Europe and has taken on distinct formations. It has not been adequately addressed
by theories about the history of sexuality. In fact, the meanings of transgenderism
for a history of sexuality remain debatable. Peter Jackson, a cultural historian of
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Thailand, implicitly challenges Peletz’ history of transgenderism and also
discusses the applicability of Foucault’s theory of sexuality to Thailand.
4/15
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Transgenderism: Fault Lines East and West
Tales of the Waria, directed by Kathy Huang, 2011. Film about third gender
communities in Muslim Indonesia.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathy-huang/tales-of-the-wariaindonesia_b_1546629.html
Megan Sinnott, “Gender Dynamics between Toms and Dees: Subversion or
Conformity,” in Toms and Dees: Transgender Identity and Female Same-Sex
Relationships in Thailand, (Honolulu: U. of Hawaii Press, 2004), 132-161.
Peter Jackson, “Tolerant but Unaccepting: The Myth of a Thai ‘Gay Paradise,’”
Genders and Sexualities in Modern Thailand, ed. by Jackson and Cook
(Chiangmai: Silkworm Books, 1999), 226-242.
Michelle Goldberg, “What is a Woman? The Dispute between Radical Feminism
and Transgenderism,” The New Yorker (4 Aug 2014), 24-28.
Rec: Evelyn Blackwood, “Doing Gender,” in Tombois and Femmes: Defying
Gender Labels in Indonesia (Jakarta: Godown Lontar, 2011) 89-118. Normative
gender dominates the behaviors of and relations among “lesbis” in Indonesia.
This set of readings teases out some of the fault lines in the cultural debates about
homosexuality and third genderism in Muslim and Buddhist SEA vs the US.
4/22
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Gender and Sexual Dystopia
Paul Bacigalupi, The Wind Up Girl. This is a science fiction novel set in futuristic
Bangkok that plays with gender, sexual and racial stereotypes.
4/29
Presentations
5/6
Presentations
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From: Norman Owen, The Emergence of Modern Southeast Asia (2005): 500.
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