Introduction : transgenderism, homosexuality and enchantment in Myanmar and Thailand : queer ritual specialists in efflorescing spirit possession cults / Peter A. Jackson and Benjamin Baumann -- Part one : Deities. Religious pluralism and gender/sex diversity in Southeast Asia : fragments and narratives from the anthropological archive / Peter A. Jackson ; Soft hands and bodies of glass : sexuality, affect and embodiment in spirit mediumship in Northeast Thailand / Visisya Pinthongvijayakul ; The online social controversy around the gay spirit medium Phor Khun Chang Inburi : spirit mediumship and homoeroticism in Thailand / Narupon Duangwises ; Spirits in trans kinship networks : an ethnographic exploration of ritual and recognition in queer Myanmar / David F. Gilbert ; Hpyo's choice : activism or mediumship? A gay person's dilemma in contemporary Myanmar / �B�ndicte Brac de la Perr�ire -- Part two : Divas. Spirit possession and diva worship : performance and performativity in queer ritual cultures across borders / Peter A. Jackson ; The fabulous sublimity of gay diva worship / Brett Farmer ; A spirit medium for Paris Hilton : the journey of a queer Thai Buddhist hairdresser / Edoardo Siani.
Summary:
"In central Thailand, a flamboyantly turbaned gay medium for the Hindu god of the underworld posts Facebook selfies of himself hugging and kissing a young man. In Myanmar's largest city Yangon, a one-time member of a gay NGO dons an elaborate wedding dress to be ritually married to a possessing female spirit; he believes she will offer more support for his gay lifestyle than the path of LGBTQ activism. The only son of a Chinese trading family in Bangkok finds acceptance for his homosexuality and crossdressing when he becomes the medium for a revered female Chinese deity. And in northern Thailand, female mediums smoke, drink, flaunt butch masculine poses and flirt with female followers when they are ritually possessed by male warrior deities. Across the Buddhist societies of mainland Southeast Asia, local queer cultures are at the center of a recent proliferation of professional spirit mediumship. Drawing on detailed ethnographies and extensive comparative research, Deities and Divas captures this variety and ferment. The first book to trace commonalities between queer and religious cultures in Southeast Asia and the West, it reveals how modern gay, trans and spirit medium communities all emerge from a shared formative matrix of capitalism and new media. With insights and analysis that transcend the modern opposition of religion vs secularity, it provides fascinating new perspectives in transnational cultural, religious and queer studies." -- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.