Untitled - subsite - å½éåºç£æå¤§å¦

More documents

Recommendations

Info

: Research Articles: Naming the Unspeakable: Representing Rape in Thai Literature 29 Naming the Unspeakable: Representing Rape in Thai Literature Chutima Pragatwutisarn Rape is one of the most under-represented crimes in Thai society. Silence about rape is mainly caused by the cultural norms that stigmatize women and blame them for the assaults. In her content analysis of rape news circulating in Thai society, Suwannee Kalayanasant (1993) finds that: The media constructs either the eccentric behavior of the rapists or the tempting rape victims as the motives for rape. In addition, the media constructs the location of the rape with the atmosphere of darkness and isolation. This representation of rape by the media reinforces the patriarchal ideology that restricts women to the domestic sphere and to the traditional roles of wife and mother. Similarly, Juree Vichit-Vadakan (1999) notes how the propensity towards sexual violence amongst the public is exacerbated by the media that normalize its threatening effects. In her discussion of the rape scenes in Thai soap operas, Juree states that the rape of the heroine usually occurs when the hero is in a drunken state. The heroine as a victim of rape feels anger and hostility towards the hero only to find herself gradually falling in love with the man who raped her. This theme, says Juree, seems to absolve the wrong-doing of rape, almost as if drunkenness is an excuse for sexual misconduct and that rape motivated by love is excusable. It also seems to imply that rape victims could learn to love their assailants (p. 198). The representation of rape by the media reinforces the rape myths that large segments of Thai society widely endorse. Under such circumstances, the disclosure of rape becomes a difficult task the victim must face as she struggles to articulate her experience. Self-inflicted silence is the response of many women to the violence they experience. Womens stories of sexual abuse reveal the paradoxical nature of the representation of trauma. As Brenda Daly (1998), an incest victim, reports:
30 The poisonous lesson of my childhood was that I could speak, I even could cry out, but no one would hear me, no one would listen. In what sense, then, did I possess language What was the point of speaking and writing if no one listened At the same time, I wanted more than anything else, to be heard and believed. (p. 5) Victims are torn between a strong desire to tell their stories and an equal impulse to conceal them. They realize that their traumatic experience is unspeakable, resistant to, and yet dependent on, narrativity. Their narrative structures reflect the process that Harvard psychiatrist Judith Herman (1992) describes as the conflict between the will to deny horrible events and the will to proclaim them aloud. People who have survived atrocities often tell their stories in a highly emotional, contradictory, and fragmented manner which determines their credibility and thereby serves the twin imperatives of truth-telling and secrecy (p. 1). In contrast with scholars and academic researchers who easily turn rape into a topic of discussion, those who have direct experience of rape have difficulty recalling their traumatic past, and many avoid talking about it altogether. Also, when rape is committed by family members, it is closely guarded as a family secret. According to Juree, Thai women from the upper classes may avoid sexual violence caused by non-family members more easily than their middle and lower class sisters. However, says Juree, sexual assault and rape within the family and among acquaintances do occur among upper socioeconomic classes in Thailand as they also happen in other countries. But to preserve family honour and stature in society, such events tend not to be made public but are dealt with through internal mediation and negotiation (p. 186). Denying that rape could have occurred in the family helps those in the upper class keep face in society at the expense of the rape victims. Moreover, since the family is considered the most important social unit in ones life and since children have been taught to obey their parents, many abuse victims, feeling themselves responsible for breaking up the family, refuse to report their assaults to the police. Many point out how breaking the silence is an act of self-empowerment for abuse victims. As Susan D. Rose (1999) argues,
Page 2 and 3: Contents 1 -----------------------
Page 4 and 5: 3 On the Inaugural Issue 3 CGS200
Page 6 and 7: 5 On the Inaugural Issue On the Ina
Page 8 and 9: : : Research Articles:Representin
Page 10 and 11: : : 9 Research Articles:Represent
Page 12 and 13: : : 11 Research Articles:Represen
Page 28: : : 27 Research Articles:Represen
Page 33 and 34: 32 to uncover. It is the name that
Page 35 and 36: 34 terms of disgust and abhorrence.
Page 37 and 38: 36 opposition to the real one fasci
Page 39 and 40: 38 1999; Hooks, 1989). By narrating
Page 41 and 42: 40 her traumatic experience. Howeve
Page 43 and 44: 42 event (p. 205). As a rape victim
Page 45 and 46: 44 received positive popular accept
Page 47 and 48: 46 In Behind a Cloud-Patterned Scre
Page 49 and 50: 48 Suwannee Kalayanasant (1993). A
Page 51 and 52: 50
Page 53 and 54: 52 who married and produced childre
Page 55 and 56: 54 In fact, a working woman may hav
Page 57 and 58: 56 The concept of Arthanareeswara (
Page 59 and 60: 58 gender diversity and gender port
Page 61 and 62: 60 Most of the advertisements sugge
Page 63 and 64: 62 as occurrences and not discussed
Page 65 and 66: 64 Kauravas: Sons of King Dhritaras
Page 67 and 68: 66
Page 69 and 70: 68 ² B 1995 10 21
Page 71 and 72: 70 1995 10 20 30 1995 10
Page 73 and 74: 72 E 10 3200 2004 18 64
Page 75 and 76: 74
Page 77 and 78: 76 The Politics of Gaze: on the Rel
Page 79 and 80:
78 Turner1996=1999:16 ⁴ 1
Page 81 and 82:
80 : 2005:150
Page 83 and 84:
82 ¹² ¹³
Page 85 and 86:
84 2005 ¹⁷ 30 PC 2
Page 87 and 88:
86 DQN : DQN
Page 89 and 90:
88 ¹⁸ ¹⁹ CLANNADKEY PC 2
Page 91 and 92:
90 Moon(1992-1997) ). However, the
Page 94 and 95:
: : Field Reports: Gender and Hum
Page 96 and 97:
: : 95 Field Reports: Gender and
Page 98 and 99:
Page 100 and 101:
Page 102 and 103:
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
Page 108 and 109:
Page 110 and 111:
: 109 Book Reviews:Kawahashi, Norik
Page 112 and 113:
Page 114 and 115:
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118 and 119:
2005: : International Workshop 20
Page 120 and 121:
2005: : 119 International Worksho
Page 122 and 123:
Page 124 and 125:
Page 126 and 127:
Page 128 and 129:
Page 130 and 131:
Page 132 and 133:
Page 134 and 135:
Page 136 and 137:
Page 138 and 139:
Page 140 and 141:
Page 142 and 143:
141 2005: : International Worksh
Page 144 and 145:
143 2005: : International Worksh
Page 146 and 147:
Report : US Japan Workshop 145 .
Page 148 and 149:
147 Report : US Japan Workshop
Page 150 and 151:
149 Report : US Japan Workshop
Page 152 and 153:
151 Report : US Japan Workshop with
Page 154 and 155:
153 Report : US Japan Workshop The
Page 156 and 157:
155 Report : US Japan Workshop 200
Page 158 and 159:
157 Report : US Japan Workshop 3:4
Page 160 and 161:
159 Report : US Japan Workshop 9:55
Page 162 and 163:
2005 CGS CGS Activity Report AY,
Page 164 and 165:
2005 CGS 163 CGS Activity Report
Page 166 and 167:
Page 168 and 169:
Page 170 and 171:
Page 172 and 173:
CGS 2006 AY 2006 Activity Schedul
Page 174 and 175:
CGS 2006 173 AY 2006 Activity Sch
Page 176 and 177:
175 Notes CGS CGS editorial staff
Page 178 and 179:
177 Notes KIBE, Takashi Normative
Page 180 and 181:
179 Notes 3 3 cgs@ic
Page 182 and 183:
181 Notes • The title should be s
Page 184 and 185:
183 Notes
show all

Untitled - subsite - å½éåºç£æå¤§å­¦

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?

Untitled - subsite - å½éåºç£æå¤§å¦