chapter 6. other concepts relating to sex - Windward Community ...

looked). Police also rent the videos, sometimes for free as a form of payment. One of the top
ranked officers told me that this officer must be doing it on his own as this practice is not
allowed. 25
Many of the new symbols students are exposed to in Mahasarkahm result from
globalization fostered through the media. Students are some of the most ardent embracers of the
new and the modified. They love Western fashion, music, movies, and sports. One video shop,
which carries foreign (i.e., American) videos, rents them largely to educated types such as
teachers at the colleges. Students watch fewer videos because of the expense of the equipment,
but they are familiar with the stories and watch American videos dubbed into Thai in the main
movie theaters in town or at the university. A concept of which Thai speak frequently when
talking about the West is "free sex," which they see evidence of in movies, magazines, and TV
shows. "Free sex" refers to unrestricted casual sex. They believe this is a cultural norm in the US
and that it threatens to diffuse to Thailand. Even Thai males speak negatively about free sex,
though I can say from personal experience that some fervently hope American women in
Thailand practice it. 26 On several occasions I was told that Thai "don't have free sex like
Americans do." Though both Thai men and women speak negatively of "free sex," when pressed
for examples, the disapproval is primarily directed at women having sex, not men.
There is no single view of sexual relations for SWU students. Sex has many purposes and
many meanings. In the case of "free sex," it represents foreignness, a lack of control, and a kind
of cultural corruption. In the context of marriage or a committed relationship leading to marriage,
it is a natural expression of a physical need and a expression of love, on the part of both the man
25
However, this same officer told me that he is only able to answer my questions with official responses. I
am quite confident he knows who collects what money from whom.
26
In Mahasarakham, I was explicitly propositioned by both a student from another college and a SWU
professor. While in Pattaya with a large group of students from Thammasat, a good (male) friend from my
Chiang Mai University days arranged for me to stay in his room rather than with the female students,
unbeknownst to me (resulting in a very heated argument). And at several hotels and bungalows over the
years, hotel workers or guests have made sexual advances. In all cases, it seemed to me as though they
expected me to be interested in sex with them.
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