White migrant masculinities in Thailand and the paradoxes of Western privilege

Resumen

AbstractThis study examines the counter-paradigmatic migration of Westerners into Thailand, focusing on men in transnational intimate relationships in the northeastern region. We explore how the particular spaces in which they settled affected these migrants' capacities to perform what they saw as hegemonic masculinities over time. We find that they initially experienced an increase in status that they were able to convert into assets in romantic relationships, permitting them to position themselves as ‘providers’ and ‘real white men,’ drawing on masculine ideals from their home countries as well as a diffuse neocolonial imaginary. In the long run, however, these identity constructions were subject to internal contradictions and attrition. They were also place-bound, creating both financial and social obstacles to a return home, particularly for those without ties to transnational capital. The ways these patterns differ from those in existing scholarship underline how both the particular spaces of migrant settlement and temporal dimensions are critical for the analysis of migrant masculinities.Masculinidades migrantes blancas en Tailandia y las paradojas de privilegio occidentalEste estudio examina la atípica migración de personas del mundo occidental a Tailandia, centrándose en hombres en relaciones íntimas transnacionales en la región noreste. Se explora cómo los espacios particulares donde se establecieron afectaron las capacidades de estos emigrantes para llevar a cabo lo que veían como masculinidades hegemónicas a medida que pasaba el tiempo. Se encontró que inicialmente experimentaron un aumento de estado social, el cual fueron capaces de convertir en un recurso útil en relaciones amorosas, permitiéndoles posicionarse como ‘proveedores’ y ‘hombres blancos verdaderos’, sobre la base de ideales masculinos de sus países de origen, así como también de un disperso imaginario neocolonial. A la larga, sin embargo, estas construcciones de identidad fueron objeto de contradicciones internas y de profundo desgaste. Estuvieron también ligadas al lugar, creando obstáculos tanto financieros como sociales a la hora de regresar al hogar, sobre todo para aquellos sin vínculos con el capital transnacional. Las formas en que estos ejemplos difieren con estudios existentes ponen de manifiesto la importancia de los espacios particulares de asentamiento de emigrantes y de las dimensiones temporales para el análisis de las masculinidades de los mismos.Masculinités des immigrants blancs en Thaïlande et paradoxes du privilège occidentalCette étude examine la migration contre-paradigmatique des Occidentaux en Thaïlande, en se concentrant sur les hommes entretenant des relations intimes transnationales dans la région du nord-est. Nous explorons comment, au fil du temps, les espaces particuliers dans lesquels ils se sont installés ont affecté les capacités de ces immigrants d'accomplir ce qu'ils considéraient comme des masculinités hégémoniques. Nous trouvons qu'initialement, ils ont connu une élévation de leur statut qu'ils ont pu convertir en atouts dans leurs relations amoureuses, leur permettant de se poser comme « gagneur de pain » et comme « un homme blanc, un vrai », en puisant dans l'idéal masculin de leur pays d'origine ainsi que dans un imaginaire néocolonial diffus. Cependant, à la longue, ces constructions identitaires ont été soumises à de l'attrition et des contradictions intérieures. Ils étaient aussi limités à un lieu, causant ainsi des obstacles à la fois financiers et sociaux pour retourner chez eux, surtout pour ceux qui n'avaient pas accès à un capital transnational. La manière dont ces modèles diffèrent de ceux d'études actuelles souligne à quel point les espaces particuliers d'installation d'immigrants et les dimensions temporelles sont tous deux essentiels à l'analyse des masculinités des immigrants.Keywords:: masculinitymigrationexpatriateThailandwhitenesstransnational relationshipsMots-clefs:: MasculinitémigrationexpatriéThaïlandele fait d'être blancrelations transnationalesPalabras claves:: masculinidadmigraciónexpatriadosTailandiablancurarelaciones transnacionales AcknowledgementsThis research was enabled by a grant from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne. We are grateful to Paul Green, Andrew Dawson, Marc Askew, Ruth Oliphant, Dan Lim, Julienne Corboz, Susanna Nied, and the anonymous reviewers for their comments.Notes1. The terms ‘global North’ and ‘global South’ are increasingly unsatisfactory and amidst financial crisis in the West and rapid economic growth in places such as Thailand; the North-South dualism does not capture these complex and shifting loci of economic power.. However, international currency regimes still privilege those using Euros, Dollars, and Yen, and in many contexts, a historical imperial imaginary continues to produce social hierarchies grounded in the intersection of race, nationality, gender, and global position. For these reasons, we believe it is still meaningful to refer to a global North and South in a study of transnational migration, even as our analysis shows these categories to be unstable.2. ‘Hegemonic masculinity’ refers to what Connell and Messerschmidt call the ‘most honored way of being a man’ in a particular social and cultural context (2005: 832). It reflects cultural ideals that may not represent actual men's lives so much as they are popular fantasies and desires that men negotiate, subvert, go along with, or reinforce (Connell and Messerschmidt Citation2005; Coles Citation2008).3. Similar dynamics may be true for other regions of Thailand away from the central urban centers, but this study is primarily limited to Isan, so we are reluctant to generalize.4. Fechter and Walsh point out that the expatriate moniker is technically correct, but that it tends to be ‘reserved for white Western migrants,’ which not only marks them as fundamentally different but also obscures some postcolonial baggage about race that deserves to be interrogated (2010: 1199).5. The term farang popularly refers to white Westerners. According to Cook and Jackson (Citation1999: 18), it is ‘a ubiquitous Thai cultural-ethnic term which conflates “Caucasian (race)” and “Western (culture).”’6. Migrant sexualities were diverse in Bangkok and Pattaya; however, gay men did not often move to more rural provinces with their partners. In Isan, Lafferty spoke with one black Londoner and an Arab-American, but Thais did not treat them as farangs, but instead as African or Arab, so their experiences differed substantially. With so few potential informants, we were not able to fully explore these dimensions of identity here.7. For instance, Brennan (Citation2004) found romantic hopes among women working in a Dominican sex tourism district alongside fantasies of how a first-world passport could open doors to a better life. In her study of correspondence marriages between Western men and Asian women, Constable also emphasizes the wide diversity of motivations among both partners and how such relationships are not reducible to economics or power relations, even while they are shaped by them (2003).