3. It’s my feelings that I like women. I was born like this- liking the same gender- and have never felt weird or wrong. So, I feel comfortable everywhere
11. What’s important to me is this is my spirit. I’m trying to match my body to my spirit/mind.
"18 year old female CMU student/interviewee
In response to
Q3: where do you feel like you can act like your true self/perform being third gender outwardly?
Q11: What importance or meaning does being third gender have to you?
“Inelegantly, and without my consent, time passed.” -Miranda July
“What a terrible mistake to let go of something wonderful for something real.”—
Miranda July (via hellotera)
The one that goes and makes you all reflective and pre-nostalgic. It’s good, I’ve been meaning to post all week. It seems funny that standing on my balcony right now reminds me overwhelmingly of both November in Michigan and the rainy season here- rain like this all day e’eryday was all we knew for the first month or so of Thailand. I can’t help but picture myself in three places at once, though: on the porch at 5551, in front of 1338 lovell (which also means i’m in front of 1328 lovell ,too, doesn’t it?), and in my living room in my Thai home in Mae Rim while my host mom cackles boisterously on the phone talking to some old friend from the northeast. Strong premonition: leaving will hit me over the head- all of a sudden and hard- but not until i am actually doing it.
I don’t believe in the W curve, but I do believe in ups and downs. Right before and during the start of ICRP, there was a minute where I think the challenges of switching from constant structure to self management were a bit overwhelming. But everyday of the past week has been a day that I have been overwhelmingly thankful to be in this place. Sure, I ended up at mcdonalds with Pi Goo two days in a row this week, but the upside of eating that pork burger she bought for me is knowing that I am living in a country where it would have been cheaper to buy fresh fruits or vegetables anyway.
This is the stuff I’m missing out on by being out of the country, not election news.
No better way to start the morning than with a handful of warm sticky rice.
“As far as I can recall, I was fond of women long before I knew there were verbal terms to categorize people by the nature of their sexuality. It was long before I knew humans could be called heterosexual, bisexual, gay or lesbian.”
The activist also argued against a common Thai myth that regards homosexuality as an aspect of modern culture imported from the West:
“I can’t recall any Western influence that pushed me in the direction of other women. The only thing about sexuality I learned from Western films and novels as a teenager was about relationships between heroes and heroines, men and women. I would say that any influence from Western culture led me to think that I should be interested in men, not women.” (Anjaree - toward lesbian visibility, ).
touche.
and welcome to ICRP, Thailand 2012. whoa, 2012- weird:
all literary and field research, interviews and observations, and the final paper are due three weeks from today. wait, what?! um…okay.
Nothing short of thankful.
my soulmate. one of the nawng that lived nearby in my last homestay in Ban Jao Mai. You can’t exactly see him in this video, but you can hear him excitedly tell me about the moon. this child made my heart bigger. like so many of the people I have met here.
