Construction and the Implications of the Term Metrosexual in Thai Media

Abstract

The objectives of the study “Construction and the Implications of the Term Metrosexual in Thai Mass Media” are: 1) to find out how the term “metrosexual” has been visually and verbally constructed in the Thai mass media and what has caused the semantic and semiotic shift of the term and 2) to understand how the construction of the term is related to homosexual identity and social status, and how definitions of “masculinity” and “femininity” in Thai culture lead to different implications in the Thai mass media when compared to the West. This study is a qualitative research study applying Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as the main theoretical framework. The grammar of visual design and social semiotics were also important approaches used to analyze the data. The result of the study showed that the semiotic and semantic shift of the term “metrosexual” was influenced by economic, social and cultural factors in the Thai context, and these endowed the term with both positive and negative connotations. The verbal and visual construction of the term can be categorized chronologically. The original definition was defined and used in the West. This was followed by the introduction of a borrowed term into Thai mass media with a positive connotation for marketing purposes and a negative connotation generated by social criticism. According to the findings, the construction of the definition of “metrosexual” reflects how Thai society perceives the notion of masculinity and femininity and is based on discourses of hegemonic masculinity and negative representations of homosexuality. The positive and negative connotations of the term “metrosexual” in the Thai context also reflect the status of gay men in Thai society who cannot publically express their sexual orientation. Marketing practices carefully use verbal and visual texts in the mass media in order to avoid explicitly mentioning gay men as potentially valuable consumers of their products, contrary to the West where gay men are portrayed positively as a prototype of metrosexuals. In addition, the verbal and visual construction of the term “metrosexual” has been perceived socially to imply kathoey in a Thai context. In order to avoid mentioning that metrosexuals adopt a gay lifestyle, Thai mass media have clarified the term by comparing metrosexuals to women’s behavior and lifestyles. In Thai society, men who try to be similar to women are perceived as kathoey or effeminate gay men. Kathoey is socially understood as a failure of masculinity. Through the definition of the term “metrosexual” as valuable consumers, gay men may be economically accepted but they may not be socially and culturally accepted. The data showed that closeted gay men who used the term “metrosexual” to intentionally or unintentionally hide their actual identity were portrayed negatively as a threat to heterosexuals as well as to Thai society in general.