Mor lam 'goes gay'
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Mor lam 'goes gay'
Mor lam music is surprisingly positive about katoey, one of the songwriters’ favourite themes, but you’d never find gay men mentioned. I once pointed out in a research paper that the absence of gays signified their unacceptability in the rural areas that primarily produce mor lam.
There must be gay men in those places, and yet they were ignored – in the local news media as well as in songs.
But Queen of Mor Lam Jintara Poonlarb’s last single, “Pua Koi Pen Mia Khao” (“My Husband is His Wife”) had me wondering about this “husband” of hers. He had muscles and a beard but shaved his legs, and his buddy was a katoey neighbour. He’d also started doing the cooking.
So we had a masculine dude doing “gay” things. Was shaving his legs a sign that he was trying to deny his masculinity and become a woman? If so, did people actually believe that “acting gay” was just a stage before becoming a full-fledged katoey?
More recently I’ve seen the video for Jintara’s song, adding a visual interpretation of the husband. He is indeed tall, dark and handsome, well built and bearded, with no evident effeminacy. We see him shaving his legs, but nothing to prove he’s trying to “become a woman”.
What’s he cooking, though? According to the lyrics, he’s tam tua – pounding string beans – which I’d like to think symbolises homosexual intercourse. You hear it just before the wife comes across the boys standing close together, front to back, pounding the string beans together in the same rhythm.
It’s pretty clear to me that the husband is gay. He’s not gay and katoey.
So this song could represent a milestone – the gay man’s debut in mor lam culture. And Queen Jintara sings about them in modern slang – keng (barking deer) and kwang (normal deer). Between the slang and the video visuals, it looks like mor lam fans have noticed there’s a difference among gender identities.
The video’s final scene seems to confirm that the director knows what’s what. The husband confesses to his wife that his sexual desire is now directed elsewhere, though he doesn’t know why. He apologises, but reminds his wife that he’s still a good father to their daughter.
I think the director understands the complexity and fluidity in the sexual arena and even realises that fatherhood doesn’t require masculinity.
Our first-ever mor lam song about gay men reflects a good attitude and better understanding among a wider populace, so I’m very grateful to Jintara and her team!
