| Photo by S. Beth Atkin |
Kritaya Archavanitkul Interview: Conversations with History; Institute of International Studies, University of California, Berkeley
| Photo by S. Beth Atkin |
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There's a lot of things going on as you describe your work: intelligence, organizational skills, hard work, sensitivity. I want you to relate these skills to your status as a woman. Do you think that women can do this work better for all of the above reasons, or not? I'm curious because, as we talk about the issues that you work on, clearly your sensitivities and your insights derive partly from your status as a woman.
To me, I think, it is not because I am a woman that I can work well in this area. I think anyone can do like myself, either a man or a woman, or someone from any ethnic group. I think what you should have is just the heart to listen to the people's problems, that's all. But we have to accept that, for the women's issues, the woman activist is more sensitive than a male activist. Not because I think the men activists have no heart or no attention for women's problems, but their way of thinking or their socialization tend to make them neglect women's issues. So, for women's rights at least, I think women activists do better than the men.
How does your work relate to the traditional role of women in Thai society? Does the place that women have held in Thai society make it easier for women to do this kind of work than it would be in, say, the United States?
It's a very difficult question. If I could say, I think it is easier because of my age. And also because of my status, working at the university as a lecturer. We have a quite high status compared to other occupations. So when we, or I, talk about the problems, people tend to listen. And I have to emphasize again, I have not done it alone. I have a big support group. But also this high status might have a negative result because many people, even many women's groups or many women's networks, if they don't agree with what I say, they may not dare to come and tell me. So this is a disadvantage, to be such a high status.
Let's get to the actual work that you do and the topic areas. You're being recognized today for three areas of work that you've done. Let's talk about those three. You're very much involved now in women's health issues, trying to produce for Thailand an equivalent of the book that was published in the United States a few years back, Our Bodies, Ourselves. Tell me a little bit about that work and what you're trying to achieve.
The book that I enjoy the translation, adaptation of, Our Bodies, Ourselves, I think is an English book. But what we really want to do is not an English translation book, but we want to have an accurate information book about women's health for Thai women. So what we are going to do is have the Thai women write on the issue, based on the frame that we cut from this book. We hope that eventually the book will become the Thai resource book for women's health issues. I think that the way we'll try to do this, and make it widely available throughout the country, we'll try to simplify the information and make it usable for the grassroots women. So one step, one very important step, is that we have to have audience testing. And audience testing will be among the grassroots women. We hope at the end to complete the book so that it can be used in the village as well. So it's not an English-translation book, but it's a book for women, by women.
What are the cultural constraints in Thailand for undertaking a project like this?
I might say there's not any constraint at all. But what emerged from our last meeting with the grassroots women when we introduced the project to the group, what they were concerned about was the word "rights." When we talk about "women's rights," some of the grassroots women feel that it's a very radical term for the Thai culture. So we think we will use the audience-testing step and try to explain that when women argue for their rights, it doesn't mean they are aggressive. I think this is just one example but I don't think it's an important constraint or an obstacle to getting the book done. It's just one example that there is some concern from the grassroots women and we tend to listen to them and try to make them feel comfortable when they get the book and use it.
There is a problem in the literature called cultural relativism, which is that when you try to bring in Western standards it creates a problem for a culture. And what I hear you saying is that you're using feedback, you're actually testing the waters as you go along, to create a common ground between the standards from outside and what the culture and the people expect. Is that a fair statement?
Yes.
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