Kathoey Ladyboy
ISBN : 9783741212888
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Kathoeys are more visible and more accepted in Thai culture than transgender or transsexual people are in Western countries or the Indian subcontinent. Several popular Thai models, singers and movie stars are kathoeys, and Thai newspapers often print photos of the winners of female and kathoey beauty contests side by side. The phenomenon is not restricted to urban areas; there are kathoeys in most villages, and kathoey beauty contests are commonly held as part of local fairs.
Although the term ladyboy is rather ambiguous, simply put, it is a male who dresses as and carries out the identity of a woman. Though the term is often translated as transgender, transgender is rarely used in Thailand, instead they use the term Kathoey. This term can now also be used to refer to any male homosexual and was originally used to refer to intersex people. Due to this term becoming so broad many choose to use the English word to explain a homosexual male dressing as a woman as a “ladyboy," this eliminates much of the confusion. The term can also be meant as an insult, especially to those who are trying to completely alter their identity to that of a woman. Ladyboys suggest that they are still men who are merely dressed as women. The term is used rather loosely at times and can be used to refer to any male who is acting with feminine qualities. Personally most of the women prefer to call themselves “a transformed goddess” or “a second type of woman”
Kathoey
Kathoey or katoey is a Thai term that refers to a transgender or an effeminate gay male in Thailand. While a significant number of Thais perceive kathoeys as belonging to a third gender, including many kathoeys themselves, others see them as either a kind of man or a kind of woman. Related phrases include sao (or phuying) praphet song (Thai: 
"a second kind of woman") and phet thi sam (Thai: 
"third gender"). The word kathoey is of Khmer origin. It is most often rendered as ladyboy or lady boy in English conversation with Thais and this latter expression has become popular across South East Asia. Some English sources gloss kathoeys as non-males.
General description
The term "kathoey" is not an equivalent of the modern Western transsexual woman. Use of the term "kathoey" suggests that the person self-identifies as a type of male, in contrast to sao praphet song (which like "trans woman" suggests a "female" gender identity) or phet thi sam (which suggests a third gender). The term phu-ying praphet thi sorng, which can be translated as "woman of the second kind", is also used to refer to kathoey. Australian scholar of sexual politics in Thailand Peter Jackson claims that the term "kathoey" was used in premodern times to refer to intersex people, and that the usage changed in the middle of the twentieth century to cover cross-dressing males. The term can refer to males who exhibit varying degrees of femininity – many kathoeys dress as women and undergo "feminising" medical procedures such as breast implants, hormones, silicone injections, or Adam's apple reductions. Others may wear makeup and use feminine pronouns, but dress as men, and are closer to the Western category of effeminate gay man than transgender.
The term "kathoey" may be considered pejorative, especially in the form "kathoey-saloey". It has a meaning similar to the English language "fairy" or "queen".
Social context
Kathoey work in predominately female occupations, such as in shops, restaurants and beauty salons, but also in factories (a reflection of Thailand's high proportion of female industrial workers). Kathoey also work in entertainment and tourist centers, in cabarets and as sex workers. Kathoey sex workers have high rates of HIV.
Kathoeys are more visible and more accepted in Thai culture than transgender or transsexual people are in Western countries or the Indian subcontinent. Several popular Thai models, singers and movie stars are kathoeys, and Thai newspapers often print photos of the winners of female and kathoey beauty contests side by side. The phenomenon is not restricted to urban areas; there are kathoeys in most villages, and kathoey beauty contests are commonly held as part of local fairs.
Using the notion of Karma, some Thai believe that being a kathoey is the result of transgressions in past lives, concluding that kathoey deserve pity rather than blame.
A common stereotype is that older well-off kathoey provide financial support to young men with whom they are in a personal relationship.
Kathoeys currently face many social and legal impediments. Families (and especially fathers) are typically disappointed if a son becomes a kathoey, and kathoeys often have to face the prospect of coming out. However, kathoey generally have greater acceptance in Thailand than most other Asian countries. Legal recognition of kathoeys and transsexuals is non-existent in Thailand: even if transsexuals have had genital reassignment surgery, they are not allowed to change their legal sex. Discrimination in employment remains rampant. Issues can also arise in regards to access to amenities and gender allocation; for example, a kathoey and a transsexual who has undergone sexual reassignment surgery would still have to stay in an all-male prison.
Recent developments
In 1993, Thailand's teacher training colleges had implemented a semi-formal ban on allowing homosexual (which included kathoey) students enrolling in courses leading to qualification for positions in kindergartens and primary schools. In January 1997, the Rajabhat Institutes (the governing body of the colleges) announced it would formalize the ban, which would extend to all campuses at the start of the 1997 academic year. The ban was quietly rescinded later in the year, following the replacement of the Minister of Education.
In 1996, a volleyball team composed mostly of gays and kathoeys, known as The Iron Ladies (Thai: 
satree lek), later portrayed in two Thai movies, won the Thai national championship. The Thai government, concerned with the country's image, barred two of the kathoeys from joining the national team and competing internationally.
Among the most famous kathoeys in Thailand is Nong Tum, a former champion Thai boxer who emerged into the public eye in 1998. She was already cross-dressing and taking hormones while still a popular boxer; she would enter the ring with long hair and makeup, occasionally kissing a defeated opponent. She announced her retirement from professional boxing in 1999 – undergoing genital reassignment surgery, while continuing to work as a coach, and taking up acting and modeling. She returned to boxing in 2006.
In 2004, the Chiang Mai Technology School allocated a separate restroom for kathoeys, with an intertwined male and female symbol on the door. The 15 kathoey students are required to wear male clothing at school but are allowed to sport feminine hairdos. The restroom features four stalls, but no urinals.
Following the 2006 Thai coup d'état, kathoeys are hoping for a new third sex to be added to passports and other official documents in a proposed new constitution. In 2007, legislative efforts have begun to allow kathoeys to change their legal sex if they have undergone genital reassignment surgery; this latter restriction was controversially discussed in the community.
Bell Nuntita, a contestant of Thailand's Got Talent TV shows, became a YouTube hit when she first performed singing as a girl, and the crowd become amazed when she switches to a masculine voice.
Culture
Revues and music groups
The first all kathoey music group in Thailand was formed in 2006. It is named Venus Flytrap and was selected and promoted by Sony BMG Music Entertainment.
The Lady Boys of Bangkok is a kathoey revue that has been performed in the UK since 1998 touring the country in both theatres and the famous "Sabai Pavilion" for 9 months each year.
Films
Ladyboys is a 1992 documentary film made for Channel 4 TV and directed by Jeremy Marre. It relates the story of two teenage kathoey who prepare for and enter a rural beauty contest and then leave for Pattaya to find work in a cabaret revue.
The story of the 1996 Iron Ladies volleyball team underlies the humorous and successful 2000 movie The Iron Ladies and the 2003 sequel The Iron Ladies 2.
The 2002 Thai film Saving Private Tootsie tells the story of a group of gays and kathoey who need to be rescued after a plane crash in rebel-held jungle territory. The film explores anti-gay attitudes in various ways. It is loosely based on an incident in December 1998 when a group including a popular singer and his kathoey makeup artist survived a plane crash. The life of the kathoey kick boxer Nong Tum is related in the 2003 film Beautiful Boxer. Unlike The Iron Ladies 1 & 2, Beautiful Boxer used a serious tone.
In the 2005 Thai martial arts film The Warrior King the main villain is a kathoey, although references to this were edited out for the American release. She is played by Jin Xing who is herself transgendered.
The extreme traveller show Madventures had a section on kathoeys on the third season.
In the 2011 American film The Hangover Part II, Stu inadvertently has sex with a kathoey (played by Yasmin Lee) while on a drug-induced bender in Bangkok.
Ladyboys (film)
Ladyboys
Directed by Jeremy Marre Produced by Jeremy
Marre
Release date(s) 1992
Ladyboys is a 1992 documentary film about the struggle of two teenage kathoey, or Thai male-to-female transgender persons, to leave the rural countryside and become famous transvestite performers in the glamorous cabarets of Pattaya. The film was produced by Jeremy Marre. It was made by Harcourt TV for Channel 4. The documentary opened at the San Francisco Film Festival.
Nightlife
Pattaya has derived part of its reputation as a tourist destination due to the sex industry and the resulting nightlife, and in many ways the city has become what it is now because of this. Prostitution in Thailand is technically illegal but reality shows that it is tolerated as is the case for Pattaya with its vast numbers of host bars, gogo bars, massage parlours, saunas, and hourly hotels, serving foreign tourists as well as locals. This is prevalent in the Walking Street as well as other areas around the city. Efforts have of late been made to clean up the city's image.
Pattaya also has Asia's largest gay scene based around Boyztown and Sunee Plaza. The city is also famous for its flamboyant kathoey cabaret shows where transsexuals and transgenders perform to packed houses.
Transgender A trans woman (sometimes trans-woman or transwoman) is a male-to-female (MTF) transgender person with a female gender identity. The label of transgender woman is not interchangeable with that of transsexual woman, although the two are often combined or mistaken for the same thing. A transsexual woman is someone who was assigned male at birth but whose gender identity is that of a woman; transsexual women may undergo physical changes to align their body with their gender identity (known as transition). Transgender is an umbrella term that includes different types of gender variant people (including transsexual people) so transgender women could, for example, refer to either a woman who was assigned male at birth, identifies as a woman, but does not wish to undergo physical changes, or a transsexual woman.
Overview
"Assigned sex" refers to the assigning or naming of the sex of a baby, usually based upon the appearance of external genitalia.
"Gender identity" refers to a person's private sense of, and subjective experience of, their own gender. This may be different to the sex that the person was assigned at birth.
"Transition" refers to the process of adopting a social and personal identity that corresponds to one's own sense of the gendered self, and may or may not include medical intervention (hormone treatment, surgery, etc.), changes in legal documents (name and/or sex indicated on identification, birth certificate, etc.), and personal expression (clothing, accessories, voice, body language).
Both transsexual and transgender women may experience gender dysphoria, a (sometimes) severe pain and discomfort brought upon by the discrepancy between their gender identity the sex that was assigned to them at birth (and the associated gender role and/or primary and secondary sex characteristics).
Both transsexual and transgender women may transition, though only transsexual women would medically transition. A major component of medical transition for trans women is estrogen hormone replacement therapy, which causes the development of female secondary sexual characteristics (breasts, redistribution of body fat, lower waist to hip ratio, etc.). This, along with sex reassignment surgery can bring immense relief, and in most cases, rids the person of gender dysphoria.
In the same manner, a trans man is someone who was assigned female at birth, but whose gender identity is that of a man.
Terminology
Some trans women who feel that their gender transition is complete prefer to be called simply "women," considering "trans woman" or "male-to-female transsexual" to be terms that should only be used for people who are not fully transitioned. Likewise, many may not want to be seen as a "trans woman" owing to society's tendency to "Other" individuals who do not fit into the sex/gender binary, or have personal reasons beyond that not to wish to identify as transgender post-transition. For this reason, many see it as an important and appropriate distinction to include a space in the term, as in "trans woman", thus using "trans" as merely an adjective describing a particular type of woman; this is in contrast to the usage of "transwoman" as one word, implying a "third gender".
Sexual orientation
The stereotype of the effeminate boy who grows up to live as a woman has a very long history. It is a common misconception and stereotype that all transgender and transsexual women are heterosexual (attracted to males). However, research on the sexual orientation of trans women in the past has been dubious at best. Many studies on this issue have suffered from reporting bias, since many transsexual people feel they must give the "correct" answers to such questions to increase their chances of obtaining hormone replacement therapy. Patrick Califia, author of Sex Changes and Public Sex, has indicated that this group has a clear awareness of what answers to give to survey questions to be considered eligible for hormone replacement therapy and/or sex reassignment surgery:
"None of the gender scientists seem to realize that they, themselves, are responsible for creating a situation where transsexual people must describe a fixed set of symptoms and recite a history that has been edited in clearly prescribed ways to get a doctor's approval for what should be their inalienable right."
A survey of roughly 3000 trans women showed that only 23% of them identified as heterosexual, with 31% as bisexual, 29% as lesbian, 7% as asexual, 7% as queer and 2% as "other".
Libido
In a 2008 study, trans women had a higher incidence of decreased libido (34%) than cisgender females (23%), but the difference was not statistically significant and may have been due to chance. As in males, female libido is thought to correlate with serum testosterone levels (with some controversy ) but the 2008 study found no such correlation in trans women.
Discrimination
Trans women, like all gender variant people, face a vast amount of discrimination and transphobia. A survey of roughly 3000 trans women living in the United States, as summarized in the report "Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey", found that trans women reported that:
36% have lost their job due to their gender.
55% have been discriminated against whilst being hired.
29% have been denied a promotion.
25% have been refused medical care.
60% of the trans women that have visited a homeless shelter reported incidents of harassment there.
When displaying identity documents incongruent with their gender identity/expression, 33% have been harassed and 3% have been physically assaulted.
20% reported harassment by police, with 6% reporting physical assaulted and 3% reporting sexual assault by an officer. 25% have been treated generally with disrespect by police officers.
Among jailed trans women, 40% have been harassed by inmates and 38% have been harassed by staff. 21% have been physically assaulted and 20% sexually assaulted.
The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs' report of 2010 anti-LGBTQ violence found that of the 27 people who were murdered because of their LGBTQ identity, 44% were trans women.
Discrimination is particularly severe towards trans women of color, who experience the intersection of racism and transphobia. Multiracial, Latina, Black and American Indian trans women are twice to more than three times as likely as White trans women to be sexually assaulted in prison.
In her book Whipping Girl, Julia Serano refers to the unique discrimination trans women experience as 'transmisogyny'.
Notable trans women
Marja-Sisko Aalto, Finnish former Evangelical-Lutheran priest
Calpernia Addams, American actress, author, autobiographer, entrepreneur, activist, fiddle player
Aderet, Israeli pop singer
Allenina, Chinese-American model, actress, dancer, and director
Rebecca Allison, American cardiologist and past President of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA)
Nadia Almada, Portuguese-British Big Brother UK 2004 winner
Barbra Amesbury, Canadian singer-songwriter
Charlie Jane Anders, writer and co-editor of the blog io9
Enza Anderson, Canadian media personality and political activist
Erica Andrews aka Erica Salazar, Mexican-born American international and national beauty pageant title winner, drag performer, actor and entrepreneur
Anna Anthropy, American video-game designer and critic
Gwen Araujo, American teenage murder victim
Patricia Araujo, Brazilian actress and model
Alexis Arquette, American actress, musician, member of the Arquette family of actors
Nina Arsenault, Canadian writer, actress, columnist and sex-trade worker
April Ashley, British model
Estelle Asmodelle, Australian actress, author, dancer, and transgender activist
Mianne Bagger, Danish-Australian professional golfer
Jenny Bailey, British politician and mayor
Christine Beatty, American writer, musician and transgender activist
Georgina Beyer, New Zealand politician, first transgender person globally to become a mayor (1995) and a member of Parliament (1999)
Alexandra Billings, American actress
Maddie Blaustein, American voice actress
Alejandra Bogue, Mexican actress and TV host
Kate Bornstein, American activist, author, gender theorist, performance artist and playwright
Marci Bowers, American gynaecologist and sex-reassignment surgeon
Wendy Carlos, American composer and electronic musician
Candis Cayne, American actress and entertainer
Parinya Charoenphol, Thai muay thai boxer, actress and model
Jamie Clayton, American model and actress
Roberta Close, Brazilian model
Coccinelle, French actress, entertainer and transgender activist
Canary Conn, American musician and author
Raewyn Connell, Australian sociologist
Joanne Conte, American politician and activist
Lynn Conway, American computer scientist, electrical engineer and transgender activist
Caroline Cossey (a.k.a. Tula), English model
Jayne County, American rock singer
Roberta Cowell, First legally recognised male to female transgender person in the UK (1951), memoirist
Laverne Cox, American actress
Katelynn Cusanelli, cast member on MTV's The Real World: Brooklyn, and the first transgender individual to star on the show.
Michelle Duff, Canadian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer
Michelle Dumaresq, Canadian downhill mountain bike racer
Lili Elbe, Danish artist, society figure and early recipient of sex reassignment surgery (1930)
Amanda Lepore, American model and performer.
Bülent Ersoy, Turkish singer of Ottoman classical music
Bibiana Fernández, Spanish presenter and actress
Ina Fried, American journalist and senior writer for CNET Networks
Chiya Fujino, Japanese fiction author
BB Gandanghari, a Filipina actress and commercial model
Francis García, Mexican performer and actress
Laura Jane Grace, lead singer and guitarist for punk rock band Against Me!
Anna Grodzka, Polish politician
Harisu, South Korean entertainer, actress, and singer
Choi Han-bit, South Korean model
Ai Haruna, Japanese singer and television personality
Lauren Harries, British media personality
Rebecca Heineman, One of the founders of Interplay and long time video game programmer.
Adela Hernandez, first transgender person elected to political office in Cuba
Jenny Hiloudaki, Greek model
Dana International, Israeli pop singer
Kim Coco Iwamoto, American politician
Juliet Jacques, British journalist
Andrea James, American filmmaker and activist
Aya Kamikawa, Japanese politician
Isis King, American designer and finalist on America's Next Top Model
Victoria Kolakowski, American lawyer and judge
Christine Jorgensen, first person to become widely known in the United States for having male-to-female sex reassignment surgery (1953), celebrity
Jennifer Leitham, American double-bass musician
Chen Lili, Chinese singer, model and actress
Alicia Liu, Taiwanese model and television personality
Deirdre McCloskey, American economist
Janet Mock, Hawaiian transgender activist and writer
Micheline Montreuil, Canadian lawyer, teacher, writer, radio host, trade unionist and politician
Jan Morris, British writer
Ataru Nakamura, Japanese singer
Judiel Nieva, Filipina alleged witness of a Marian apparition
Bell Nuntita, a Thai freelance singer, entertainer and radio D.J
Jessica Orsini, American politician
Kim Petras, German singer
Veronique Renard, Dutch author and Free-Tibet activist
Renée Richards, American tennis player
Miriam Rivera, reality television, Mexican television personality and model
Martine Rothblatt, American lawyer, technological theorist, author and entrepreneur
Joan Roughgarden, American biologist
Carmen Rupe, New Zealand/Australian entertainer, politician, activist and cultural identity
Jessica Amanda Salmonson, American fantasy author
Kayo Satoh, Japanese model and television personality
Julia Serano, American writer, trans activist, and biologist
Amanda Simpson, Senior Technical Adviser to the United States Department of Commerce
D. C. Simpson, American cartoonist (Ozy and Millie)
Theresa Sparks, executive director of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission
Allanah Starr, pornographic actress and party hostess
Sandy Stone, American academic theorist, media theorist, author, and performance artist
Margaret Stumpp, American executive
Lea T, Brazilian fashion model
Audrey Tang, Taiwanese free software programmer
Manuela Trasobares, Spanish artist, opera singer and politician
Ayana Tsubaki, Japanese television personality and fashion model
Kelly van der Veer, Dutch celebrity and singer
Lana Wachowski, American film director, screenwriter, and producer
Bali White, Researcher and Activist
Sophie Wilson, British computer scientist
Marie-Pier Ysser, French entertainer and academic
Transvestism
Cross-dressingHistory of cross-dressingBreeches role Breeching
Travesti In film and television
In wartime Pantomime dameKey elements
As a transgender identity
Passing TransvestismModern drag culture
Ball culture Drag
Drag king Drag pageantry
Drag queen Faux queen
List of drag queensSexual aspects
Autoandrophilia Autogynephilia
Feminization Petticoating
Transvestic fetishism
Sissy Transgender sexualitySexual attraction
to cross-dressers
Andromimetophilia
GynemimetophiliaOther aspects
Bacha posh Crossplay
En femme
Female masking
Gender disguisePassing as maleBreast binding
PackingPassing as femaleCleavage enhancement
Hip and buttock padding
Breast formsOrganizations
Tri-EssBooks
My Husband Betty
She's Not The Man I MarriedTransvestism (also called transvestitism) is the practice of cross-dressing, which is wearing clothing traditionally associated with the opposite sex or gender. Transvestite refers to a person who cross-dresses; however, these are clinical terms that carry potentially negative connotations or implications of mental illness. Cross-dresser, a word that more accurately describes the behavior and avoids clinical or pathological implications, is the preferred term.
History
Coined as late as the 1910s, the phenomenon is not new. It was referred to in the Hebrew Bible. The word has undergone several changes of meaning since it was first coined and is still used in a variety of senses.
Origin of the term
Magnus Hirschfeld coined the word transvestism (from Latin trans-, "across, over" and vestitus, "dressed") to refer to the sexual interest in cross-dressing. He used it to describe persons who habitually and voluntarily wore clothes of the opposite sex. Hirschfeld's group of transvestites consisted of both males and females, with heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, and asexual orientations.
Hirschfeld himself was not happy with the term: He believed that clothing was only an outward symbol chosen on the basis of various internal psychological situations. In fact, Hirschfeld helped people to achieve the very first name changes (legal given names were and are required to be gender-specific in Germany) and performed the first reported sexual reassignment surgery. Hirschfeld's transvestites therefore were, in today's terms, not only transvestites, but a variety of people from the transgender spectrum.
Hirschfeld also noticed that sexual arousal was often associated with transvestism. In more recent terminology, this is sometimes called autogynephilia. Hirschfeld also clearly distinguished between transvestism as an expression of a person's "contra-sexual" (transgender) feelings and fetishistic behavior, even if the latter involved wearing clothes of the other sex.
Cross-dressers
After all the changes that took place during the 1970s, a large group was left without a word to describe themselves: heterosexual males (that is, male-bodied, male-identified, gynephilic persons) who wear traditionally feminine clothing. This group was not particularly happy with the term "transvestism". Therefore, the term "cross-dresser" was coined. Self-identified cross-dressers generally do not have fetishistic intentions, but are instead men who wear female clothing and often both admire and imitate women.
This group did—and sometimes still does—distance themselves strictly from both gay men and transsexuals, and usually also deny any fetishistic intentions. It was probably this development that led to the explicit definition of transvestic fetishism as distinctively different from transvestism.
However, when this group of people achieved public attention, they were commonly referred to as transvestites rather than cross-dressers. That led, paradoxically, to yet another usage of transvestism: cross-dressing, male-bodied, male-identified, heterosexual persons. This group typically self-identifies as "cross-dressers".
When cross-dressing occurs for erotic purposes over a period of at least six months and when it causes significant distress or impairment, the behavior is considered a mental disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the psychiatric diagnosis "transvestic fetishism" is applied.
Culture
In some cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious, traditional or ceremonial reasons. For example, in India some male devotees of the Hindu god Krishna, especially in Mathura and Vrindavan, dress in female attire to pose as his consort, the goddess Radha, as an act of devotion. In Italy, the Neapolitan femminielli (feminine males) wear wedding dresses, called the matrimonio dei femminielli (marriage of the femminielli), a procession takes place through the streets, a tradition that apparently has pagan origins.
San Francisco International Film Festival
San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF) is among the longest running film festivals in the Americas. Organized by the San Francisco Film Society, the International is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries annually. The Festival highlights current trends in international film and video production with an emphasis on work that has not yet secured U.S. distribution. Since its inception, the International has grown to serve over 70,000 patrons, with screenings held in San Francisco and Berkeley.
Ted Hope currently serves as the executive director of the San Francisco Film Society and SFIFF. Prior to Hope, the festival was briefly headed by Bingham Ray, who served as SFFS executive director until his death after only ten weeks on the job in January 2012. Graham Leggat became the executive director of the San Francisco Film Society on October 17, 2005. The Scottish-born Leggat died on August 25, 2011 from cancer, aged 51.
SFIFF is currently programmed by SFFS Director of Programming Rachel Rosen, Programmers Rod Armstrong and Sean Uyehara, Golden Gate Awards Manager Audrey Chang and Programming Coordinator Joseph Flores.
The 56th annual festival will take place April 25 to May 9, 2013 at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, the Castro Theatre and New People Cinema in San Francisco and the Pacific Film Archive Theater in Berkeley.
History
Founded in 1957 by film exhibitor Irving "Bud" Levin, the SFIFF began as a philanthropic effort to secure San Francisco's place in the international arts scene as well as expose locals to cinema as an art form. The Festival played a major role in introducing foreign films to American audiences. Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood and Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali were among the films that screened at the first festival.
One obstacle in the early years was the lack of support from the major Hollywood studios, suggested reasons being the growing threat of international films' appeal and a fear that the festival would draw commercial attention away from the Oscars. It wasn't until 1959 that a major American film, Henry King's Beloved Infidel, starring Gregory Peck and Deborah Kerr, played at SFIFF.
Honors and Tributes
Founder’s Directing Award
This award is given each year to one of the masters of world cinema, in memory of SFIFF's founder, Irving Levin. Recent recipients include:
Philip Kaufman, 2013
Kenneth Branagh, 2012
Oliver Stone, 2011
Walter Salles, 2010
Francis Ford Coppola, 2009
Mike Leigh, 2008
Spike Lee, 2007
Werner Herzog, 2006
Taylor Hackford, 2005
Milos Forman, 2004
Robert Altman, 2003
Prior to 2003, the festival's directing award was known as the Akira Kurosawa Award. Recipients include:
Warren Beatty, 2002
Clint Eastwood, 2001
Abbas Kiarostami, 2000
Arturo Ripstein, 1999
Im Kwon-taek, 1998
Francesco Rosi, 1997
Arthur Penn, 1996
Stanley Donen, 1995
Manoel de Oliveira, 1994
Ousmane Sembène, 1993
Satyajit Ray, 1992
Marcel Carné, 1991
Jirí Menzel, 1990
Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1989
Robert Bresson, 1988
Michael Powell, 1987
Akira Kurosawa, 1986
Peter J. Owens Award
Named for the longtime San Francisco benefactor of arts and charitable organizations Peter J. Owens (1936–91), this award honors an actor whose work exemplifies brilliance, independence and integrity. Recent recipients include:
Harrison Ford, 2013
Judy Davis, 2012
Terence Stamp, 2011
Robert Duvall, 2010
Robert Redford, 2009
Maria Bello, 2008
Robin Williams, 2007
Ed Harris, 2006
Joan Allen, 2005
Chris Cooper, 2004
Dustin Hoffman, 2003
Kevin Spacey, 2002
Stockard Channing, 2001
Winona Ryder, 2000
Sean Penn, 1999
Nicolas Cage, 1998
Annette Bening, 1997
Harvey Keitel, 1996
Kanbar Award
The Kanbar Award for excellence in screenwriting acknowledges the crucial role that strong screenwriting plays in the creation of great films. Recent recipients include:
Eric Roth, 2013
David Webb Peoples, 2012
Frank Pierson, 2011
James Schamus, 2010
James Toback, 2009
Peter Morgan, 2008
Robert Towne, 2007
Jean-Claude Carrière, 2006
Paul Haggis, 2005
Mel Novikoff Award
Named in honor of legendary San Francisco film exhibitor Mel Novikoff (1922–87), this award is given to an individual or organization notable for making significant contributions to the Bay Area's richly diverse film community. Recent recipients include:
Peter von Bagh, 2013
Pierre Rissient, 2012
Serge Bromberg, 2011
Roger Ebert, 2010
Bruce Goldstein, 2009
James Lewis Hoberman, 2008
Kevin Brownlow, 2007
Anita Monga, 2005
Paolo Cherchi Usai, 2004
Manny Farber, 2003
Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award
The POV Award honors the lifetime achievement of a filmmaker whose work is crafting documentaries, short films, animation or work for television. Recent recipients include:
Jem Cohen, 2013
Barbara Kopple, 2012
Matthew Barney, 2011
Don Hertzfeldt, 2010
Lourdes Portillo, 2009
Errol Morris, 2008
Heddy Honigmann, 2007
Guy Maddin, 2006
Adam Curtis, 2005
Jon Else, 2004
Pat O'Neill, 2003
Fernando Birri, 2002
Kenneth Anger, 2001
Faith Hubley, 2000
Johan van der Keuken, 1999
Robert Frank, 1998
Jan Švankmajer, 1997
Midnight Awards
The Film Festival's Midnight Awards were given from 2007–2011 to honor a dynamic young American actor and actress who have made outstanding contributions to independent and Hollywood cinema, and who bring striking intelligence, talent and depth of character to their roles. Recent recipients include:
Clifton Collins, Jr. and Zoe Saldana, 2011
Evan Rachel Wood and Elijah Wood, 2009
Rose McGowan and Jason Lee, 2008
Rosario Dawson and Sam Rockwell, 2007
Awards and Prizes
New Directors Award
This $15,000 cash award supports innovative thinking by independent filmmakers and shines the spotlight on an emerging director. Films in this juried competition must be the director's first narrative feature and are selected for their unique artistic sensibility or vision.
Golden Gate Awards
The Golden Gate Awards is the competitive section for documentaries, animation, shorts, experimental film and video, youth works and works for television. Eligibility requires that entries have a San Francisco Bay Area premiere and be exempt from a previous multiday commercial theatrical run or media broadcast of any kind. The festival currently awards cash prizes in the following categores:
Documentary Feature - prize: $20,000
Bay Area Documentary Feature - prize: $15,000
Documentary Short - prize: $5,000
Narrative Short - prize: $5,000
Animated Short - prize: $2,000
Bay Area Short, First Prize - prize: $2,000
Bay Area Short, Second Prize - prize: $1,500
New Visions Short - prize: $1,500
Youth Work - prize: $1,500
Family Film - prize: $1,500
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizes the San Francisco International Film Festival as a qualifying festival for the short films (live action and animated) competitions of the 81st annual Academy Awards.
FIPRESCI Prize
Selected by the International Federation of Film Critics, the FIPRESCI Prize aims to promote film art, to encourage new and young cinema and to help films get better distribution and win greater public attention.
State of Cinema Address
Each year, the festival invites a prominent thinker to discuss the intersecting worlds of contemporary cinema, culture and society. Recent speakers include:
Steven Soderbergh, 2013
Jonathan Lethem, 2012
Christine Vachon, 2011
Walter Murch, 2010
Mary Ellen Mark, 2009
Kevin Kelly, 2008
Peter Sellars, 2007
Tilda Swinton, 2006
Brad Bird, 2005
B. Ruby Rich, 2004
Michel Ciment, 2003
Live Music & Film
The San Francisco International Film Festival is known for its innovative live music and film events, which usually feature contemporary musicians performing original scores to classic silent films. Many of the scores were commissioned by the San Francisco Film Society as world premieres. Music/film pairings at SFIFF have included:
Scott Amendola, Matthias Bossi, Mike Patton, and William Winant accompanying Waxworks (1924 Film), Directed Paul Leni, 2013
Merrill Garbus (tUnE-yArDs) with Buster Keaton short films, 2012
Tindersticks with the films of Claire Denis, 2011
Stephin Merritt with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916 film), 2010
Dengue Fever (band) with The Lost World (1925 film), 2009
Black Francis with The Golem (1915 film), 2008
Jonathan Richman with The Phantom Carriage, 2007
Deerhoof with Heaven and Earth Magic, 2006
American Music Club with Street Angel (1928 film), 2005
Lambchop (band) with Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, 2003
Superchunk with A Page of Madness, 2002
Yo La Tengo with Jean Painlevé short films, 2001
Tom Verlaine with classic silent short films, 2000
A Music Nerd's Guide To The San Francisco International Film Festival
Effeminacy
Effeminacy describes traits in a human male that are more often associated with feminine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or gender roles rather than masculine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or roles.
It is a term frequently applied to womanly behavior, demeanor, style and appearance displayed by a male, typically used implying criticism or ridicule of this behaviour (as opposed to, for example, merely describing a male as feminine, which can be non-judgmental). The term effeminate is most often used by people who subscribe to the widespread view that males should display traditional masculine traits and behaviours. Generally, the description is applied to individuals, but may be used to describe entire societies as an inflammatory allegation. Although in the Western tradition, as described below, effeminacy has often been considered a vice, indicative of other negative character traits and often involving a pejorative insinuation of homosexual tendencies, in other societies, feminine males may be considered a distinct human gender (third gender), and may have a special social function, as is the case of Two-Spirits in some Native American groups. Furthermore, in contemporary culture, effeminacy has come to be seen by some to be simply one characteristic or trait which might be a part of a particular person's gender role, and in this sense would not be considered a vice or indicative of any other characteristics. An effeminate male is similar to a fop or a dandy, though these tend to be archaic identities that are taken on by the individual rather than insulting labels.
Social acceptance and intolerance
In most cultures, effeminacy is traditionally considered, if not a vice, at least a weakness, indicative of other negative character traits and often involving a negative insinuation of homosexual tendencies or sexual passivity.
The definition of what constitutes effeminate behavior varies greatly depending on the social and cultural context, as well as on the time period. While some effeminate behavior evokes stereotypical impressions of homosexuality in some people, others may simply view the behavior as unmanly without questioning the sexual orientation of the person in question.
Examples of behavior noncompliant with conventional masculinity have included:
Interest in women's fashion.
Effusive emotional expressions among other males.
Cross-dressing or use of makeup.
Exhibition of stereotypically feminine mannerisms.
These examples have changed over time and will always vary depending on different contextual factors. During the Enlightenment period fashion prescribed stockings, elaborate knee-length robes and long wigs for men, things that would most certainly be considered unacceptable for men (and women) in contemporary society. During the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, men idolized the Renaissance Man who was skilled in all walks of life - a "real" man of this time was to be skilled in armed combat and knowledgeable of literature and art, among other things.
Effeminacy and gay men
In the United States, boys are often homosocial (Gagnon, 1977), and gender role performance determines social rank (David and Brannon, 1976). While gay boys receive the same enculturation, they are less compliant, Martin Levine summarizes: "Harry (1982, 51-52), for example, found that 42 percent of his gay respondents were 'sissies' during childhood. Only 11 percent of his heterosexual samples were gender role nonconformists. Bell, Weinberg, and Hammersmith (1981, 188) reported that half of their male homosexual subjects practiced gender-inappropriate behaviour in childhood. Among their heterosexual males, the rate of noncompliance was 25 percent. Saghir and Robins (1973, 18) found that one-third of their gay male respondents conformed to gender role dictates. Only 3 percent of their heterosexual men deviated from the norm." Thus effeminate boys, or sissies, are physically and verbally harassed (Saghir and Robins, 1973, 17-18; Bell, Weinberg, and Hammersmith 1981, 74-84), causing them to feel worthless (Harry 1982, 20) and "de-feminise" (Harry 1982, 20; Saghir and Robins 1973, 18-19). (Levine, 1998, p. 15-16)
Prior to the Stonewall riots, inconsistent gender role performance had been noticed among gay men (Karlen, 1978; Cory and LeRoy, 1963; Newton, 1972), "They have a different face for different occasions. In conversations with each other, they often undergo a subtle change. I have seen men who appeared to be normal suddenly smile roguishly, soften their voices, and simper as they greeted homosexual friends....Many times I saw these changes occur after I had gained a homosexual's confidence and he could safely risk my disapproval. Once as I watched a luncheon companion become an effeminate caricature of himself, he apologised, 'It is hard to always remember that one is a man.'" (Stearn 1962, 29) (Levine, 1998, p.21-23)
“ There is a definite prejudice towards men who use femininity as part of their palate; their emotional palate, their physical palate. Is that changing? It’s changing in ways that don’t advance the cause of femininity. I’m not talking frilly-laced pink things or Hello Kitty stuff. I’m talking about goddess energy, intuition and feelings. That is still under attack, and it has gotten worse. ”
—RuPaul,
Pre-Stonewall "closet" culture accepted homosexuality as effeminate behaviour, and thus emphasized camp, drag, and swish including an interest in fashion (Henry, 1955; West, 1977) and decorating (Fischer 1972; White 1980; Henry 1955, 304). Masculine gay men did exist but were marginalised (Warren 1972, 1974; Helmer 1963) and formed their own communities, such as leather and Western (Goldstein, 1975), and/or donned working class outfits (Fischer, 1972) such as sailor uniforms (Cory and LeRoy, 1963). (Levine, 1998, p. 21-23, 56)
Post-Stonewall, "clone culture" became dominant and effeminacy is now marginalised. One indicator of this is a definite preference shown in personal ads for masculine-behaving men (Bailey et al. 1997).
The avoidance of effeminacy by men, including gay ones, has been linked to possible impedance of personal and public health. Regarding AIDS, masculine behaviour was stereotyped as being unconcerned about safe sex practices while engaging in promiscuous sexual behaviour. Early reports from New York City indicated that more women had themselves tested for AIDS than men. (Sullivan, 1987). (Levine, 1998, p. 148)
David Halperin (2002), compares "universalising" and "minoritising" notions of gender deviance: "'Softness' either may represent the specter of potential gender failure that haunts all normative masculinity, an ever-present threat to the masculinity of every man, or it may represent the disfiguring peculiarity of a small class of deviant individuals."
The term effeminaphobia was coined to describe strong anti-effeminacy. Michael Bailey (1995) coined the similar term femiphobia to describe the ambivalence gay men and culture have about effeminate behaviour. Author Tim Bergling (September 1997) also coined the term sissyphobia.
History
Etymology
Effeminacy comes from the Latin ex which is "out," and femina which means woman; it means "to be like a woman." The Latin term is mollities, meaning "softness."
In ancient Koine Greek, the word for effeminate is kinaidos (cinaedus in its Latinized form), or malakoi. A man "whose most salient feature was a supposedly "feminine" love of being sexually penetrated by other men." (Winkler, 1990).
"A cinaedus is a man who cross-dresses or flirts like a girl. Indeed, the word's etymology suggests an indirect sexual act emenating a promisculous woman. This term has been borrowed from the Greek kinaidos (which may itself have come from a language of Ionian Greece of Asia Minor, primarily signifying a purely effeminate dancer who entertained his audiences with a tympanum or tambourine in his hand, and adopted a lascivious style, often suggestively wiggling his buttocks in such a way as to suggest anal intercourse....The primary meaning of cinaedus never died out; the term never became a dead metaphor." (Williams, 1999)
Other vernacular words for effeminacy include: "pansy", "nelly", "pretty boy", "sissy", "pussy", and "girl" (when applied to a boy or, especially, adult man). Contrastingly, a masculine girl would be called a "tomboy", "butch",. The word effete similarly means effeminacy or over-refinement, but comes from the Latin effetus, from ex- + fetus (fruitful).
Ancient Greece and Rome
Greece
Greek historian Plutarch recounts that Periander, the tyrant of Ambracia, asked his "boy", "Aren't you pregnant yet?" in the presence of other people, causing the boy to kill him in revenge for being treated as if effeminate or a woman (Amatorius 768F).
As part of Greek politician Aiskhines(Aeschines)' proof that a member of the prosecution against him, Timarkhos (Timarchus), had prostituted himself to (or been "kept" by) another male while young, he attributed fellow prosecutor Demosthenes' nickname Batalos ("arse") to his "unmanliness and kinaidiā and frequently commented on his "unmanly and womanish temper", even criticising his clothing: "If anyone took those dainty little coats and soft shirts off you ... and took them round for the jurors to handle, I think they'd be quite unable to say, if they hadn't been told in advance, whether they had hold of a man's clothing or a woman's." (Dover, 1989)
Demosthenes is also implicated in passive homosexuality and the prostitution of youth (Aiskhines iii 162): "There is a certain Aristion, a Plataean..., who as a youth was outstandingly good-looking and lived for a long time in Demosthenes' house. Allegations about the part he was playing [lit., 'undergoing or doing what'] there vary, and it would be most unseemly for me to talk about it." (Dover, 1989)
The late Greek (possibly c. fourth century), Erôtes ("Loves", "Forms of Desire", "Affairs of the Heart"), preserved with manuscripts by Lucian, contains a debate "between two men, Charicles and Callicratidas, over the relative merits of women and boys as vehicles of male sexual pleasure." Callicratidas, "far from being effeminised by his sexual predilection for boys...Callicratidas's inclination renders him hypervirile... Callicratidas's sexual desire for boys, then, makes him more of a man; it does not weaken or subvert his male gender identity but rather consolidates it." In contrast, "Charicles' erotic preference for women seems to have had the corresponding effect of effeminising him: when the reader first encounters him, for example, Charicles is described as exhibiting 'a skillful use of cosmetics, so as to be attractive to women.'"
Rome
Over-refinement, fine clothes and other possessions, the company of women, certain trades, and too much fondness with women were all deemed effeminate traits in Roman society. Taking an inappropriate sexual position—passive or "bottom" (kinaidos, see above)—in same-gender sex was considered effeminate and unnatural. Touching the head with a finger and wearing a goatee were also considered effeminate (Holland, 2004).
Roman consul Scipio Aemilianus questioned one of his opponents, P. Sulpicius Galus: "For the kind of man who adorns himself daily in front of a mirror, wearing perfume; whose eyebrows are shaved off; who walks around with plucked beard and thighs; who when he was a young man reclined at banquets next to his lover, wearing a long-sleeved tunic; who is fond of men as he is of wine: can anyone doubt that he has done what cinaedi are in the habit of doing?" (fr. 17 Malcovati; Aulus Gellius, 6.12.5; cited/translated by Williams 1999, p. 23)