Picturing Femininity: Portraits of the Early Modern Siamese Women

Abstract

This paper aims to analyse the construction of modern femininity through portraits of women in Thailand’s patriarchal culture on the eve of the modern period. Prior to the mid-19th century, there were restrictions on the representation of royal individuals, especially women in the Siamese royal court, who were confined to their residence, hence avoiding the public gaze. The imported medium of portraiture eventually liberated the restricted condition of women in the royal court. This study will explain how portraiture presents and represents images of femininity and the gender roles of Siamese female nobility, especially Queen Saovabha Phongsri (hereafter referred to as Queen Saovabha), queen consort of King Chulalongkorn. The study will also suggest that portraiture allows us to explore Siamese modern femininity, as opposed to Siamese men’s construction of masculinity. Portraits of women also show cross-cultural fashions associated with modern outdoor activities, reminiscent of the feminist ideal of the New Woman. Hence this paper also seeks to understand the mechanism of cross-cultural fashions, which suggests a form of empowerment by which the Siamese female elite began to establish their position in a changing world. [End Page 49]