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Gaysia
by
Benjamin Law
Benjamin Law considers himself pretty lucky to live in Australia: he can hold his boyfriend's hand in public and lobby his politicians to recognise same-sex marriage. But as the child of migrants, he's also curious about how different life might have been had he grown up in Asia. So he sets off to meet his fellow Gaysians. Law takes his investigative duties seriously, goin...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
September 2012
by Black Inc.
(first published January 1st 2012)
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I just finished "Gaysia," recommended to me by a friend, while on a business trip to Chicago. It is promoted as a wild romp through all of gay Asia - but ultimately, it is a far more fascinating and, indeed, moving book than that. I might venture to say that this is an important book - particularly for westerners who don't know much about life in Asia. Most of us, in fact.
Law, an ethnically Chinese Australian, begins his peregrinations in Bali at an all gay resort that seems to be setting up the...more
Law, an ethnically Chinese Australian, begins his peregrinations in Bali at an all gay resort that seems to be setting up the...more
I like to think it's a compliment to a book if I'm interested enough in it, engaged or enraged, in order to want to write a review.
I also think (and I could have used this advice when younger) that discussion is better than silence.
I wax philosophical about book reviews because they're strange beasts. The books that I tend to want to write about are from small publishers and by lesser-known authors (as I don't feel a desire, usually, to add my opinion to a thousand others who have written abou...more
I also think (and I could have used this advice when younger) that discussion is better than silence.
I wax philosophical about book reviews because they're strange beasts. The books that I tend to want to write about are from small publishers and by lesser-known authors (as I don't feel a desire, usually, to add my opinion to a thousand others who have written abou...more
It's very easy to get swept up in rhetoric when it comes to gay rights; Benjamin Law is much too perceptive for this. Gaysia documents several months on the road in Bali, Thailand, China, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar and India to find out what it's really like to be gay in these places - he meets prostitutes, priests, gurus, community workers, drag queens, all kinds of people from all over the spectrum, and I'm so impressed by how tolerant, empathetic and understanding Law is of all of them.
It's al...more
It's al...more
When I saw the ARC sitting on the shelf at work I may have done a bit of an embarrassing dance. I'd heard about this a few months ago and had been dying to read it ever since.
And it didn't disappoint. Filled with fascinating interviews and shrewd observations about the many different gay communities throughout Asia, this book is not to be missed. It was fascinating reading about the people who are part of these fascinating cultures and what they think about what it means to be gay in their count...more
And it didn't disappoint. Filled with fascinating interviews and shrewd observations about the many different gay communities throughout Asia, this book is not to be missed. It was fascinating reading about the people who are part of these fascinating cultures and what they think about what it means to be gay in their count...more
I haven’t read anything of Benjamin’s before so came to this not exactly sure what to expect, but it seemed like it would be a fairly lightweight romp through the cultures of Gay Asia.
To a certain extent, it delivers on this promise and the book ends on a personal, uplifting note, but it’s probably impossible to approach this topic without a touch of culture shock. Although I enjoyed reading it, it has left me with very mixed feelings...but maybe that’s a *good* thing.
In our encounter with a Mal...more
To a certain extent, it delivers on this promise and the book ends on a personal, uplifting note, but it’s probably impossible to approach this topic without a touch of culture shock. Although I enjoyed reading it, it has left me with very mixed feelings...but maybe that’s a *good* thing.
In our encounter with a Mal...more
This was a fascinating look into what it means to be LGBT in several South and Southeast Asian countries. From prostitution in Bali to HIV treatment in Myanmar to the effect of repealing anti-gay legislation in India, the author takes us on a whirlwind yet informative tour of, well, Gaysia :)
This is probably actually 3.75 stars for me. I loved the interviews, the statistics, and the quirky anecdotes about his own experience within his research. However, it was a bit too general and quirky for me...more
This is probably actually 3.75 stars for me. I loved the interviews, the statistics, and the quirky anecdotes about his own experience within his research. However, it was a bit too general and quirky for me...more
Benjamin Law takes us on a Safran-esque journey into gay Asia. Introducing us to sex-workers in Indonesia, participants of the world’s biggest Transsexual pageant in Thailand, and to activists in India where homosexuality has only recently been decriminalised. We see gay Asia through law’s point of view, that of an Australian gay man. The book focusses mainly on the more publicised faucets of the gay world, sex workers, sexual health workers, gay activists and “conversion” programs, which might...more
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An entertaining and enlightening read at sexual politics affecting queer Asians. As Law himself admits to being largely ignorant of their perspective before he experiences it for himself he ends up taking on the role of the "Everyman", allowing the reader to relate and feel extremely empathetic with the people he meets. I know that even though we have rights issues to overcome in Australia it also serves to look at just how far we have come.
The only problem with this funny and poignant book is...more
The only problem with this funny and poignant book is...more
I really enjoyed this - I think it's a great read regardless of whether you know a fair bit about LGBT politics in Asia or nothing at all. If I'd written a book like this I would've probably ruined it by trying to put too much in. Instead Law just meets people and tells their stories, focusing on a specific issue or group within the LGBT umbrella in each country - sex workers and HIV in Myanmar, a beauty pageant for trans women in Thailand, queers in heterosexual marriages in China. Law is very...more
A well written, easy to read exploration of what GLBTI people face in a range of different Asian countries. Sometimes it is hard not to feel outrage when reading the way so many gay and transgender people are treated, but the book also details the varied ways each country/community views and deals with GLBTI people - and just how much variety there is, even within those categories, in how people are perceived and treated from one place to another.
A good read as a travelogue by a gay Queenslander...more
A good read as a travelogue by a gay Queenslander...more
I love Benjamin Law. He's the nerdy gay friend everybody wants to have. All my gay friends are NOT like Benjamin (oh well - too bad). I found this book funny but quite sad at the same time. Especially the chapter on Myanmar (or Burma - actually I'll call it Burma).
I suppose the viewpoint is from a gay man but I felt that there wasn't enough coverage on gay women. It was interesting to read about all the men in China who married women to cover up the fact that they are gay. Makes the feminist in...more
I suppose the viewpoint is from a gay man but I felt that there wasn't enough coverage on gay women. It was interesting to read about all the men in China who married women to cover up the fact that they are gay. Makes the feminist in...more
Benjamin Law is not the most technically gifted writer going around, but he has a very finely honed sense of humour that makes his books very readable. What makes them especially so for me is that they are written with such an authentic voice. Law doesn't pretend to be anything he's not, and as I am also a gay man from South East Queensland, I can relate to not just what he talks about but his vernacular and his sense of humour.
The weakness of the book is that he is too aware of his limitations...more
The weakness of the book is that he is too aware of his limitations...more
Sep 21, 2012
Mark
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2012-reading-goal-12-books
Look, I won’t lie. I think I have a man-crush on Benjamin Law who reduced me to tears and fits of hysteria last year with his first title, The Family Law. In my opinion, Benjamin is one of the brightest young minds in Australia (too much?) and he’s a funny bastard to boot. In Gaysia, he explores the lives of GLBTIQ people throughout Asia and wonders how his own life would have been different had he not been afforded the good fortune of growing up as a gay man in (relatively) tolerant, liberal, d...more
Benjamin Law gives us a fascinating look at Asian gay life, from Thai ladyboys to the AIDS epidemic in Myanmar, from an Indian pride march to camp Japanese tv personalities. I found it interesting and touching. Law is an engaging and hilarious storyteller - able to find the off beat and interesting angle in every story - presenting to us with his self depreciating humour and insight. Well worth a look.
SO GOOD. somehow benjamin manages to keep a good sense of humour while talking to people spewing forth the most vile rubbbish i've heard!
i loved the descriptions of edmund, one of the pray away the gay preachers - at one point he is wearing a purple vest and pants with an embroided white shirt. yeah, okay! haha
was particularly interested by how many countries only accept homosexuality if it's presented in a very "cartoon-like" way. for example, japan aired a reality tv show where a real gay man...more
i loved the descriptions of edmund, one of the pray away the gay preachers - at one point he is wearing a purple vest and pants with an embroided white shirt. yeah, okay! haha
was particularly interested by how many countries only accept homosexuality if it's presented in a very "cartoon-like" way. for example, japan aired a reality tv show where a real gay man...more
This is a great book, looking at an enormous slice of Asia through the framework of its gay population and how they're treated. It's easy to read; Benjamin is a friendly narrator and it's no hardship to spend time with him. If i had any criticism it's that trans men are completely invisible, and lesbians don't get much page time. But this is partly due to Ben's perspective as a gay man, and the fact that lesbians (and presumably trans men) seem to be often invisible in the cultures that he visit...more
Very glad I picked up this one, it is well written in an easy flow of stories, it really brought home how lucky we are in Australia - as much as we complain against the govt- that we can walk down the street and not be arrested for merely holding our lovers hand or worse punishments. A must for those who would like to know more about our brothers and sisters in Asia and beyond.
"In Myanmar, no one was interested in length, instead asking about my penis width by putting their thumb and forefinger in increasingly bigger circles – This big? This big? – while continuing to stroke my arm. Was my cock ap (small), medium or cake (large): as wide as a can of Myanmar Beer? Everyone wanted to know.
‘My penis is okay?’ I said."
‘My penis is okay?’ I said."
A good read this, as Law visits several Asian countries and recounts how homosexuality intersects with the culture of each. There's some variation in tone and style, as some chapters are more humorous and others have deeper analysis. Very readable overall.
This book is funny, confronting and informative all at once. Benjamin Law is a great writer and I enjoy reading everything he writes. This book is really interesting and also makes me glad that I live in Australia and not one of the countries that Benjamin visited on his travels. Highly recommended.
This is a sad sojourn through some countries of Asia and being LGBTI in them. Law tries to lighten the mood with his observations of various people's outfits and mannerisms but when he writes of "full blown AIDS" his own ignorance of the serious matters he touches reveals itself.
A remarkably insightful, unblinking, occasionally *VERY* intimate look at queer culture in the East. One hell of a read.
I really enjoyed this book. Very well written, presenting the reality by country in a very entertaining and humorous way.
A really interesting read about LGBT communities in Asia. A funny and also (at times) heartbreaking read.
Hugely informative, hilarious in parts and heartbreaking in others. An enthralling, fascinating read.
Just fabulous which was no surprise ....Mr Law has produced another wonderful read.
Benjamin Law’s tour through Gay Asia is very John Safran like it the quirkiness of some of the stories he uncovers and the self-depreciating humour with which he tells the tales. The result is engaging, entertaining and informative. The chapters on Myanmar (its AIDS epidemic, lack of medication availability and general poverty), India (decriminalisation of homosexuality) and China (and exactly what Internet censorship entails) were also particularly interesting, written it Law’s easy to read man...more
Very, very good. From searingly sad to laugh out loud funny. Highly recommend.
Grace interviews Benjamin Law about his new book Gaysia: Adventures in the Queer East. From the homosexuality-curing properties of special yoga to providing sex education in Burma or going behind the scenes at a Thai ladyboy beauty contest, this is a rollicking conversation. Originally broadcast on 23/08/2012.
Really enjoyable and interesting read. Well written and engaging.
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Benjamin Law is a Brisbane-based freelance writer. He is a senior contributor to frankie magazine and has also written for The Monthly, The Courier Mail, Qweekend, Sunday Life, Cleo, Crikey, The Big Issue, New Matilda, Kill Your Darlings, ABC Unleashed and the Australian Associated Press.
His essays have been anthologised in Growing Up Asian in Australia, The Best Australian Essays 2008, The Best A...more
More about Benjamin Law...
His essays have been anthologised in Growing Up Asian in Australia, The Best Australian Essays 2008, The Best A...more
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