Mak nyahs and the dismantling of dehumanisation: Framing empowerment strategies of Malaysian male-to-female transsexuals in the 2000s

Abstract

The unrelenting ill-treatment suffered by mak nyahs, or Malaysian pre-operative and post-operative male-to-female transsexuals, indicates a steady process of dehumanisation that besieges mak nyahs in contemporary Malaysia. Nevertheless, the 2000s have seen a groundswell of strategies by mak nyahs to dismantle forces that seek to dehumanise them, and thus to embrace self-empowerment. By analysing online media resources, information from communication networks and legal cases pertaining to mak nyahs, we aim to explain the ways in which the strategies of mak nyahs and their allies to dismantle dehumanisation and empower themselves are framed and mobilised in Malaysia in the 2000s. To this end, we draw on a two-fold analytical framework that comprises David A Snow’s and Robert D Benford’s notion of collective action frames, and Michael W McCann’s legal mobilisation theory, in order to interpret our analysis. We argue that although mak nyahs have encountered dehumanising forces such as violence, pathologisation and reparative therapy, religious denunciations and moral policing, they have responded with diverse empowerment strategies that include the telling of personal stories, increasing public visibility, eliciting international recognition and support, forming alliances and organising collective action and legal recourse.