Re-defining Stigmatization: Intersectional Stigma of Single Mothers in Thailand

This chapter draws on participant observations and interviews with 35 single mothers and 5 social workers from NGOs that assist single mothers in Thailand. It reveals that single mothers experience intersectional stigma in their everyday lives, based on their gender, class, ethnicity, religious status, and other dominant categories manifested in Thai society. Moreover, stigmatization is a differentiated process, which is affected by social distance; it begins with self-stigmatization and moves outward to family, community, and ultimately the Thai state and society. With the increase of social distance, the degree of intersectional stigma becomes more severe and more complex. By rejecting the view of stigmatization as a homogeneous, analogous, and monolithic set of experiences, and demonstrating that single mothers in Thailand face multiple forms of oppression and marginalization, the study contributes to theorizing the plurality of intersecting stigmatization.