Mae Phloi, born circa 1882, is a period Thai fictional character in Si Phaen Din (The Four Reigns), a minor courtier married into an aristocratic life. And Wonder Woman is … you know, Wonder Woman. Gal Gadot, or Lynda Carter, if you grew up in the 70s. They both have incredibly long legs.
It was in the news a few weeks ago that a committee for MPs' dress code may be formed. In other words, these mature people-elected members of parliament will have clear instructions about what is appropriate and not appropriate to wear in the House they serve.
It all started from the pant suit shenanigan on June 5 this year when Pannika Wanich, a Future Forward party-list MP, wore a gradient black-and-white blazer with black pants to the House.
All hell broke loose as Ms Pannika was disparaged over the attire in question.
Nipon Sasipanudej, an expert on Chinese culture and philosophy, comments that women have never had a designated formal dress code in the past. Suits were reserved for men in education and the workforce from the beginning. Why? Because women were not allowed to study and work outside the home. It was only after World War II, when feminine suits were brought to the market, that women had something to mark their professionalism and their entrance into a man's world.
Women continue to be largely marginalised, especially in the political arena.
Yingluck Shinawatra became the first female premier of Thailand in 2011 but was never recognised by any feminist movement organisations in her home country. Yet, Thai society was prepared to idolise foreign female leaders like Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton regardless of their backstories.
Yingluck was seen as a tame kitten within a political establishment pervaded by a patriarchal socio-cultural context. Her female attributes were criticised as incongruent with political leadership, as PhD graduate at King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi Lanchukorn Sriwimon suggested in her PhD study.
Ms Pannika's opponents have yet to find themselves an agenda beyond the pant suit.
Her wardrobe was said to be not sombre enough for mourning, not solemn enough for the House, and not Central Thai region enough.
Meanwhile, other outfits that she has worn have been adjudicated to be too comical and too fashionable for most of her fellow MPs' taste.
Lack of "appropriateness" and "propriety" were the frequent keywords in the complaints. No exact features of the outfits were identified as improper for further improvement.
Ms Pannika became the subject of harsh criticism not only because she wore the pant suit that did not observe the unspoken House rules created by men.
Granted, the content of her speeches is hardly music to conservative ears. Her manner of delivery is assertive.
But it is also because there are invisible barriers of prejudice blocking women from advancing to well-deserved leadership posts unless those women are prepared to play by the rules.
She was recently called "pretty" by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha who later withdrew the address. But another female MP felt there was nothing wrong with being judged based on her looks in the House of Parliament.
Notice that most of the complaints have been made against her by fellow female MPs. Women in a male-dominated society can be their own worst enemies. They are self-legitimised as gatekeepers who shield and protect the political establishment and can grant and deny access to other women to the realm.
Hostile sexism is in action as Ms Pannika is viewed as a threat to the status quo of male authority.
But findings in Rangsit University lecturer Natakorn Satienchayakorn's master's thesis illustrates another type of oppression -- oppression in disguise. "Benevolent sexism", which exists in Thai society, entails the praising of women who appear obedient, loyal or caring. However, it implies that women are weak, sensitive and need protection. It is, oftentimes, performed by women towards women.
Mr Natakorn collected text on "vision", "mission", "core values" and "about us" pages from 77 girl's schools' websites in Thailand and looked for words that collocated with "students", "children" and "learners". He found words such as "lady-like", "virtue", "ethics", "honesty", and "Thainess" appearing most frequently in the collocations.
Nothing wrong with that. Not until you compare the results with those from another corpus. Similar data from 63 girl schools in the US and Canada yielded different keywords such as 'enabling', 'empowering' and 'enlightenment'.
It's no coincidence, social context chooses words that go together intuitively.
The two datasets show us that Thai education aims at producing Mae Phlois and their conservative mindset, while over in North America they select Wonder Women -- aggressive, kind and strong at the same time. Lots of them.
Different ideologies in context, different cultures, different values, you may argue.
But may I ask, honestly, which do you want your daughter to grow up to be?
I'm not saying it's all wine and roses for women in the US and Canada.
The United States' women's football team won their fourth Women's World Cup this year while the US men's team has never even played in a final. However, the female players have received less favourable benefits and pay than their male counterparts and decided to sue the US Soccer Federation for gender discrimination.
Women in many cultures are under the surveillance of the state. Thammasat University lecturer Pawin Malaiwong explains that this is because they are seen as the property of men. This reinforces the stereotype of women not having rights over their own bodies.
Sadly, there are women who think they need to be part of the mechanism to uphold this oppressive notion instead of propelling women to engage in activities promoting empowerment.
MR Kukrit Pramoj, the author of The Four Reigns, was reported to have little regard for Mae Phloi, the character he had created. He called her old-fashioned and almost obsolete, someone who would never stand up for her own rights.
Perhaps he wished Mae Phloi to be more assertive, to wear something a little outrageous once in a while, talk back to her husband and, most of all, celebrate sisterhood.
Pattamawan Jimarkon Zilli is an assistant professor at the Department of English and Linguistics, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Thammasat University.