Bam! I'm okay I'm okay . . . I hit the ground doing 10mph in a three point landing and rolled 6-10 feet.
Our first visitor from America showed up in Dumaguete Saturday, 7 January 2012. Steve Mann from Fort Collins, Colorado. Alana and Steve worked together at Preston Middle School for 4 years. When we put out the invitation that we would love to host anyone who wanted to experience the Philippines as a semi-local he was the first to jump on it.
Steve arrived at 3pm and we were impressed at how fresh he was after his 24+ hours of plane rides and airport layovers. He claimed to not feel beat down at all nor feel like he needed to sleep right away even though 3pm Filipino time is 12am midnight Colorado time. This was also amazing because he also didn't sleep on the planes or in the airports.
Alana and I remember the two different times we came to the Philippines from America (the beginning in August 2010 then after Alana's surgery in May 2011). Both times I would find myself wide awake in the middle of the night. After staring at the ceiling for a bit I would take a risk and ask, "You awake?" "Yes." would be the immediate reply. "You wanna play backgammon?" "Yes." It would take us 3-5 days to adjust and start sleeping through the night.
After we escorted Steve to our apartment we asked him if he wanted to go to bed right away and sleep through the night to catch up. He said he felt fine so we had a drink to celebrate his arrival and an hour later were heading out to go to the boulevard for dinner . . . on our bikes. We were excited to show Steve Dumaguete on bikes.
Our Peace Corps Volunteer friend Evelyn, who is serving in Amlan, which is 30 kilometers north of us on the National Highway, also took advantage of Peace Corps' willingness to buy us bikes. She got one here in Dumaguete and because Amlan is so small she keeps it at our place to use when she comes to Duma to shop for food or whatnot. It is also nice because we are able to use it with visitors, which is what we did with Steve.
We were cruising down San Jose toward the downtown area and had just passed the house where Alana and I buy homemade peanut butter. I was in the lead followed by Alana then Steve. The lady had peanut butter out on the table right on the street in front of her house like she always does. I wondered as we passed if we needed peanut butter. I looked over my right shoulder and asked Alana if she wanted to stop and get some.
BAM! I must have swerved right a bit, I was passing a parked peticab (motorbike taxi), and caught my right handlebar on a sign that was unusually attached to the edge of his motorbike. I was doing about 10mph and my handlebars immediately turned right and my front tire just stabbed into the peticab. Where do you think I went?
The loud sound was the sign getting ripped off of the peticab. I went right over the top of my handlebars and managed to turn in the air, land and roll on my left shoulder, elbow, and knee. It felt like I stayed on the ground a few seconds before getting up and ended up feeling more embarrassed than hurt.
The peticab was parked right in front of a local, open faced, bar, eatery, pool hall and everyone there (about 20-25 locals) had their eyes on me. The peticab driver was nowhere to be found yet many locals came over and asked if I was hurt. I kept saying, "I'm okay . . . I'm okay . . . I'm okay." as I quickly tried to get on my bike and leave. The chain had come off and I wasn't going anywhere as people continued to stare. Steve, being an extremely avid and committed bike rider in Fort Collins, helped me put the chain back on and we were off.
When we got to the restaurant I took a better inventory of the damage. The bike was fine. I had quarter size brush burns on my shoulder, elbow, and knee and my elbow had some swelling. I washed my elbow off, along with my shoulder, in the bathroom and was happy to see my body doing its thing when it started producing plasma to coat the injuries.
We had a nice dinner and the return home was uneventful. It ended up being more of an ego bruise than a body bruise.
Bakla (bah-klah): Let me start by saying I respect them all. I hope it's appropriate to say I'm kinda proud of myself for growing into someone who resists the temptation to judge others for the way they look even though I still find myself judging others for their behaviors. It wasn't always so with me. I would like to say I don't judge anyone for anything and that virtue is still something I'm working on.
A noteworthy part of this Filipino culture is a person labeled "Bakla." A Bakla is a young man who dresses and acts like a young woman . . . feminine. In America, we would label them "gay" yet the situation here seems more complicated here. I heard Alana telling a friend that she has learned that many Filipino families begin treating their youngest male as a Bakla at a very young age in order to assure someone in the family will not marry and be around to take care of the parents when they grow older. Sounds like a strange practice/behavior to me.
Here are some excerpts I pulled from an article that was passed along to Peace Corps Volunteers during training last year in an attempt to help us better understand some of the young men we would inevitably be working with. The article is titled Reciprocity of Tolerance: The Bakla in the Philippines. I have included the full article below my signature for those who are true reading buffs :-)
The Bakla, and everything the Bakla identity encompasses, is a reaction to hundreds of years of colonial and religious oppression, resulting in a vibrant figure in Filipino culture. Linguistically speaking, the definition of the term “Bakla,” (bæklâ) is an effeminate or homosexual man. In the Visayan region, south of Manila, “Bayote” would be the identifying term of the homosexual male. However, simply retaining this two-dimensional definition bypasses intrinsic insights into Filipino culture and its evolution of cultural revolution against colonial oppression and gender differentiation.
The Philippines has a long history of cultural identity confusion. Though sprouting from a Malay origin, the dominance of the Western world for hundreds of years has resulted in the loss of a pure, considerably more Eastern ideology. As an obvious example, the Philippines is the only Christian country in Southeast Asia with an overwhelming majority of Filipinos claiming Catholicism as their faith. In addition to the inculcation of faith, the instillation of Western values has disfigured the original Filipino image.
American products have infiltrated Philippine consumerism, where television advertisements reflect pale skin and button noses as tantamount to perfection. What is left of the Filipino culture are shredded fragments of a once colorful and distinct garment, sullied and trampled from hundreds of years of subservience to the West. It is only until recently that Filipinos have been picking up these fragments of a former identity-- piece by piece, slowly sewing together an identity that is neither Eastern nor Western, but an incorporation of both. One fragment of this cultural reformation is the “Bakla.”
The Bakla is the “Third Sex” among of the Filipino people. Physically, the Bakla is a man, with male genitalia; however, s/he is considered neither male nor female as s/he breaks the stringent gender roles placed upon the two sexes. The Bakla possesses highly feminized personality characteristics. S/he will wear dresses, bras, jewelry, make-up, and will physically alter his/her tone of voice and inflections to sound more feminine.
The Bakla is more than a man acting as a woman. The Bakla is a hyper-feminized figure and prone to act more extrovertly in public than is deemed appropriate for a woman, contrasting with the Bakla’s female counterparts. Baklas will surround themselves with women, or other Baklas, and only interact with men in an unctuous, solicitous manner. Their behavior is overwhelmingly jovial, comedic, sexual; as one interviewee described them, they have a “bubbly personality” (Fernando). A Bakla is also classified by his/her frivolity, bringing levity to the heaviest of topics, going to extreme lengths, including self-deprecation, to make an audience laugh. Rarely are they seen emotionally upset or angry, as the Bakla concerts heavy efforts to consistently appear felicitous and ready to entertain.
The Baklas are destined for three socially appropriated professional positions: beautician, prostitute, and entertainer. The first two of these three professions are directly related to a factor of subservience. Beauticians focus on improving their customers’ physical looks. They beautify the country’s women in parlors laden with posters of scantily clad American models; conversations remaining stereotypically superficial and sexually centered. Male prostitution, though not as rampant as female sex tourism, is still a pressing issue in this country as many families coerce or pressure their young Baklas into prostitution for the sake of a lucrative gain.
An interesting aspect of Bakla prostitution is that it is not considered homosexual. A straight Filipino man may have sex with a Bakla, but because the Filipino society does not consider the Bakla “male,” the act is nominalized to simply a patron releasing tension. Social expectations groom Baklas to please and entertain others, with no proper familial guidance; they are under a great deal of emotional trauma and risk physical harm when entering the field of male prostitution. A final role in which the Bakla plays, and plays quite heavily, is the role of public entertainer.
One would only need to spend a few hours watching Filipino television to notice the prevalence of Baklas in the media. They dominate the mid-day television shows as game show hosts; they are typically judges for singing or dancing competitions; and they crowd advertisements with commercials for whitening cream, cell phone promotions, and restaurants. True to socio-cultural expectations, the Baklas are outlandishly dressed, joke excessively, fawn over male guests or contestants, and demean themselves to humor others. Although this might not sound like an appealing position to be in, considering the other probable occupations for the Bakla, these “entertainer positions” offer a stable income, and more importantly, an opportunity to be in the spotlight.
The desire for the spotlight can also be seen in the way news media depict Baklas during on-site investigations. As an example, if there is a fire in an apartment complex, the newscaster will specifically choose to interview with an available Bakla, as s/he is expected to colorfully depict the crises, going into dramatic detail as to how devastated s/he is, and how much was lost by the event. Though the fire led to either death, or destruction, or both, the Bakla is there to save the day and add a touch of humor to an otherwise grave situation. Once again, in this socio-cultural relationship, there is reciprocity: the Bakla gets a 30 second limelight, and the rest of the country gets a good laugh rooted in someone else’s suffering.
The family as an institution lays the foundation for the Bakla identity through social and domestic grooming. Filipinos maintain an entrenched apothegm that every family should have a Bakla within it. As an example, if a family were to have three sons, the third son would be raised as a Bakla—the parents positively reinforcing feminine characteristics and consciously suppressing traits that are more masculine. The parents will go so far as to clothe a developing Bakla child in dresses and require him to play with gender specific toys, such as dolls. By the time the child enters High School, the Bakla has undergone severe familial reinforcement and grooming. By the age of eleven, a young Bakla understands his/her role as performer based upon socio-cultural expectations, and fatalistically accepts it.
There are continuing conflicts over the “Nurture vs. Nature” argument on the topic of homosexuality. In the Philippines, there is an underlying assumption that young boys are easily nurtured into their role as a Bakla, implying that they are also to be homosexual—as dictated by the socio-cultural expectations placed upon them early on in their lives. If a man is homosexual, then he must also be a Bakla, with the inverse being true. In the Philippines, a man cannot be innately homosexual and yet masculine. Moreover, at the first sign of effeminacy, a boy is thrust into a homosexual orientation and deemed “Bakla,” in spite of a potential actual attraction to the opposite sex. Etymologically speaking, there is no difference between being Bakla and being homosexual, as similar expectations are placed on both roles simultaneously through a Bakla’s societal development in the public and private spheres.
There is no doubt that the Bakla identity seems radical within the confines of Filipino culture; however, the fledgling manifestations and development of this “third gender" are rooted in Filipino cultural progression, moving away from a former era of subservience. As Philippine culture transcends the constructs of Western dominance, new identities, including that of the Bakla, are formed. The Bakla breaks through the binary world of man and woman, earning space in Filipino culture, creating and recreating new elements particular to that identity.
Though there is a strong discrepancy between the heterosexual norm and the “third gender” encapsulated by the Bakla identity, there is reciprocity in tolerance. Traditional Filipinos tolerate the avant-garde underpinnings of Baklas, while they (the Baklas) mutually tolerate their role as “entertainer” within the socio-cultural domain. As mentioned previously, this reciprocity of tolerance is arguably due to the performative nature of the Bakla.
The Philippines is a country known for a great many things, including a staggering appreciation for the entertaining and the comic. It is considered inappropriate to express feelings of anger or sadness to a Filipino, especially in public, and as such, there is a continuous need for entertainment and joviality. The Bakla role of entertainer facilitates the necessity for entertainment through hyper-feminized, high energy and socially taboo antics. Traditional Filipinos tend to condone this behavior, allowing a modicum of ostensible freedom—‘ostensible’ in the sense that though seemingly permitted, culturally inappropriate behavior is expected of the Bakla, as it defines the mold of his/her structure.
The Bakla is outspoken, sexually engaged, a bold dresser, and has no social filter. It is the audacity of the Bakla that Filipinos find entertaining, especially given the hundreds of years of domination and overbearing orthodoxy. This identity is bound by these elements of the intrepid, with transgression into a more subdued identity as unacceptable. Unlike in the United States, where a homosexual man is not defined by sexual orientation, the Philippines has designated roles and behavior for the “third sex” in order to be socially accepted. A straight man cannot appear effeminate, while a gay man cannot appear masculine. Just as the role of the Bakla is defined by its bold nature, the gender roles of heterosexuals are equally stringently placed.
As revealed by the article, in Dumaguete these young men are openly refered to as Bayote (bye-yote).
There are many reasons I haven't written about the Filipino Bayote in an earlier Update. First, I didn't totally understand. Just reading about something doesn't represent understanding to me. I imagine these young men were all around me when I first received the article, as they are now, and I was not fully aware of them, their position in this culture, how they came to be, nor the lives they are living.
Second, I wanted to take time for my own observations, experiences, and stories to develop with the intent that my understanding of the Bayote and what life is like for these young men would be deeper and more authentically represented to you through me. Now, I feel like I have a bit more understanding and my own stories to tell.
As I started getting more familiar with the idea of the Bayote it seemed I started seeing them around more. Young and old, they never really looked like women outside of their clothes and accessories. To me they always look like men dressed as women. Even though many of them work very hard to look and act just like a female, most times when I see one pass by in a peticab or walk by me on the street I'd mutter inside my head, "You look like a male. You're not fooling anyone." The thing is . . . I don't think they are trying to fool anyone.
I've had many of these young men in my classes and as the article disclosed, they are very entertaining. They also seem to be very kind, caring, gentle, and intelligent, values I find endearing in women.
One interesting thing about my interactions with young Bayote men is that one on one they can behave very masculine and then in a crowd, or classroom, they just turn on the exaggerated female characteristics, which, again, gets everyone laughing.
I interviewed Walter at the beginning of the school year as part of the process to place him in the correct English class and he showed no feminine qualities. The next week when he walked into Ralph and I's class, it was with a sway, hands up like a runway model, and smiled and giggled like a girl. She almost looked like a different person.
David is a student who receives a scholarship from LCP to attend school and still lives with his parents. There is no question in anyone's mind . . . David is a Bayote. I met David well over a year ago at LCP when I was working with LCP students during my training (right in front of me in black and pink). He, like all the other LCP students that have met me, now calls me Uncle Jacques.
David is a very small boy and very slim. His body size reminds me of one of my favorite Eagle Rock students, Tahnee Coleman, maybe 5'1" short and maybe, after a big meal and fully clothed, 100 pounds. He is 17 years old and finishing his first year at NORSU in the School of Nursing. He had to stay out of school a year after high school to wait for the proper scholarship to come along from LCP to assist his education at NORSU. During that time he hung around LCP a lot and helped mentor younger students, assisted with administrative duties appropriate for his skills, and helped run leadership camps.
David has short hair yet wears it like a young lady would. He is always dressed in appropriate and simple female looking clothes and although I've never seen him with makeup, he does wear simple and unobtrusive pieces of jewlery. He walks and talks like a young man who is very small and shy and appears very authentic in his dealings with people. He is a kind hearted, hard working, responsible, respectful, non-flamboyant young person. He also seems completely and naturally comfortable with his role as Bayote.
I see David often at NORSU and we probably have 3-4 longer conversations a month. I check on how he is doing in classes, let him know where he can find me if he needs help, and he always asks about how Ate Alana is doing. Although it is painfully obvious that he is Bayote, I still refer to him as a male, as you can see in the writing above. Heck, I refer to him as a male to him and he never seems put off by it or feels a need to correct me. Who knows what his whole story sounds like, maybe it is one I'll have the privilege of hearing one day . . . if I ever get up the courage to ask.
A more recent experience I had happened in our MWF 9-10 ENG 124: Public Speaking class. Before I get to him though I want to tell you about another distinguishable young woman in that same class.
It's difficult not to notice her because while 99.9% of Filipino people have dark, dark brown to jet black hair, hers is light chocolate milk colored. Although it is obviously not her true hair color it is straight, well past the middle of her back, shiny, well taken care of, and she plays with it all the time.
To add to her noticeability (is that a word?) she is unusually tall for a Filipino woman, heck, just for a Filipino come to think about it. There are tall Filipino women who stick out in a crowd because they stand 5'3" to 5'5". This young woman must be at least 5'7" tall and lean.
She is always dressed very uniquely and un-Filipino-like with very bright and stylish garments. Most of the female Filipino students wear jeans and t-shirts or polo type shirts, while she looks like a receptionist at a law firm. Along with wearing unobtrusive makeup every day, which includes bright red lipstick like Mama used to wear, she has a dot on the middle of her forehead, leading me at first to believe she might be from an Indian culture until I discovered it was a mole.
Tall, slim build, light boned, long light brown hair, makeup, red lipstick, snappy dresser, nice looking . . . none of these are the most unique part of this young woman.
In the past few weeks students in our ENG124 classes have been delivering 3-5 minute speeches. Ralph created a rubric, has been using it to assess the delivery of each speech, and gets up and comments on students' performance between each delivery . . . while I watch. We get through 8-9 speeches a class and with 55-60 students in each class I calculated (in my free time . . . OCD and bored) we would be doing this for 6-7 classes, about two weeks.
Dengue Fever can manifests into symptoms from a simple fever and headaches, to a violent fever, muscle and joint pains, and a body rash, and possibly to death. Dengue Fever is caused by a virus and spread by a certain type of mosquito. Last week Ralph's niece contracted Dengue Fever and was hospitalized. For 3-4 days Ralph handed over morning classes to me so he could be at the hospital with his family.
I was to listen, assess, and comment as he had. Instead of commenting, I put the rubric on the board and asked each speaker to self-evaluate in front of the class after the delivery of their speech. They were a bit freaked out about this at first I think because Filipino students rarely, if ever, get to self-assess or assess their peers. The only opinion that is important, holds any weight, or counts for anything seems to be the teacher's . . . what a waste!
I filled in the time between speeches asking the speaker to self-evaluate while asking the audience, the rest of the class, what they liked and/or what they believed could be improved about the delivery of the speech. Then I called the name of the next speaker as they had signed up.
I noticed this one name on the sign up list and wondered what was happening in the world and in the lives of the parents during the forming, growing, and delivery of this child into the universe. I remember when sexy Brad Pitt starred in the 1994 movie Legends of the Fall. For a few years after that movie it seemed like there were hoards of babies popping into the world named Tristan.
Back to the classroom . . . I called out the name just like all I had called out all the others, "Next will be John Lennon (first and middle names)" and who do you think stands up? The young woman with the long light brown hair and the bright red lipstick. She saunters up to the podium as I head to the back of the classroom and mutter under my breath, "Very unique name."
Ten seconds into her speech it finally becomes strikingly obvious that she was a he. A very well groomed Bayote. Until (s)he spoke, I would have never known. I spent the rest of his/her speech stuck in swirling thoughts.
After, while (s)he was self-evaluating, I asked the class, "What did you like about her speech?" All I got back was giggles and murmurs of "He said 'her.'" Just to make sure they knew I knew I then asked the class, "Is it not appropriate to refer to him as her?" There was an instant hush and the peer feedback proceeded.
In truth, I was still swirling.
Whale Sharks: What an economical whirlwind morning. Steve is still here and along with working with Alana and the young people at LCP every day, we want to expose him to as many different adventures as possible.
Yesterday morning, Saturday, 14 January 2012, we woke up at 5am and headed to swim with the whale sharks. We walked 1 kilometer to the highway, caught a 10 peso each ride from Dumaguete to Sibulan, 10 minutes away, then immediately hopped onto a boat leaving Sibulan for Lilo-an on Cebu Island that took 30 minutes to cross over and cost us each 70 pesos. Once across we rode a Ceres bus for 50 pesos each down the road for about 15 minutes to the shoreline where our massive mammal adventure would happen.
We've recently learned that whale sharks are "the largest fish in the sea, reaching lengths of 40 feet (12 meters) or more, whale sharks have an enormous menu from which to choose. Fortunately for most sea-dwellers—and us!—their favorite meal is plankton. They scoop these tiny plants and animals up, along with any small fish that happen to be around, with their colossal gaping mouths while swimming close to the water's surface.
The whale shark, like the world's second largest fish, the basking shark, is a filter feeder. In order to eat, the beast juts out its formidably sized jaws and passively filters everything in its path. The mechanism is theorized to be a technique called “cross-flow filtration,” similar to some bony fish and baleen whales.
The whale shark's flattened head sports a blunt snout above its mouth with short barbels protruding from its nostrils. Its back and sides are gray to brown with white spots among pale vertical and horizontal stripes, and its belly is white. Its two dorsal fins are set rearward on its body, which ends in a large dual-lobbed caudal fin (or tail).
Preferring warm waters, whale sharks populate all tropical seas. They are known to migrate every spring to the continental shelf of the central west coast of Australia. The coral spawning of the area's Ningaloo Reef provides the whale shark with an abundant supply of plankton.
Although massive, whale sharks are docile fish and sometimes allow swimmers to hitch a ride. They are currently listed as a vulnerable species; however, they continue to be hunted in parts of Asia, such as the Philippines." (taken from National Geographic website)
I'm not sure at all about Filipino's hunting them. We did hear that whale sharks passed through the Philippines and could be seen for a few days by a lucky few every year during their migration. This year, somehow, the locals figured out a way to keep a school of 6-8 of them around.
This school of whale sharks has been hanging off the shore of a little, relatively unknown town on the southeast edge of Cebu. They are fed plankton and what looks like fish mush by local fishermen while other fishermen haul people out and back from shore to view them in their small canoes with bamboo side rails. It has quickly turned into a popular little business for the locals and people are showing up from all over the Philippines to swim with the whale sharks as the word gets out.
Once in the gate and on the shoreline where the newly constructed cabanas lay, we could see about 20-25 of the small local canoes off the shore about 100 meters with many people in them looking around and many people in the water. A man that looked like he was running the show quickly informed me that we had to buy a ticket for 300 pesos each that would give us access to the whale sharks.
We figured the 300 pesos each was paying for all the locals helping to manage the gentle giants since we weren't asked or expected to pay for anything else. The tickets came with an informative handout about how to stay safe during the experience. As soon as I obtained the tickets, read the 'Top 10 Commandments to Staying Safe Around Whale Sharks' handout, and downed some water, we were geared up to swim and ready to head out. Steve got into a one-seater canoe and Alana and I got into a two-seater. We were asked to wear life jackets and chose not to. I wanted to swim . . . not float!
Even though I wasn't scared, I really didn't know what I was walking (or swimming) into or what to expect. There was a bit of apprehension in me and I just kept saying to myself, "I guess this will be an experience." We got out to where all the other boats were and still I couldn't see anything so I let my boatman know I was jumping in so I wouldn't tip the canoe.
Once in the water with my mask on . . . it . . . was . . . unbelievable. There were probably 3-4 whale sharks in our area. The shortest one was probably 15 feet long and weighed 2-3 tons and the largest one was maybe 20 feet long and weighed 3-4 tons. They were truly gentle giants and beautiful. The water was warm and clear with visibility of around 60 feet so we could see them feeding and swimming from far off.
The fishermen had named many of the whale sharks since they had been feeding them and getting to know them now for a few months. The whale sharks also seemed to know which boats they could come to for food. We were in 25-30 feet of water and when a whale shark would put his/her mouth up to a boat to get fed they would almost be vertical in the water with their tail fins very close to the bottom of the ocean.
Not only were they long, they were wide, 4-6 feet wide. Their mouths were 3-4 feet wide when opened and feeding. No teeth like you see sharks having on TV so they didn't seem so dangerous. Not once was I scared. They looked powerful and majestic. It was crazy to be swimming with such big and enormous animals.
At one point, Steve ended up hanging onto a boat that was going to feed one of the whale sharks. He was looking up out of the water when I called to him and said, "Steve, there is one right below you." At that point there was a whale shark that swam about 2 feet below his back. The whale shark circled around then started to feed off of the boat Steve was hanging onto and at one point Steve nearly put his foot in the whale shark's mouth. His body was literally 2-3 feet from the whale shark as he was getting fed by the fisherman.
Alana had her incidences too. Alana was defogging her mask one time right next to me as one of the whale sharks disengaged from a canoe boat that had been feeding him/her and started to swim right towards us. I just floated horizontally on the surface quietly and wasn't paying attention to Alana as she was putting her mask back on and floating vertically. When Alana finally got her mask on and looked toward me the whale shark was about 6 feet from her and heading right towards her. The whale shark naturally changed course yet not before getting a few feet from Alana as she reached out to grabbed me and screamed into her snorkel.
Her other incident was while she was watching one feed, another one was circling around looking for a fisherman who would feed him/her and Alana didn't see it. She was treading water and before I could let her know one was close to us while treading she kicked it point blank, and hard. The whale shark didn't even acknowledge it had been kicked and continued on it's way.
We swam and observed for about an hour then swam the 100 meters back to the beach. While we were out there I observed probably 20 other people in the water and another 30 in small boats looking about taking pictures. It was a thrilling experience.
Back on the shore we ate our lunch, it was only 9:30am, dried off and headed to the national highway to head home. We waited by the highway about 15 minutes before catching a 10 pesos each ride back to Lilo-an on a jeepney. There are always plenty of locals hanging around the highway willing to talk to us and find out about who we are and what we do and vice versa.
In the jeepney were three Bayote boys. They were interesting. All three had very feminine movements. One had her legs and arms shaved, toenails long and colored, and kept fixing her make-up with a mirror. All three had short hair, heavy eye shadow, and were wearing jewelry accessories. They were talking and giggling and incessantly primping and playing with their cell phones. It was very interesting to observe them since I had been working on the Bakla part of the Update for the last few days.
Once dropped in Lilo-an, we walked the 300 meters to the liner that takes cars across the channel to Sibulan on Negros. We hopped on one of those for 70 pesos each. Once back in Sibulan we took a multicab from the pier for 10 pesos each to Dumaguete, got dropped off at Mercury Drug and walked the last kilometer home. We were home by 10am.
The whole adventure took 5 hours and cost us each 550 pesos ($11). What fun.
Casaroro Falls: Today, Sunday, 15 January 2012, we headed out to Casaroro Falls outside of the mountain town of Valencia. Valencia is 9 km (4.5 miles) toward the mountains from Dumaguete and 500 feet in elevation gain. Casaroro Falls is another 9 km from Valencia and another 700 feet in elevation gain.
Once one gets to Casaroro Falls entrance and pays the 10 peso entrance fee, the falls are 333 cement steps down into the valley and 300 meters upstream. Casarora Falls is 100 meters (300 feet) tall and drops into 2 meter (6 feet) deep swimming pool size hole about the size of a summer music festival stage.
Our Peace Corps Volunteer friend from San Carlos, a town about 1/4th the size of Dumaguete and in northern Negros (same island as us) came to visit. Blake was excited to join Steve and I for the ride. Alana was glad to let him use her bike because she had work to do today at LCP.
Yesterday afternoon Steve did a wonderful job of lubing and greasing the bikes, tuning them up to get them in shape for the adventure while I gathered and prepared food for the day.
We woke at 6am and were riding by 6:30am. The road we wanted to take out of Dumaguete was blocked for a festival and we got sidetracked and kinda-sorta lost for a bit yet finally ended up in Valencia 1 hour later. The road out of town toward Casaroro used to cross over the main stream that ran on the side of the town. When Typhoon Sendong came through the stream grew and took out everything 20-30 yards on both sides of it. It also took out the road that crossed over it. We had to walk our bikes across the rubble left in Sendong's wake.
It took us another 1.25 hours to get to the "Welcome to Casaroro Falls" sign. FEEL THE BURN!!! The road out of Valencia to the falls is 98% uphill and at some points reaches a 30% grade. Blake and I ended up walking our bikes for a few kilometers at the end. Who knows what Steve did, he was soooooo far ahead of us.
The last kilometer the road turned to rock and mud. We went up a few hundred meters and a nice lady saw us walking our bikes and offered to let us lock them up in her yard so we didn't have to haul them the rest of the way uphill to the entrance. We gladly accepted and continued our trek.
Once at the entrance we noticed there was no one to take our 10 peso entrance fee and there was a board across the entrance that we without question ignored and went under. 333 cemented descending steps later we understood why the board was there. The 200 meter (600 feet) cement walkway that used to lead upstream from the bottom of the steps to the best view of Casaroro Falls was literally torn out by the rainwaters of the Sendong in December.
We made our way upstream through the rocks and sidewalk rubble and finally turned the corner to see Casaroro Falls . Casaroro was tall and thick and roaring. I could feel her power still from 100 yards away yet had much more fun right under her and swimming in the pool she created. By habit, I always carry my Cajun swimsuit with me (ma drawers).
Fresh stream water is always so exhilarating to be in. In the pool I could hardly see or breath facing the fall from the misty wind created by huge amounts of water landing in the pool after the 100 meter (300 feet) fall. The rush of water from the pool didn't allow me to get any closer than 3 meters (9 feet) from the downpour. The water was awesome temperature and the swim was refreshing after a 3 hour push to reach the falls.We took pictures, ate lunch, I soaked in the stream some more (reminded me of wilderness trips with Eagle Rock School), and then headed out. The trip back was just as eventful as we headed straight down hill, sometimes at a 30 degree angle. A few seconds with the brakes off and I was often doing about 40mph. Steve bit it once on some slick road (he was okay) and enjoyed telling Alana about his battle wound when we returned.
We happened to find a place when we hit Dumaguete to have a few beers in celebration of our adventure and on the last kilometer home the front tire of my bike blew. I was sad to have a flat and have to walk the rest of the way home and felt blessed that it happened right at the end. I wonder now it that flat was at all connected with my front tires battle with the peticab a week ago when I came over the handlebars?
We were home by 11:30am. The whole trip took us 5 hours and cost us a total of 165 pesos ($3.30), the cost of two rounds of beers :-) What fun again, two days in a row.
The saddest part of the whole trip happened when I got home and discovered that the Leatherman tool I have carried with me 99% of the days since 1990 was missing. I remember exactly where I took my shorts off to swim twice and it must be in the rocks in one of those places. There were only 6 other people visiting the falls today so we think there is a good chance no one will see it and pick it up.
So our next adventure is a rescue mission back to Casaroro falls on Tuesday, after I get the front tire fixed on Monday. Can it get any better that this?
InHarmony,,
- Jaco
J Jacques Fournet II
US Peace Corps Volunteer
Philippines Batch 269
Daro, Dumaguete City
Negros Oriental
NORSU
Reciprocity of Tolerance:
The Bakla in the Philippines
For nearly four hundred years, beginning in the early 1500’s, the Philippines was a Spanish colony. In 1898, Spain relinquished the archipelago to the United States after losing the Spanish-American War, and for the next fifty years, the Philippines became an American colony. By the early 1950’s, the United States claimed that the Philippines was an independent nation, although the American military did not abandon its bases in this country until the early nineties. Apart from these historical facts, most of the Western world knows little about this small island- nation. An in-depth look at the Philippines and the Filipinos who live there, however, yields a dynamic sense of cultural syncretism. There are many facets within the Filipino culture that would lead a great many scholars to debate and theorize—especially those in the fields of cultural identity, postcolonial theory and gender studies. This essay explores these topics, focusing and theorizing on one Filipino cultural component: the Bakla. The Bakla and his/her role within the Filipino society is a response to former conservative Spanish and American inculcations of religious and cultural standards of gender role determination-- thereby resulting in a uniquely Filipino cultural identity. The Bakla, and everything the Bakla identity encompasses, is a reaction to hundreds of years of colonial and religious oppression, resulting in a vibrant figure in Filipino culture.
Part One: What is a Bakla?
Linguistically speaking, the definition of the term “Bakla,” (bæklâ) is an effeminate or homosexual man. The term “Bakla” is particular to Manila and northern Luzon- interchangeable with the word “Bading.” In the Visayan region, south of Manila, “Bayote” would be the identifying term of the homosexual male. Though the expression alters depending upon location and dialect, the definition is consistent. However, simply retaining this two-dimensional definition bypasses intrinsic insights into Filipino culture and its evolution of cultural revolution against colonial oppression and gender differentiation.
The Philippines has a long history of cultural identity confusion. Though sprouting from a Malay origin, the dominance of the Western world for hundreds of years has resulted in the loss of a pure, considerably more Eastern ideology. As an obvious example, the Philippines is the only Christian country in Southeast Asia with an overwhelming majority of Filipinos claiming Catholicism as their faith. In addition to the inculcation of faith, the instillation of Western values has disfigured the original Filipino image. American products have infiltrated Philippine consumerism, where television advertisements reflect pale skin and button noses as tantamount to perfection. What is left of the Filipino culture are shredded fragments of a once colorful and distinct garment, sullied and trampled from hundreds of years of subservience to the West. It is only until recently that Filipinos have been picking up these fragments of a former identity-- piece by piece, slowly sewing together an identity that is neither Eastern nor Western, but an incorporation of both. One fragment of this cultural reformation is the “Bakla.”
The Bakla is the “Third Sex” among of the Filipino people. Physically, the Bakla is a man, with male genitalia; however, s/he is considered neither male nor female as s/he breaks the stringent gender roles placed upon the two sexes. The Bakla possesses highly feminized personality characteristics. S/he will wear dresses, bras, jewelry, make-up, and will physically alter his/her tone of voice and inflections to sound more feminine. The Bakla is more than a man acting as a woman the Bakla is a hyper-feminized figure, and prone to act more extrovertly in public than is deemed appropriate for a woman, contrasting with the Bakla’s female counterparts. Baklas will surround themselves with women, or other Baklas, and only interact with men in an unctuous, solicitous manner. Their behavior is overwhelmingly jovial, comedic, sexual; as one interviewee described them, they have a “bubbly personality” (Fernando). A Bakla is also classified by his/her frivolity, bringing levity to the heaviest of topics, going to extreme lengths, including self-deprecation, to make an audience laugh. Rarely are they seen emotionally upset or angry, as the Bakla concerts heavy efforts to consistently appear felicitous and ready to entertain.
Part Two: The Public and Private Sphere
The Baklas are destined for three socially appropriated professional positions: beautician, prostitute, and entertainer. The first two of these three professions are directly related to a factor of subservience. Beauticians focus on improving their customers’ physical looks. They beautify the country’s women in parlors laden with posters of scantily clad American models; conversations remaining stereotypically superficial and sexually centered. Male prostitution, though not as rampant as female sex tourism, is still a pressing issue in this country as many families coerce or pressure their young Baklas into prostitution for the sake of a lucrative gain. An interesting aspect of Bakla prostitution is that it not considered homosexual. A straight Filipino man may have sex with a Bakla, but because the Filipino society does not consider the Bakla “male,” the act is nominalized to simply a patron releasing tension. Social expectations groom Baklas to please and entertain others, with no proper familial guidance; they are under a great deal of emotional trauma and risk physical harm when entering the field of male prostitution. A final role in which the Bakla plays, and plays quite heavily, is the role of public entertainer.
One would only need to spend a few hours watching Filipino television to notice the prevalence of Baklas in the media. They dominate the mid-day television shows as game show hosts; they are typically judges for singing or dancing competitions; and they crowd advertisements with commercials for whitening cream, cell phone promotions, and restaurants. True to socio-cultural expectations, the Baklas are outlandishly dressed, joke excessively, fawn over male guests or contestants, and demean themselves to humor others. Although this might not sound like an appealing position to be in, considering the other probable occupations for the Bakla, these “entertainer positions” offer a stable income, and more importantly, an opportunity to be in the spotlight. The desire for the spotlight can also be seen in the way news media depict Baklas during on-site investigations. As an example, if there is a fire in an apartment complex, the newscaster will specifically choose to interview with an available Bakla, as s/he is expected to colorfully depict the crises, going into dramatic detail as to how devastated s/he is, and how much was lost by the event. Though the fire led to either death, or destruction, or both, the Bakla is there to save the day and add a touch of humor to an otherwise grave situation. Once again, in this socio-cultural relationship, there is reciprocity: the Bakla gets a 30 second limelight, and the rest of the country gets a good laugh rooted in someone else’s suffering,
These public displays to gain attention are instilled and reinforced early on in youth, as the young Bakla has his/her actions condoned or reprimanded while in school. High Schools begin the matriculation process at age eleven for the first year, with fourth year students graduating around the ages of sixteen or seventeen. The secondary education institution is a perfect venue to witness the development and socio-cultural facilitation of the Bakla identity. Expectations for the young Bakla are instilled early on, manifested in the behavior of the teachers and fellow students toward him/her. Two fourth year male students were interviewed to give their own opinions regarding the Bakla at their High School. These two male students would be considered “medyo Bakla” as they do not wear make-up or female accessories. However, both students portray feminine characteristics such as hyperactivity, feminine tone and inflection, hand gestures, and have only female friends. The interview initially began as a discussion regarding Filipino socio-cultural assumptions of the Bakla, only to transition into a pronouncement of personal ideology—something typically concealed amongst Filipino youth.
The young men were asked three specific questions relating to the definition of a Bakla, specific expectations of the Bakla, and how others act toward the Bakla students. The students answered the first question with incredible ease- the Bakla is “The sex [that] has been made here- the third sex. The gay [that] is dressed like a woman…portraying the attitudes of a woman.” Though the students were able to answer the initial question with a certain air of nonchalance, the follow-up questions, delving deeper into socio-cultural expectations of the Bakla identity were much more trying. The young men indicated very little about motivations for perpetuating the Bakla image, either by the Bakla him/herself or by those around him/her. Baklas were described as “so very happy,” and “like comedians,” echoing the idea that Baklas resort to the role of performer.
High School is an emblematic setting to witness growth, maturation, and solidification of cultural normalcy. Filipinos’ perspectives and traditions are reiterated as their children transition from youth to adulthood. The next question the students addressed was related to how Baklas were treated by fellow students and teachers at school. With trepidation, they regarded the teachers highly, affirming that teachers treat the Bakla students “like an ordinary student.” The fellow students on the other hand reflect a more sinister side to youthful ignorance by calling the Bakla students “faggot…and they are teasing and saying ‘yuck,’ oh they are gay.” One of the interviewees mentioned that other males will grab the genitalia of the Bakla student “without permission,” demeaning the Bakla with name-calling and mockery while they are committing the act. Though the boys felt uneasy about questioning the behavior of their teachers, for fear of reprimand, the teachers’ behavior is no less offensive. During class, as a teacher calls upon a Bakla student, the teacher will consciously question the gender of the child. “Oh, he…I mean she… answered the question,” is repeated over the course of the day, the teacher adding a chuckle to indicate the humor in confusing the two genders in front of the students. Also, there is little recourse for punishment to those students who sexually violate the Bakla. Teachers will shrug off a complaint, unwilling to take some semblance of responsibility for the welfare of the student body. In the Philippines, most schools are absent of a school counselor, or certified professional, to care for the emotional stability of the students. Serious faculty involvement and guidance for these students is essential to a healthy development of Filipino society, especially given the sensitivity of male homosexuality and the potential repercussions of peer sexual harassment. The serious lack of faculty support for the struggling Bakla students cyclically perpetuates their fatalistic self-denigration and thus the Bakla’s subservient role within the social sphere. As a final remark, one of the interviewees commented on the impact of familial regard for a growing youth, reflecting upon his own upbringing. “I can’t remember that…my parents corrected my ways. But, I’m saying, [why] didn’t they [correct my ways]? Why did they not try to be so conscious with my personality?” As this young man wrestled with his personal demons of social acceptance, he touched upon a substantial component of the emotional and societal development of the Bakla identity—the family.
The family as an institution lays the foundation for the Bakla identity through social and domestic grooming. Filipinos maintain an entrenched apothegm that every family should have a Bakla within it. As an example, if a family were to have three sons, the third son would be raised as a Bakla—the parents positively reinforcing feminine characteristics and consciously suppressing traits that are more masculine. The parents will go so far as to clothe a developing Bakla child in dresses and require him to play with gender specific toys, such as dolls. By the time the child enters High School, the Bakla has undergone severe familial reinforcement and grooming. By the age of eleven, a young Bakla understands his/her role as performer based upon socio-cultural expectations, and fatalistically accepts it.
There are continuing conflicts over the “Nurture vs. Nature” argument on the topic of homosexuality. In the Philippines, there is an underlying assumption that young boys are easily nurtured into their role as a Bakla, implying that they are also to be homosexual—as dictated by the socio-cultural expectations placed upon them early on in their lives. If a man is homosexual, then he must also be a Bakla, with the inverse being true. In the Philippines, a man cannot be innately homosexual and yet masculine. Moreover, at the first sign of effeminacy, a boy is thrust into a homosexual orientation and deemed “Bakla,” in spite of a potential actual attraction to the opposite sex. Etymologically speaking, there is no difference between being Bakla and being homosexual, as similar expectations are placed on both roles simultaneously through a Bakla’s societal development in the public and private spheres.
Part Three: The Bakla as a “Third Gender”
Gender Studies is a recent focus in the world of literary and social criticism, centering on the socialization and development of roles applied to an individual based on their sex and personal background. Through continuing pursuit of Queer Theory and analysis, the integration of a conceptualized “third gender” has been established within certain cultural spheres. Traditionally, gender roles are distributed dichotomously between man and woman, correlated to the biological differentiation of sex determination between male and female. In the Western world, there is little deviation from these two stringently placed gender roles, as assumptions of either man’s and woman’s behaviors, actions, and responsibilities remain inveterate and ingrained, albeit in the West, there is more equality between the sexes. The conceptualization of the “third gender” breaks the seemingly universal two-gender system with an individual’s adoption of gender roles belonging to the opposite sex-- undermining the idea that gender roles are solely determined by the sex of an individual. The Hijra of India are an example of this deviation from heteronormativity. They are recognized as biologically male, yet dress effeminately. The Hijra consider themselves neither man nor woman, but a gender that encompasses both (Agrawal). The “third gender,” though more or less socially ostracized in the West, is becoming an increasingly prominent figure in the East, with the Bakla of the Philippines as another example.
Ostensibly, the Philippines would be deemed an inappropriate locale to host a “third gender,” considering the country’s overbearing Christian conservatism. Yet, the Philippines has embraced the role of the Bakla with incredible ease, despite its set dichotomy of gender roles. The determined gender roles of the two-sex system of the Philippines are archaic from a western perspective. Men are breadwinners within the normal heterosexual sphere, working primarily in labor-intensive duties such as farming, metalwork, and construction, while women remain close to their homes. Men dominate all fields of the workforce, with the exception being of education. Schools predominantly maintain female teachers and administrative staff. Women also typically hold higher positions of authority within the Philippine Department of Education. Despite this, gender roles are stringent and highly polarized. Men are socially permitted to drink alcohol, smoke, gamble, engage in extramarital affairs while women are explicitly prohibited from participating in any of these activities. Women are chided for wearing low-cut shirts or shorts that go above the knee; men are consistently found without any top on at all, and are allowed to wear boxers in public with little or no derision. Many would attribute this anachronistic sense of custom to four hundred years of western colonial oppression and subversion of traditionally Filipino conventions. The Bakla deviates completely from the gender specific roles with biologically male individuals adopting female gender behavior and inflection. Despite the recalcitrant nature of “the third gender” within the Filipino cultural realm, Baklas are an integral part to societal identity. Arguably, this is due to the performance-orientated nature of the Bakla.
There is no doubt that the Bakla identity seems radical within the confines of Filipino culture; however, the fledgling manifestations and development of this “third gender" are rooted in Filipino cultural progression, moving away from a former era of subservience. As Philippine culture transcends the constructs of Western dominance, new identities, including that of the Bakla, are formed. The Bakla breaks through the binary world of man and woman, earning space in Filipino culture, creating and recreating new elements particular to that identity. One facet of the Bakla construction relates to a development of an entirely new language, available only to the Bakla, called “Swarding.” There are conflicting lines of theory within Filipino socio-linguistics as to the reason behind the development of an entirely new language. During an interview, a participant stated that, “on some part, the gay is homosexual, isn’t it? So, they are having sexual affairs with the men. So, they are using this language to hide on what they have done, or using alternate words to make private what they are talking about” (Tacad). The speaker was alluding to the idea that Baklas, through their furtive homosexual affairs, create a code for discussing events that are inappropriate to the heterosexual Filipino. This argument sheds a negative light on the language of “the third gender,” implicating a degenerate quality to both the identity and the language—a language based on coding and machination. A contradictory, yet more amicable argument states, “They [the Baklas] want to be unique. They are introduced as a third sex. The male and the female use their language regularly so they want to be unique from both the woman and the man” (Fernando). The development of identity and culture simultaneously reflect one another. The Baklas are disparate from both men and women, not a sub-identity of one or the other. As such, a language unique to Baklas reflects the “third gender,” and the division from the heteronormative.
Though there is a strong discrepancy between the heterosexual norm and the “third gender” encapsulated by the Bakla identity, there is reciprocity in tolerance. Traditional Filipinos tolerate the avant-garde underpinnings of Baklas, while they (the Baklas) mutually tolerate their role as “entertainer” within the socio-cultural domain. As mentioned previously, this reciprocity of tolerance is arguably due to the performative nature of the Bakla.
The Philippines is a country known for a great many things, including a staggering appreciation for the entertaining and the comic. It is considered inappropriate to express feelings of anger or sadness to a Filipino, especially in public, and as such, there is a continuous need for entertainment and joviality. The Bakla role of entertainer facilitates the necessity for entertainment through hyper-feminized, high energy and socially taboo antics. Traditional Filipinos tend to condone this behavior, allowing a modicum of ostensible freedom—‘ostensible’ in the sense that though seemingly permitted, culturally inappropriate behavior is expected of the Bakla, as it defines the mold of his/her structure. “I haven’t seen [a] Bakla or conversed with a Bakla who is very strict. My cousins who are gay, who are in the parlor and some of my classmates—they are so very happy. When they talk they are like comedians, also” (Tacad). The Bakla is outspoken, sexually engaged, a bold dresser, and has no social filter. It is the audacity of the Bakla that Filipinos find entertaining, especially given the hundreds of years of domination and overbearing orthodoxy. This identity is bound by these elements of the intrepid, with transgression into a more subdued identity as unacceptable. Unlike in the United States, where a homosexual man is not defined by sexual orientation, the Philippines has designated roles and behavior for the “third sex” in order to be socially accepted. A straight man cannot appear effeminate, while a gay man cannot appear masculine. Just as the role of the Bakla is defined by its bold nature, the gender roles of heterosexuals are equally stringently placed.
There is another identity within the Philippine society that receives very little acknowledgement- the complete antithesis of the Bakla. This antithetical “third gender” is that of the Tomboy. Even though the major focus of this essay is on the role of the Bakla, a brief look at the Tomboy is intrinsic to understanding the foundations of contemporary Filipino culture.
The Tomboy is a woman who dresses like and exhibits the behavior of a man-- the title of her role adopted from the American term. The Tomboy identifies herself as female, but prefers to socialize with men and court women. In the Philippines, the Tomboy identity is completely ostracized from the Filipino social circle, with no chances of re-entering unless femininity and heterosexuality are irreproachably present. Unlike the Bakla, there is no role for the Tomboy to enact, and she remains a sideliner on the cultural stage. As there is an absence of performance, there is also an absence of mockery or derision for the Tomboy. She is simply ignored, along with the mentally challenged and physically disabled— socially negated from the normal heterosexual circles. Being acknowledged and prohibited would at least allow for a foundation of responsive discourse to be articulated. Yet, the Tomboy has no place in the social strata, leaving her no footing to begin to climb the ladder of societal acceptance. What is partially true for the denigrated role of the Bakla is especially true for the Tomboy. The Bakla is accepted into Filipino society on the condition that s/he will perform the role that has been prescribed to him/her. The Tomboy currently has no foundation for responsive discourse to the values placed upon her. There is little or no room for transcendental discourse due to Filipino socio-cultural normatives based upon fatalistic tendencies. These fatalistic tendencies towards structured social identities are rooted in a cyclical oppression/suppression relationship. Initially, the oppressors were that of the West- either Spanish or American. Today in the Philippines, the oppressors and the oppressed are within the same culture, repeating the all too familiar cycle of oppression by the power holder, repression and fatalistic acceptance by the oppressed.
Part Four: The Bakla and the Backlash
The perpetuation of cyclical destructive relationships is not uncommon within the world of Marxist criticism and postcolonial theory. In the book entitled Pedagogy of the Oppressed, the author goes into explicit detail relating how once an oppressed group gains freedom, the leaders of that said group have an opportunity to retain an authoritative and commanding position. If a leader chooses to acquiesce to that position, motivated by either greed or ignorance, then they run a large risk of reinstating an oppressed condition for the people the leader is meant to serve. As a new oppressor, the leader may be equally as formidable as his foreign predecessor and perhaps even more so, depending upon the strength of the power struggle within the various factions produced by revolutionary ideologies. This oppression/suppression cycle within a post-colonized culture is arguably based on the idea that once subservience is instilled in the mind of the oppressed—usually from an outside force—it takes a great deal of will to gain agency and autonomous thought. The Philippines is an emblematic demonstration of this complex struggle for individuation, given its former obsequious position to Spain, the Roman Catholic Church, and more recently, the United States and western consumerism. The Bakla, and the perpetuation of his/her role in the Filipino culture, in many various ways, is a reaction to all of these former external oppressive forces. S/he is a result of hundreds of years of oppression and self-repression as defined by the reciprocity of tolerance within the extraordinarily heteronormative and conservative confines of Filipino culture. Because the Bakla is an identity engendered by Filipino reactions to external forces, it remains unique to the Philippines; however, that does not necessarily imply that the Bakla has autonomy. Filipinos have never had the opportunity until recently to construct particular identities within their social sphere; hence, the Bakla is a recent social phenomenon. Yet the construction and perpetuation of the Bakla identity is but a dissembled form of neo self-colonialism. Traditional Filipinos have replaced the role of the Spanish, while the Baklas have assumed the role of the accepting oppressed Filipino, diaphanously shrouded by a veil of entertainment—the jester of the Philippines.
The jester—an absurdly dressed caricature within the court, whose sole obligation is to amuse the king and his stately companions. His performance, aside for some exceptional political intrigue, requires little depth, though the jester works diligently on his social savoir-faire. Humor is the bread and butter of the jester character, and he will go the most extreme of measures to glean a chuckle from his audience. The medieval court’s jester, with his bell-tipped hat and foolish grin, has disappeared with the advent of human rights’ development and technologically advanced amusement. However, vestiges of this imperialized social enslavement still exist in the Bakla. The Spanish, the Americans and the Roman Catholic Church all had a viable part in the creation of the Bakla and his/her current standing in the Philippines.
Spain, and the Spanish conquistadors, conquered the Philippine archipelago in the year 1521. When they left in 1898, their remaining impressions were so deep that a Filipino is only distinguishable by appearance. Names of people and places and religious beliefs are tantamount to what exists in South and Central America. One of the primary constituents to colonization is a belief by the colonizer that those who are colonized are of a lesser quality of man. Many colonizers have justified years of rule by designating their oppressed peoples as ignorant barbarians, heathens, and otherwise in need of civilized culture. In addition to the vitiation through exoticizing and heathenizing the oppressed, the power dynamic of the colonized and the colonizer results in the feminization of the former. The power holders are the dominant and decidedly masculine possessors of the submissive colonized. The oppressed peoples accept their role of the obedient more effeminate possessed, obligated to serve the master of the colonial household. The Filipino has been the “feminized possessed” for such an extended amount of time, that once freed from compulsion, there was still a need for that role to be present within the culture. A theoretical proposition would conclude that the Bakla answers the socio-cultural need for the feminized possessed. Years of oppressed and symbolic emasculation of a colonized culture results in a symbolically emasculated Filipino male. The Bakla, through this series of cause and effect, would then be an obvious but indirect response to Spanish influence. Indirect, in the sense that Filipinos did not ostentatiously backlash against Spanish rule, using the Bakla as the tool of repercussion, but a more subtle “trickle-down effect” of oppression/suppression occurred. Because the Bakla is a symbolic response to a Filipino cultural need, s/he is inherently a uniquely Filipino identity, discordant from the heavily influenced western male and female gender identities found in the country.
Spain was not the only Western culture of influence that led to the manifestation of the Bakla role. The influence of the United States and its imperial consumerist nature also facilitated the construction of the subverted, but internally fashioned Bakla identity. Through American military occupation, an onslaught of sex tourism began in the Philippines, and an emasculated and entertaining Filipino had a chance at earning a wage for his femininity. The Philippine sex tourism ring remains, to this day, a part of the grotesque underbelly of the country, a remnant of American prurient strives for corporeal instant gratification. The term “G.R.O.” or “Guest Relation Officer,” is frequently heard in tourist-tracked cities, referring to the title of female prostitutes soliciting their bodies. The “callboy” is the male prostitute, typically highly feminized, and submissive to the requests of his/her usually paler patron. Though the G.R.O.s outnumber the callboys ten to one, the Bakla sex worker is the second most prevalent in the country. American and European perpetuation of the Bakla identity through lascivious purchasing hinders progression of the latter by maintaining two things. Firstly, the Bakla remains emasculated, obsequious and entertaining. Secondly, the Bakla remains stigmatized and immoral in the eyes of Roman Catholic Church, a still highly authoritative presence in the Philippines.
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Institutionalized and socialized religion has brought a great deal of good to humankind. Through religion, populations of people have a prescribed to a guideline for tolerance, love, kindness, and generosity toward a fellow man. Also, there are guidelines for moral conduct, and for those who do not rigorously ascribe to these tenets, many religious beliefs systems, including the governing Roman Catholic Church, will marginalize and condemn them for their deviant mannerisms. One of these tenets is that of Judeo-Christian aversion toward male homosexuality. “A man shall not lie down with another man,” resounds in the ears of the faithful devotee when the taboo topic of homosexuality is discussed. The Philippines is the only Christian country in Southeast Asia, and as such, highly traditional in their demonstration of faith. A figure, such as the Bakla, was designed to be socially gimmicked, displaced and mocked, as everything that the Bakla represents goes against traditional Filipino custom. The Bakla is a gender-bender and devout only in her/his demonstration of obscenity and discord against the Church, as socially determined by the Filipino media and mindset. Essentially, the Bakla rebels against the heteronormal dichotomy of established gender roles posited by the Roman Catholic Church. Had the Church been more accepting of homosexuality and of the gender-bending nature of the Bakla, then a response to the puritanical regulations of the Church would be illustrated through some other means of expression. It would appear that the Bakla backlash against the Church would be a revolutionary secularization to Filipino social construct. Yet, with traditional Filipino marginalization and Church condemnation, the “revolutionary” quality to the Bakla’s social emersion is negated. Along with the Spanish and American regimes, the Roman Catholic Church led to the Filipino conceptualization of the Bakla identity, securing its role as the oppressed.
The Filipino culture is still young in its search for national identity and agency. The incarnation of the Bakla gender role is an example of this culture in inchoate transformation—transitioning from a time of antiquated Imperialism to a self-imposed casting system. Though the Western world views social casting and ostracizing as barbarically cruel, in fact, it was Western dominance over this eastern country that facilitated the mindset of valuing one class of individual over another. The Bakla has been relegated to the role of the grotesque entertainer, a socially created, gender-bending curiosity amongst an audience of strictly defined men and women. The Bakla is a unique figure, hanging in the balance of what is tolerated and what is disdained, as the traditional Filipino audience watches and judges every move made. Though a difficult position to be in, there is compensation. For every laugh produced at self-denigration, for every dollar given for services rendered, for every comment made about the short shorts or the long hair, the Bakla receives attention, and is set aside as unique. In an overly populated and severely homogenized country like the Philippines, feeling unique is a difficult task. Therefore, the reciprocity of tolerance will continue, although for how much longer is uncertain. What is certain is that the Bakla, the socially generated “third gender” of the Philippine archipelago, is a definitive character of the present, and will likely remain for many years to come.
Works Cited
Agrawal, Anuja (1997). Gendered Bodies: The Case of the ‘Third Gender’ in India, Contributions to Indian Sociology, n.s., 31 (1997): 273–97 (Accessed Sept 15 2010)
Fernando, King Mark. Student, Exequiel R. Lina High School. Personal Interview.14 Sept. 2010.
Tacad, Jonas. Student, Exequiel R. Lina High School. Personal Interview. 14 Sept 2010.
References
Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum, 2006. Print
Fry, Paul H. “Queer Theory and Gender Performativity.” Audio Lecture. Yale University. Open Yale University Course via Itunes. accessed Sept. 22 2010.
