“Muchakang Pangkalawakan”: Queering Engagements with Bakla of the Philippine Tropics

Authors

  • Artemio P. Millo Jr. Ateneo de Manila University, The Philippines

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.23.2.2024.4053

Keywords:

bakla, ethnographic reflexivity, personal narrative, identity-making, queer tropicality, queer Philippines

Abstract

The performance of participants in the Miss Gay Muchakang Pangkalawan [Miss Ugly Gay Universe] in Quiapo, Manila, reflects characteristics of the flamboyant and effeminate bakla. However, these stereotypical depictions may not always be consistent with how participants view themselves. This study argues that an introspective understanding of how participants make sense of their identity work engendered by ever-turning tropes reveals slippages that can liberate them from existing oppressive stereotypes. By utilizing personal narrative and ethnographic reflexivity, this study deconstructs the participants’ performances, revealing identity-making that may reinforce or resist dominant discourses on the bakla under which these narratives are produced. Taking into consideration the deep affectional connections and intersubjectivity among bakla, the study contends that the obscure pageants of the “ugly” are not merely sites of gender self-discovery and contesting of local stereotypes but are also queer tropical arenas that resist hegemonic views.

Author Biography

Artemio P. Millo Jr., Ateneo de Manila University, The Philippines

Artemio P. Millo Jr. is a junior faculty member in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines, where he teaches an elective course on Gender and Sexuality and core subjects in the Social Sciences. He completed his master’s degree in Sociology in the same university and has plans of pursuing PhD in the coming years. The experiences of gender-based oppression since childhood, have cultivated his interest to pursue research on Gay and Queer studies. He is currently writing a proposal on sexuality and HIV beyond the scientific approach. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, reading, and coffee crusading.

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Published

2024-10-15

How to Cite

Millo Jr., A. P. (2024). “Muchakang Pangkalawakan”: Queering Engagements with Bakla of the Philippine Tropics. ETropic: Electronic Journal of Studies in the Tropics, 23(2), 124–146. https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.23.2.2024.4053