In the Shadows of Stonewall: Examining Gay Transnational Politics and the Diasporic Dilemma - Martin F. Manalansan
The Stonewall Riots that took place on June 26, 1994 was seen as the turning point in the history of transnational gays and lesbians in which several violent riots took place by the gay community against a police raid. It was seen as the moment that defined the modern fight for rights for the gay and lesbian community.
According to Manalansan, he argues that the "local practices and local histories" along with "national culture, history, religion, class, and region" may play an more of an important role in shaping the "subjectivities in specific places" (141). He also argues that the increasingly globalization of the meaning of gayness and the gay and lesbian movement have promoted the Western definitions and culture to be dominant while non-Western definitions are seen as inferior and non-modern. This globalization leads to the marginalizing and invisibilizing of the non-Western queer communities, practices, culture, history, and experiences.
Also, the article mentions of countries and people who deny the existence of gays and lesbians and their community.
10,000 Senora Lees: The Changing Gender Ideology of Korean-Latina-American Women in the Diaspora - Kyeyoung Park
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| Iara Lee, Korean Brazilian Filmmaker |
This article focuses on the secondary migrants of Korean-Latna-American women which they were first from South Korea to South America and then to the U.S. analyzing the experiences of Korean Latina women in the context of the Brazilian culture in comparison to the culture in the US.
There is a huge divide in terms of how gendered roles are applied in the two distinct cultures in which Brazilian cultures do not necessarily have the same rigid racial and gender structure as the US does.
Also, Park analyzes her experience in South America as a Korean women in terms of how the gendered roles and notions are affected and influenced by being born or raised in South America. She compares her experience of being Korean in South America to being Korean in North America. As a Korean in North America, she experienced racism and discrimination based on her skin color as she was seen as a comparison to a white women that fell short. The discrimination and racism was not so much of a big issue in South America than in North America for her as a Korean women.
Park's experiences in these two varying cultures and society present a context through which we can further understand the diasporas in the two communities and how the cultures and ideals could be so different for someone who is ethnically Asian living in societies that
Filipino Sea Men: Identity and Masculinity in a Global Labor Niche
The individual identity is strongly fostered by nation-state influences, as well as the projections that outsiders bring in. However, identity - and specifically, the notion of gender and sexuality, is also propagated by cultural values and individual self-building. “Filipino Sea Men: Identity and Masculinity in a Global Labor Niche” discusses the various ways in which the notion of Filipino seafarers are politicized, exploited, and remade, in order to create group that constantly explores and morphs preconceived gender roles.
The origins and history of Filipino boat men is a long road filled with subordination and exploitation, and promotion of an “ideal worker”, creating deep-set biased beliefs within foreigners looking into the Filipino identity: they see Filipinos as quiet, dependable workers, with a streak of femininity - that is, they have “service with a smile” and an overall elevated degree of friendliness. Such a perception is rooted in history - Filipino seamen were originally favored by imperialist countries because of their competency in English and their formal training. Views about Filipino men were formed by their employers over the many years: that they are neat, have high regards for the family, are hard workers who seldom complain. These perceptions, however, are not only passed on through experience with working with the individuals, but also through the propaganda from the Philippine government, which was a smaller part of a large project to send its surplus of workers overseas - or in this case, out to sea, by blurring gender divides and helping restructure the masculinities of Filipino sea men by basing values not to macho acts, but to family loyalty.
The bamboo ceiling is ever present in this particular labor market, for Filipino sea men suffer a loss of individualism - they are seen as a homogenous, low-status, compliant group within ships, which gives them little chance for recognition. The view that Filipino men are hard workers obscures the real and diverse identities of men that hold this occupation.
Diasporic identity is strongly tied to the relations of the diasporic group with not just the home country, but by views and attitudes that other nation-states and groups have of them. However, the Filipino seamen have been suprisingly resistant to all of these perceptions by avoiding the internalization of a singular aspect of these perceptions, and instead constructing their own diverse line of masculinity - instead of accepting the “feminine” values that other countries bestow upon them, they retaliate not by being dominantly masculine, but by expressing multiple different forms of what they perceive to be masculinity based on what they value the most. In this case, such laborers do not succumb to the pulls of the black and white “feminine male” versus “dominant male” narrative, but instead, form their own version of what it means to be masculine by accepting aspects of both, and forming ideals of their own as well.
Questions to Discuss:
1. Why might it be good for nation-states to blur gender roles when advertising the value of their overseas workers?
2. How does the perception of “compliant” and “hardworking” as a trait in Filipino seamen parallel to the “model minority” phenomenon that we see today? How might they be different?
3. What are some of the notions and views of the gay and lesbian community that does not fit into the Western ideologies and definitions? How are these non-Western notions viewed by those in the diasporas?
4. How do diasporas contribute to the globalization of the gay movements such as the Stonewall Riots?
5. Seeing as Koreans in diasporic countries have an experience that is different from those in their home country, in what aspects could the diasproic experience coincide with the home experience in terms of gender roles and ideologies? Are there overlapping gendered stereotypes?
6. Would you argue that the family unit in these diasproic communities are affected by the national culture? If so, to what degree? How would transnationalism and globalization impact the family unit and the national culture?
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