Week 10: Manalansan - "In The Shadows of Stonewall: Examining Gay Transnational Politics and the Diasporic Dilemma" (Ang, Adrian)

In Martin F. Manalansan IV's "In The Shadoes of Stonewall: Examining Gay Transnational Politics and the Diasporic Dilemma", Manalansan discusses the difference in the connotation of the term "gay" in Western society and in non-Western societies, particularly in the Philippines. One interesting point that I noted after reading this article was how the United Nations wanted to use the Stonewall Riots 25th anniversary to push the gay liberation movement forward, in a global context, and how that inherently is problematic since it doesn't take into account the social and political context of what gay is in other countries. In the Philippines, the work "bakla" is used to refer to a gay person but carries derogatory meaning through implicit stereotyping, instead of just implying a sexual orientation. As someone who identifies as Filpino American, I have been around many elderly Filipino people who use the term bakla in a derogatory way and also expect gay men to be effeminate and flamboyant, the traits that Tiongson discusses in his foreword that Manalansan references to. I thought that this article was interesting because even though I am Filipino and have been back in the Philippines, I never thought about the perspective that Manalansan presents about the gay movement. Taking all of this information into account, I pose a question: how do we allow the discussion and furthering of gay politics in society without generalizing while still being mindful of cultural differences in what gay entails in different societies?

Manila Gay Pride March 2015

Sources:

http://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Manila+Gay+Pride+March+2015+JqxwJGRKfTrl.jpg

Martin F. Manalansan IV. “In the Shadows of Stonewall: Examining Gay Transnational Politics and the Diasporic Dilemma.”