Week 10-Venice Santos

I know what it means to be bakla. I know what it means to a babaylan, but the never in my mind did the two identities intertwine. When I learned about who a babaylan was, which is a medicine woman who held an esteemed position in society, I didn’t seen her as bakla as well. To a certain degree I was raised with bakla being used as an insult at times to describe someone who was biologically male, but acting female. I’m not saying the two can never be the same person, but it’s just very surprising to me that the two are historically connected. What makes it difficult and unsettling to me is the fact that the two terms do have negative connotations tied to them respectively. It always becomes apparent that the negatives undermine the positive traits that a person who is “labeled” bakla or babaylan suddenly become seen as. “Homosexual men and women were still perpetuating the feudal stereotypes.” This is hard when the media portrays gay men and women as one thing to represent all people when it only reflects a portion of the population. This same misconception by the media can be applied to not only homosexual stereotypes but any stereotype towards a race, ethnicity or even authority figures like the police. How can we expect to change how people are perceived when there is very minimal representation and it is combated with false portrayals?

"Hey I am gay. And then you call me a boy. You don't do that to me."

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

the Diasporic Dilemma.”

http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/p/ou-bakla-ako-tapos-tawag-mo-sakin-boy-you-dont-do-that-to-me/