YouTube find #1
I've only begun to explore YouTube very recently. LOTS of stuff there, some better than others.
Ran across this, and while I'm not normally a starfucker, thought this was interesting enough to share. (Especially because I don't think many non-Filipinos in the U.S. realize the "famous" Filipinos in U.S. pop culture/entertainment.)
posted by sprouthead @ 7:03 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
This is one of my pet peeves -- claiming famous Filipinos. It's great to acknowledge them; I always say, "Is that person Filipino?" when I see someone remotely Filipino-looking on TV or in the movies. But my argument always is, why should I "claim" them when they are not "out" as Filipinos?
Related to this is when Filipinos--people I think of as 100% Filipinos--say I'm this part Chinese, this part Spanish, this part Filipino, etc. Filipinos are naturally mixed, so it's redundant to say that. Unless you're half or a quarter something else, I feel like you're just going out of your way to say you're not Filipino.
My 2 cents.
Thanks for your comment island dreamer!
I don't disagree that Filipinos (as are so many others) "naturally mixed." But, given that some people aren't aware of that, I have never minded talking about those other parts.
It's like people who are surprised to hear that many Filipinos are Catholic. I remind them of the history of Spanish colonization of the Philippines, and they understand in a different context.
Despite our dismay at Nazi Germany and Hitler's eugenic quest, I think that the history of mixing is lost on too many people. Granted, sometimes folks are just going out of their way to say they are not Filipino--but this, too, I think speaks to the internalized racism in the U.S.
I won't blame people for not coming out if the context of their lives makes doing so more of a hardship than not claiming all of themself. This said, we certainly need to work to change that context, which this youtube video doesn't necessarily do (although I don't think it hurts that project any).
As for "claiming" those who are not "out," I definitely see your point. I feel the same way when I see lists of "famous gay people" that include folks like Alexander the Great, Elenor Roosevelt, etc. who might have had same-sex behaviors, but might not have claimed a "gay" identity.
In these instances, however, the impulse seems to instantiate "gay" people throughout time, place, and space. (Because, if we've always already existed everywhere, then we must be accepted, right?)
I take this youtube video in the same vein, and accept it for what it is--an attempt to remind folks that (sadly) wouldn't otherwise know, that Filipinos have been and are everywhere!
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