If Sara Mills has her male gaze. Our Eng 197 class has the queer gaze. A phenomena that involves the use of physically attractive straight male actors that are focalized and fragmented by the camera which subsequently becomes suggestive for Filipino queer viewers (particularly male homosexuals).
A young Cogie Domingo endorsing a Penshoppe body spray.
Notice the way the camera focuses and shifts its eye on Derek Ramsay's figure.
If one muscly, half naked sweaty guy wasn't enough, they had to put five of them in the same room.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Resisting the Resistance
This series of Colt45 commercials is interesting in that there is an attempt to resist hegemonic masculinity but a few seconds later, this resistance is resisted, in the form of very large bottle of Colt 45 dropping from the sky. Like a big hammer stamping a big fat HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY all over the commercial. This only means one thing, that the stereotype of the macho Filipino man is so deeply embedded in our society's construction of identity that Filipino men all over are pressured to conform to that image. The following videos feature four friends and each one has their own video where one is caught in the act of being a little less macho than they should have been so, well, you just have to see for yourself.
Riza Santos! Leave the fashion advice to the women, tsong. Tingnan mo tuloy.
Lesson learned: don't take any calls (especially from the girlfriend) when watching quality television like UFC with the boys.
Ok, I admit, I'm guilty of this too but for utensils only and I'm still alive so....
Not exactly the best time to wipe down, pards.
Riza Santos! Leave the fashion advice to the women, tsong. Tingnan mo tuloy.
Lesson learned: don't take any calls (especially from the girlfriend) when watching quality television like UFC with the boys.
Ok, I admit, I'm guilty of this too but for utensils only and I'm still alive so....
Not exactly the best time to wipe down, pards.
Man = Conqueror
There is a common trend in today's TV commercials that feature Filipino men. First, that there is an almost exclusive use of the Filipino leading man. Second, that this Filipino leading man is juxtaposed with over the counter (OTC) drugs such as Paracetamol and the like.
Now, these have implications. First, that the Filipino leading man is being pushed as the ideal image of Filipino men as a whole. That all Filipino men should be, if they aren't already, physically and mentally fit as well as physically attractive (yes, even Pacquiao). Notice also that all of the product endorsers in the commercials below have a goal in mind: to be in top physical condition in order to go about their business being manly men. I label this phenomena as the "conqueror mindset". Men are problem solvers and feel a sense of accomplishment when they overcome or conquer a certain problem. In the course of being manly men, obstacles arise such as muscle fatigue and headache. The use of OTC drugs is a way to conquer these obstacles in order to continue being manly men.
John Lloyd Cruz for Biogesic, a popular brand of Paracetamol.
Manny Pacquiao for Alaxan, a popular brand of Ibuprofen. He's in the process of training to maintain his status as arguably, best pound-for-pound boxer, and he experiences muscle pain so he uses Alaxan to maintain his training form.
Probably the best example of that "conqueror mindset" discussed earlier. Watch the video.
Now, these have implications. First, that the Filipino leading man is being pushed as the ideal image of Filipino men as a whole. That all Filipino men should be, if they aren't already, physically and mentally fit as well as physically attractive (yes, even Pacquiao). Notice also that all of the product endorsers in the commercials below have a goal in mind: to be in top physical condition in order to go about their business being manly men. I label this phenomena as the "conqueror mindset". Men are problem solvers and feel a sense of accomplishment when they overcome or conquer a certain problem. In the course of being manly men, obstacles arise such as muscle fatigue and headache. The use of OTC drugs is a way to conquer these obstacles in order to continue being manly men.
John Lloyd Cruz for Biogesic, a popular brand of Paracetamol.
Manny Pacquiao for Alaxan, a popular brand of Ibuprofen. He's in the process of training to maintain his status as arguably, best pound-for-pound boxer, and he experiences muscle pain so he uses Alaxan to maintain his training form.
Probably the best example of that "conqueror mindset" discussed earlier. Watch the video.
Monday, October 11, 2010
On the Racks
We are all familar with the local magazines that cater to the different lifestyles of men and women in general. Just basing on the cover, you can see what kind of images the magazine promotes and what kind of lifestyle it 'imposes' on men. It is focused on fitness in terms of having a body closer to the models, with hard-rocking abs or kick-ass muscles. It also contains "guy wisdom" as well as sexual tips or how to please women. The counter part magazine for women Women's Health, contains more or less, the same topics like, weight loss, sex and romance, beauty and style, fitness and diet, how to please men, how to handle stress etc.
Despite the fame of this kind of magazines in the market, interestingly, there are other magazines which cater to another type of readers, the homosexuals, or more specifically, the gay homosexuals.
The ICON magazine obviously caters to gay audience. It talks about issues on sexual relationships of gays with other gays. Everything related to the queer kind of lifestyle.However, despite its position to produce a kind of magazine that is open to homosexuality, it still faces many controversial issues regarding homosexuality. One of the criticisms that the magazine faces is that its focus only on the superficial and stereotypical issues of gays, mainly sexual needs or how to satisfy their partners. Many gay rights advocates believe that it masks the real problems that gay people face in the society;that is discrimination, gay identity, sexual health etc.
OUTRAGE magazine, another homosexual magazine, claims that magazines like this should be concerned about the real issues of the homosexuals, politcally, socially, economically and even personally.
"This coming in the heels of the closure of once-popular Filipino-specific LGBT publications ICON and Generation Pink (GP), and the continuing infamy of semi-pornographic gay publications like Valentino and Coverboy, which leave the local community without its own media. "Gay media, as it developed in the Philippines, focused on the extremes – it was politics versus sex and parties. We used to have a publication for the semi-political in Manila Out, and then, in the likes of ICON, GP, Coverboy and Valentino, we had those largely focusing on more sensationalized, albeit trifle, issues of gay parties and of sex for sex's sake," says Tan, who laments how "we continue failing to merge both, when that is what we should be doing."
Outrage magazines covers issues such as:
-the Filipino gay identity,
-sexual health-discussions on safer sexual practices and HIV and AIDS
-gay rights-morality in sexuality
-recreational drugs and their rampant use concerns of gay travelling in the Philippines
-fashion, and reviews of everything LGBT, from party venues to restaurants, and from plays to films.
Other specific topics include:
-Gay entrepreneurship
-Advocates of GLBTQIA (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transsexual, Queer, Intersex and Ally)-Armed and Gay
-Drug use issues in GLBTQIA
-Gay homes
-Queer siblings
-Support systems
-Sexual dysfunctions
It's interesting to see how these parties who seem to be on the same side of the racks, to actually have different concerns and issues they raise. It is important to note that homosexuals are also different people coming from different social classes and economic positions, but it is more important to focus on the real issues they experience, which most of the time, are dismissed because of the stereotypes we have on homosexuals.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)