. . . the mass media is arguably the most influential in molding public consciousness.
. . . the mass media is arguably the most influential in molding public consciousness.
As Mantsios (333) points out, media ". . . is national in nature and single-minded (profit-oriented) in purpose. This media plays a key role in defining cultural tastes, helping us locate ourselves in history. . . and ascertaining the range of national and social possibilities(334)."
Mantsios continues his discussion, thus:
Class distinctions operate in virtually every aspect of our lives, determining the nature of our work, the quality of our schooling, and the health and safety of our loved ones. Yet, remarkably, we. . . retain illusions about living in an egalitarian society. We maintain illusions, in large part, because the media hides gross inequities from public view. In those instances when inequities are revealed, we are provided with messages that obscure the nature of class realities and blame the victims of class-dominated society for their own plight.
Garcia argues that ". . . the Philippines has its own dualist tradition in respect of sexual identity. . . " the object of desire is either male or female. Garcia continues, ". . .and although it would seem that the effeminate bakla and the mannish tomboy attest to the fluidity of gender concepts and roles in our culture, at the level of desire they merely reinforce the babae and the lalake whole pale reflections they are."
As things stand, the dominant conception of the bakla identity strictly confines the bakla to an agonistic effeminaacy (a poor copy of femininity). In fact, the masculine bakla is simply unthinkable. He therefore must be a closet case, or a double-dealing fraud (silahis). Suffice it to say, then, that at the core of the social construction of the bakla is a "coreness" (loob) itself. As a recent ethnography reiterates, the bakla is a "man with a woman's heart" who, like a real woman, deeply desires a real man to be happy. :This inversion, though apparently camp on the outside, is actually underwritten by a very serious script of depth-obssessed "psychospiritual"--which is to say, loob-generated--authenticity.
The male babaylan, a religious/political figure from the pre-hispanic past, exhibited gender transitivity by virtue of the babaylan's fundamentally "female" function. Although what is inarguable is the male babaylan's transgenderal attributes, the assertion about his sexuality can only be made nebulously. In fact, such a connection may at best be largely hinted at, and not in fact proven. Nonetheless, the paucity of actual references to sexual practice among the early colonial "womanish" babaylan must only be taken in the context of how, until the sixties, even the bakla himself was represented as though he had no sexual nature (325).
The subsistence economy of pre-colonial Philippines at a ceratin degree depended on animism. In the realm of the preternatural, the female babaylan a significance not just spiritual in nature, but economic, considering her key role in mediating for a good harvest-which meant food-a necessity for the tribe if it is to survive. What today is considered religion was, during pre-colonial period, as important as the economic to address the necessities of life.
As Mantsios (333) points out, media ". . . is national in nature and single-minded (profit-oriented) in purpose. This media plays a key role in defining cultural tastes, helping us locate ourselves in history. . . and ascertaining the range of national and social possibilities(334)."
Mantsios continues his discussion, thus:
Class distinctions operate in virtually every aspect of our lives, determining the nature of our work, the quality of our schooling, and the health and safety of our loved ones. Yet, remarkably, we. . . retain illusions about living in an egalitarian society. We maintain illusions, in large part, because the media hides gross inequities from public view. In those instances when inequities are revealed, we are provided with messages that obscure the nature of class realities and blame the victims of class-dominated society for their own plight.
Garcia argues that ". . . the Philippines has its own dualist tradition in respect of sexual identity. . . " the object of desire is either male or female. Garcia continues, ". . .and although it would seem that the effeminate bakla and the mannish tomboy attest to the fluidity of gender concepts and roles in our culture, at the level of desire they merely reinforce the babae and the lalake whole pale reflections they are."
As things stand, the dominant conception of the bakla identity strictly confines the bakla to an agonistic effeminaacy (a poor copy of femininity). In fact, the masculine bakla is simply unthinkable. He therefore must be a closet case, or a double-dealing fraud (silahis). Suffice it to say, then, that at the core of the social construction of the bakla is a "coreness" (loob) itself. As a recent ethnography reiterates, the bakla is a "man with a woman's heart" who, like a real woman, deeply desires a real man to be happy. :This inversion, though apparently camp on the outside, is actually underwritten by a very serious script of depth-obssessed "psychospiritual"--which is to say, loob-generated--authenticity.
The male babaylan, a religious/political figure from the pre-hispanic past, exhibited gender transitivity by virtue of the babaylan's fundamentally "female" function. Although what is inarguable is the male babaylan's transgenderal attributes, the assertion about his sexuality can only be made nebulously. In fact, such a connection may at best be largely hinted at, and not in fact proven. Nonetheless, the paucity of actual references to sexual practice among the early colonial "womanish" babaylan must only be taken in the context of how, until the sixties, even the bakla himself was represented as though he had no sexual nature (325).
The subsistence economy of pre-colonial Philippines at a ceratin degree depended on animism. In the realm of the preternatural, the female babaylan a significance not just spiritual in nature, but economic, considering her key role in mediating for a good harvest-which meant food-a necessity for the tribe if it is to survive. What today is considered religion was, during pre-colonial period, as important as the economic to address the necessities of life.