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After a long debate over an LJ community, it really pisses me off how a certain cultural group seems to think that theirs is superior to everyone else. So that I won’t offend anyone, let’s call them Culture X.

What makes me really angry is how people from Culture X seems to think that everyone else in the world are savages (which we shall call Culture B) unless they adapt Culture X’s worldview. And this isn’t from just one person. It’s a trend I’ve noticed and often ignored, until I finally couldn’t stand it tonight. I’m not one to debate and argue, because I believe that debates are useless. In the end, we’re still going to stick to whatever we believe in. But I figured, I’m sick of telling all the people I know that I really despise people from Culture X. It’s about time I let someone from Culture X know about it.

The point I’ve been trying to make is that no matter how “barbaric” a certain cultural group seems to act, nobody, save someone from that cultural group, is in the position to judge them as such. People from Culture X specifically are rasied to cherish values such as life, peace, and (I’m beginning to hate the word) freedom. And just because they believe differently from what other cultures do doesn’t mean that they have the right to change them and enforce their worldview on others. It’s really very simple.

But then the person from Culture X starts saying something about how if we think someone is doing something wrong, we should question it and change it. Again, person from Culture X is looking at it from his cultural POV. That he feels the need to question Culture B’s beliefs presupposes that he thinks Culture B is inherently savage, crazy, etc. But it’s not always so. What’s right for Culture X isn’t always right for the rest of the world. Why the hell can’t they understand that?

I should stop caring about things like these, really. It only makes me angry and anger makes me unproductive.

Update:

I got the following response from another person from Culture X. (What I said is in italics):

Other peoples’ cultures are none of your business.
Not so. To the extent I am capable, I have a duty to prevent the infringement of the rights of others.

What’s right for Culture X isn’t always right for the rest of the world.
Bullshit. What’s right for humans is right for humans. Whether what’s right for any of us is the same as what is currently practiced in Culture X is a seperate question.

*headdesk*

And just because I can, I am going to plug KATIPUNAN again. Help keep our dream alive. Donate to KATIPUNAN now! If you believe in our cause and have extra cash to spare, any amount would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

A few days ago, I borrowed a Filipino graphic novel called Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah by Carl Vergara. It’s basically your garden-variety superhero comic book about battling garden-variety alien invaders–except that our “superhero”, Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah, is really a parlor gay who becomes a transsexual upon swallowing a magic stone (like Darna, the most famous female Filipino comic book superhero). Since I have done quite a bit of research on Filipino gay culture for a group paper on homosexuality for a Theology class, I was able to read Zsa Zsa with some background on local gay culture. And I will make my comments on the graphic novel with this knowledge in mind. (Let me make a disclaimer though, that all I know of Filipino gay culture is based on observation and information from a book called Philippine Gay Culture: The Last 30 Years by Neil Garcia (from UP Press).)

Homosexuals in the Philippines are referred to as bakla or bading. The bakla is basically your loud, effeminate, parlor gays (think the gay guys from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy except noiser) or transsexuals. In Filipno culture, bakla and homosexuality necessarily connote each other. During the sixties, which was the birth of Filipino gay culture, it was popularly believed that a bakla is a male whose sexually desires another male, but by virtue of this choice, loses his masculinity and begins to turn female. But this transformation to another gender is never fully accomplished because what the bakla can only do is become a “fake woman”.

With time, Filipino gays gained a favorable reputation through the field of arts and entertainment–theater, fashion design, show business. But alhtough it seemed that the although it seemed that bakla were celebrated and welcomed by the predominantly heterosexual Filipino society, people came to the impression that bakla will always remain aberrations because they cannot partake in the experience of bearing children. Since they are handicapped in this sense, the bakla has less chance for happiness than others.

In other words, homosexuality in the Philippines boils down to a reversal of gender roles. They dress up as females or act effeminately and have creative jobs like interior design–jobs that are usually designated to women. It is also the average bakla’s dream to be loved, accepted, and enter into a relationship with “real man”. Like women, baklas treat each other like sisters and thus, do not date each other because this would be something like incest. Ironically, Filipino gays, while marginalized by the heterosexuals, practice a form of discrimmination of their own. Silahis is a Tagalog word that roughly translates to “bisexual”. But for the bakla, who assert a feminine identity, a silahis is a male who looks and acts like a “real man” but who, deep inside, wishes to become effeminate. Because the silahis is not effeminate, he is misconstrued by the gay culture as behaving in a masculine manner to avoid the stigma on effeminate identity. It was also the opinion of the gays that the silahis were merely fence-sitters waiting out the war against homophobia. Thus, the silahis were considered to be traitors to their cause.

So what does all this have to do with Zsa Zsa? In the graphic novel, Ada–the bakla who eventually becomes Zsa Zsa–is in love with a guy named Dodong, and the story ends with Dodong falling in love with him. If what I just said about Filipino homosexuality is still holds true today (and I actually wouldn’t know since I don’t have any gay friends), then I just don’t see this happening. Look at it this way. Baklas want to be in a relationship with a “real man” but the fact of the matter is, heterosexual guys would do anything to avoid being seen in the company of a bakla, usually because they find the gender role reversal disgusting and unnatural, and because they fear that other people might think they are bakla as well. And if the bakla think that the silahis (the manly gay man) is some sort of a traitor to kabaklaan, then I think they’ve reached a dead end. But again, let me clarify that my conclusion is not fact; just the result of a little research and personal observation.

As for what I think about the whole gender role reversal of Filipino gays, I admit that sometimes I find it disturbing and slightly annoying. I don’t understand why they feel that they are “women trapped in men’s bodies”. I find it annoying how they tend to screech too loudly, and scary how they can be bitchier than the bitchiest women. And yes, it’s gross how some gays act like the most goddamn arrogant queens but just don’t have the looks to pull it off. I realize that this isn’t a very fair evaluation of them and but the reason why I feel this way towards them is because I don’t have any gay friends. Not because I don’t want to, but simply because I’ve never had the opportunity to know any Filipino gay people. I’ve been told that they have a great sense of humor and are as loyal a friend as another woman but since I don’t know any gays I haven’t seen this side of them yet. Perhaps someday I will. But if the bakla can be as trecherous as the average woman (see this entry), then perhaps I can’t have a lasting friendship with one.

(This is probably asking for it, but I’m leaving the comments open.)

The only reason why I’m writing this at all is because I wanted to show you guys this interesting picture I saw on my favorite LJ community, randompictures. Since I want to make my blog more than just, “Hey, check out this interesting picture I saw on my favorite LJ community, randompictures“, I suppose it’s only proper that I add my opinions on the subject matter at hand, which is the storm called “Katrina” that hit the southern part of the United States. I was a bit hesitant at first because my whole belief system is slightly unpopular but hey, even if everyone in the world would hate me for it, I’d still retain the same opinions.

It is popularly believed that Ateneans (the students who study at my university) are “apathetic” because we don’t really give a flying fuck about the current political and social crises in the world today. While I’m not going to go around wearing an “I am an apathetic Atenean” t-shirt, I’m not ashamed to admit that yes, I do fit into that stereotype. Not by my virtue of being an “Atenean” — if I studied at UP (University of the Philippines), which is known to breed student activists of sorts, I’d still be politically and socially apathetic. Why? Simply because I’ve never given a flying fuck about these things in my life. I mean, the closest thing I’ve ever came to having some sort of political opinion is this entry. Afterwards, I stopped following the whole impeachment case because I have more pertinent and pressing things to worry about than the political upheaval in the country, which always happens whether I care about it or not.

This is basically the reason why I don’t have an opinion on the damage that Katrina caused. Sure, I’d rather it didn’t happen. I’d rather that it didn’t kill so many people and displaced so many families. I’d rather that the relief goods came in a bit faster. But I don’t feel empathy for them or anything like that and because of this, I wouldn’t donate any relief money for them. I don’t know about you, but I think that being honest and not helping out people I don’t feel anything for is a lot better than lying to myself and insisting on giving the same amount of help to the same people I don’t care for.

Do you know what I care about right now? My grades. My primary concern, as a student, is to study. But more than that, I have an oral exam with the most evil Theology professor in school tomorrow and if I fail that, there’s a huge chance that I’ll fail his class (I bombed the previous exam; both are worth 30% of my grade). The next day, I have a History exam, which I haven’t studied for yet because I’ve been focusing on my Theo orals. I also have a paper due for my Japanese Culture class on Tuesday, which I obviously haven’t done either.

Now, if I had a family member or a friend whose home got destroyed due to the storm, it’d be a totally different story because now we’re talking about people I care about. I’d give whatever I could to make things a little easier for them, because they’re people I actually feel some concern for. If I were a taxpayer, I’d start paying a little more attention to Philippine politics because the money I worked my ass for is going to this piece-of-shit government. But I don’t know anyone who suffered from the Katrina storm. I’m not a taxpayer. I’m a student. I’m not going to do my country any service by holding noise barrages or going on a hunger strike at EDSA shrine. What’s that going to accomplish, really? A rally is nothing more than a bunch of people standing in the streets, letting their beliefs be heard by people who already believe in these things. As for a hunger strike, the only interesting thing about that is speculating when the moron starving himself to death for some political cause will die from malnutrition.

The truth is, even if I were a taxpayer, I’d probably not even give that much of a flying fuck about current events. I just want to be left alone, to live, and not be bothered to feel or do something about things that really aren’t any of my concern.

I’m disabling the comments because I’d rather not debate or worse, be given a lecture in my own blog, about my very non-mainstream, non-humanitarian opinions.