Concerning Constructions of Self and Other: Auto-racism and Imagining Amerika in the Christian Philippines

Abstract

The term ‘colonial mentality’ is popularly used among many Filipinos to refer to a tendency to compare themselves negatively to Amerikanos. This paper explores the everyday form such deprecating self/other constructions take on the island of Siquijor in the Central Visayas region of the archipelago. It sheds light on how these constructions are socially situated, deployed and reproduced, their limits and their effects. It shows that comparisons between categories of Filipino and Amerikano must be understood in relation to local hierarchies. On Siquijor, local imaginings of Amerikano lifestyles and bodies not only serve as reference points for ideals of affluence and beauty, but act as markers of prestige in competitions for status between neighbours and kin, sustaining a sense of Amerikano superordinancy. While, on Siquijor, superordinancy presumes neither innate nor moral superiority (and, indeed, there exists ambivalence towards the relative moral status of Amerikanos and Filipinos), there is a strong presumption specifically that the ‘failure’ of the Philippines to achieve similar levels of affluence to the US is due to moral deficiencies of the Filipino self. Thus, outward-looking desire is contained by inward-looking discontent, the latter keeping the former from spilling over into demands for change to a global status quo.