FOUCAULDIAN DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF BATTERED MEN IN THE PHILIPPINES

Abstract

By using Foucauldian analysis to examine how respondents and society viewed battered men, what their subjectivities entailed, what practices they engaged in, and the institutions that were influencing them, the study sought to identify the dominant discourses regarding Filipino battered men. The study identified four discourses, including namely: men must be tough/dominant, men as providers and problem-solvers, battered men as nakakahiya, and male victims are helpless. Positions like men being matapang, macho, dominant, padre de pamilya, providers, victims of financial abuse, nahiya, under de saya, helpless victims, and advocates from these discourses. Their subjectivities were influenced by these positions, which led them to believe that men must suppress their feelings to avoid displaying vulnerability, that they must always prove something to society, and that male victims are helpless in the Philippines. Therefore, these subjectivities influenced specific practices such as remaining mum about one's abuse, concealing their emotions, and just tolerating abuse at the expense of female partners. Contrarily, some people have practiced advocating for their rights as victims and amending the current law to protect male partners while having subjectivities regarding helpless victims in the face of the law. Those that have influenced the discourses are the institutions of society, family, relationships, and law.