“Muchakang Pangkalawakan”: Queering Engagements with Bakla of the Philippine Tropics

Abstract

The performance of participants in the Miss Gay Muchakang Pangkalawan [Miss Ugly Gay Universe] in Quiapo, Manila, reflects characteristics of the flamboyant and effeminate bakla. However, these stereotypical depictions may not always be consistent with how participants view themselves. This study argues that an introspective understanding of how participants make sense of their identity work engendered by ever-turning tropes reveals slippages that can liberate them from existing oppressive stereotypes. By utilizing personal narrative and ethnographic reflexivity, this study deconstructs the participants’ performances, revealing identity-making that may reinforce or resist dominant discourses on the bakla under which these narratives are produced. Taking into consideration the deep affectional connections and intersubjectivity among bakla, the study contends that the obscure pageants of the “ugly” are not merely sites of gender self-discovery and contesting of local stereotypes but are also queer tropical arenas that resist hegemonic views.