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Should Filipinos Win More American Awards?

And the award goes to… Not a Filipino! It is truly baffling to know that Filipinos often snag accomplishments at international film festivals yet movies, directors, writers and actors from our community rarely win at major award shows in the west. It’s been recorded that since 1953, the Philippines have submitted 32 films for consideration to the Academy Awards under the “Foreign Film” category. And while the entertainment industry is slowly shifting from it’s racist past and attempting to be more inclusive for minority groups, Filipinos for some reason are still undermined or given little to no recognition at all.

Is Mixed Filipino Better for TV?

Do Mixed-Filipinos have a better chance in Hollywood than pure-blooded Filipinos? The entertainment industry in America has a long racist past and honestly they still struggle to shake this off. This is proven by the fact that today’s executives often cast a Filipino only if they can pass as something else (more about this here!). From our crowned Miss Universes to the Filipino-American celebrities we know, a majority of them are actually either multiracial or ethnically ambiguous. Just take Bruno Mars, Hailee Steinfeld, Oliva Rodrigo and Jo Koy as testimonies. Mixed-Filipinos are most often given the chance to represent us before any others. And while we are proud of them, is this the kind of representation we are asking for? Or can we evolve more from here?

Colorism in the Filipino Community

“Maganda ka sana, kung maputi ka’- many Filipinos grew up hearing this and other criticism about their dark skin from their households to their schools or workplaces. Due to our colonization histories, Filipinos have grown to associate beauty and even social status with fairness which lead the Philippines to become an active manufacturer of whitening products. For most of the Filipino immigrants in the U.S, they too are constantly facing discrimination for their physical attributes. But now, more than ever, the topic of colorism within the community needs to be addressed in order to prevent the next generations from experiencing this toxic mindset.

Body Shaming in Filipino Culture

Are criticizations about our physical attributes a form of concern or body shaming? If you’re Filipino, you’ve probably heard phrases like “tumaba ka” (you’ve gotten fat) one too many times. While it’s nice to know our relatives pay close attention to us, most of the time it gets too hurtful to even know how to respond. And how exactly do we respond when our culture has normalized these attacks on our looks as just “casual greetings”? Sadly, this is nothing new for us as Filipinos have long internalized discrimination against brown skin, flat noses and of course, plump tummies. Can something normalized be deemed toxic? And if it is, how do we get rid of it for the next generations?

How Filipino Drag Thrived through a Homophobic History

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Did Filipinos Hijack Hip-Hop?

One of the many things Filipinos are great at and arguably known for is dancing! At any Filipino party, you see titas line dancing or your cousins busting out moves to the Otso-Otso as if their lives depended on it. Through the years, dancing has merged into a billion-dollar industry and a legitimate profession even. However, Filipinos and other POCs in the industry do not get the full credit for their work. America’s various reality dance competitions continue to profit off of Filipino talents yet because of our participation in these, Hip-Hop has become more acceptable to the masses in comparison to the 1990s when this genre of dance originating from Black people, was criminalized. But are Filipinos actually helping or are we contributing to the erasure of Hip-Hop to its origins in Black culture?

“Filipinx” and why Filipinos in America and in the Philippines Might Never Agree

Have you ever asked your parents how you got your name? If you did, then their responses may have been along the lines of merging your mom and dad’s names together or putting into one sentence all the baby names they could think of. What about our country’s name or our name as a race? Before we were called “Filipinos”, the early inhabitants of the Philippine islands referred to each other as the languages they spoke and eventually it also became the name for the regions they belonged to. Then in the year 1565, the Spanish dubbed the islands “The Philippines” in honor of King Philip of Spain.

Are Filipinos Marketable in Music?

Filipinos have an immense love for music. Go to any family gathering and you’ll find either a videoke machine or a tito strumming passionately on his guitar. But music itself has and always will be part of our cultural identity. And while most of us have continuously attempted to make a career out of it, plus the fact that a whole Asian-lead genre known as K-POP is currently succeeding, the music industry in America still doesn't seem to want to back us up. Why are we worth a viral 4-chair turning audition video but not worth promoting a debut album? Does this mean Filipinos can’t sell music or are we just not given the opportunity to?

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