Filipinas "Living in a Time

$f

ts

NEFERTI XINA M.'TTTN*A

In an

essay written for an exhibit of some forty Philippine wonten arlirtr called Ang Babae, Thelma Kintanar asks: "Ang babaeng Filipina: sino ttl utra siya?" (The Filipina \^/oman: who and what is she?') The posing of ang baboeng as a question can be seen as a political act of resistance against .r pressing situation. For Kintanar, that situation is the imprisonment of Filipina women in their gender. Babae is, in her view, the name of a prison made up of de-kahong paglalarawan, or confining portraits, that serve to represent only the traditional roles women play in a colonialist, patriarchal society. Babaeis a prison house of images of beautiful, fragrant, shy, and weak women; images

I:ilipina

that obscure and limit the human capacities and powers they actually and
historically have performed. In 'Ang Maging Babae" (To Be a Woman),2 the poet Elynia Mabanglo provides a similar view of the predicament that is babae
Kasumpa-sumpa ang maging babae sa panahong ito. Depinisyong pamana ng nakaraa't kasalukuyan.

Anyong hinulma
ng pag-aasam at pangangailangan.

[What a curse to be a woman in these times. A definition inherited from the past and the present. A form molded out of longing and need.]3 The cursed form of woman consists, however, of images that are also actual functions: Ikaw arrg ptrudiya r.rg karsonsilyo, ang krrrh;rta, rrraging ang hurda sa piutyo't kirnrisclir.

374

r Ncfcrti

Xina N'1.'l'adiar

Iiilipinas "Living in ir 'l'imc of \,Var"

375

Susukatin ang ganda mo sa kama, ang talino'Y sa Pagkita ng Pcra'

[You are a brief's bottorn * ,r..kti", the embroidery on a handkerchief and an undershirt. Yrrur beauty will bc measured on thc bcd' your mind, bY moneY eamed']a

to slipport the intcgration of wornen in the total economic, sociar ancl cultural dcvelopmenl e{krrt.
and

to recognize thc c<lntributior-r of womcn to the promotion of fricndly relations and cooperation among nations and to the stre,gthening of world peace.6 ln what way arc these clcclarcd icleals of total d.'clopmcnt ancl worlcl peace declarations of war? In thc samc way that global capitalisrn, on which tl.rese goals tacitly depend, is war-war against the vast rnajority of peoplc in the worlcl, including Irilipinas. Irriendly relations and cooperation among nations depend on thc acccptance and maintenance of oppressive divisions of labor and prevailing exploitativc processcs of capitalist production. war is the means by which that acccptance and maintenance is secured. It is also thc evcryday conclition under which countlcss lives are depletcd, cleprive<i, and simply used and usecl up in orcler to secure tl're dcvclopment of a [cw. h-r thc Philippines, the International Decade for \Abmcn was undoubtedly the clecadc for thc incorporation of Irilipinas in thc statc-sponsore<i Prostitution and tourisnr industrics of the new hospitality economy. "'I'he woman question" for which countless studies made in the I970s and 1980s about Philippine women ancl devclopmcnt werc answers---can thus be posed in a way that divcsts it oI its radically transformativc possibilities. 'l'his que.stion loses its p<ltcntially subversive and resistant spirit whcn it is asked and answered in a simplc, empirical way and thcreby fails to interrogate the very realities it investigatcs. 'Iir ask, "'fhe Filipina woman: who and what is she3" in a radical rvay is to sce hcr status, and the state of a1fairs in which she holds that status, as in a state of cmergency--indeecl, a statc ol'war. It is to inquire into the ways that being a t'ilipina means living in a time of war. Pamumtltay mcans not.,ly "t. live" but also "a lneans of living,,,that is, work. Ileing a Filipina is, in the context of the second meaning, a lorm of work. 'fhe vast majority of Irilipinas make their living out of bcing Filipina as well as beirrg women. Ily this I mean that thc work Irilipinas do, and thc violencc, fear, and racial and scxual oppression and exploitation thcy cxpcricnce as part of this living have at oncc restiltcd from and enabled the global cconomy that the Philippines serviccs as a provider. of chcap domestic an<l sexual labor. Whether ttrey are nurses hcrc in the Unitcd Slatcs; mail_or<ler bricles in thc Unitecl States, Au.straiia, or Germany; <Iomestic rvorkcrs in l:long I(ong, Italy, or Saudi Arabia; or cutertaincrs in Japan, Irilipinas suffer thc conscquenccs of, cven as thcy crcate thc cor.rditior-rs for, thc national ancl iDtcrrt:ttional structttrcs irud proccsses that constitutc thc cornmoclifiecl iclcptity I;ilipitttt irr thc r,v;rrrirrg workl rtrarkct.
t rorvtlt'tl irr tlris

apprehension being-for-others (particularly being-for-men) of women, their household utensils, clothing, adornas kisartgkapcn, domestic belongings: "What is she?" is thus also ment, laid, and foocl. l'he "What" ip the questiol ancl profitable consunlptitln' a an answcr: "She is what?"-an object for useful thing. whatrefers to the forrn and function of babae as a commodity.

what Mabanglo expresses

is what many feminists have condemned as the

..in this time.,,For Filipina poet }oi l}arri<ls, this time is a time of war. Indced,

Tie predicarn ent <tf babae is not transhistorical; it

is a prevailing

co,dition

tobeawomanistoliveirratimeofwar(.Angpagigittgbablteaypamumuhoy fear that Stems from a w<lman,s sa panalton ng digma,,).:' lrr this poem, the
f.rture

and her country' ever-presentlhreat ofviolence that presides over her home of war is thus inextricable from the fl-rc condition of women as living in a time its women: Filipinas. cor.rdition of the country that bears the same name as

..stingln the hancls

<lf mcn is

li,ked to the cruelty of poverty and the

princiI might clescribe this genclered, sexual, racial, and national war as pally tlie very long war that is at once what enables and is development. lprnirt, o.,d i-1.S. colonialism, U.S. neoc.lo*ialism, Worid Bank* and Intcrexportnational Monetary Fund*backed authoritarian modernization,
of the ways that orientcd inclustrialization, and globalization: these are some

i;t,
''a.
t::::

'rl .::

thiswarhasbeencalledandwaged.Ililipinawomcnnotonlyhavebornethe

l:

become the bodily price costs of this war of development but also have literally homepaid lor it. Prostitutcd women, clomestic ancl servicc-sector workers, workers are the workers, trnd rural and agricultural workers as well as factory Philippines has marketcd most visiblc, primary, noiiunol commoditics that the development' vigorously since the 1970s in order to buy its share of economic and their relationship to dcvelopment, which the I.he focus on Filipinas tlre academic and rcgime of F'erdinancl Marcos institutionalized, clemonstratcs

t6e intertelhnocratic participation in this objectification of Filipinas for

govclllmel)ts, twined intere.sts of rlulti- ancl transnational capital, nati<lnal thc International w<lnrctr's and national elites. The year 1975 was dcclarcd ncxt tcll ycilrs as thc IntcrYear by the United Nations, which also dcclarcci thc cvettt national Decacle lor Women, It was in thc contcxt olthis internatiorlal (irrtt' tlrc N;tti6ttrtl that the Marc6s governlnent cstablishecl, ill th('silnle ycrrr, of tlrc I;ilipirro Wonran and installctl Irncl<la l\4itr.os.ts its mission on thc Ilolc ol'lht'tJN tlr''tl'trrtliotl honorarychairrvotruttt [irr tlrc llcxt t(:ll ycars.'lwo llrirls
dctrtotrslr:tlt' to rvll;tl clrtl I;ilif irr'rs w('t(' I() lrt'
1t111'

Nt'ver ltits lltt'tt'lrt't'tt rt linte wlren IiiliPirrirs hrrvc lrccn so irl<lnc yct so lllol'.rl irlt'rrlity" iVl,rny rlrrnrlrt,rs.rilt,st Io llrc cr.6wrlt't]rrr'\s

376 o Nef'erti Xirra M-'l"acliar

irilipinas "l,iving in a'l'irnc of War"

377

andself.sellinglaborpowerofthcFilipirra..I.herearcmorethantwomillitrtt countries all over the worltl: L-ilipina overseas contract workers in 125 the Unitecl States, about the same nttttt 50,000 Iiilipina mail-orcler bricles in work,'rs itt ic. or r,ilipina entertainers in Japa., 100,000 F-ilipina do*restic arc itl:'rr only numbers; they ttuly, ond'.ro on and so fbrtl.r.7'lhcse are not

importantly f<lr us, testaments that ljilipinas are fighters, warriors in and
against thcse wars.

imagcs'lnasummarytlfstaterrrcntsmaclebyArrrericanmenaboutljililri mate liitl on lnore than 1,500 pages of Usenet news posts ancl "^.,"trrr.a fronrseventy.fivepenpalservices,tjilipinaswercportrayedasidealw()ltlCll their youthful looks (their "cxccptiotr bccause of their .og...,.r, t() nlarry, loy' ,*..,f.r skin and tight vaginas")' their real enjoyment of sex' their "ffy ona their dispenlabiliiy.- 'fhey arc low-maintenirnce wives, fully otty,
can always be retr'rrned an-cl-rcpla*'d clomesticated ancl convenicnt' an<l one symbols' bodily signs of their htr:r t y u'y.r,t,g., m<ldel. !ilipinas are stirtus sr:xtt'tl fr'..ir'lp-prietors' *uttdty expcrience' cultural sophisticatiott' .rc:rrr .lhey are rhi,gs a.d signs whose attitu4es.

what is thc task of femi,ist Filipina art and cultural procluction in the midst of these wars? It is not mercly to rcpresent the existing realities clf Filipinas, which the prevailing images belie. Nor is it merely to rcprcscnt the subjectivc experiences of Filipinas living in such realitics. It is, rather, ro radically put to cloubt the "giver.rness," neccssity, and legitimacy of objcctive
reality, the reality in which Filipinas can and do serve as objects for tl.re profit,
pleasure, and power ofothers.

nn,l lib"rrl racial history of"special relali.us" ing, und <levaluation are the product ofa long bci*.e,l the United States and the Philippines' the clctachln('111 ol In this time o1 globaliz.ation, we witness aud expericnce lht' fronr rration, as the historical crises that define and shapc

;;";;rr,

nationality

Philippinesbec<rmesedimenteclintheboclicsof}rilipinas.IntheUrritc<lStatct, of this nationality as "rhc prctlir.t E. s;;Juan Jr. clescribes the predicament uprooting, loss of trilditiotts' ment and crisis of dislocation, fragmentatitln,
exclusion, ancl alienation'"')

Until reccntly, the prcclicalnent of Iiilipino Americans men' Ilowcvcr' it it p,r*.nf.a through tl-re experiences of Filipino-American r.ilipinaAtnericansasFitipinasthatarcn-radctoembodyandboclilyllclrrllrr by thc irlirrrtr' .onr..l.r.n.., of the crisis of a floating nationality, as cvidenced Atncricans' especially in (llrlilirr' irrg ,uie of suicides among young Filipinaexplain rvhat wc catr ottly r$ nia.r0while I cannot pnrribty undcrstand nor by such suiciclcs' I rvill inoa"qru,.ty rea<l as the individual <lespair sig.ified

largely has [rtt"tt

suicicles and the grcilt tellsittll venture to suggest a conuection between thesc on the onc hmcl, thry ;til: that Filipina Am"ricar-,s are made to livc uuder. ,f-irnfi. bearcrs, cleftnders, ancl kcepers of a bcsieged, origi.al-rrittirrttirl

..,lt,...Ontheothcrharrcl,theyareacconrmoclating,c<lopcrativt,,;trttl honrt' 'l'ltt'!(r members of a present culture that is of thcir adtlptivc

embracing

1rilipina overscils contrilct r'v.rkt't t suicides, is well as the my.steri.tts 4eaths of ir.r both itlcrcasittli'rtttl whose corpses are shippcd back to thc Phiiippines

increasingly.-,.,..,,0,k..1-uponnumbcrs;thcmtrrclcrantltlrttlilittitrrtrrl [rr.tlr.rs, li icrrrlr, in it-,. t,ona., ,rf st.angers, lovcrs, husbands, fathcrs,

'Io ask "Slno ang Filipina?" (Who is the frilipina?) is to call into <luestion rhe completion of her objcctification, which is cxpressed in the question, "what is she?" It is therefore also to foreground the subjectivc dimension of this labor, which is objectified in ancl as the cornmoclity lrilipina. It is to recognize and reappropriate the creativc, living labor that Filipinas carry out in the procluction of thernselves and the world. As the content of the question "Who?", Filipina subjectivity c.'rsists of modes of experiencc-that is, modes of understanding, feeling, ar.rcl relating-through which wornen make themsclves into lrilipinas. rn its iclealizcd and therefore commoclifiable form, it consists clf practiccs of caring for othcrs, of extcnding oneself to others, of serving and accommodating othcrs. Ilut evcn within that f<lrm, it also consists of longing for bctter things, better worlcls for oneself and for one's own and of bravely vcnturing out into the world with little or no guarantees of safety in scarch of new possibilities for life. r-ilipina subjectivity consists <lf those practices o[dreaming in action that are indispensat'rle to the work and commoclity identity that i;ilipinas arc called upon, r?s r"ilipinas, to perform. It consists of the desires and dreams of lrilipinas use<l to fuel multinational garmcnt, elcctronic, and sex inclustries as well as irrdividual neocolonial far.rtasies o[tl.rc "American" way of life and collective u.s. clrcams <lf worldly conquest, power, and success. Just as imprisoning images of Iilipinas both result from and contribute to the conditions of war in which lhey livc, so is thc identity function of Filipinas as arro (what) constituted by their subjcctive agency as sino (who). 'rhat agency is the capacity of lrilipinas kr determine and exercise will and desire over the conditions that appcar to rulc, regulate, ancl transcend our lives. T'he dispersed and yet corlrron existencc of lrilipinas all over thc worlcl fbrcgrounds at oncc the profound sameness and the profouncl cliffcrenccs of our situations and lives. '['his situation has urged many to ask, "sirro ka? sino layo? Sino aftoi" (Who arc you? What are we? Who am I?)

,iit,orno, scxttillizctl, r'rrtitrlivrtl' clicnts, ancl employcrs; and thc syster-natic genclcretl, cvcrywltcrt illc l() rll(' rrl;rlr't i'tl and class-based killing ancl injr.rring <lf Filipinas tlrc casr,.rltit's irntl tlrc rrrt',rrtr,' lllr testaments of wars f<ir which Iiilipinirs irrt, tlcitllls lttity, ltt'wt'r't't' ;tlr. lrt., r"'t v {ucl. t|c ftlrlflcr,,rrrrl tht'wtit[)()llry.'l'ltcs1

while thcrc arc many ways to unclerstand

ancl responci to such questions,

rnore often than not they arc takcn as paths toward a hegcmonic notion of iclerrtityr A revicw in Asitrn Art News oIthc 1998 cxhibit of the works o{'cight lriliPirr.r Arrrlrit.rn .rrlists hclcl at San Irancisco statc university, for cxanrplc, tttt<lr'tsl,ttt,l:. llrr'1'1l1il',11'. litlc,silr0 Krr?Arr,t (jr2(Wl,.r Ar,,V,,,2 1^/1..., ^-..

lll)u).t{, I t\1urll ut .t I trrtt,ol W.rr... J79

"thc Irilipina American"--that is, to bc aboul thc'"crlttccpl of being Filipina-American."r! As a mattcr of "idcntity issues," the cxlribit cirn
You?) to be about

thus bc read f<rr the "distinctive scnsibility" ancl "distinctivc moclcrn acsthctic" expresscd by the wclrks of self-identified lrilipina Americans. Whatever the artworks rnight do as artworks (and here I am thinking of thcm as instantiations, rearticulations, ancl disarticulations of tl'rat other lbrm of work of making a living), thcy all become, within this rubric, answers to "the challcnge of the Iiilipina-American: How to cstablish a sense of self within the confusirrg cra of incrcasing pluralism." I 2 While a sense of self is a neccssary lneans of Filipina strugglcs in these timcs, given the tende ncy toward the subsumption of systems o[ political representation by markct logics, an identitarian sense of self easily becomcs the final <lbjcct of such struggles, making the question of the Filipina American another irnage function for capitalist time---"thc global poster girl of our mille nnial, cross-cultural agc."t; Viewed as exemplary instanccs of "cultural fusior.r," the artworks thus are taken as indications of an cconotnically valorizcd "hybrid" identity that bourgeois Filipino nationalists havc long been peddling to gain rcspectablc accePtancc in international society. It is nclt rny intcnti<ln t<l join the spccious dismissive "critiques" of identity politics. I do, howevcr, want to call attention to the way "identity" has a habit of turning into another commodity. 'l'hat in itself is not a politically dcbilitating thing, for indeed comm-odities are things containing, as Filipinas show, subjcctive activity and thereftrre immanent agency. Ilut it is too casy for that activity to become lost in thc search for political representation ancl, tnorcover, for that activity to become converted into universally cxchangeable values, such as the values of cross-culturalisrn in today's "good" globalizing art. One might argue that art "itself," without thc industry of art for which galleries and art magazines are essential instruments, docs more than this and that it is sirnply the way art is rcad in reviews such as this one that makes it into a cornmodity reflccting an imaginary wholencss and integrity of idcntity for its interpellated audience. Ilut how wc reircl or viov art very much shapes how and for what art is made and what it rnight d<t. Look, it's nre (<tr not) is the expression of a dominant viewing relation to the world, including art. 'l'his habit of looking for whether sornething is or isn't me but someolte clsc-that is, for r,vhat and who somcthing represettts (as its value)-is a habit lormed under the regime of capitalist-subsumed, racialized, and scxttalizecl relations of hierarchy and appropriation, a regimc under which "people have become things." tt is this habit of looking tl.rat compels tl're oppressively competitive, utilitarian, and subjugating ways we look at cach ancl every other, and the
harsh and punitive ways wc regard ourselves (where "wc" indicates any idcntifiable collective "somcone" within this regimc). 'fhe putative idcntity of I;ilipinas is clearly no guarantee againsl Filipinas looking at Filipinas in this way: secking a valuc to cxtol, subordinatc, or cleny

consider, lilr cxa,rple, thcse statcmcnts by Firipina cr.incstic helpcrs in (iermany about other ,;ilipinas (which rvcrc culled 6y N,raria .armen l)omi,go-Kirk in hcr
rcscarch)r
r:

ilr pcoplc'llec.rrrc trrings in an attcnrpt t0 ncg.tiarc trrcir <lwn varue.

ordcred ab.utl' whilc wc werc having di',cr she rvoulcr givc that l.ok. Shc did nor say anything bad t. me pers.naily, it was just that l<>ok she gavc rre. I decide<l
I did not want to sce hcr again.

Lignya: My cmploycrs wcrc cor.rcernccr about my social lifu. 'r.hcy invitccl another Filipina who has livcd here For fivc years anci is employcd n., , nu.... I looked forwarcr to wr'rat she a,d I could ,to, ril.. go t<> thJ u-,..,ri"., or shclp_ ping. when she arrivecr, srrc gavc nre a rook Icoulcr ncvcr forgct the rast of my life' Nanliil ako sa tingin niya, datapu,tt't tttus,tt rrrtg ako Ir wl's dcbasecr by the look she gave me because shc regarde. rre as mercly one rvlro is

Itloring' I havc had.too many bad experie ,ces witrr othcr Irilipinas. whcn they find out I clo not havc a legal working visa (l came on a tourist visa), they look down on m... Mababa ang tingin nitri su akin, pant akong,rr l:ir,.y *gr.a me vcry lowly, as if I wcrc shitl. I smilc whe.r I am introducc.cl-to other t.itipinrr. But those with legar worki,g visas woulcr usuary acknowleclgc *c rry g,ring me that look. N,pcrpahiyu tuloy ako, gtrsto k, nang magt,go sa kanilang ringin Iln this way I am shameri, I wanr to hiie frorn their look]. I scc othcr Filipinas in the trains, stores' or,arkets and they give rrc that look. Masa'kir su akirtg ka.lo_oban ang kanilang pagtittgin I'l.hc *ry thcy look is painf.,l
Pacing I do not socialize with other l)irpinas bccause I havc hacl too many bad cxpcriences' 'I'hc worst cxpcrience is whcn

,., ,r,y ;rn., sclfl. So my cornpanio,l.:1rg I just stick togcthcr and eat in i,expensivc ,.cstar_ rilnts 0r go shopping. l;ilipinas rook do'vrr on us becausc wc d' r10t conre out up to thcir levcl.

Zc,y: Masan* ang nailgynyari sct ntga piripina sapagkat rtagkctkaroo, rtuttg samo ng loob lwhat happens to l:ilipinas is harmful rr"caure bad feclings become l.rarbore. among thcmr. I know this bccausc I have experic,ccd t.is feeling too often. I am talking about horv hcrc regarcr each othcr. Minttuata nila ang kapwa n,a pilipina rook d.wn o, t'ito* r,itipino.y. ['Ihey'ilipinas
Gloria: whcn I finalry found a j.rr as a crornestic w.rkcr, .ther lrilipinas clid not acccpt rnc as ttrcir ow. r<ind. As s.o, as thcy fou.cl out r war,rnry a

rli.

,i
if
4

nothingJ.

d.rnestic workcr, their whorc attitudc changed. I havc a coilegc crcgree i.,r,, tlr" Philippi.cs ancl wclrkccr for tlrc g.vcrnnr.:nr, but it crocs not mcan anything l.rcre' A,g nctpukosantarg naronrsa, ko crito ,y atlg tittgirt ng kcrpwa piripitra_ pctr, kang hindi tao, ltara kang bariwarrr IT'he worst thing-r've cxpcricnccd hcrc is thc lo,k of rclroiv rrilipinas--as if y.tr rvcrcn't 1r,,,r.,-,,

n, if yn,

*...

-ltl0 o Nt'lcrlr Xtlt.r i\1. l.l(lt,u

'l'hese domcstic workcrs cxpcricncc tlrc lirilurc ol ir l;ilipin;r irlt'rrtity'l,r create congcnial social relations anl()ns thosc ctrconrpassetl lly it. Wlrirt tlrr'y expericnce-not instcad of, but rather lhrouglr iclcntity--is thc irctivc wicltlinli

of microclass differences among thcir "kind."r"'l'his wicl<ling is tlouc throtrglr the "look" (tingin), which is at once product and action of thc "cyc" (tttirtttrtttttrt, translated as "to look down on"; literally, it means "to eyc" or, trctter, "to nr,rkt' an eye at or to").'l'hc "eye" effects both an objectificatiotr ancl a reduetion of the <lbject, experiencecl as debasernent (making into shit), lrumiliatiorr
(shaming, making one want to disappear), and devaluation (clehunranization,

annihilation). 'fhc "look of fellow Filipinas" is thereltrrc not a look of "kinrl ness"; it is an infliction of pain, a violcnt insistence on differencc in thc face ol
salTleness.

I offer thesc tcstimonies in part to dcnronstrate that thcre is no nirtural expericncc of sharedncss even within the "samc" national, gen<ler, and class identity. Indeed, it is primarily thc claims to idcntity, not thc putativc
"diffcrcnces" cutting across and covcred over by this identity, that shapc thc exchanges of looks, inclucing samo ng loob (ba<l fcelings), among F'ilipinas. As a means of equivalencc shaped by cxchanged value, identity helps to crcatc thc differcnces it is saicl to gloss ovcr or homogenizc. I am not saying that there are no disparities and discorclanccs afirong the life experienccs and conditions of people prior to claims of thcir identity, only that iclentity serves as the background against which the singularities of lives become pcrceivat>le as indices of alterity (which, using another axis-say, olrace or cli1.5-6,,,r.ut gcal into another identity). It is not surprising that the lfilipina identity should provoke the contradictory responses expressed abovc: familiarity and repulsion. On one side, the r-ilipina icle ntity is the achievemcnt of integration of womcn in clcvelopmerrt, which is part o[this ever-present war. It is thc national mcans of cxchange, the national comm<ldity export par excellencc, which supports thc peso, and "the Ijilipino" for which it stands, against cver-thrcatening dcvaluation. It is the name for the histories that have shaped its production ancl that continue to be lived by the womcn who go by that name. As such, the Filipina is what the cveryday social struggle of Filipinas directs itsclf against, most r>ften at the cxpcnsc of othcr Filipinas. Hcnce thc "look of fcllow t-ilipinas" is an act of diffcrentiation from thc lrilipina idcntity, which in the very act o[ this diffcrcntiation only becomes confirrned in tl're one lo<lked at: "it's as il I weren't human, as if I we re nothing." Nevcr has there been a time whcn ljilipinas have bcen so alone and yet so crowdecl in this iderrtity. On the othcr sidc, thc Filipina identity is composcd of crcativc strategics of living against this war, the war that is the reality of raciirliz-ed dcvel<lpment and scxualized commodification. As such, the Filipina is thc vcry means and processo{'political struggle.'l'o the extent that it is an instrument <tf social stratification, it can scrvc irs thc instrument of mobilization arrd the mcans of

on th; other sidc, rcpulsive incliffcrcnce.'l'hat "look" is a rciSring form o{.rcgarcl thal casts thcse Filipinas' painful expcricnce of absolute ancl eJsentlat tinituclc. 'lir asl< "Sino ka?',,,Sino ako?,,,,Sirro tnyo?,, should,ot, thercfor.c, be a cletnancl for thc reprcsentation of Iiilipina idcntity. It shoulcl n.t tre t. look lor what wc might identify with. Rathcr, it is kr probc into the historicar cxperiences out of whicrr dominant images of Firipinas have bccrr p.ortucca. tr is to brcak tlrc rvrrrcr of scrnbra'ces iriwhich pcoplc have lreconrc ,rrirgr. r, i. ,o de-rcify our
anothcr. I,rleccl, it is in asking rt.,"r. rclations anrorg Iriripi,as, that artists and cultural producers can cxcrcisc thcir transfrrrrrative p.te,tial. Curturar pr<lcluction is a f<rrm of rnediatio. that activatcs a,tr intcrvencs.in prevairing structures ofsocicty. It trrus has the capacity rr irltcr the d.n.rina,t forms oilo,king that support upp..,r.ir. ora expl.itirtive .srciar rcrations. Irxhibitions .Irriripina and Filipina America, art ilrc occirsi.rs firr
trrc rc-visioni,g

cvery animal, cvery clead thing in thc cosmg".,,,,, 'l'hc gaze of crnpathy is thus thc gazi of c<luivarcncc, a f,orrn .f Iookiug that makes the world into ir,ages uf urJ. as,bjccts of consu,rpti<ln. "*p".i"r.., It is this gazc that for,rs rhe viole,t aspect of "that toot ,,,ir, t,rip,,,-rr,"n,., on each othcr--on on.11idc, it is cnrpiratic iclcntification;

of thc com,rodity worlcr, the "unrimited tericrcncy lo rcprescnt trrc p<lsiti,n of cvery_ one else,

is the act of identificarion wirh ,:r",1:1,which presuppnr.. rlre bourgcois notion o[ the indiviclual self.l') Ijor walter llenjamin, it is what is characteristic

'l'hese limits should not bc cquated, howevcr, with the profbuncl sociohistorical "diffcrenccs" obtaining between these two positional inflections of "F'ilipina." 'l'hesc Iimits are,.rathc-r, shapecr rry thc c'rnnrodity lirrm of person_ hoocl on which the very noti.n of empathy is predicated. Iirnpathy

mcans or'str*ggle. celinc ,arrefras rightly empathy" bctwcen Filipina American

tlt'w s.cial t'clitti.ns' I I.wcvct; tlrc reificati.n .l'thc pr.ccsses .l'pr-.tltrcli.,, whiclr c.nstittrtcs this iclentityand ail.ws it to bc used fors.ciar stratificati,n, c.,ti*ucs t() doe its use as a means.f struggle.'r.rris is *trnt tt," constant brcakdown of "idcntity" in "*proin. thc miclst,f poritical ,nobiriza'ti<rn,what is appr.priatccl as an affirrnativc, Iiberative significr threatens constantry to tur, into a con[ini.g, cssc,tiar social markc'r.r(,.r'his is also *trut pr.tty cxplains thc f?rilure of "idc'tity" to cricit a. irnmediatc rcsponsc of .,icrentifica_ tion" <ln the part of th-ose it rcprescnts, particularry those f<lr *hom strrggt" i, pri,cipally a matter of cconomic p.ndu.tion and survival, a,d ress a nrattcr of political reprcscntati.n.rT with ihe apparcnt severance of procructi.n from consumption, it is ,ot surprising that thcse two sphcrcs of practice Joura fair to connect in thc dairy expericnce.s of ttxlse subsurnecr in n,. o. thc .ther. It is precisely thc tendcncy toward abstraction and rcification that ca, make' "identity" a p<llitically divisive rather than a socially tra,sformative

racrical limits of '.tcs f.Linirt. and triripina sc,x wo.kcrs.,n

.,the

lornrs ol'regarcl and to

qo..rtiur;;i:t--]iI:fiH#:J:#;

.lir.ur.,

a,d rcvisiugnot only <lf opprcssive

irnages

itl2, r Nt'lcr lr \lll'l lYl l 'l(ll'll

lfFiliPirlasbtttalstl'oltlrccxpcrit.trtialpr,actice,..l,.trli.'lularlyltlt.tttsttl.,.. rPCtttiltc l:tltlt thost' irtral"r:r -esarcl*by mealls of *1'ittt I'iiipirrls he lp to Pe '' rclt their production' .'-.'i., ::lt, ,"ffi;il,,i"rrt .L -..r.--., r,\ ro'iir\,',rr exlrcto reinvcttt .the task of feminist *r1,..., artists, ar-r<l critics is the rcftrre as "givcns'" :'

Ir.rrrrt,rryorli rvith wlrich wc undcrstiltrtl our ii.le rrtitics. 'I'hc rcconstitution ol' rc.rlily olten rrrcarrs tlre proposititln <;f ncw rr-ryths, ttcw clrcatns, as wcll as the

take the realities *t i'"'hetit .rrcl riential strategies fo""ltttu'it'g of our expcriential practiccs ' the climen'inn' We can rcinvent if we recogniz'e even "tiritt kxrk" 't, by capitalist structures. I{ence, that are not already.,rtrr,rri.a of the reifying g'itrt" tot"tq"t"te and instrument of l'ilipinas ir '-'ot fuUy ti" be expcrieneccl the self's interior (kalooban)'to Its capacity to inflict puit''t'n

asaformofaction.,"".,.rr,'"dicatesakind<lfvisual-socialpracticctlratis atonceinsideandoutsi<lecapitalistcomman<l.'[hevisual.socialpracticetrl-. instrtlmcnt of a titr'c' whereby the eye serves as an

minamatais the practice

thatisnotequivalenttoindiviclr.alisthumanagency.2lltisatangiblefornrrtl ut a permeable materiirl If

depends on a notion regarcl that invokes and

"if

substancewithani,-,,,",,.*i..,tsurface..fhisothervisual-socialpracticcsu.lrttl might be revitalized as^a means within tftt tuot oi tn-modification sisting transforming' tlre among.Filipinu' oid' further' of altering prevailing t"f"ti<>" relations' ;;;;.;; of pr.duction supported by those of media-

of representation tlran as practices If we look at art less in i.,*, begin to altrr *oy' it' wilich specific works might tion, we can recognizt it't In the_ exhitrit' release other possibilities. our habitual fo.*. oi ;;";;';"; i.r example, by Reanne Asusfil Estrada's h,ir" sino Ka? Ano Ka?, *;;,il;k,

r(.(ul)ct'ation irnd rcvitalization of drcams that are already at work in thc rrr;rliirru of thc world. In mentioning Irilipina American suicides, I was not lrying to portroy L'ilipina Americans as thc greatest victims of the prevailing wrrr. ILathcr, I was trying to express the great violence of power over lifc that lrilipinas and Pinays both contend with and wicld.'l'hat power over lifc stems, Irowever, from an cven stronger life pcrwer, a Power forlife, that is the force thrrl courses through us as lrilipinas anci Pinays in struggle. lndeed, it is the latlcr who lrave revitalized the historical rnyth of the babaylan,the priestesses tlf prccolonial times who were mediators between earthly desircs and unearthly powcrs. tioday', Irilipinas and Pinays reinvent the role of the babayltzrl, reclaiming the spirit of the rnale warriors who supe rseded them to create a new rrcaning for Filipina/Pinay. As an example, lJarrios's subjective rcconstitution o{ rcality as a war enables a nc'w role flor women that rnakes thcm warriors of and for life, in a renewed context where living is a crealive struggle for freedom. I want to cnd with the conclusion of her mcclitation on being a wolnan in a time of war, a mcditation that is itself a realization of new, rcsistant, and transformative lorms of mediating the world in which F'ilipinas {ind
thcrnselves:

ancl-soapsculptures"t'f*"""*f'cent'soft-coloreclsoapswithstrandsoIhirir as wcll as rcPrc' them in various decorative painstakingl, p'"""Jlnto and attraction for thcir in me both repulsion sentational dcsigns tiitittd instrurnents ttt of dead Uoaity matter on the reciemptive, aesthetic e^rirb;;'i;g As ioi Barrios'r identified' btauty with wiich *:Tt' are cleanliness "t'd 'a'"g O*t'' nakakahong / parang barct'rnB "sabonpoem

tstopl'l"ptt"t''

sabon / sa telebisyon;J

t*t'**Il

are

on tele' plitetl in,boxes / Iike bars of soap /

ott vision).r2 Whether tf''ty

and the gaz'e that

t"uuty

the creative potc'tial il;aking visible and tangible alie,ated labor to ;;;. clisavowed isrue of thc'ir rnscribing the necessary but of that labor for them. # *otntot *o'k' Est"tda's soaps do not orrly corporeality on the u;oi;;;; they represent for creative

;:'";";;;;;i'i-

mett or.laundry soaps' they work for tltis 'oup' r"t'uau't work' however' returus

Kay tagal kong pinag-aralan ang puno't dulo ng cligrnaan. Sa huli'y naunawaan, na ang pagiging babae ay walang katapusar.rg pakikibaka para rnabuhay at maging malaya. It{ow long havc I studied the clcpths and extent

of this war. In the end, I understand that to be a woman

is a never-ceasing struggle

labor-time that reappropqiate the domestic rt *n*t"'' relations to their own bodies through pleasure' t,t t"*taiiii-nf touching antl a lbrm of (-u fu'* of looking,that is also tangible fu,- of "guJ btgi'"' to alter the obiectifyirrg tt""i'" *o"'kt experiencing t""ili'"ti"'" but don't touchl" ttlutiont't*pt"'sed by the injunction"'l'ook'
commo<Iity

to live and be frce.ll:r

Author's Note This is a revised vcrsion of a talk given at the closing symposium for Sino Ka? Ano Ka? (Who Are You? What Arc Yclu?), an exhibition of contemporary I;ilipina American art, at the San Francisco State lJnivcrsity Art l)epartment
Ciallcry, October 21, 1L)98.

.[he alteratio"

Filipinas.an pierce

ask "sitro?" is to that are imprisoning us"Ib

"i'#frlittual til;rh il;.,boxes".of

by whir':h fo.ms of regard is one of.the ways identity functi.ns representational

rcality iut into question the very

384 o Neferti Xina M. Tadiar

Notes

Filipinas "Living in a .l.ime of War,'o 3g5

21.

l.

Thelma B. Kintanar, "Babac: llilanggo ng Kasarian o llabaylan?" in Ang tsabae,ed.'lhclrnt 'l'he exhibit was organi,rld ts. Kintanar (Manila: Cultural Center of the Philippines, 1992),l.
by Kababaihan sa Sining at llagong Sibol na Kamalayan (Kasibulan) and held at the llulw*. gang Iuan Luna, Sentrong Pangkultura ng Pilipinas (Cultural (lenter of the Philippincs) itt
1992.

gion (though

22.
23.

might also say thc'r('vcrse: that pcopre's untlcrstanding of 'nc shaped by persistcnt n()tions ol',.milgic"). Ba.rrios, 'Ang pagiging babac ay paniumuhay sa panahon ng <ligma,,, 90.
Ibid.

I'lence the n.ti<ln of the "evil eye," which one can..give" t. others through ways simirar to the ways "witches" or "sorccrcrs" (mangkukuhrn).,r', inri.t a curse. witrithe ei..rol.n...r wcstcrn nrctlicine, this phc'uomcnon ii cornmonry undcrstood through ,-,irl".

"i."",. c.ntagi.n

is

2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

L,lynia S. Mabanglo, 'Ang Maging Babae," in Mga University Press, 1990),3-4; the translation is mine.

Lihan ni Pinay (Manila: Dc l,a

Solle

rbid.,3. lbid., 4. foi Barrios, 'Ang pagiging babac ay pamumuhay sa panahon ng digma," in Arg Prrgililg Babae ay Panwnuhay sa Panahon ng Digrna (Manila: Institute of Women's Stuclies, St. Slho
lastica's College, 1990), 90.

7. 8. 9.
10.

Amaryllis T. 'forres, "The Filipina Looks at Herself: A Review of Woment Studics irr the Philippines," in'I'he Filipino Womatr in bocus: A Book of Readings, cd. Amaryllis'[. 'Ibrrcs with M. Lisa, 'I'. Carnagy et al. (Quezon City: University of the Philippines Office of Rcsc,rrcl) Coordination/University of the Philippines Press, 1995)' 14. Roland Tolentino, "llodies, l.etters, Catalogs: Filipinas itr'Iransnational Spacc," Social 7i'xt, no. 48 ( 1996): 49-76. Quoted in Juno Parreias, unpublished student paper, University ofCalifornia, Santa (lruz,
1999. E. San fuan lr., "Thc Predicament of Filipinos in the United Statcs:'Whcre Are You lirorn? When Are You Going Back?"' in The State of Asian American: Activistn und Resistance itt thr l990s,ed. Karin Aguilar-San luan (lJoston: South F.nd, 1994),207. 'lhis information was relaycd to me by Cristina Szanton-lllanc in conversation at thc Soutlr.
east Asian Diasporas Conference, Singaporc, December 1996. Reena |ana, "Unfolding ldentities," Asian Art News9, no.2 (1999):4245.

l. r 2.
I

13.

tbid. tbid.
Discourses: Filipina Domestic W<rrkcrs

14. Quotcd in Maria (larmen l)omingo-Kirk, "Victims

24-37,28*29.

in(iermany," Journal of theAmericanAssociationforPhilippinePsychohgy 1,no. I (199,1):

Discourses," 35n8, translates kapwa (fellow or co-) as "kind," rvhich conveys sharcd characteristics rathcr than shared circumstances. Ilowevcr, kapwncan refer to both kinds ofshareclncss and it is nrodern context that impels the interpretation ()fit in terms of the fornrer as a definition of "identity." See Margarita Alcantara, Leslie Mah, ancl Selena Whang, "Yellowdykccore: Queer, Punk'ri Asian: A lloundtable l)iscussion," in Dragon Ladies: Asian American Fetrinists Breathe l:in., cd. Sonia Shah (Iloston: South End, 1997),216-32. ()rltural activists Alcantara, Mah, anrl Whang talk about having to rid themselves of whatever identity they claimcd in the proccss ofstruggle once they came across its constraining possibilities. Marivic R. Desquitado, 'A l.etter from the Philippincs," in The Pcrsistent l)esire, ctl. Joarr Nestle (Boston: Alyson, 1992), 295*98. I am not saying these are differcnt or evcn scparablc lbrms ofstruggle. [ lowevet this is the convcntiona[ polarity dividing revolutionary nationalist and liberal, democratic approaches to social opprcssion, a polarity whose prevliling significance can be glcaned in thc difficulty of Marivic Dcsquitado in e njoining othcr l;ilipina lcsbians to participate in the internationalist politics ofscxuality, to which shc was drawn. Celine Parrcias, Presentation at the Ckrsing Symposium for Sino Ka? Arut Kc? San h'rancisco State University Art l)epartment Callery, Octobcr 2 1, l99tt. and aesthetics,'l'heodor Lipps (1851-1914), who was an important influence on Sigrnund 'l'hcir Rcluirtns to Freud. See janres Strachr'y, "liditor'.s Prcface," in Sigmund F'reud, /okc.s arrrl the Uncotrscions, trans. and ed. James Strachey (Ncw York: W. W. Norkrri, l9(r0),4.*5. Walter tsenjamin, quoted in Susan Buck-Morss, "'I'hc lilancur, the Sandwichnran arrtl thc Whorc:'l'he Politics of Loitcring," Ncw Ocrnu Orilir|u', no..l9 (sccoud spccial issuc orr Waltcr Bcnjanrin; 1986): 122.

15. I)omingo-Kirk, "Victims

16.

17.

18.

19. TheterfiempathyissaidtohavebeenfirsiintroducedbyaMunichprol'essorofpsychology

20.