Instances of Queerness in the Philippines: An Exploration of the Production of Gender in the Online and Offline Spaces of Queer Filipinos

• Main Author: Tan, Mark Remington
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2022
• Subjects: heteronormativity; online and offline space; production of space; queer space; virtuality
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/stjgs/vol10/iss1/3; https://archium.ateneo.edu/context/stjgs/article/1005/viewcontent/STJGS_2010.1_203_20Article_20__20Tan.pdf
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

Society is generally heteronormative as some identities are held in higher regard than certain identities that can be described as queer. In spaces where heteronormativity prevails, there is a normalized repression of persons and actions that are perceived as queer. Heteronormativity is dependent upon an understanding of gender as real. However, as queer theorists posit, gender is a production. This production has historically taken place in offline space, but with the emergence of new technologies, it has extended into the realm of online space. This study explores how gender has been produced between online and offline spaces. It utilizes an interpretive phenomenological approach to analyze the gendered experiences of queer Filipinos. The findings show that gender is produced in particular terms, that queer spaces are imminently formed in resistance to heteronormativity, that there are significant differences and similarities between online and offline gendered experiences, and that it is possible to disrupt the production of gender and of heteronormative violence.