We live in the golden era of content. From tiktok dancing videos, youtube tutorial contents to a variety of series to watch on streaming platforms and services, we consume media like never before. This is due to the technological advances made possible by the emergence of different platforms. As a result, multiple forms of entertainment are at the tips of our fingers. So many contents we can choose to enjoy and relate to, which begs the question, why do we still feel underrepresented, unseen and unheard? Due to the existence of different platform services, we devour stories at ease. We enjoy netflix and chill, binge-watch different series and do movie marathons in the comforts of our home. We can’t help but seek our humanistic experiences, our stories, ourselves into the characters and narratives we see on our screens.
Unfortunately, we don’t see any parallel
between the narratives onscreen and our different social realities offscreen. This is due to the lack of genuine
representation, especially of the marginalized communities. In conclusion,
there is a paradox between the abundant stories being told on these different
platforms and the genuine representation of diverse
stories of people in the community onscreen,
which begs the question: how do we achieve genuine representation of
every community in such huge platforms?
In the late 1990’s, there had been many African American stories being told on American sitcoms in Hollywood, shows like Moesha (1996), Sister, Sister (1994) and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990). As progressive as we’d like to think that time might be, seeing black characters being made in the mainstream media, unfortunately, these narratives were not written by the community; rather most of the writers in the writers’ room of these shows are predominantly white. The actors/actresses of these shows even had to explain to the writers that a black father wouldn’t say something like this to their sons and daughters or a black woman would never act this way just to help them form a fully-fleshed out character and have a genuine representation of reality on their show.
Indeed, some efforts were made to portray such accurate representation for these shows which opened doors for more diverse stories to be told in the mainstream media. After many years of fighting tooth and nail to get into the writers rooms and tables of boards and production teams, in the early 2000’s, finally people from the marginalized communities, people of color, women and those who are from the LGBTQIA+ Communities were able to showcase their own narratives as well as play roles providing genuine representation to the stories being told on screen. In fact, in our generation today, the highest paid showrunner in Hollywood is Shonda Rhimes who created some of the most iconic shows of all times like Grey’s Anatomy (2005), Scandal (2012) and How to Get Away with Murder (2014). Her success opened doors for creators like Issa Rae, the first black woman who created and starred her own comedy drama, Insecure (2016) on HBO, followed by Quinta Brunson’s Abbott Elementary (2021) on ABC network.
Through the success of these women of color, they opened doors for women to produce, write and star on shows, creating stories by women and for women. Due to their success in Hollywood, people all around the world consume these stories because their distinct narratives portray such authentic humanistic experiences. The diversity and inclusivity we see in Hollywood showcase different narratives of complex humanistic experiences, especially female stories of grief and loss, love, motherhood and girlhood. Indeed, in recent years, there has been a rise of female gaze in Hollywood and this is just the beginning. However, as universal as we feel these stories are, we never fully see ourselves because of our contextual differences in terms of geography, culture and history. Here in my country, the Philippines has a long way to go, in showcasing stories of diversity and inclusivity especially in female gaze.
In the Philippines, especially in today’s time, we see so much empathy towards girlfriends, mothers, daughters, and women in general about the gender oppression we experience in a daily basis from people and how we push through to survive unfortunately we don’t get to see that kind of complex reality being reflected to us in big screens. Often we see these crafted one-dimensional characters that fall under archetypal portrayals, either their the robotic strong independent Filipino woman who seeks for revenge or the victim daughter who got switched to a poor family during her childhood and the one who gets kidnapped for the cathartic ending of a primetime series. There is not much diversity in the Philippine media, especially in terms of the stories of marginalized communities such as the indigenous communities, ranging from Visayas to Mindanao and the LGBTQIA+ Community, especially the stories of queer women. Even in terms of themes, there are not enough diverse themes being presented in the mainstream media. There are no complex stories delving into Filipino’s Mental Health, generational trauma, post-colonial experiences, domestic violence or colorism. These themes are only being delved into the Philippine Independent Films which is great however indie films are always pushed back into the sidelines which makes it hard for the Filipino audiences to consume.
Finding the silver lining, , there are works which tried to grow out of the formulaic plotlines and limited archetypal characters of Filipino women in the Philippine Media, these works are Antoinette Jadaone’s Fangirl (2020) and Rae Red’s Ang Babae at Baril (2019). Antoinette Jadaone’s Fangirl (2020) is a coming of age story about a young girl who suffered domestic violence from her own stepfather and tries to escape the horrors at home through fangirling over a Filipino Male Idol. The film explored how substance abuse and domestic violence create irrevocable impacts to one’s girlhood. This film also reveals the effects of one’s socio-political environment to one’s growth.
What interests me in this film is the protagonist, the fangirl, Jane was not portrayed as a damsel in distress but rather, the film showcased her arc as she has grown into the woman she was slowly becoming. The story also helped her realize that indeed she was the hero of her own story. Another film which tapped into socio-political themes here in the Philippines is Rae Red’s Ang Babae at Baril (2019). This film also centered on an ordinary sales lady who had trauma due to the sexual assault she experienced at work. The movie delved into her process of dealing with trauma which portrayed an unconventional journey, in particular, finding a gun in her neighborhood which gave her power and protection against violence and assault. It also explored different socio-political realities here in the Philippines such as the war on drugs, police brutality, sexual harassment at workplace and domestic violence.
What I love about this movie is the portrayal of the protagonist. She was not painted as a victim but rather a survivor of an unjust incident at work. These are only a few of the indie films that explored complex realities women face in today’s time here in the Philippines. These stories are also written by Filipino women for Filipino women contributing little by little to the Philippine Female Gaze in the industry.
In order to fully achieve genuine representation in the media, diversity and inclusivity has to start with the creators, especially those who are from the marginalized groups. Intersectional Feminism is a kaleidoscope of different aspects of female experiences, in terms of race, gender and socio-economic classes that can be used to help people understand and empathize with these different experiences. It has to start from a unit, from the local community itself. As someone who’s a product of various cultures, hailing from Subanen Tribe to Iranun Tribe, both from different indigenous communities in Mindanao, Philippines, I have always written stories about my own humanistic experiences, how I see life and how I navigate the modern world.
As a Creative Writing
Major back in college, I’ve always written about different cultures around me,
about different people that I encounter along my journey of self-discovery all
throughout womanhood, which I plan to stage these stories together with the
several creators in my own community, giving us platforms for our stories to be
told. As a Graduate Student, honing
my craft in Literary Studies, I’ve immersed myself
in different stories
and narratives in literature and it is highly important for the masses to hear and see these stories come
to life which always ignites my passion
to continue fighting for the rise of
the female gaze. For us to tell our stories and give genuine representation to
those around us, opportunities and resources must be given in order for us to
stage these stories in huge platforms such as local theaters. This can be made possible through different projects by community organizations and local art communities.
For as long as I can remember, male gaze have always had the opportunity to tell their narrative the way they wanted it. People even used to say that male gaze is inescapable due to its existence almost everywhere; however we should make room for diverse perspectives. Spaces have to be made for other voices to be heard. It is high time to draw our attention to the female gaze, to the complex stories of women, of women of color, of queer women. Through the visibility of diverse stories, not only help people to be represented, seen and heard but it will also inspire the youth, the new generation to speak up, to create and write their own narratives as well.
Indeed, the abundance of stories in different streaming services helped in terms of opening the eyes of many however it should not be about the quantity but the quality of stories. Authentic representation starts from the writers’ rooms, from the artists, from the creators making these stories and in order for these young writers to earn the opportunity to create, they need the proper training and knowledge achieved through mentoring. Genuine representation will not only validate such complex and humanistic experiences but it will also give justice to these experiences, telling it as accurately as possible. It starts from us being a community, motivating one another, inspiring one another and most especially helping one another to feel seen, heard and represented.