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Article published In:
Asian Perspectives on Queer Discourse
Edited by Ke Zhang and Chao Lu
[Journal of Asian Pacific Communication 33:2] 2023
► pp. 227–246

Othering within the gay dating community?

Tensions in gender identity representations between Filipino gays and the bakla in mobile dating applications

| University of the Philippines Diliman
| Polytechnic University of the Philippines
| Far Eastern University Manila

Gay men and the bakla in the Philippines have long battled invisibility that any chance to perform their gendered identities is a welcome gamble and opportunity to self-represent and be visible. This study looked into the nature of self-representation among gay and bakla in dating applications and how these representations become source of tensions in the LGBTQ+ community. In this study, ten gay men and ten bakla were interviewed to construct their self-representations and unearth the reasons why such presentations are enacted in the dating apps. Findings showed that gay men displayed heteronormative gay masculinity. Further, most of the bakla self-censored their profiles to get matches and dates. There were some bakla, however, who refused invisibility and used the apps as space for showing their authentic gender identity. Results of this study also identified the role of technology in enabling masculine idealizations that emphasize hegemonic masculinity while reinforcing bakla invisibility.

Keywords: self-representation, mobile dating, gay men, bakla , identity, Philippines
Article outline
  • Introduction
    • The bakla and the gay man of and in the Philippines
    • Gendered gay identities in digital spaces
    • The rise of Tinder and Grindr as go-to dating applications
    • Research problem and objectives
  • Materials and methods
  • Results and discussion
    • Demographics
  • Self-representations of Filipino gay and bakla in dating applications
    • Masc for masc preferences among gay men
    • Hiding the local, loud, and proud bakla
    • Show and tell: Breaking the stereotypes
    • Platform affordances and predicaments
  • Relational tensions between the gay and the bakla
  • Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Declaration of interest
  • References
Published online: 8 August 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/japc.00094.lab
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