THE SIRENA IN THE PHILIPPINES: A SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS OF LGBTQIA+ DISCRIMINATION AND CORRELATED HIGHEST SUICIDE RATE(2ND EDITION)
According to Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), televangelist Pat Robertson passed away on Thursday at the age of 93. Weekdays at midnight, his “700 Club Asia” is broadcast on the GMA network. He was well-known for declaring out loud that God sanctioned the September 11 terrorist assault because America had legalized or welcomed homosexuality, abortion, and secular schools and courts. His comment is obviously discriminatory. This is a social issue that affects not only the United States but also the Philippines.
On their album MKNM: Mga Kwento ng Makata, released by Universal Records, Gloc 9 wrote a song titled “The Sirena” that discusses societal concerns in the Philippines and uses the Sirena as a signifier for gay people.
Sirena was characterized as aquatic creature from Philippine Culture having the head and torso of a woman with classic beauty, and the tail of a fish. She is singing angelically as she sits calmly hiding among the rocks by the seashore. However, there is a darker side to this mythical creature, one in which they used their magical voice and mesmerizing beauty to seduce males, particularly fishermen and sailors compelling them to be a sacrifice to the aquatic deities or drowned them to death. Sirena is less of an icon and more of a gay symbol. Swimmable Sirena is in a symbolic mode when it is associated to gay people and is typically drowned in a water drum by their embarrassed father.
“Drum na may tubig ang sinisisid Naglalakihang mga braso, sa ‘kin dumidikdik”
Photo Courtesy: ARYO86ADITYO
Sirena is also a symbol for beauty and grit.
Ako’y isang sirena Kahit ano’ng sabihin nila, ako ay ubod ng ganda Ako’y isang sirena Kahit ano’ng gawin nila, bandera ko’y ‘di tutumba.”
Photo Courtesy: ARYO86ADITYO
Because there are so many attractive, muscular homosexual men in the Philippines, the word “Pogi” (handsome) is now associated with gays. “Paminta” is another moniker for gay men who act straight. This sociological trend was frequently utilized as fodder for jokes by preachers, presenters, and priests in their speeches. Pogi is no longer associated with being straight among Filipinos. If you are extremely attractive, there will always be questions about your sexuality. In the 1990s, the color blue was associated with straight men; today, the color pink is associated with straight men. Probably as a result of the “blued” gay dating software for mobile.
Sirena is in iconic form of gay when they define it as “dyosa” (goddess), a woman trapped in a male body.
The terminology that I defined can be found in the indigenous LGBTQIA+ Terms in the Philippines.
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The Song Sirena campaigned against prejudice towards LGBTQIA+ people in the Philippines.
Here are several discrimination incidents in the Philippines, according to A Participatory Review and Analysis of the Legal and Social Environment for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Persons and Civil Society:
“disappearance of babaylan under Spanish colonialism”
“discharge from the military on the basis of sexual orientation”
“barring entry to nightclubs for cross-dressers.”
“being murdered with 28 LGBT-related killings in the first half of 2011.”
“In school, LGBT issues are not included in curricula.”
“At work, discrimination were given in both the recruitment of employees and during regular employment.”
“discrimination in the workplace based on HIV status.”
“LGBT persons do not have the right to marry someone of the same sex.”
“Adoption is allowed by a single LGBT person but not by two people who identify as a domestic couple.”
Discrimination is a concern to mental health of LGBTQ+ having the “higher suicide rates than that of the general population”(Alimi et al, 2020).
A newer study among young same-sex attracted Filipino men found that “their odds for suicide ideation (if not actual suicide) was higher compared to their heterosexual counterparts”(Manalastas, 2013).
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In the music video, Sirena, portrayed the unconditional love of the gay man to his father. The father earlier perception of manhood was being macho but at the adverse part of his life, he mentioned about existential manhood:
‘Di sinusukat ang tapang at ang bigote sa mukha Dahil kung minsan, mas lalake pa sa lalake ang bakla”
Indeed, being a true man, then, is about more than just being macho. It’s about being responsible and acting morally.
References
1.Being LGBT in Asia: The Philippine Country Report | UNDP. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2021, from https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/hiv-aids/being-lgbt-in-asia–the-philippine-country-report.html
2.Gloc 9 displays sensitivity in Sirena | Philstar.com. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2021, from https://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2012/09/18/850141/gloc-9-displays-sensitivity-sirena
3.A Mermaid by John William Waterhouse. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2021, from http://www.john-william-waterhouse.com/mermaid/
4. sirena lyrics – Hanapin sa Google. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2021, from https://www.google.com/search?q=sirena
5. Ax, J. (2023, June 9). Pat Robertson, televangelist who mobilized Christian voters, dead at 93. Interaksyon. https://interaksyon.philstar.com/trends-spotlights/2023/06/09/253338/pat-robertson-televangelist-who-mobilized-christian-voters-dead-at-93/
