Growing up, I knew that being Filipino was cool. It never felt like something that I should be ashamed of. I felt like that because I grew up watching Filipino media, and any sort of celebrity that had someone that was Filipino made me feel proud.
However, as time moved forward, I started to feel less represented in the media because they were only pushing one type of Filipino, and the media was lacking at trying to break us into the mainstream media. The only time within the last few years where I felt represented was seeing socialites like Kris Aquino in Crazy Rich Asians or Hidilyn Diaz winning gold at the Olympics. I am not mentioning Manny Pacquiao because I do not agree with his politics.
Something changed in the 2020s. CNBC reported that the United States alone saw a rise in foods like purple ube by 230% across restaurant menus in the past four years and predicted it’d continue to grow. Additionally, we started to see celebrities like Sophia from KATSEYE, beabadoobee, Olivia Rodrigo, or H.E.R. dominating their respective spaces. In a cultural zeitgeist, I consistently see people talking about my culture on social media and memes being made about us that make me feel oddly proud about being Filipino.
Now we have our own little niche on the internet of being able to sing, having a specific type of fashion, “swagapinos,” or that Cameron Diaz video. To me, it’s really cool to shine and have a spot in pop-culture, and it makes me proud especially during Filipino American History Month (FAHA).
However, at some point we as Filipinos need to draw a line before cultural presence shifts from appreciation to fetishization and bastardization. This exposes a broader challenge on how a culture becomes mainstream when outside forces pick and choose parts of the culture and reclaim it as their own.
We saw this with the introduction of purple ube on the Starbucks menu, but we shut it down early and let the internet know what it is and how it is pronounced.
In all, this FAHA, I am proud to see my culture getting the spotlight, but we need to ensure it stays authentic.
