Southeast Asia Digital Library

Engendering a Neocolony: Broken Minds, Bound Bodies, Beauty Queens, and Military Bases

Ortanez, Alyssandra Rae

text

2022-05-18

20 pages

“Engendering a Neocolony: Broken Minds, Bound Bodies, Beauty Queens, and Military Bases,“ seeks to address how U.S. foreign policy as a subversion tactic has been established and maintained in the Philippines through connecting three different forms of contemporary media relevant to current relations between the U.S. and the Philippines. In recognizing the connections between PJ Rafael’s documentary Call Her Ganda (2018), Filipino-American rapper Bambu DePistola’s song “Nicole” (2007), and Pia Wurtzbach’s answer from the 2015 Miss Universe Pageant Question and Answer portion as post-colonial and post-Marcos consequences of historic revisionism and the evolution of post-independence legislation, the resulting (trans)national dissonance in historical awareness in a complete context can be understood. Drawing from the works of Filipino scholars and activists that have uncovered the depth of American imperialism in the Philippines’ national and social psyche, the discernable connections between these three manifestations of U.S. foreign policy in the Philippines are made clear to finally bridge the gaps in understanding the neocolony’s past and present.
This paper was selected as the second place winner for the 2022 Southeast Asia Digital Library Undergradate Paper Award

English

Imperialism
Philippines–United States Visiting Forces Agreement

Imperialism
Philippines–United States Visiting Forces Agreement
Philippines