[Technicolor Musings] Escaping The Power Of Words

Laverne Cox is on the cover of TIME Magazine. Sure, she didn't make it into this year's TIME 100 list of Most Influential People, at least she has become the face of TIME's issue focused on the transgender community and their fight for equal rights.

The quick summary above reflects the fight for LGBT rights as a whole, when you really think about it. We make a few advances here and there - that's worth celebrating. But at the same time there are still instances where we're not doing too well, and thus we are reminded of how much further we have to go.

But as much as we have a long way to go in terms of equal rights in the global community at large, the amount of internal homophobia that continues on is rather frustrating. And what's worse is how we can't even agree when the homophobia begins - the LGBT community is actually a rough effort to tie together so many different groups whose only common ground is the fact that we don't easily fit into the "traditional" male and female gender roles.

So let's talk about the supposed discrimination related to language.

[Apps] Duolingo (Android)

When I was still in college, I decided to invest my limited free elective subject slots into learning another language. It felt like a nice way to do something truly educational beyond my majors and it could be a lot of fun as well. At the time I had taken up German and managed to get through the first module well enough.

Of course a language not used is one that can be lost and my German is as bad as they come. So when my partner Tobie shared this app, Duolingo, with me, I was pretty curious. And while "gamification" is quite the marketing buzz word these days, I know that it has proven to be an interesting way of getting your users to engage with your content. And that's what this promises to be - a fun way learn another language.

[Technicolor Musings] Dissecting Gay Lingo

pRIdE by Megan Terry via Flickr.

I've never been particularly good with the local gay lingo, perhaps more formally known as swardspeak. Given the quirky language stems from a weird mix of English, Filipino / Tagalog and Spanish languages and interlaced with various local pop culture references, it's never been something easy for me to pick up. And I freely admit that I'm not exactly great at speaking our own language (I know - shame on me), but that's the consequence of my upbringing and so I just roll with it for now.

But it's interesting how what is pretty much its own dialect has developed specific to queer culture. But have you ever wondered why? What functional purpose does a secret language serve the queer community? At the same time, even when we speak in normal English or Filipino, the way most queers speak is also tailored to the audience in some manner. We've developed a different set of cultural norms of sorts in how we communicate and what we like to talk about.

So here's my quick take on the "language" and some insights as to why it works.

[Philipines] Language Does Not Equal Nationalism

Image via WikipediaA friend of mine directed me to this opinion article from the Philippine Star that talks about how changing our medium of instruction back to English is a bad thing. While I'm a tad undecided about where I personally stand on the actual issue he's discussing, I do have a bone to pick with the author in terms of the arguments he puts forward to further his side.

The joys of the internet - the ability to post responses like this without dealing with an editor, haha.

Fundamentally, his primary argument centers around the ties between language use as leading to stronger feelings of nationalism and going away from that language makes us want to associate with the nations related to English such as the USA (although they hardly speak true English, LOL) and the U.K. Worse, he goes on to belittle the Filipino's ability to comprehend English and how all learning facilitated in English becomes just a painful experience of translation.

Oh poo, where do we find these guys?

First, how does simply using a language lead to nationalism, what more a language that doesn't even have universal acceptance in our own country? Filipino, which is fundamentally Tagalog with a legally name change is hardly the true language accepted by everyone in the country. There are far too many dialects in a nation so small that if you do want to find a language we all speak in common, it'll always English. I don't understand a word of Cebuano or any of the other Visayan dialects and I doubt I could even begin to comprehend more southern dialects like Chabakano (if I even spelled that right). The point is that the use of Tagalog is hardly indicative of a universally accepted national identity.

He then goes on to cite a Hong Kong study that showed how difficult a time students had trying to do their coursework in English. However he forgets how deeply the English language has penetrated our country and how everyone is able to comprehend this a lot better than your average Hong Kong citizen probably does. We're swamped with books, movies and TV shows in English and we're even coupled with a legal system that's still based within the English realm and lawmakers who continue to give long-winded speeches in English as well. I don't think I'll ever be able to get over how I needed to learn History in Filipino while using an English text book. Now what's up with that logic?

Let's go on further to our own military and police forces who continue to struggle with speaking English and yet continue to insist to do so, haha. English is a lot more universal in the country and just changing the medium of instruction won't change things. If he really wants to force everyone to embrace the language, we're going to need to change things from top to bottom and change the way our government works, reinforce the proper language in all government institutions like those I mentioned prior and somehow promote / require stronger language representation in the media through legislation. We even get the news mostly in English after all. Plus remember we'll be pushing Filipino, thus making it harder for everyone else pretty much outside of Manila.

I admit, I suck at speaking Filipino. My upbringing can be thanked for that and now I'm only comfortable primarily speaking English. However that doesn't mean I don't care for my country or my limitation of language makes me any less Filipino. Quoting the Indian study didn't really do the author any good from a factual standpoint - he just presented someone else's paper where all he did was quote Gandhi. I strongly support the progress and advancement of this nation and I'm willing to fight for its freedom. Just because I choos to do it in English doesn't make me any less nationalistic.

I think we all have to face the reality that our culture is a lot more diverse than most. We've been occupied by colonizers for most of our history and in that time our national identity has become inevitably married to other cultures. Our languages and dialects are colored with Spanish influence everywhere and our interests and beliefs beyond that have an undeniable Western flair here and there. Our system of government owes a lot to the Americans and our cuisine is a grand mix of everything in the region and beyond. What Filipino identity is he looking for? The last time we were without significant foreign influence was during our tribal period before the coming of the Spanish colonizers. Is that what he wants?

Nationalism is a good thing, I agree, but we first need to understand what exactly the Filipino identity is. We need to acknowledge the value we've gained from all the foreign influence and agree that we can come up with a national identity based on what we've acquired from them and more.

He probably could have sent a much stronger message had he actually written the article in Filipino. Instead he chose to chastise the government in English - the very language of instruction he's arguing against. That was the real cherry on top of it all, haha.

[Opinions] Extra H's and Other Such Letters Bug Me

I'm a pretty diverse enough and open-minded fellow in most things. Sure, I have my own opinions on various matters that I choose to defend very strongly when needed. Then again, there are those things that I guess parts of me will never accept and just can't get over.

Now as much as I respect the complicated conventions and philosophies that go into naming your children but there's one thing that always seems to cross the line for me...extra letters. Top of my list are those extra H's that frequently find themselves in the middle of perfectly good names but there are other letters that try to join in the fun in names an in conventional conversation.

It's even worse when these turn out to be self-nominated names that people decide to use on internet forums, social networks and chat rooms.

I mean seriously, why do we go in adding these extra letters to names already pretty much accepted. H seems to be one of the easiest to throw in since people just assume it'll somehow be silent. However what they don't quite realize is that technically speaking, the added H can be pronounced and it makes the name theoretically more nasal / breathy.

You know what I mean right? Mark becomes Mhark or Mharck. Miguel becomes Mhiguel. Hell, can you imagine my name, Rocky, as something as horrible mangled as Rhocky? Ugh! What makes people do this? does it make the name seem somehow cuter or more interesting to them? Do they understand what it means to go through life as a Mhay or a Sahm or a Bhobby? It just seems so wrong to me and I curse parents who do this to their children.

Then there are those who change the Y's at the end of sentences to double E's like happee instead of happy or partee instead of party. Plus the local convention of turning the honoric "po" into "pow" or "poh" and all that gobbledy-gook. The list just goes on and on and on.

Thus I appeal to parents and silly teens thinking of various of their names for social networks or general internet use - please don't add extra and unnecessary letters!