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Filipina with Foreigner Stigma
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What do Filipinos feel when a Filipino is seen together with a foreigner?
squiddly
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What do Filipinos feel when a Filipino is seen together with a foreigner?
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I’m going to give you a very blunt and honest answer. So blunt that it makes me cringe writing it down… and yet it’s the truth. Warning: I’m about to write a whole bunch of stuff that can be considered racist. It’s definitely stereotyping. Yet like I said, it’s unfortunately true. Like the other answer here mentioned, it depends on the kind of foreigner. White Caucasian – whether we’re talking about North American or European (or Australian or New Zealand), if your partner is a white/caucasian person then that’s almost always considered a great catch for a Filipino… especially if it’s a Filipino man hooking up with a white girl. Long story short, white foreigner = top of the food chain when it comes to choosing partners. Plus points if they’re actually attractive and close to your age range.Fancy Asian – there was a comedian by the name of Ali Wong who coined the term “Fancy Asian” which basically grouped together the 3 most powerful/influential east Asian peoples, namely Japanese, Chinese and South Koreans. If a Filipino manages to score a pure-blooded Japanese, Chinese or South Korean partner then that’s considered a step up, almost as high a step up as nabbing a white foreigner. Plus points if they’re actually attractive and within your age range. Double plus points if they actually speak English.White Hispanic – this primarily means Spanish people, but it basically includes any fair-skinned person of hispanic descent. We can also include Italians here as well (which as far as Filipinos are concerned are still considered “white”). Filipinos were under Spanish rule for centuries, so it’s almost a group stockholm syndrome where Filipinos developed an admiration for their captors. Till this day, the ability to speak in straight Spanish will immediately raise the “market-value” of any Filipino. It’s also considered a high compliment if someone remarks that you look Spanish. So if you end up nabbing a Spanish partner? Great job.Black Americans – or Black Canadians, or Black English (UK). Basically any black partner from a first world country. Still considered a step-up for a Filipino to have a black partner as long as they come from a first world country…. though not quite as impressive as grabbing a partner from the top 3 races I mentioned.Latinos/Latinas – something we need to admit is that Filipinos generally consider fairness of skin to be an asset. Fair-skinned latino/latina is considered a great catch (which is why white hispanics are listed as #3) whereas darker skinned latinos/latinas will only be considered a good catch primarily for them being foreigners (and thus exotic).I’d say those top 5 are the partners a Filipino/Filipina can have where most other Filipinos will look at them with awe and respect… mixed in with a hefty dose of bitterness and envy as well. They’re considered a step-up for a regular Filipino to have a partner like them, especially if you’re not a rich Filipino. However, there are other foreigners that Filipinos don’t take too kindly to. Most southeast Asian foreigners are considered relatively equal to Filipinos in terms of dating value. So getting a partner who’s Thai or Cambodian or Indonesian doesn’t really cause much reaction. It’s neither a step up or a step down. More like a step to the side. However, there are a few races that Filipinos consider a step down. Primarily would be Indians and Middle-Easterners. Grab a partner like that and most Filipinos would look at you with a befuddled expression, like they couldn’t understand why you’d settle for one of them instead of just going for another Filipino. Then you’ll get a lot of backhanded insults about how your partner probably smells bad or whether you only eat curry at home. I’m also unsure how African blacks fit into the picture, as in black people from Congo or Ghana or something. Generally, Filipinos don’t find dark skin attractive but exceptions are made for black Americans because they’re from a first world country. Having a black partner from a third world country would be considered a step down for most Filipinos I think, although there are a good number of Filipinos who think having black genes mixed in your family line would produce more athletic children.
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It depends entirely on what type of foreigner they see they kababayan with. There are various types of foreigners who date in the Philippines. I’ve seen a story of a Filipino dude, a surfing instructor, who fell in love with a blonde girl he taught surfing. Their story made it to the news, and most responses from people were: “Wow, good for him!” because in the eyes of his countrymen, a Filipino man courting and getting with a foreign woman was seen as quite a successful move. Some even went as far as to say the man was: “elevating his race.” More commonly, the male is the foreigner, and his partner is a Filipina. A lot of Filipinos, fond of their tsismis (gossips) will look the man and the woman up and down. What type is he, what type is she? If he’s the handsome backpacker type, they may assume he is not a serious guy, maybe he’s a cheater, a playboy? If he’s young, decent-looking and a morally upstanding guy in their eyes — maybe a missionary? — they may also judge him… is he broke? Will he just live off the Lord’s goodness and stay in a nipa hut with her? Or he’s old, and balding, and she’s pretty… he must be rich, they think! Or he’s young, but otherwise physically unappealing. Couldn’t get a girl back home? How sweet he was able to find one here. Pity for the girl though. Maybe their children would still look good; mestiza and mestizo children typically do. Just the correct blend of genes that works well together, no matter how unappealing the parent(s). Sometimes they see a foreign man who fell in love with what the Filipinos refer to as “a gay”. This is not really a gay male, but usually a Vice Ganda-esque crossdresser, a ladyboy or perhaps even a post-op transgender, although surgeries are hard to come by in the Philippines. In this case, some Filipinos will think the man was “tricked” by his partner. Others will assume he is simply unaware even now, maybe he’s stupid? Or they will just question his manhood; he must not be a ‘real man’, maybe his “masculinity is only 50% male, and he’s 50% female”, I have heard it being described in such a way. Sometimes the man seems normal enough. But his Filipina wife already has two or three kids from another man. She does not want more, or maybe she is too old. The foreign man adopts them as his own, pays for their education and loves them as if they were his. If a Filipino man did such a thing, his countrymen would consider him a ‘sucker’. Since this man is a foreigner and therefore has infinitely more options on the dating market, he’s seen as double the sucker. These are just a few of the many things that cross the minds of Filipinos when they see a Filipina or Filipino with a foreign partner. It all depends on the foreigner and the situation, but judgements are made, if not always spoken aloud.