Commuting in the Philippines is a staggering and herculean experience. Squeezing nearly half a million people in a metal train every day is something one must probably get used to when living in a city. You get to see a variety of people in different stages of life in these zones of liminality: a worshipper…
Tag: Feature
It was two years ago when I first set my foot forward and marched in the colors of the rainbow—parading for love, screaming for respect. I can remember how humid and scorching that day was; the sunlight was blinding, most people had sweat running down their faces. Yet, everyone still walked street to street with…
For many, football is a pastime. A 90-minute moment-to-moment experience that starts and stops at the beck and call of a whistle. A wrinkle in time when people, whether long-time friends or total strangers, come together to be wilfully captivated by something beautiful. But for some, football is far from a mere diversion from the…
Painted by different cultures, gender, and historic times, the portrait of the ideal man is diverse, transforming the long enduring concept of mansculinity into different forms. As modern drag queens, flamboyant fashion designers, skilled makeup artists, and transgender individuals are now more accepted as “men” in society, it becomes clear that “being a man” is…
Pencils down, highlighter caps on, papers pushed and piled to the side—the day ends with fingers colored in streaks of neon and decorated with paper cuts. It has been a day spent sitting, discussing, and dissecting journal articles and peer reviews with their colleagues and mentors. They have a ton of deadlines to catch up…
For the longest time, Leigh Dispo believed that names have power. Putting a name to the attraction she has for both boys and girls would trigger an avalanche of shame and guilt that she was not equipped to deal with. It was a “form of sadness that dragged on and on” until she had the…
Films move beyond entertainment; there is more to a film than the audience’s enjoyment. They have the power to engage with and to open discussions with people and to influence their level of consciousness and understanding toward what’s being shown or how it’s shown. In the case of LGBTQ+ representation in the media, one issue…
It’s the end of a long day of school and Matty is tired. His elementary school dismisses him early enough that he has time for a little magic before dinner. With palpable excitement he sits in front of his family’s TV and turns it on. Music plays. He sings along. Years have passed, Matty Juniosa…
Every person seeks some kind of control. We question natural phenomena such as aging, life, and death. We wonder why tragedy strikes and why it happens to people that don’t deserve it. We wish that certain things didn’t happen or have to end, but reality often reminds us of how mortal we all are. Living…
It was easy to fall in love with Game of Thrones. Before, if you asked any fan why they enjoyed it, you would be met with a variety of answers. Some enjoyed how the show continuously subverted tropes in the fantasy genre, how it explored morally complex themes, and even the meticulous way the vast…