Bakla, Bakla, Paano Ka Ginawa?
(Queer, How Were You Made?)
Julia Hao
Bakla, Bakla, Paano Ka Ginawa? (Translated: Queer, How Were You Made?) is the reclamation of personal queer history and identity as mediated through the desecration of an all-girls Catholic school uniform embodying queer suppression and erasure. The artwork also subverts the normativity enforced by religious educational institutions, mainly in the primary use of basic sewing techniques (often taught to young women but not to men) to vandalize the uniform, as opposed to the needlework’s taught purpose of repair and revival. Artifacts, memorabilia, text, and symbols—both real and forged—are attached to the uniform to superimpose the reclamation and recognition of a personal queer history over the suppression and conformity that the base material symbolizes, but even so, the retelling of the queer history lies between the tensions of religious guilt and incredulity, of queer pride and shame, of sexual modesty and promiscuity, and of sapphic yearning and reluctance.
TRANSLATIONS
On the vest:
“I ❤ PUKI” — Puki is one of the most common Tagalog words for female genitalia, but with a more vulgar connotation. (Translation: I ❤ CUNT)
“Wanted: ATE-BUNSO” — Ate is the Tagalog term for “older sister” while bunso refers to “the youngest [among siblings].” In the artist’s all-girls Catholic school, school authorities would use the term Ate-Bunso to refer to sapphic relationships between students since it was very common that these relationships were between lower- and upperclassmen.
“CERTIFIED BADING” — Bading is one of the many Tagalog words for ‘queer’. Historically, the word had derogatory connotations that can be likened to ‘faggot’ and was only used to refer to gay men, but it has been since reclaimed by the younger queer generation, expanding it to become an umbrella term for all queer Filipinos. (Translation: Certified Queer)
On folded sleeves:
“PAKSHET ANG INET!” — Pakshet is a Tagalog swear word, derived from the English words ‘fuck’ and ‘shit’. Ang inet translates to “it’s hot.” (Translation: Fuck, [this uniform is] hot!)
“Bisexual ako (DUH!)” — Translation: I’m bisexual (DUH!)
On sleeve arm, stitched on a menstrual pad wrapper:
“...I hope you know na okay lang naman sakin kung gusto mo friends lang tayo.” — Transaltion: I hope you know it’s okay with me if you just want to be friends.
On sleeve cuffs:
“PAHAWAK NAMAN!” — Translation: Let me touch them!
“...IF OK LANG (Pls pls pls.)” — Translation: …If it’s okay (Pls pls pls)
The full text of the Apology letter:
I’m sorry for confessing all of a sudden last week. I hope you can still talk to me…I miss you, I hope it’s okay to say that. It’s true, I miss you, especially at lunch. I’m sorry again, I hope you know na okay lang naman sakin kung gusto mo friends lang tayo. I don’t want to lose one of my best friends. Please talk to me,
Julia Hao is an undergraduate at Ateneo de Manila University majoring in creative writing, with a minor in gender studies. Her literary works and art have been published by the University of the Philippines’ Likhaan journal, Gantala Press, Novice Magazine PH, HEIGHTS Ateneo, the GUIDON, and Perceptions International, with a forthcoming title in manywor(l)ds. She is also the Founding President of Spaces for Women’s Art and Narratives (SWAN). For more, you can linger in her Instagram, @juliaavhao.