Power, invulnerability, beauty: producing and transforming male bodies in the lowland Chritianised Philippines

Tremlett, Paul-Francois (2006). Power, invulnerability, beauty: producing and transforming male bodies in the lowland Chritianised Philippines. Occasional Papers in Gender Theory and the Study of Religions 1; School of Oriental and African Studies, University Centre Website (School of Oriental and African Studies' Centre for Gender and Religion Research).

Abstract

In this paper I analyse three socio-religious bodily rituals: the annual procession of the Black Nazarene around Quiapo Church in Manila, beliefs and practices relating to making the male body invulnerable from harm by metal weapons and male beauty contests. I argue that these social practices are occasions at which lowland Filipino men experience their bodies in particular ways. As such, I analyse these social practices in terms of local conceptions of power and potency and notions of vulnerability and invulnerability in the shifting contexts of Philippine history and modernity.

Viewing alternatives

Item Actions

Export

You can export this page using these formats