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Pagbukadkad Ng Bulaklak = Blooming Of The Flower : An Ethnographic Study Of A Friendship Group Of Same-Sex Attracted Middle-Class Young Men From Metro Manila In The Philippines, Ronald Macdonald

Dr. Ronald Macdonald

In this dissertation I examine “gay” life in the Philippines by focusing on a longstanding friendship group of same-sex attracted middle-class young men living in Metro Manila who identify as bakla/gay/homosexual. I explain how dynamics of gender and sexuality including identity expression are conceptualised, articulated and negotiated through the interphase of Philippine culture, social class, economic status and the cultural appropriation and adaptation of elements of Western gay discourse and lifestyle. Ethnography was selected as the most appropriate qualitative research method because of its theoretical and philosophical “fit” with the methodological assumptions that underpin this study. A key feature in …