The gender-fluid history of the Philippines | France Villarta

譯者: Catherine Ge 審譯者: Helen Chang

九零年代中期，我是個八歲的孩子。

I was an eight-year-old kid in the mid-1990s.

I grew up in southern Philippines.

我在南菲律賓長大。

At that age, you're young enough to be oblivious

在那個年齡，你年輕到不會注意到

about what society expects from each of us

社會對我們每個人有什麼期望，

but old enough to be aware of what's going on around you.

但也年長到會意識到身邊的狀況。

We lived in a one-bedroom house,

我們一家五口住在 有一間臥室的屋子裡，

all five of us.

Our house was amongst clusters of houses

這裡叢聚著主要由 木頭和鐵皮建造的房子，

made mostly of wood and corrugated metal sheets.

我們的房子是其中之一。

These houses were built very close to each other

這些彼此緊靠著的房子 沿著未鋪砌的道路建造，

along unpaved roads.

There was little to no expectation of privacy.

幾乎不可能有隱私可言。

Whenever an argument broke out next door,

每當隔壁家發生口角，

you heard it all.

你全都能聽見。

Or, if there was a little ... something something going on --

或者，如果有……在做某種事——

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

you would probably hear that, too.

你可能也會聽見。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Like any other kid, I learned what a family looked like.

和其他孩子一樣， 我也學到家庭是什麼樣子的。

It was a man, a woman, plus a child or children.

家庭是一個男人和一個女人， 加上一個或數個孩子。

But I also learned it wasn't always that way.

但我也學到，不見得 一定都是如此。

There were other combinations that worked just as well.

也有其他行得通的組合。

There was this family of three who lived down the street.

同一條街上有一個三人家庭。

The lady of the house was called Lenie.

房子的女主人叫做雷妮。

Lenie had long black hair, often in a ponytail,

雷妮有黑色的長頭髮， 通常會綁馬尾，

and manicured nails.

她的手上是美甲。

She always went out with a little makeup on

她出門時總會上一點妝，

and her signature red lipstick.

塗上她的招牌口紅。

Lenie's other half, I don't remember much about him

我不太記得雷妮的另一半，

except that he had a thing for white sleeveless shirts

只記得他穿無袖上衣，

and gold chains around his neck.

脖子上會戴著金鍊子。

Their daughter was a couple years younger than me.

他們的女兒比我小幾歲。

Now, everybody in the village knew Lenie.

村中的每個人都認識雷妮。

She owned and ran what was the most popular beauty salon

在鎮上我們住的這一邊，

最有名的的美容院是她在經營的。

in our side of town.

Every time their family would walk down the roads,

每當這家人走在路上，

大家都會用微笑迎接他們，

they would always be greeted with smiles

and occasionally stopped for a little chitchat.

偶爾會停下來小聊一會兒。

Now, the interesting thing about Lenie

雷妮有一點很有趣，

is that she also happened to be a transgender woman.

那就是，她是變性女人。

She exemplified one of the Philippines' long-standing stories

她是菲律賓長年來

性別多樣性的典型故事。

about gender diversity.

Lenie was proof that oftentimes we think of something as strange

雷妮證明了一件事：

通常，我們認為某件事很奇怪，

only because we're not familiar with it,

只是因為我們對它不熟悉，

or we haven't taken enough time to try and understand.

或者我們沒有花足夠時間 去嘗試和了解它。

In most cultures around the world,

在全世界大部分的文化中，

gender is this man-woman dichotomy.

性別是用男性女性的二分法。

It's this immovable, nonnegotiable, distinct classes of individuals.

性別是在將每個人做明確、 無法改變、沒有談判空間的分類。

We assign characteristics and expectations

在一個人的生物性別 被判定的那一刻，

the moment a person's biological sex is determined.

我們就指定了特徵 和期許給這個人。

But not all cultures are like that.

但並非所有的文化都是如此。

Not all cultures are as rigid.

不是所有的文化都如此死板。

Many cultures don't look at genitalia primarily

許多文化不會用生殖器來當作

as basis for gender construction,

建構性別的主要基礎依據；

and some communities in North America, Africa, the Indian subcontinent

在北美、非洲、印度次大陸，

以及太平洋的島嶼， 包括菲律賓，都有一些族群

and the Pacific Islands, including the Philippines,

have a long history of cultural permissiveness

長久以來在文化上對性別變體

能做到寬容及調解。

and accommodation of gender variances.

As you may know,

大家可能知道，

the people of the Philippines were under Spanish rule for over 300 years.

菲律賓人被西班牙 統治了超過三百年。

That's from 1565 to 1898.

時間是 1565 年到 1898 年。

This explains why everyday Filipino conversations

這就說明了為什麼 菲律賓人的日常對話

are peppered with Spanish words

會用到很多西班牙文的字詞，

and why so many of our last names, including mine, sound very Spanish.

以及為什麼很多菲律賓人的姓氏，

包括我的在內， 聽起來很像西班牙姓氏。

This also explains the firmly entrenched influence of Catholicism.

這也說明了天主教根深蒂固的影響。

But precolonial Philippine societies,

但，在殖民前的菲律賓社會，

they were mostly animists.

幾乎都主張萬物有靈論。

They believed all things had a distinct spiritual essence:

人們相信萬物都有 獨特的靈性本質：

plants, animals, rocks, rivers, places.

植物、動物、岩石、 河流、地方，通通都有。

Power resided in the spirit.

力量來自於靈。

Whoever was able to harness that spiritual power was highly revered.

能夠使用靈性力量的人 就會受到高度敬重。

Now, scholars who have studied the Spanish colonial archives

研究過西班牙殖民記錄的學者

also tell us that these early societies were largely egalitarian.

也告訴我們，這些早期社會 多數抱持平等主義。

Men did not necessarily have an advantage over women.

男性不見得比女性有優勢。

Wives were treated as companions, not slaves.

妻子被視為是伴侶，不是奴隸。

And family contracts were not done without their presence and approval.

定訂家庭契約一定要有 妻子的出席和同意。

In some ways, women had the upper hand.

在某些面向上，女性佔上風。

A woman could divorce her husband and own property under her own name,

女性可以和丈夫離婚， 並將財產納入她名下，

which she kept even after marriage.

且她在婚後仍保留她的名字。

She had the prerogative to have a baby or not

妻子有特權可以決定是否要生孩子，

and then decide the baby's name.

接著可以決定孩子的名字。

But the real key to the power of the precolonial Filipino woman

但，在殖民前的菲律賓， 女性之所以有權力，

was in her role as "babaylan,"

真正的關鍵在於她們身為 「babaylan」的角色，

a collective term for shamans of various ethnic groups.

這個詞代表各個種族的薩滿巫師。

They were the community healers,

薩滿巫師是社區中的醫治者，

specialists in herbal and divine lore.

是草藥和神聖知識的專家。

They delivered babies

她們會接生孩子， 也會和靈性世界溝通。

and communicated with the spirit world.

They performed exorcisms

她們會驅魔，

and occasionally, and in defense of their community,

為了保衛自己的社區，

they kicked some ass.

偶爾她們也會修理人。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And while the babaylan was a female role,

雖然薩滿巫師是女性的角色，

there were also, in fact, male practitioners in the spiritual realm.

但，事實上，在靈性的圈子， 也有男性會從事這個角色。

Reports from early Spanish chroniclers contain several references

早期的西班牙編年史家 所寫的報告中就數次提及

to male shamans who did not conform to normative Western masculine standards.

男性薩滿巫師不符合 西方規範的男子氣概標準。

They cross-dressed

他們會穿異性的服裝，

and appeared effeminate

外表有女人味，

or sexually ambiguous.

或看不出性別。

A Jesuit missionary named Francisco Alcina

耶穌會的傳教士 法蘭西斯可艾西納說過，

said that one man he believed to be a shaman

有一個被他認為是薩滿巫師的 男人「非常女性化，

was "so effeminate

that in every way he was more a woman than a man.

且在每個面向上， 他都比較像女人而非男人。

All the things the women did

所有女人會做的事，

he performed,

他都會做，

such as weaving blankets,

比如織毯子、

sewing clothes and making pots.

縫衣服、製做壺罐。

He danced also like they did,

他跳舞也像女人，

never like a man,

完全不像男人，

whose dance is different.

男人的舞蹈是不同的。

In all, he appeared more a woman than a man."

總而言之，比起像男人， 他看起來更像女人。」

Well, any other juicy details in the colonial archives?

在殖民記錄中還有什麼 有趣的細節嗎？

Thought you'd never ask.

我還以為你們不會問了。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

As you may have deduced by now,

現在各位可能已經推論出來，

the manner in which these precolonial societies conducted themselves

這些殖民前社會的做法

didn't go over so well.

並不很受歡迎。

All the free-loving, gender-variant-permitting,

所有這些自由戀愛、 允許性別變體的性別平等意識

gender equality wokeness

clashed viciously with the European sensibilities at the time,

都和當時歐洲的感受 有相當大的衝突，

so much so that the Spanish missionaries spent the next 300 years

大到西班牙傳教士 投入接下來的三百年

trying to enforce their two-sex, two-gender model.

去強制執行兩種生理性別、 兩種社會性別的模型。

Many Spanish friars also thought that the cross-dressing babaylan

許多西班牙修道士也認為 穿異性服裝的薩滿巫師

were either celibates like themselves

若不是像他們自己一樣禁慾，

or had deficient or malformed genitals.

就是生殖器有缺陷或畸形。

But this was pure speculation.

但這僅僅是推測。

Documents compiled between 1679 and 1685, called "The Bolinao Manuscript,"

在 1679 年到 1685 年間匯編的文件

《博利瑙手稿》，

mentions male shamans marrying women.

當中有提到男性薩滿巫師和女人結婚。

The Boxer Codex, circa 1590,

大約在 1590 年的《博克塞手稿》

provide clues on the nature of the male babaylan sexuality.

提供了一些線索可以幫助 了解男性薩滿巫師的性向本質。

It says, "Ordinarily they dress as women,

它說：「平常，他們穿女裝，

act like prudes

舉止拘謹，

and are so effeminate

且非常女性化，

that one who does not know them would believe they are women.

到了不認識他們就會 以為他們是女人的程度。

Almost all are impotent for the reproductive act,

他們幾乎全都無法進行生殖行為，

and thus they marry other males and sleep with them as man and wife

因此，他們會和其他男性結婚，

以夫妻身分睡在一起，

and have carnal knowledge."

且會發生性關係。」

Carnal knowledge, of course, meaning sex.

當然，性關係指的就是做愛。

Now, there's an ongoing debate in contemporary society

現代的社會中還在辯論

about what constitutes gender and how it should be defined.

性別是由什麼構成、該如何定義。

My country is no exception.

我的國家也不例外。

Some countries like Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Nepal and Canada

有些國家，如澳洲、紐西蘭、 巴基斯坦、尼泊爾，及加拿大，

have begun introducing nonbinary options in their legal documents,

已經開始在法律文件上 提供非二元的選項了，

such as their passports and their permanent resident cards.

像護照及永久居民卡上 都有這類選項。

In all these discussions about gender,

針對這些關於性別的討論，

I think it's important to keep in mind

我認為很重要的是要記住，

that the prevailing notions of man and woman as static genders

主流的想法是，男、女應是完全

由生物性別來決定， 且是固定不變的，

anchored strictly on biological sex

are social constructs.

這個想法是社會建構的。

In my people's case, this social construct is an imposition.

對菲律賓人而言，社會建構的 想法被強加在他們身上。

It was hammered into their heads over hundreds of years

數百年來，這個想法 被強行置入他們的腦中，

until they were convinced that their way of thinking was erroneous.

直到他們被說服，相信 他們自己的思維方式是錯的。

But the good thing about social constructs

但，社會建構的想法有個好處，

is they can be reconstructed

就是它們可以被重建，

to fit a time and age.

來符合時代。

They can be reconstructed

它們可以被重建，

to respond to communities that are becoming more diverse.

來因應變得越來越多元化的社會。

And they can be reconstructed

它們可以被重建，

for a world that's starting to realize

來配合這個世界的趨勢： 大家漸漸開始了解

we have so much to gain from learning and working through our differences.

從彼此的差異學習和嘗試磨合 對我們有很大的好處。

When I think about this subject,

當我想到這個主題時，

I think about the Filipino people

我就會想到菲律賓人，

and an almost forgotten but important legacy

以及幾乎被遺忘但卻很重要的

性別平等與包容的遺產。

of gender equality and inclusivity.

I think about lovers who were some of the gentlest souls I had known

我會想到我認識最溫柔的情侶，

but could not be fully open.

但他們卻無法完全公開。

I think about people who have made an impact in my life,

我會想到對我的人生 造成影響的人，

who showed me that integrity, kindness and strength of character

他們讓我見識到用正直、 仁慈，和品格的力量

are far better measures of judgment,

來評斷一個人會更理想許多，

far better than things that are beyond a person's control

遠優於人無法控制的標準，

such as their skin color, their age

如膚色、年齡，

or their gender.

或性別。

As I stand here today, on the shoulders of people like Lenie,

今天，在這裡，我站在 像雷妮這類人的肩膀上，

I feel incredibly grateful for all who have come before me,

我非常感謝所有在我之前

the ones courageous enough to put themselves out there,

有勇氣站出來的人，

who lived a life that was theirs

他們過著屬於他們的生活，

and in the process, made it a little easier for us to live our lives now.

在過程中，讓我們現在 也更能過屬於我們的生活。

Because being yourself is revolutionary.

因為，做自己是一項革命。

And to anyone reeling from forces trying to knock you down

如果有些力量試圖打倒你，

and cram you into these neat little boxes people have decided for you:

把你塞進這些別人為你 決定好的工整盒子中：

don't break.

不要被打倒。

I see you.

我能看見你。

My ancestors see you.

我的祖先能看見你。

Their blood runs through me as they run through so many of us.

他們的血液在我身上 以及許多人身上繼續流著。

You are valid, and you deserve rights and recognition

你是正當的，你應該和所有人一樣

just like everyone else.

享有權利和認可。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）