Racialised sexualities: the case of Filipina migrant workers in East Malaysia

In national narratives of ‘Malayness’, a specific language (Malay) and religion (Islam) have become key aspects of an identity that excludes migrants and those of ‘questionable’ sexualities. Consequently Filipina migrants working in the nightlife industries in East Malaysia have been subjected to di...

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Main Authors: Hilsdon, Anne-Marie, Giridharan, Beena
Format: Journal Article
Published: Routledge 2008
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/5005
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author Hilsdon, Anne-Marie
Giridharan, Beena
author_facet Hilsdon, Anne-Marie
Giridharan, Beena
author_sort Hilsdon, Anne-Marie
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description In national narratives of ‘Malayness’, a specific language (Malay) and religion (Islam) have become key aspects of an identity that excludes migrants and those of ‘questionable’ sexualities. Consequently Filipina migrants working in the nightlife industries in East Malaysia have been subjected to disciplinary discourses of ethnicity and sexuality that underpin these national narratives. Attempts to tighten migration laws and curb nightlife activities have resulted in a racialisation of Filipina migrant sexualities. Using ethnographic methods, this article explains the impacts of dominant state and public discourses of migration, ethnicity and gender, which Filipinas encounter in their everyday lives in their destination country. In the process the article also reveals how Filipinas resist these discourses and hence participate in the formation of their subjectivity.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-50052017-09-13T14:44:02Z Racialised sexualities: the case of Filipina migrant workers in East Malaysia Hilsdon, Anne-Marie Giridharan, Beena In national narratives of ‘Malayness’, a specific language (Malay) and religion (Islam) have become key aspects of an identity that excludes migrants and those of ‘questionable’ sexualities. Consequently Filipina migrants working in the nightlife industries in East Malaysia have been subjected to disciplinary discourses of ethnicity and sexuality that underpin these national narratives. Attempts to tighten migration laws and curb nightlife activities have resulted in a racialisation of Filipina migrant sexualities. Using ethnographic methods, this article explains the impacts of dominant state and public discourses of migration, ethnicity and gender, which Filipinas encounter in their everyday lives in their destination country. In the process the article also reveals how Filipinas resist these discourses and hence participate in the formation of their subjectivity. 2008 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/5005 10.1080/09663690802518529 Routledge restricted
spellingShingle Hilsdon, Anne-Marie
Giridharan, Beena
Racialised sexualities: the case of Filipina migrant workers in East Malaysia
title Racialised sexualities: the case of Filipina migrant workers in East Malaysia
title_full Racialised sexualities: the case of Filipina migrant workers in East Malaysia
title_fullStr Racialised sexualities: the case of Filipina migrant workers in East Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Racialised sexualities: the case of Filipina migrant workers in East Malaysia
title_short Racialised sexualities: the case of Filipina migrant workers in East Malaysia
title_sort racialised sexualities: the case of filipina migrant workers in east malaysia
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/5005