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Abstract

Social media platforms have been pivotal in redefining the conduct of contemporary society. Amid the proliferation of a range of new and ubiquitous online platforms, YouTube, a video-based platform, remains a key driver in the democratisation of creative, playful, vernacular, intimate, as well as political expressions. As a critical node of contemporary communication and digital cultures, its steady uptake and appropriation in a social media-savvy nation such as the Philippines requires a critical examination of its role in the continued reconstruction of identities, communities, and broader social institutions. This book closely analyses the diverse content and practices of amateur Filipino YouTubers, exposing and problematising the dynamics of brokering the contested aspirational logics of beauty and selfhood, interracial relationships, world-class labour, and progressive governance in a digital sphere. Ultimately, Philippine Digital Cultures: Brokerage Dynamics on YouTube offers a fresh, compelling, and nuanced account of YouTube as an important site for the mediation of culture, economy, and politics in Philippine postcolonial modernity amid rapid economic globalisation and digitalisation.
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This is a preprint version. Please cite the book as:
Soriano, C.R & Cabalquinto, E.C. (2022). Philippine Digital Cultures: Brokerage Dynamics on YouTube.
Amsterdam University Press.
Purchase the book from:
https://www.aup.nl/en/book/9789463722445/philippine
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digital
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cultures
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PHILIPPINE DIGITAL CULTURES:
BROKERAGE DYNAMICS ON YOUTUBE
Cheryll Ruth Soriano
Earvin Charles Cabalquinto
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Lights, Camera, and Click the Notification Bell!
Chapter 2: Brokering in a Digital Sphere
Chapter 3: Self
Chapter 4: Relationships
Chapter 5: Labour
Chapter 6: Politics
Chapter 7: YouTube and Beyond
Index
Bibliography
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1 Lifestyle brokers and their videos promoting underarm whitening
Table 4.1 Relationship brokers and their videos curating interracial relations
Table 5.1 Digital labour brokers and sample of videos analysed
Table 6.1 Political brokers and sample of videos analysed
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 3.1 Still from a YouTube video. The ingredients to be used for a DIY underarm
whitening product.
Figure 3.2 Still from a YouTube video. The process of preparing a DIY underarm
whitening product.
Figure 4.1 Still from a YouTube video. YouTubers and their videos broadcasting
interracial relations.
Figure 5.1 Still from a YouTube video (Santos, S., 2019). Broker illustrates labour
platform possibilities for beginners.
Figure 6.1. Still from a YouTube video (JevaraPH, 2019). Credibility-building strategy:
Broker uses imagery related to knowledge and information in the videos’ logo and
branding.
Figure 7.1 Brokering aspirations in a postcolony through YouTube. (Illustration by Maysa Arabit)
*Cover image by Maysa Arabit
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CHAPTER 1
LIGHTS, CAMERA, AND CLICK THE NOTIFICATION BELL!
Abstract. This introductory chapter underscores YouTube as a critical site for understanding the
rapid social, economic, political, and digital transformations in neoliberal and postcolonial
Philippines. It situates brokering on YouTube within the evolving political, economic and media
systems in the Philippine context, foregrounding the distinctive affective performances of Filipino
YouTubers in networked publics. This chapter also presents the methodological considerations of the
research study as well as the organisation of the book.
Keywords: brokerage, digital cultures, neoliberal globalisation, social media, postcolonial
Philippines, YouTube
In recent years, we have witnessed the meteoric rise of influencers. Ordinary individuals
expose their most intimate lives, generating massive followers and eventually profit. YouTube, as
one of the most popular online platforms in the twenty-first century, has birthed influencers,
including Swedish YouTuber PewDiePie and YouTube’s youngest millionaire Ryan Kaji as
examples. In the Philippines, YouTubers such as the late Lloyd Cadena, Michelle Dy, Zeinab
Harake, Ja Mil, Ivana Alawi, and Mimiyuuuh, to name a few, have occupied the platform, with their
channels becoming embedded in the Filipinos’ everyday lives. These figures have essentially become
constitutive of Filipinos’ appetite for the consumption of informative and entertaining content.
Whether based in or outside the Philippines, they are already part and parcel of Filipino households.
Notably, their creative take on genres, unique performances, and interactive branding strategies are
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paving the way for their visibility, popularity, and even amassing fortune within and beyond social
media. In a networked space, they produce, distribute, and monetise mundane, intimate, and random
content, ranging from exclusive confessions, skills and knowledge enhancement, talent showcase, up
to as outrageous as playing a prank on someone. At the other end of the screen, diverse audiences
watch, like, or share these contents and can opt to subscribe or follow content creators that resonate
with them. It is through this dynamic and networked environment where sociality, aspirations, and
profit-making coalesce.
Of late, YouTube’s role in the media ecosystem has expanded from catering to lifestyle
videos into being somewhat of an “academy,” where we find a broad range of information that build
skills and exchange know-how, or what Utz and Wolfers (2020) call “epistemic communities.”
YouTube has turned into an interactive and shared space where creators share information and
experience while users watch and learn in a social environment. This development collides with the
participatory and do-it-yourself (DIY) culture in social media (Jenkins, 2006) and the cultural norms
surrounding the “broadcast yourself” culture on YouTube, which facilitated an environment
conducive to new modes of discovery and learning from the ordinary person, the experts of lived
experience. This use of the academy metaphor for YouTube aligns with the claims of Susan
Wojcicki, YouTube’s Chief Executive Officer, indicating that YouTube is “more like a library in
many ways, because of the sheer amount of video that we have, and the ability for people to learn
and to look up any kind of information” (Thompson, 2018). Amid critical analyses of these
“academy” or “library” metaphors vis-à-vis the nature of a platform’s relationship with its users
(Wyatt, 2021), it cannot be denied that with the platform’s popularity – recently reported as the
leading social media platform used by 97.2% of Internet users in the Philippines (We are Social,
2021) – and with the capacity to monetise content therein, it continually attracts content creators,
now becoming a site holding millions of videos conveying people’s everyday expressions, desires,
and know-how.
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The popularity of YouTube in the Philippines can be traced back to its pivotal role in stirring
the career of aspiring celebrities in the Philippines. In 2007, Charice Pempengco, a young kid at that
time, belted out a powerful Whitney Houston classic, “I Will always Love You,” on a local reality
talent show on television. While her performance landed her third, a fan uploaded a video of her
performance on YouTube. The video became “viral” and generated millions of views from in and
outside the Philippines. It is through the video that Charice rose to international stardom, initially
invited to sing in a South Korean Talent show, Star King and eventually to appear as guest in
prominent American talk shows, including The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Oprah. From there,
Charice appeared in the popular American television series Glee, started performing across world-
class venues, and worked with international stars in concerts and albums. Apart from Charice, other
artists such as Arnel Pineda also landed an international career through YouTube. Arnel and his band
named The Zoo once did a cover of classic Journey songs, including “Don’t Stop Believin,” and
posted it on YouTube. The video led to Arnel’s discovery to become the new lead singer of the
legendary rock band Journey in 2007. Indeed, the success stories of Charice, who is more recently
known as Jake Zyrus after coming out as a transgender male, and Arnel Pineda would not have been
made possible without the networked connectivity and global exposure enabled by YouTube.
It is important to point out that the media has long been an important entry point for
accessing fame and fortune, especially among celebrity-crazed Filipinos who navigate and negotiate
the precarious and stringent social conditions in the Philippines. Ordinary Filipinos must deal with
the everyday challenges of accessing social welfare benefits and job opportunities, with many
ultimately deciding to move and work overseas (Rodriguez, 2010). Meanwhile, Philippine television
has been perceived as a platform for earning profit and accessing stardom (A. Pertierra, 2018; J. Ong,
2015). This orientation of traversing precarious conditions has also been co-opted by Philippine
entertainment media as reflected in capturing the Filipinos’ aspirations to be discovered, overcome
poor conditions, and help family members financially through a multitude of “showcase your talent”
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programs, game shows, and beauty pageants. Like television, YouTube, carrying an array of
possibilities – global presence, celebrity status, and profit – attracts ordinary Filipinos to realise
success via the creation of aspirational amateur videos. So along with the likes of Charice and Arnel
who were “discovered” via YouTube, Filipino YouTubers have begun capitalising on the platform to
visibilise their everyday and intimate lives or skills and knowledge, in the hopes of achieving a good
and successful life amid the shortcomings of public institutions. As such, YouTube becomes a key
site to both articulate those aspirations through content creation and for Filipinos to use YouTube as
a vehicle to achieve those aspirations. In turn, these YouTubers, through their videos and the
platform’s features of facilitating communities of subscribers and viewers, continually cascade
aspirations to others.
Following the successes of Charice and Arnel, YouTube tapped on the Philippine market by
creating a local team in 2011. This opened opportunities for partnerships with existing media
companies, such as GMA-7, ABS-CBN and TV5, as well as with local creatives like Filipino Society
of Composers, Authors, Publishers (FILSCAP) and advertisers such as the multinational company
Procter and Gamble (Olchondra, 2011). The local team also started the YouTube Partnership
Program (YPP) in the Philippines, paving the way for Filipino content creators or YouTubers to
monetise their content (Olchondra, 2011). The program has a sales team which deals with engaging
content creators, promoting the use of analytics in their channels, managing targeted advertisements,
and implementing copyright restrictions on content. At the time of the launch, a press release
produced by a television network highlighted:
Whether you want to be the next Charice, earn ad sales from original videos with the
potential to “go viral,” or promote a brand, the localised version of online video-sharing site
YouTube will have you seeing numbers in a good way. (Olchondra, 2011)
In this statement, the allure of fame and possibly fortune through virality is implied.
Particularly, it emphasises what networked connectivity can deliver, especially among YouTubers
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who consider the platform not only as a tool for cultural expression (Burges & Green, 2018) but also
for monetisation (García-Rapp, 2017). It is also important to note that Google also promoted the
advantages of networked and global connectivity as “YouTube Philippines also gives local creators
and brands the opportunity to increase exposure not only nationwide but globally as well”
(Olchondra, 2011). Nevertheless, YouTube is framed as a space that affords profitability on a
national and global scale.
This book presents a critical investigation of YouTube as an important site for examining
Philippine modernity amid economic globalisation, although the ideas here may resonate with the
experiences in other countries in the Global South and in facilitating reflections on digital cultures
elsewhere. YouTube, a video and networked-based platform founded in 2005 in the United States
and eventually bought by Google in 2006, has essentially become an integral part of the everyday
lives of Filipinos. As one of the most highly subscribed social media platforms in the Philippines
(We are Social, 2020), its contributions in shaping the Filipino’s consciousness and aspiration
necessitate a critical examination especially at a time of expansive digitalisation and global
capitalism. Considered as one of the top markets for YouTube, the number of Filipino subscribers
over the past three years increased by 20 times, while the number of channels with more than one
million subscribers has increased 10 times from 2016 to 2019 (Mercurio, 2019). In the Philippines,
which is once hailed as the social media capital of the world (Mateo, 2018), YouTube is also one of
the major platforms that Filipino content creators utilise in creating online presence, branding,
fostering communities, and sustaining social networks. After all, it is where the audiences are as
YouTube becomes a one-stop space for Filipinos to seek information, follow a certain activity, or
learn or improve a skill. Ultimately, YouTube is therefore set to be more deeply embedded in the
fabric of Philippine society.
As the first book presenting a systematic and theoretical analysis of YouTube and digital
cultures in the Philippines, we approach content and practices on the platform as shaped by socio-
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cultural, socio-economic, socio-political and socio-historical conditions. In a similar way, we locate
YouTube’s role in the transformation of the Philippine social and digital landscape, by paying
attention to the often creative, playful, affective, and personalised contents produced by Filipino
YouTubers as case studies of the brokerage dynamics of Philippine modernity in digital times.
YouTubers capitalise on producing their own media content in a rich and convergent media
environment (Jenkins, 2006). They are considered ordinary individuals who utilise media channels in
visibilising their most intimate and personal lives in and through the media, which Turner (2009)
conceptualises as the “demotic turn.” Those who amass a significant viewership are considered
“micro-celebrities” (Senft, 2018) who use digital communication technologies to enable interactions
as well as generate and sustain popularity. Abidin (2015) also identifies them as “influencers,”
typically maximising the use of social media channels to generate thousands and millions of
followers and generate profit. The performances visibilised through diverse content and even offline
engagements by such influencers are anchored on certain branding strategies (Marwick, 2013) such
as developing intimate (Abidin, 2015), raw, and affective narratives (Berryman & Kavka, 2017)
typically shaped by entrepreneurial influences and guidelines (Banet-Weiser & Juhasz, 2011; Duffy,
2017). For this book, we focus on the dynamics of aspirational content creation and engagement
practices of Filipino YouTubers, which remains understudied amid the growing studies examining
the intersections of digital media, influencer culture, creative cultural production, and platformisation
elsewhere.
We also approach YouTube content as part of the broader platform ecosystem, configured by
its affordances and governance structures. The content produced and consumed online are shaped by
platform logics, operating through the platform’s business model and governance mechanisms (van
Dijck, 2013). For instance, what appears in the interface of a platform is often a by-product of the
“popularity principle.” This means that the most shared, the most liked, and the most commented
posts have a greater chance of appearing and being recommended on the platform. The visibility and
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access to certain content are then shaped by these recommendations. Reviglio and Agosti (2020)
point out, for example, that YouTube’s recommendation systems “drive more than 70% of the time
spent in the video sharing platform and 90% of the “related content” is indeed personalised (p. 10).
Tied to capturing online interactions, this modulates our attention on particular content over others
(Bucher, 2012). Through such processes, connectedness is moulded by the platform’s logics,
including the interface and tags to record and present data, the algorithms processing the data, as well
as the flows of profit through targeted advertising (Andrejevic, 2007; van Dijck, 2013).
Yet YouTubers are not only governed by these structures – they anchor their strategies on
these structures to make their content more visible, to expand their communities, or to advance their
personal and professional agenda. Thus, as we will show throughout the book, YouTubers’ work lies
in this interplay of YouTube’s affordances and governance mechanisms with the content creators’
strategic use of the platform that privileges them with visibility and renders relevance to their
affective narratives that together curate Filipinos’ YouTube-mediated socio-technical world.
By closely examining Filipino YouTubers’ creative, diverse, and affective contents and how
these contents are strategically promoted and circulated, this book examines how YouTube is
mediating Philippine modernity in the digital era. As such, this book raises several questions that
problematise how YouTube becomes an important node in the digital and social life of Filipinos. We
ask, what representations by YouTubers on different aspects of Philippine society are presented and
curated on this digital space? How do cultural, historical, economic, and political influences inform
the ways of interrogating representations and practices on YouTube? How do technological
affordances and platform logics shape the production and circulation of content on the platform?
What do representations and digital processes on YouTube reveal about the positionality of the
Philippines and its citizens in a globalising and networked economy?
To address these questions, we deploy the lens of “brokerage” (Stovel & Shaw, 2012),
particularly extending this frame in the context of digital media and communications. YouTubers, as
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online content producers, have been previously framed as micro-celebrities (Senft, 2008), influencers
(Abidin, 2015), and cultural intermediaries (Hutchinson, 2017), and now, we consider them as
“brokers” of relatable persona, lifestyle imaginaries, relationships, and mobility tactics. Thus, we
examine the content on YouTube and the micro-celebrity strategies engaged by YouTubers, not just
as mediated performances of Filipino everyday life, but as conditions where diverse social
transactions and aspirations of Filipinos are enacted, brokered, commodified, and negotiated.
In interrogating how online content creation is entangled with the platform’s governance
structures and broader economic, political, socio-historical, and technological conditions, we
conceptualise YouTubers as brokers. Brokers similarly capitalise on micro-celebrity branding
strategies to attract and engage audiences and generate profit, and use these and the platform’s
affordances to manufacture, sell, and “bridge” Filipinos to their economic, socio-cultural, and even
political aspirations. As we will argue throughout the book, brokerage processes thrive within
personally affective contents and strategic networks. Thus, the engagement of micro influencer
strategies allows YouTube brokers to achieve a legitimate and relatable persona, put together
disparate and useful relatable information as content, and facilitate affect and engagement crucial for
the capturing of people’s personal, economic, and political aspirations within the context of the
platform’s attention and business logics. This approach offers a critical focal point that widens our
understanding of YouTube’s growing role in the Philippines (specifically), but with potential
relevance to other postcolonial societies (broadly).
Postcolonial Philippines in an Era of Neoliberal Globalisation
The Philippines provides a unique and interesting case study to critically examine the
booming market of online content creation across the world. This lies in how socio-historical
transformations have shaped the social, political, economic, and media terrain of the country. The
Philippines is at the frontier of unprecedented changes influenced by the expansion of global
markets, international relations and policies, as well as the advent of communication technologies. It
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is for these reasons that ordinary Filipinos have ventured into various opportunities, locally and
internationally. However, these conditions are underpinned by the pre-existing hierarchy and divide
in the nation-state, which favour and reinforce the privileged position of social, economic, and
political elites. This, we argue, is crucial in analysing the conditions, practices, and outcomes of a
networked, marketised and politicised environment of amateur online content producers.
As a start, we critically engage the Philippines' colonial past, which has been fundamental in
setting the social, economic and political terrain that Filipinos navigate. Several Filipino scholars
have argued that the current condition of the nation-state is deeply tied to a colonial history (Aguilar,
2014; Rafael, 2000; San Juan, 2011), highlighting that colonial legacy manifests in forms of
domination, control, and marginalisation. For instance, racial and class hierarchies were reinforced
during the Spanish regime. Colonisers and Filipinos with Spanish descent assumed privileged
positions in the country, ascribing their whiteness to a social status, civility, and advancement
(Rafael, 2000; Arnado, 2019). Indigenous Filipinos and dark-skinned individuals, meanwhile, were
associated with barbarism (Rafael, 2000). This racial and skin colour discrimination have been
deeply embedded in Philippine society, reflected in how Filipinos perceive standards of beauty,
success, and upward mobility. Meanwhile, a different political, economic, and social life crystallised
during the American rule, translating into new forms of domination and marginalisation. In contrast
to the “divide and conquer” strategy of the Spaniards, the Americans deployed the tactic of
“benevolent assimilation.” In 1898, President William McKinley promoted paternalistic, family-
oriented and affective relations between the U.S. and the Philippines (Aguilar, 2014). Filipinos were
brought into the American education system, where they learned and practiced the English language
and exposed to American culture and traditions. Scholars have pointed out that this immersion in the
American education system has cultivated a neo-colonial consciousness in Filipinos, a privileging of
the English language in education and professional communication and its recognition as the
language of social elites, consumption of popular American media, and the performance of American
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traditions and cultures even after the American colonial period (Aguilar, 2014; Rafael, 2000).
Notably, the deployment of the American education system in the Philippines also allowed for the
exportation of trained Filipino nurses to the U.S. during and after World War II (WW2) (Aguilar,
2014). The U.S.-Philippine relations continued even after Philippine Independence in 1945 through
sustained partnerships with U.S. officials, multinational companies, and transnational networks.
These political and economic ties between the former colonisers and Philippine officials led to
enduring hegemonic and colonial rule (Tadiar, 2004). For instance, U.S. troops remained in military
bases in the Philippines even after the declaration of its independence, which sustained the
prostitution of Filipino women and children in those communities (Tadiar, 2004). Ultimately, the
positionality of colonial masters in the pedestal has been reinforced during the American period,
most especially through benevolent assimilation.
By the 1960s, the Philippines fell into an economic crisis in the aftermath of WW2. Poverty,
unemployment and underemployment worsened. Labelled as the “sick man of Asia,” economic
managers proposed the adoption of structural adjustment policies. Former President Ferdinand
Marcos turned to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) for loans (Aguilar,
2014). The Philippine government signed into international neoliberal policies such as the
Washington Consensus, granting the U.S. a direct and indirect control of the Philippine economy
(San Juan, 2009). This has led to the privatisation, deregulation, and liberalisation of various
institutions and social welfare services, further undermining the unstable economic state of the
country.
When large-scale labour emigration began in the 1970s, the economic conditions were
worsened by the 1973 oil crisis (Asis, 2017). The economy could not keep pace with population
growth, and the country needed to provide jobs and decent wages. To address the economic crisis,
the Philippine government resorted to the further exportation of cheap and skilled labour through the
Labour Export Policy (LEP) signed and issued under the Presidential Decree 422 in 1974 (San Juan,
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2009). The labour code institutionalised overseas employment as a temporary-turned-permanent
stopgap measure in addressing the country’s economic problems (De Guzman, 2003). This paved the
way for the creation of government institutions that oversee and manage the training and deployment
of overseas Filipino workers, including the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) and
Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). An overseas employment is aspired to by
many Filipinos who lack access to social welfare services and work opportunities in the Philippines.
According to the data produced by the POEA between 2015 and 2016, approximately 2.5 million
Filipinos worked abroad, including 2 million land-based workers and 501 thousand sea-based
workers (POEA, 2019). Although labour migration helps in supporting the accumulation of capitals
needed by many Filipinos to escape poverty or support the education of left behind family members,
it has many social costs, including physical abuse and inhumane living and working conditions for
workers, as well as the disintegration of families (Rodriguez, 2010), Yet, despite its social costs, a
significant portion of the local economy is driven by migrant remittances, which in turn also
substantiates the economic benefits of labour exportation.
The migration trend has also activated the brokerage role of recruitment companies and
informal actors that tapped diverse social networks and platforms to reach Filipinos, mostly women,
who are aspiring for marriage migration. Along with the perception and aspiration that marrying a
foreign partner can be a ticket to a more comfortable life, the growing statistics on marriage
migration has caused anxieties about the welfare of Filipinos who marry foreign nationals through
these transactions. A new law, RA10906 was enacted to strengthen the Anti-Mail Order Bride Act of
1990, and which considers the trafficking of Filipinos as brides or husbands through mail, in person,
or over the Internet for the purpose of marriage or common law partnership. The problem with these
state policies that are intended to address the welfare of Filipino migrants, however, is that local
implementation mechanisms were often not in sync with national frameworks (Asis, 2017).
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The Philippines reflects how a nation-state operates as a “broker” of cheap, surplus and
exploited labour, engaging in neoliberal tactics on its conquest to address the nation’s economic
crisis (Rodriguez, 2010). Institutionalising this brokerage function is a web of social actors, offices,
and institutions that facilitate the manufacturing of Filipino labour across the world (Guevarra, 2010;
Rodriguez, 2010). Moreover, brokering is implemented by an oligarchic government, often adhering
to colonialist and imperialist policies and generating more profit for those in power (Tadiar, 2004).
Tadiar (2004) articulates the visions of the Philippine government for ordinary Filipinos as a “fantasy
production” or an imagination that “is an intrinsic, constitutive part of the political economy” (p. 4).
She writes:
Fantasy production views the forms and dynamics of subjectivity produced and operating
through contemporary international politics and economics, as emerging precisely out of
dominant cultures of imperialism. Besides the orientalism in economics that persists in the
world project of “development,” logics of patriarchy, sexism, homophobia, and racism
deeply inform and are generated by the practice of accumulation and power of postcolonial
nation-states according to the tacit rules of the world system (p. 12).
Over the past years, the Philippine government has continued to broker Filipino workers to
foreign markets (Guevarra, 2010; Rodriguez, 2010). The seamless exportation of human labour is
well-established by the connections, control, and hierarchies wielded through policies during and
after colonisation. Government and non-government institutions facilitate various training programs,
serving as spaces for constant policing, monitoring and conformity to the ideal worker trope
(Rodriguez, 2010). Overseas workers are encouraged to embody a certain subjectivity -- a supportive
family member, a good citizen, or a competitive and entrepreneurial individual. These characteristics
of an “ideal” overseas Filipino worker reflect a “neoliberal ethos” or sacrificing one’s needs to
provide for the family and the nation (Guevarra, 2010). This subjectivity is also promoted using
mobile devices (Cabalquinto, 2014; Madianou & Miller, 2012) to fulfil duties and responsibilities to
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family through sending remittances and consumer goods (Cabalquinto & Wood-Bradley, 2020;
Guevarra, 2010; Rodriguez, 2010). Nonetheless, construction of Filipino subjectivity, mobility, and
labour is shaped by neoliberal and neo-colonial influences.
The Philippines is also adopting to neoliberal globalisation, which is characterised by
keeping up with other nation-states’ expanding markets and strategies for profit accumulation (A.
Ong, 2006). One of its major structural adjustments is partaking in the knowledge economy. By
definition, the knowledge economy is the expansion of production processes that facilitate the
creation of information and ideas (Radhakrishnan, 2011). In the Philippines, the knowledge economy
manifests in the rise of business processing outsourcing (BPO) companies that delegate management,
coordination, and processing schemes to individuals. Significantly, the boom of the call centre and
medical transcription industry has manifested a seismic turn in how the Philippine government
addresses its surplus labour (David, 2016; Fabros, 2018). Based on available statistics, over half a
million Filipinos were involved in the BPO industry in 2017 (Philippine Statistics Authority, 2018),
and the sector is a major contributor to the economy, projected to generate $29B in revenues in 2022
(IBPAP, 2020). Through BPO work, Filipinos do not leave the country but are compelled to imagine
a foreign territory where they service their clients. Padios (2018) further notes that the competitive
advantage of Filipinos in BPO work lies in their colonial roots, articulating the concept of
Filipino/American relatability or the way the Philippines maintains its affinities and connections to
the U.S. This concept demonstrates how Filipinos develop social capital and value through colonial
legacies, which can also be negotiated when issues of racism and abuse emerge (Padios, 2018).
Like migrant workers, Filipinos in the BPO industry are described as “modern heroes”
serving foreign clients, reducing unemployment, and bringing home much needed economic push,
although this time not having to leave the country. Yet, although BPO work offers viable
employment to many Filipinos such as acceptable pay, security of tenure, as well other benefits than
their counterparts in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors, research has shown the physical and
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emotional burden experienced by local BPO workers. These included precarious working conditions
characterised by long working hours, mental and emotional stress given the nature of work that
required them to attend to irate customers on a daily basis, having to deal with constant night shifts,
and mandatory overtime and holiday work (Fabros, 2016), among others.
More recently, the entanglement of technological innovations, further outsourcing of workers
and services, and the widespread uptake of relatively affordable digital communication technologies
have contributed to other technologically mediated service work in the Philippines. This outcome has
also been aligned with institutional support on improving the country's digital landscape. This
includes the development of the national broadband policy and promotion of ICT-related jobs
through its digitaljobsPH program.
The Philippine government’s promotion of digital labour as a viable source of income
becomes the penultimate and current neoliberal strategy to address its surplus labour and a growing
informal economy. This happened alongside the trend towards flexibilisation of work arrangements
brought upon market transformations in the Global North (Soriano & Cabañes, 2020a), and which
led to planetary labour markets (Graham & Anwar, 2019) involving labour platforms that match
workers and clients across the globe. Online platform labour proved to be a favoured alternative for
many workers who started to experience discontent from the challenging conditions attached to BPO
work as well as the worsening traffic conditions in the metropolis (Soriano & Cabañes, 2020a). Now
the label of OFW—formerly pertaining to overseas Filipino workers, is attributed to digital workers
too—as Online Freelance Workers 2.0. As “OFW 2.0,” Filipinos explore cloudwork platforms such
as Upwork or Onlinejobs.ph that match them with overseas clients for dollar earnings. As we will
show in the succeeding chapters, platform workers and emerging influencers join the government in
the avid promotion and normalisation of platform labour as a viable employment alternative across
social media. However, online freelance workers are not detached from difficulties and challenges,
such as the constraints stirred by non-recognition of legibility of online work, overwork, isolation,
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limited potential for career advancement, lack of bargaining capacity, and other challenges connected
to navigating the ambiguous platform environment (Soriano & Cabañes, 2020a, 2020b). It is through
this point that Soriano and Cabañes (2020a) raise the issues surrounding how the Philippine
government brands online freelance workers as “world-class workers” while eliding the deep-seated
structural inequalities in the national labour economy.
Anchored with considering digital technologies as a site for economic gains, Filipinos’
capacity to capitalise on available digital opportunities beyond the state’s brokerage role has
expanded. Aside from being platform workers, Filipinos are also actively creating monetisable
content and marketing products as entrepreneurs on social media platforms such as YouTube, while
reviving old tensions of opportunity and precarity marked by past labour arrangements. The labour
facilitated by these “digital opportunities” also require new abilities and predispositions that its users
need to accumulate and convert capital, even as sometimes this paradoxically reinstates inequalities
and anxieties (Duffy, 2017; Marwick, 2018).
By mapping the transformations in Philippine history, we highlight the interplay of culture,
expanding markets, technological advancements, and job insecurity and how it informs the process of
labour, subjectivity, mobility, and marginalisation. Crucial in the entanglement of these elements is
the process of how individual lives are tied to the country’s colonial past that mediates the brokering
of aspirations, mobility, labour, and even anxieties in modernisation, and which we discuss further in
Chapter 2. In the next section, we discuss how the development of digital and mobile media in the
Philippines builds the historical, cultural and social foundations of brokerage that manifest in online
and social spaces like YouTube.
Digital Philippines
The explosion of digital technology and access opportunities ushered by some key global and
local developments set the landscape for key transformations in digital communication in the
Philippines. As Filipinos achieved greater geographical and social mobility along with the
20
modernisation of Asian economies (Qiu, 2007), digital communication became more important than
ever to cater to the sharp rise in informational, economic, social, and political demands of citizens.
For instance, many Manila-based dwellers, for example, are local migrants from across the
archipelago who moved to the city for employment aspirations (UNESCO, n.d.). Notably, the
outward mobility from the regions and even the country for personal, familial and professional
reasons enables separation but also creates imperatives for heightened digital connectivity. This
condition is then addressed using mobile devices for sustaining relationships in a national (R.
Pertierra et al., 2002) and transnational context (Madianou and Miller, 2012). Further, mobile phones
also facilitate the enactment of identity, intimacy, and even political participation (R. Pertierra et al.,
2002). In a non-proximate arrangement among Filipinos and their loved ones and social networks,
digital devices facilitate the flows of goods, money and information, which mediate relationships,
feelings, and aspirations. It is within this context of mobility, structure of social stratification, and a
growing need to maintain personal, familial and even political connections that mobile and social
media became popular.
Although the market for telecommunications in the country remains controlled by a few
powerholders and connectivity one of the slowest in the world (Ookla, 2020), the high uptake is
connected to telecommunication companies’ rapid marketing of its products and services to tap the
mobile Filipino market base with schemes attuned to the differing consumption capacities of
Filipinos. There are two major telecommunication firms in the Philippines, including Globe Telecom
and Philippine Long-Distance Telephone (PLDT). The latter owns two mobile communication
companies, Sun Cellular and Smart Communications (previously known as Red Mobile). Globe
Telecom and PLDT have been in competition in the local telecommunications market, although this
might change as a third telecommunication company, DITO Telecommunity, was just given
franchise by the Philippine government (Camus, 2019). Both PLDT and Globe sell a wide range of
mobile Internet plans to accommodate a fast and changing market. More recently, mobile Internet is
21
driven by the marketability of local brands that sell lower priced Android phones ranging from
USD$25 to USD$300, such as MyPhone, Cherrymobile, Starmobile, and so forth. Post-paid
telecommunications subscription offerings, along with the growing range of dealers, concept stores
and kiosks spread across shopping malls and other public spaces that sell mobile devices with
customisable features and software drive the tremendous mobile Internet market.
Telecommunication companies have been continuously reworking its products and services
to suit the Philippine market across a broad income range. Crucial here is the offering of prepaid
subscription, which caters to Filipinos from the lower to middle income classes, who experience the
challenge of producing the requirements needed to open post-paid accounts. Prepaid sims with 4G or
LTE Internet connectivity can be conveniently purchased for as little as USD$0.80 from the many
convenience shops and variety stores spread across the country, and these sims are sometimes given
away during company events or concerts. According to the International Telecommunications Union
(ITU), there were 167.32 million mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions in the Philippines in 2019
(ITU, 2020), effectively more than the population and which implies multiple subscriptions for some
sectors of the population. Another popular feature is the introduction of features allowing the
purchase of mobile credit through tingi [purchasing in small increments], as well as autoload/e-load
(over-the-air purchase of credit) and pasaload/share-a-load (over-the-air sharing of credit) which
were made readily available to poorer segments of the Philippine society through micro-
entrepreneurs (Soriano, 2019). To date, the tingi approach has also been deployed in the use of the
Internet, social media and mobile applications. For instance, both Globe and Smart Telecoms have
prepaid and postpaid products that bundle these services, tiered in terms of its combinations of
texting, phone calls, and Internet packages (unlimited or capped to an amount or period), within and
outside the networks, at home or mobile. Ultimately, these packages allow Filipinos to obtain “good
enough access” (Uy-Tioco, 2019) to a range of online channels at home or on the go, depending on
their capacity to pay. Smart and Globe, through their subsidiaries Touch Mobile and Talk and Text
22
that target the lower-income market, now embed Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Viber, TikTok, and
other apps in their promotions for free data and low-cost or “unlimited calls, text, and data bundles.”
In some cases, telecommunication companies and microentrepreneurs rolled out pisonet units
(Soriano, Hjorth, & Davies, 2019) in urban and rural (often low-income) neighbourhoods. These are
coin-operated public access points akin to a videoke or arcade machine that allow for accessing
calculated Internet time (i.e. 4 minutes) for a peso for those who cannot own personal computers or
mobile devices.
This proliferation of creative plans and marketing schemes aligned with the boom in social
media platforms, leading Filipinos to engage in various online activities, such as watching online
videos, listening to music streaming services, podcasts, online radio, and so forth leading to being
awarded with different titles. The Philippines was earlier regarded as the “texting capital of the
world” (R. Pertierra et al., 2002), as the “social networking capital of the world” in 2011 (Stockdale
& McIntyre, 2011), as well as the “selfie capital of the world” in 2014 (Wilson, 2014) where citizens
spend the highest number of hours on social media (at 6 hours and 43 minutes on average) everyday
(We are Social, 2020).
The rise of digital innovations is spurring on new business models and applications that find
a wide range of appropriations in a developing economy with a high level of communication skills
and, ironically, social stratification (Lorenzana & Soriano, 2021). Ultimately, smart phones have
become tools to sustain familial or friendly relations (R. Pertierra et al., 2002) as well as intimate
relationships through dating apps (Cabañes & Collantes, 2020; Labour, 2020). It has also been used
to sustain cultural identity and religious affinities (Ellwood-Clayton, 2005). Moreover, social media
channels have been utilised to navigate and cope with the impacts of disasters (Crisostomo, 2020;
David, Ong, & Legara, 2016; McKay & Perez, 2019). Globally, digital communication technologies
have connected dispersed family members (Cabalquinto, 2018a, 2022; Madianou & Miller, 2012),
offering ways of sustaining mothering roles, transnational fathering, as well as the fulfilment of filial
23
obligations (Cabalquinto, 2018a, 2022; Cabañes, J. & Acedera, K., 2012; Parreñas, (2001); Uy-Tioco
& Cabalquinto, 2020). Notably, the rise in the use of social media for political engagement and
communication is also growing, leading to the insertion of the struggles of minority and marginalised
peoples in national narratives, while in turn also fuelling the populism that has gained international
attention.
The continued growth of interactive applications reconfigures the Filipino consumer base as
active and dynamic publics choosing from a range of communicative options and relational
possibilities (Madianou & Miller, 2012) and as creators of content, seeking opportunities for
heightened self-expression, recognition (Lorenzana, 2016), and attention (Cabalquinto & Soriano,
2020). Yet, these pose new questions and debates. One such issue that has emerged is the impact of
digital technologies on cultural forms and expressions of identity, community, and nationhood
(McKay, 2011; Crisostomo, 2020). Along with openings for creative and artistic expressions is also
the rise of disinformation and populism (J. Ong & Cabanes, 2018; Curato, 2018), incivility and
scandals (Lorenzana, 2021), cyberbullying, cancel culture, and influencer economies (Cabalquinto &
Soriano, 2020) that have taken the country into uncharted political and social terrain. The opportunity
to insert new voices into public conversations facilitated by spaces such as YouTube coincide with
prejudice, bias, or hate. Further, communicative relations on social media are enacted as social,
economic, and political transactions that are monetisable, feeding the capitalist ethos of capital
accumulation, influence, and reputation (Athique, 2019). With the explosion of digital technology
and access opportunities ushered by key global and local developments described above, digital
communication in the country is heightened as it is commercialised through the conversion of every
post and engagement into data and data as commodity form.
As discussed earlier, the Philippines’ social and economic conditions are entangled with
political structures and historical influences. Developments in digital communication and the
conditions and structures align with colonialist dreamworks and fantasies. The next section elucidates
24
how political, economic, and socio-historical factors shape the contours of the fast-evolving media
ecosystem in the Philippines. This is of great importance especially in understanding and examining
the practices, performativity, and politics of content creation as these evolve within a broader media
ecosystem.
On/Off Air? From Mainstream to Online Media
Despite a growing number of studies on micro-celebrity in Asia (Abidin, 2015, 2016; Abidin
& Brown, 2019) and in the Western world (Duffy, 2017; Marwick, 2013; Poell, Neiborg & Duffy,
2022; Senft, 2008), little study has been made on the flourishing presence of online content creators
in the Philippines (Shtern, Hill, & Chan, 2019). Our research contextualises the representational
politics of content produced by YouTubers in the Philippines, highlighting how texts and practices
are shaped by and deeply tied to the Philippine’s cultural, economic, political, and socio-historical
domains. To understand the politics behind texts and mediated practices, we first map the media
landscape in the Philippines. In particular, the high penetration of traditional media and particularly
television in Philippine households, as well as the strong cultural influence of television programs in
articulating values and aspirations among Filipinos, require examining how its functions are
extended, sometimes replicated, and further expanded by content creators on YouTube.
The analysis of content creation in a visual medium such as YouTube necessitates a
complementary understanding of the popularity of television in the Philippines. Philippine television,
with its accessibility and cost friendliness, has been an iconic medium in Filipino households. It
circulates contents that mediate Filipino values and aspirations. Yet, it also reflects the existing social
differences and hierarchy in Philippine society. It is often populated and governed by the middle-
class and elite Filipinos and mestiso/mestisas. As a business, Philippine television negotiates the
social hierarchy by producing programs and contents that align with the interest, taste and even
aspirations of the target audience, typically the masa or individuals belonging to lower income
classes. Here, televisual spectacle is transformed into the blending of the upper and lower-class
25
Filipinos in television formats (A. Pertierra, 2018), such as game shows, reality TV, and so forth. In
examining the political and economic dimension of media and visual texts in the Philippines,
scholars have deployed the lens of patron-client relations (J. Ong, 2015; A. Pertierra, 2018, 2021).
This means that gestures, practices, and speeches are delivered by social actors in exchange for a
wide range of capitals – social, economic, and political. A key work in Philippine media studies that
articulates patron-client relations is by Anna Pertierra (2018). Her ethnographic study of a long-
running noontime show, Eat Bulaga, unpacked how celebrities, who belong to the middle and upper
class, can be one with the masses through performative acts and a range of gimmicks. Philippine
television’s dominant audience base belongs to lower-middle classes and the urban and rural poor. A.
Pertierra (2018) argues that the masses, who were typically the market and the contestants of the
show, express their experiences of poverty through stories of suffering as well as humour and
mimicry embedded in the shows. This enables them to generate a sense of agency in the form of
visibility as well as economic gains by bringing home instant cash prizes. This negotiation of social
differences is echoed in the ethnographic study of Jonathan Ong (2015) on how Philippine news and
several game shows represent the suffering of poor Filipinos. Ong underscored how the everyday
sorrows and suffering of ordinary Filipinos are common themes to attract audiences’ attention and
further engage advertisers and business enterprises. By interviewing producers and journalists, J. Ong
(2015) unpacked the tensions between the intersections of economics and morality in broadcast
journalism, highlighting how the spectacle of suffering is often utilised to articulate the
deservingness of aid and even airtime.
The practices of Philippine television essentially show how emotionally charged stories have
become valuable, palatable and profitable contents. But more importantly, both studies of A.
Pertierra (2018) and J. Ong (2015) also highlighted the ways through which various capitals are
mobilised in Philippine television. More specifically, the visibility of television hosts in helping the
masses on national television becomes potent mechanisms for admiration among masses, which can
26
eventually translate to popularity or campaign support and electoral votes for celebrities who run for
public office (A. Pertierra, 2017). For the former, visibility can lead to multi-million contracts,
product endorsements, international tours, and so forth. For the latter, several Filipino celebrities,
such as Tito Sotto, Bong Revilla, Noli De Castro, Vilma Santos, Joseph Estrada, and many more,
have eventually occupied key positions in government, including the Presidency, Vice Presidency,
Senate, and Congress. Ultimately, entertainment media stirs political capital (R. Pertierra, 2020; A.
Pertierra, 2020), which is enabled by patron-client relations or how connections and affiliations to
certain personalities can offer access to upward social mobility.
A patron-client relation also reinforces power structures in Philippine television. The
experience of poverty is marked by representations in the media and the consumption of a range of
media contents (A. Pertierra, 2018; J. Ong, 2015), which are appropriated for profit making. In
Philippine entertainment media, celebrities and their networks direct participants to act, dance, sing,
laugh or display their uncanny talents while offering solace through instant gifts or cash prizes,
underlining the marginalised status of the guests and the role of the media networks in facilitating
empowerment. This same trope – that economic hardship can be alleviated through opportunities
provided by the media and in particular through “getting discovered” – is a recurring feature of
teledramas and movies too, and as we will show in this book, resonate in many YouTube videos as
well. Yet, entertainment and visibility does not necessarily undermine or change systems that
produce inequalities. As A. Pertierra (2018) emphasises: “But this increased access to material
abundance in no way overcomes – and in some cases rather continues to emphasise the marginal or
subaltern status of these groups” (p. 2). Ultimately, the affective performances and the consequent
access to capital facilitated by Philippine television indicates that the media is challenging but also
perpetuating hierarchical structures. As to be presented in this book, we showcase how an online
video-based platform such as YouTube becomes an extension of these negotiations of social
differences in the Philippines.
27
The middle class, elites, and politicians take the media stage, taking advantage of the active
presence of ordinary Filipinos to advance political agendas and commercial gains. These individuals
are privileged in their position because of their access to diverse capitals and their strategies for
maintaining their position. So with the boom of digital communication technologies, Filipinos are
ushered into a new space that offers possibilities yet also reinforces domination and marginalisation.
The online space serves as a melting pot for crafting aspirations, anxieties, frustrations, and accessing
resources that remain inaccessible in Philippine society. However, to date, limited studies have been
conducted to examine the emerging media practices of ordinary Filipinos utilising online media
channels to broadcast their lives (Shtern et al., 2019). It is through this gap that our book intervenes.
In the first instance, we build on existing studies that have highlighted how patron-client
relations sustain the “harmonious” dynamics of different and class-based individuals (J. Ong, 2015;
A. Pertierra, 2018). In online spaces, Filipinos who use online channels typically benefit from a
patron-client engagement, as reflected in the form of exchanging recommendations, advice, and
networking. They capitalise on affective and personalised storytelling to sustain social connections
among their networks as well as translate interactions to platform-based profits in the forms of
subscription, likes, views and shares. What the current media and digital environment in the
Philippines shows is that ordinary Filipinos have been given access to broadcasting tools such as
YouTube to curate, produce, circulate, and monetise their own content. These individuals contribute
to what A. Pertierra (2021) calls, “entertainment publics” or “comedic, melodramatic and celebrity-
led content” that generate “networks of followers, users and viewers whose loyalty produces various
forms of capital, including in notable cases political capital” (p. 2). Through the mainstreaming of
relatively affordable smartphones, accessibility of mobile social media and applications, as well as
filming tools and software, an ordinary Filipino – as an influencer – can partake in practices of
visibility and curation, while weaving aspirations and capitalising on monetisation possibilities
afforded by the platform. The brokering then happens when their stories and affective performativity
28
are produced, circulated, and consumed in a networked environment. Yet, the contradiction of
occupying an online space is the reinforcement of market logics and an internalised neo-colonial
mentality. For this study, we refer to the role of a video-based channel, YouTube, to expose the
paradoxical conditions enabled by the digitalisation of Filipinos' lives in a neoliberal and postcolonial
context.
YouTubing the Philippines: The Analytic Lens of Brokerage
This book focuses on YouTube as a locus for producing and circulating distinct creative,
personalised, networked, commodified, and postcolonial contents. In this section, we highlight why it
is important to study YouTube in the context of the Philippines, and what significance this offers in
understanding how individuals navigate the impacts of neoliberal and colonialist globalisation in the
digital age. Further, our study offers the lens of brokerage as a critical perspective in examining the
paradoxes surrounding representational practices in the neoliberal and marketised space of YouTube.
The key aspects of “digital brokering” will be discussed in Chapter 2.
From its inception, YouTube has promoted and capitalised on encouraging users to engage in
authentic self-expression and community building. Originally, it was introduced as an online tool that
allows “ordinary individuals” (Strangelove, 2010) to broadcast their lives and demonstrate ways of
cultural and personal expressions (Burgess & Green, 2018). At the time when YouTube was
launched, popular genres of content involved banal, personalised, and vernacular creativity (Burgess
& Green, 2018). Here, Strangelove (2010) has highlighted that “extraordinary” videos made by
ordinary people typically captured personal and domestic exchanges. Strangelove considered
YouTubing as a form of domesticated media practice, historicising how family members utilise a
camera to capture, curate and archive everyday familial content.
Now, we see the rapid growth of diverse, multicultural, amateur and professional content
creators from around the world who harness these platforms to develop and promote their own
brands, engage in content innovation, and cultivate communities and followers. YouTube has
29
brought into the fore the diverse creative content of cultural interest that were previously relegated to
the intimate or private domain, such as beauty, eating, cooking, mothering, and other aspects of
domestic and intimate life often shot through amateur videos (Burgess & Green, 2009; Cunningham,
2012; Kumar, 2016). From its minority and alternative media roots (Jenkins, 2006), YouTube has
given rise to a wide user-created content community, and also now considered to be an important site
for amateurs, micro-celebrities, small entrepreneurs, and even large companies for pushing their
content for wide exposure and with monetary benefits. In light of the relatively frictionless global
reach of various forms of “social media entertainment” such as YouTube (Cunningham & Craig,
2017; Cunningham) and the growing genre of YouTube videos that convey multiple aspects of
everyday life, it is important how even for many Filipinos, “especially young viewers, this is what
television is, now” (Craig, & Silver, 2016, p. 71).
While YouTube may be experienced as television for many, the platform brings in
affordances that present unique forms of engagement with its users. Beyond the affordances of
content creation and sharing, it is the networked connectivity of YouTube that has also paved the
way for generating a sense of connectivity among its users, which also works for facilitating the
potency of its content (Burgess, 2011). YouTube’s architecture and design interface facilitates social
interactions and connection among content creators (Burgess & Green, 2009; Lange, 2014), as well
as among subscribers, fans, and visitors (García-Rapp, 2017; Lange, 2014). Amateur video
production establishes connections and relationships among individuals on YouTube (Lange, 2009),
while spoofs, parody and viral videos further encourage participation among larger audiences
(Burgess, 2008). The online space has enabled confessions and coming out videos (Alexander &
Losh, 2010) as well as launching political commentaries and advocacy campaigns via video mashups
(Edwards & Tryon, 2009). Moreover, video blogs have mobilised individual expression and harness
a space for collective and cultural expressions (Chu, 2009). Prominently, beauty vloggers capitalise
on deploying intimate narratives and tutorials to increase viewership and generate profit (Berryman
30
& Kavka, 2017). YouTubers also exploit key features of YouTube, such as encouraging viewers to
hit the subscribe button or click the notification bell to establish connections with subscribers and
viewers. The YouTube live feature affords the elicitation of audience engagement in real time, right
when stories or issues are at their peak. With YouTube live, YouTubers have the opportunity to
become “live broadcasters,” (Soriano & Gaw, 2021) where they can give “shoutouts” to
acknowledge their viewers and read their comments and questions aloud – a feature common in
Philippine TV and radio broadcasts. YouTube’s affordances allow content creators to blend TV,
radio, and social media, producing content that is not restricted by the limitations of bandwidth or
airtime while maximising audience-engagement strategies to make these content more dynamic and
affective. Through this culture of content creation, circulation and engagement, YouTube becomes
the anchor for different forms of cultural and associational expression among diverse publics
(Cunningham, 2012; Jenkins, Ford, & Green, 2013). Its multiple affordances offer many possibilities
for users to cluster around video content and channels across different topics and genres, including
racialised, gendered, and class-based narratives (Strangelove, 2010).
Significantly, YouTube’s transformation has also been informed by the operations of
business models and data governance. Through partnership programs, individual users are afforded
with the ability to monetise popular content (Burgess, 2011; van Dijck, 2013). This program
complemented how media corporations have begun utilising YouTube as an alternative channel for
distributing content, which then generated criticisms from amateur video producers who consider
YouTube as a democratised, open, and alternative space for cultural production (Burgess & Green,
2009). In some cases, YouTube is criticised for promoting authenticity, vernacular creativity, and
community-building following market logics (Burgess, 2015; Burgess & Green, 2009). As Burgess
and Green (2009) note:
YouTube is, and has always been, a commercial enterprise. But it has always been a platform
designed to enable cultural participation. Despite all the complexity of its professional media
31
ecology, the inclusiveness and openness of the YT promise that “anyone” can participate is
also fundamental to its distinctive commercial value proposition. This is what we mean when
we say that, for YouTube, participatory culture is core business. (p. 123)
This book approaches YouTube both as a storehouse of cultural expressions and a platform.
It serves as a tool for forging and maintaining personal and social connections. It allows individual
users to present and curate their everyday experiences, movements, and social interactions and enact
multiple ways of being and aspiring. Online performativity and interactions reflect what Burgess
(2007) refers to as “vernacular creativity” or practices that capture the intimate, mundane, creative,
and playful activities of individuals. Notably, as YouTube affords monetisation, individual users
have also begun using the platform to generate profit. In this vein, amateur content creators transition
to become influencers. These individuals deploy a range of communicative strategies to develop and
sustain a connection between oneself and the audience (Abidin, 2015; Duffy, 2017). Utilising
performative and affective narratives (Berryman & Kavka, 2017) has become a key branding strategy
(Duffy, 2017; Marwick, 2013), which also raises concerns on constantly juggling being authentic vis-
à-vis crafting a certain persona that meets the demands of the audience or a corporate brand (Duffy,
2017; Marwick, 2013). These strategies also involve varieties of “affective labour” (Berryman &
Kavka, 2017) that go into producing such displays. This is especially notable given the blending of
private life experiences into the construction of videos and in the process of sustaining a community
of followers on social media. Where YouTubers expose their own vulnerabilities and personal
successes into their branding strategies, they also emotionally expose their own aspirations and
emotions, crucial to achieve and sustain authenticity on the platform and “cement ties of intimacy”
with their followers (Berryman & Kavka, 2017, p. 96). This includes the “relational labour” or the
effort that goes into and beyond managing others’ feelings and maintaining connections that can
consequently boost one’s earning potential, and which pertains to the “complementary dialectics of
32
personal relationships and professional labour” playing out in the ever-changing flow of everyday
interaction on social media (Baym, 2015).
To date, YouTube, operating its partnership programs on a global scale, is primarily
considered a platform that capitalises on its interface technology, data governance, algorithms, and
business models. This book then asks, what do we know about YouTube in the context of the Global
South and the Philippines in particular? What types of content are produced and circulated in an
online space? What do online processes and content reveal about the ways the Philippines navigates a
digitally mediated and global economy? In responding to these questions, we propose brokerage as
an analytical lens.
We anchor our conception of brokerage to the fast-evolving relations between systems,
markets, institutions, and digitalisation. Brokerage is defined as “the process of connecting actors in
systems of social, economic, or political relations in order to facilitate access to valued resources”
(Stovel et al. 2011, p. 141). This conceptualisation complements the propositions surrounding the
practices of micro-celebrities, influencers or cultural intermediaries, individuals who often act as
middle person between a brand, private and government institutions, and audiences. However, our
conception of brokering is expansive, situated, and reflexive, highlighting how representations and
practices in digital spaces are deeply linked to consequences of historically-situated economic
globalisation. As we have shown earlier, media practices in the Philippines are informed by
hierarchical structures that are created and reinforced by the logics of markets, neoliberal ethos, and
colonial influences, and which all work to sustain the operation of brokers. By identifying the diverse
and often intertwined factors that shape the types of content and affective performances online, we
locate how the ordinary Filipino is visibilised and positioned in a digital realm. As to be presented in
this study, we focus on the affective content and digital strategies that reflect the mechanisms of
brokerage as both, echoing the words of Duffy (2017), practice and ideology.
33
By engaging the lens of brokerage in the context of YouTube, we seek to illuminate the
desires and aspirations enabled and bridged by content reference, cultures, and practices of Filipino
YouTubers. More than exposing the diverse, personalised, and localised digital practices, this book
takes into consideration the overarching historically situated political and economic forces that
inform media representations and practices. In this vein, YouTube is not only approached as a
platform. Rather, it is examined as an intermediary or broker of economic, political, and social goals
and aspirational lifestyles through the ways YouTubers perform, broadcast and monetise everyday
life in a postcolonial state. As a form of networked brokering, we show how YouTubing subverts and
reinforces ideal subjectivities, intimate relations, labour practices, and political expressions within a
neoliberal and postcolonial domain. As our case studies unfold in the succeeding chapters, we aim to
provide a critical entry point in analysing the impact of digitalisation on the everyday life of
individuals who remain neglected and even exploited by the nation-state in a globalising and
networked economy.
Methodological Approach
Online videos are considered textual trails in an online space, and media texts can be
analysed as cultural expressions with interpretive meanings shaped by diverse contexts. We build on
earlier works employing discursive textual analysis of visual texts on social media (Banet-Weiser
2011, Dobson, 2015; Holmes, 2016; Jancsary et al., 2016, pp. 180–204; García-Rapp & Roca-
Cuberes, 2017; Strangelove, 2010) to examine the “recurrent narrative and aesthetic structures”
embedded in the videos, including a focus on “temporal organization, editing, image, sound”
(Holmes, 2016, p. 7), as well as branding strategies (Abidin, 20015; Berryman & Kavka, 2017;
Duffy, 2017) employed by the content creator. We examine this orchestration of visual elements and
communicative strategies that constitute a particular social reality embedded in text while also
situated in a specific cultural context and dynamics of the platform.
34
This book is based on collecting and analysing selected YouTube videos by amateur content
creators promoting a range of aspirations – white skin, interracial relationship, world-class labour,
and progressive political governance. YouTube hosts millions of videos of a broad range of themes.
We chose these four topics for our case studies because we felt they represented a spectrum of
aspirations brokered on YouTube ranging from beauty and self-esteem (skin whitening), intimacy
and social mobility (interracial relationship), economic opportunity (online freelancing and digital
labour), and nation-building and progress (politics and governance). These four themes also pertain
to different subjectivities: a feminised identity, a romantic partner, a world-class worker, and a
patronising citizen, that encompass the multiple facets of the Filipinos’ emplacement in global
modernity. We used Google Trends to identify commonly searched keywords for each theme [i.e.
pampaputi ng kilikili (underarm whitening) for skin whitening, “LDR” for interracial relationship,
“online freelancing” for digital labour, and so forth]. In identifying videos for analysis, we selected
amateur videos, excluding videos that are produced by professional institutions or media
organisations. Because we are capturing amateur content creators who have amassed significant
influence on the platform, the search results were filtered in terms of views and channel
subscribership (Altmaier et al., 2019), and specifically those with above 1,000 subscribers and 4,000
hours of accumulated watch time for the past 12 months, which is YouTube’s requirement for
monetising content on its platform. From the resulting amateur videos and channels emerging from
our search with the highest views and subscriptions, we closely examined the videos’ aspirational
content, discursive styles, community and credibility building strategies, and platform engagement
tactics. To identify the aspirational tropes and strategies, we used thematic analysis (Flick, 2011) to
surface emerging themes that are then discursively analysed in terms of how these aspirations are
underpinned by gendered, racialised, classed, and postcolonial realities. Conducting a critical
analysis of the videos unravelled the tropes in relation to the brokerage of aspirations embedded in
content production and engagement practices on YouTube (García-Rapp & Roca-Cuberes, 2017;
35
Lange, 2009). However, in the process of our analysis, we attempted to get beyond the level of
particular examples or themes, and to gain some perspective on YouTube as a mediated cultural
system (Burgess & Green, 2018) and its role in the everyday lives of Filipinos. There are some
methodological variations in each chapter. For example, thematic analysis was complemented by
interviews with some influencers for Chapter 5. An expanded discussion of the methods is presented
in each chapter. The project obtained ethics approval from De La Salle University (DLSU-
FRP.013.2019-2020.T2.CLA).
Organisation of the Book
This book has seven chapters, including this one, which characterise the social, economic,
political, and technological transformations surrounding the brokerage of aspirations in neoliberal
and postcolonial Philippines on YouTube. In Chapter 2, we present the theoretical framework of the
research project. It extends the concept of brokerage in the digital realm, embedding brokering
practices within existing social, economic, political, and historical conditions. Rather than
emphasising brokering only as a strategy deployed by the Philippine government in response to
globalised capitalism (Rodriguez, 2010), we argue that brokering operates as a result of deep
internalisation and constant negotiation of individuals who perceive YouTube as a fundamental
source of investment, mobility, networks, and capital. We problematise brokering through the lens of
postcolonialism, emphasising how being a global and tech-savvy Filipino citizen becomes a marker
of potential, imagined, or actual upward and networked mobility among ordinary citizens. Although
an online space like YouTube can imply a democratisation of communicative capacities, we also
identify YouTube as a contested site, in which individuals negotiate conditions of social mobility and
immobility, progress and precarity, and belonging and exclusion.
Chapter 3 explores the role of YouTube in enabling YouTubers to aspire and embody a white
subjectivity. More specifically, it presents how Filipina YouTubers promote underarm whitening as
an everyday, banal yet critical practice in enabling an ideal femininity and beauty. We approach the
36
broadcast of underarm whitening as a form of a temporary “cultural whitening” or wanting to be
white. As a form of colour consciousness, having a white or fair skin is shaped by Philippine colonial
history. Here, whiteness is ascribed with privilege, social status, civility, and upward mobility. Of
particular interest in this chapter is a discussion on how the visibility of Filipina women and their
skin whitening practices signal a postfeminist subjectivity – enacting empowerment through digital,
neoliberal and entrepreneurial practices. Ultimately, an examination of content on underarm
whitening demonstrates the brokering of ideal standards of feminised and racialised subjectivity, the
visibility of which generates imaginaries and aspirations for attractiveness and marketability in and
beyond online spaces.
Chapter 4 unpacks the brokering of interracial and mediated intimacies on YouTube. We
focus on the curated stories of Filipina YouTubers who met their intimate partners via online
channels. Analysed as an extension of marriage migration brokerage enacted by formal or informal
recruitment agents, we show how YouTube becomes a site for the performance of interracial
intimacy while cascading imaginaries, aspirations, and importantly, know-how, of finding a white
foreign partner and achieving a successful interracial and intimate relationship. As a form of
embodying cultural whitening through marriage and eventually having a mixed-race child, intimate
narratives broker the notions of an intimate, authentic, and happy relationship. Paradoxically, the
stories of Filipina YouTubers serve as “countererotics” or the challenging of the sexualised
representation of Filipino women in an interracial relationship. Yet, representational politics can
remain especially when performativity reinforces gendered subjectivity – a woman who is idealised
as caring and domesticated. Further, it is also this gendered performativity that is commodified in an
online space. In a way, performing intimate and interracial relations indicate a postfeminist
subjectivity, as reflected in investing in digital practices to commodify and broker gendered,
racialised, and intimate encounters and aspirations.
37
Chapter 5 underscores how YouTube is engaged as a platform for mediating digital labour
through “skill-selling.” Through interviews with platform workers and analysis of “skill-making”
content on YouTube, the chapter presents YouTube as a space where YouTubers can showcase their
capabilities to obtain a captive market and attain celebrity status as “global knowledge workers.”
Using YouTube provides an opportunity for digital labour influencers and skill-makers to deliver
training to aspiring platform workers who seek to earn dollars while working at home, while also
crafting imaginaries and ideals of success in the platform economy. In effect, YouTubers, through the
brokerage of skills and promotion of the viability of digital labour, perform the role of local
matchmaker between aspiring workers and digital labour platforms. Situated within the frames of the
gig economy, this chapter offers a critical insight on digital and flexible labour in the Global South
and the role of YouTube in brokering labour relations and economic aspirations.
Chapter 6 examines how YouTube facilitates the brokering of a political agenda through
historical revisionism. We analyse the content and strategies of YouTubers advancing revisionist
narratives about the brutal history of Martial Law under former and authoritarian President Ferdinand
Marcos, as a pathway for the cleansing of the Marcos legacy and in preparation for the campaign of
Marcos’ son, Ferdinand (Bongbong) Marcos, Jr,. as President of the Republic. Considered as
political brokers, YouTubers take advantage of the platform’s affordances and porous governance
structures by creating content and a network that build, propagate, and cement their political
narratives without being subjected to the same scrutiny of and by traditional gatekeepers. The crass
online performativity of political brokers is utilised to broker national aspiration of progress and
economic security patterned after the West. We argue that democracy can be threatened and
undermined especially when a profit-driven and emotionally laden propaganda re-casts a turbulent
political history by staging a mythic agentic space for online supporters. Through the lens of
brokering, we can hypothesise how Philippine politics will be further reconfigured by new faces
38
created and influenced by an ongoing production and circulation of unregulated disinformation
content on YouTube.
Concluding this book is a discussion on some of the key contentions on brokering feminised
subjectivity, interracial relations, world-class labour, and partisan politics. The closing chapter also
leaves the readers with some future research directions, including ways of rethinking YouTubing as a
form of platformisation of everyday life in the Global South. Significantly, at the centre of this
chapter is a critical reflection on the contradictions of a digital life in the Philippines. It does not only
reiterate the affordances and possibilities that are activated through engagement with social media
(broadly) and YouTube (specifically). It also emphasises the ruptures and tensions that YouTubers
have to constantly manage as reflected in their affective performativity, networked engagement, and
strategic online content creation. We argue that navigating a digital terrain is understood as
symptomatic of the inequalities produced through the broader systems of neoliberalism and colonial
legacy in the Philippines. Within the frames of a global economy and further flexibilisation and
informality of work, the individual becomes responsible for his or her own undertaking given the
lack of available government-run social welfare programs and public services, and the challenges of
navigating information amid the complexity of local and foreign bureaucracies. However, through
YouTube, the individual can position oneself as an entrepreneurial and global persona or obtain
imaginaries of possibility to thrive and achieve their aspirations. Paradoxically, engagement in an
online space is co-opted for commercial interests and even partisan politics. Nonetheless, we propose
a much-needed critical lens to investigate how a personalised, creative, and playful space for self-
expression and community building may obscure the often-invisible injuries of economic
globalisation.
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CHAPTER 2
BROKERING IN A DIGITAL SPHERE
Abstract. This chapter presents the project’s theoretical framework of brokerage as a lens for
critically examining how digital narratives, online performativity, and platform-specific
strategies reflect how Filipinos navigate the terrain of neoliberal economies and postcolonial
legacies on YouTube. The chapter also highlights the four dimensions of digital brokering,
including aspirational content, discursive style, credibility building, and platform-specific
strategies. In sum, the chapter introduces the dynamics of digital brokerage on YouTube in
several key areas of investigation – bleached skin, interracial intimacy, world-class labour, and
progressive governance.
Keywords: affective aspiration, brokerage, digital economy, paradoxical reconfiguration,
neoliberalism, postcolonialism
This chapter presents “brokerage” as a lens to critically examine how digital narratives,
online performativity, and platform-specific strategies reflect how ordinary and marginalised
individuals navigate the terrain of neoliberal economies and postcolonial structures in social media
platforms such as YouTube. These individuals are afforded with “speaking positions” (Gajjala, 2013)
to represent, curate, and broadcast their everyday experiences and harness aspirations and dreams.
Yet, making visible these personalised experiences, as shaped by invisible and broader hierarchical
structures, reflect anxieties, struggles and constant negotiations in the digital and contemporary
society.
This chapter is divided into several sections. First, we discuss the sociological literature on
the traditions of brokerage. This approach enables us to engage with the process, politics, and
dynamics of brokerage in facilitating social, economic, and political aspirations and interactions.
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Secondly, we discuss how brokering can be understood in the digital context and highlight how
social media influencers enact the process of brokerage. Their presence as “real people” and their
performances contribute to affective engagement among audiences, as reflected in user feedback
through views, shares, and subscriptions. Further, we situate the discussion in the context of
YouTube, noting its key affordances, business model, and data governance mechanisms. This
approach allows us to articulate the principles and practices of neoliberal social conditions online.
Thirdly, we approach the discussion on digital practices through a postcolonial lens, situating the
historical, economic, political, and socio-technological forces that influence performativity in digital
spaces. We outline how brokerage takes place in several key areas of investigation – bleached skin,
interracial intimacy, world-class labour, and progressive governance. This section is then followed by
articulating our proposed conceptual frame of brokering in an online context. We present the four
key dimensions in analysing digital brokering in a neoliberal and postcolonial arena – aspirational
content, discursive style, credibility building, and platform-specific strategies. These elements enable
us to understand how brokering operates by capitalising on “affective aspirations” and producing
“paradoxical reconfigurations.” Ultimately, this chapter sets the foundation to support and explain
our conception of digital brokering, which is applicable to lived realities in the Philippines, with
possible resonances for digital cultures elsewhere, as citizens navigate the precarious terrain of
neoliberal globalisation and colonial legacies.
Traditions of Brokerage
The concept of brokerage has been used as a critical lens for analysing social divides and
mobilisation of social relations. For the former, brokerage has been a central point for enacting
social, economic, and political transactions, especially when groups “monopolize goods or
information and restrict access to outsiders” (Stovel & Shaw, 2012, p. 140). When information is
restricted and not well-distributed, opportunities for brokerage emerge. For the latter, it is understood
as the “process of connecting actors in systems of social, economic, or political relations in order to
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facilitate access to valued resources” (Stovel & Shaw, 2012, p. 141). The broker benefits from the
social, economic, and political transactions underlying the brokerage. However, far from being just a
simple transaction, brokerage becomes an anchor for people’s capacity to imagine a better life and
future and how these can be achieved, and therefore facilitates the formation of subjectivities,
sociality, and capitals.
The crucial characteristics of brokers are that “(a) they bridge a gap in social structure and (b)
they help goods, information, opportunities, or knowledge flow across that gap” (Ibid.). Capitalising
on uncertainty and aspiration (Kern & Müller-Böker, 2015, p. 163), for example, property brokers
gain value for their work when they are able to pull together crucial information from diverse sources
– comparison of real estate rates from different providers, taxation and amortisation options, as well
as insurance packages – that would appeal to clients who have difficulty making sense of such
information by themselves. By coordinating with multiple entities, brokers effectively put together
information into accessible knowledge that becomes marketable to clients when this information is
not made readily accessible elsewhere. Here, the process of brokering is enacted by different social
actors and institutions within a national and co-located space.
Brokers range from large recruitment firms to local organisations and individual informal
agents that are present and visibly entrenched in communities. Their embeddedness in communities
strengthens perceptions of their “bias” and “cohesion” (Stovel & Shaw, 2012, p. 142) with those for
whom they are brokering. In this framework, bias and cohesion in brokerage pertain to “the extent to
which the broker is relationally, socially, or informationally closer to one party than the other,
whereas cohesion describes the level of internal solidarity among sets of actors linked to the broker”
(pp. 142–143). Bias and cohesion, both constructed through perception, are important in the
brokerage process because brokers who are allied with one party more than the other may yield a
different result or implication for the brokerage (Ibid, p. 143). Examining the extent to which brokers
are viewed to belong to the same community or have their best interest in mind, scholars differentiate
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between various configurations of brokerage, arguing that subtle imbalances and shifts in the
structure of ties affect the brokerage that is made possible. For example, many brokers draw from
their past “experiences” or capitalise on local ties to assume a position of relatability and generate
trust, allowing them to project the difficulties experienced by an ordinary public and in turn, gain
credibility to perform the brokerage role. Other entities may have the same wealth of information and
networks that brokers have, but it is the important combination of bringing together dispersed
information as well as having in-group identification that a broker’s role is legitimated in many social
contexts. By coordinating with multiple entities, brokers effectively put together information into
accessible knowledge that becomes appealing to clients when this information is not made readily
accessible elsewhere.
Aside from the capacity to bring together information, brokers generate value by being
connected to actors who are unconnected (Burt, 2007), but also in facilitating new connections. As
such, the brokerage process is considered to be “one of a small number of mechanisms by which
disconnected or isolated individuals (or groups) can interact economically, politically, and socially”
(Stovel & Shaw, 2012, p. 140). In this way, brokers mediate multiple relationships among actors too.
This implies that understanding brokerage requires examining not just the broader structures
underscoring them, but also the micro-processes and micro-level relations among parties. It is also
important to examine the dual aspect of brokerage. On one hand, brokerage has the capacity to ease
social interaction, enhance economic activity, and facilitate political development. On the other hand,
brokerage can breed exploitation, the pursuit of personal profit, corruption, and the accumulation of
power; through these and other processes, brokerage can exacerbate existing inequalities (Stovel &
Shaw, 2012, p. 140). While in past literature brokers have focused largely on the accumulation of
finance capital, there is also a long tradition of brokers accumulating other forms of capital (McKay
& Perez, 2019). Foremost is the accumulation of social and cultural capital as brokers derive
legitimacy and social influence through the brokerage process.
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The concept of brokering has been actively deployed in a labour migration context. Several
scholars have highlighted the interaction between social actors, transnational institutions, and
infrastructures that facilitate transactions, flows of people, and capital access (Lindquist, Xiang, &
Yeoh, 2012; Shrestha & Yeoh, 2018). Brokers transact for workers from low-income and rural
communities who lack consolidated information on how to access overseas labour opportunities, as
well as know-how for strategically marketing their skills and capabilities to appear eligible for such
jobs (Lindquist et al., 2012; Rodriguez, 2010; Shrestha & Yeoh, 2018). Their work is crucial if we
think about the humongous challenge of navigating Philippine bureaucracy. According to a
government report, for example, aspiring overseas workers and seafarers need around “2–3 months to
obtain 70–73 signatures from 10–14 different government agencies” just to be able to secure the
clearance to work overseas (Information Technology and e-Commerce Council Roadmap, 2003: np).
For an aspiring worker without access to informational resources, the service offered by migration
brokers is indispensable for helping aspirants understand complex labour migration procedures,
simplifying the complicated steps and requirements, making sense of the different agencies and their
documentary requirements, and navigating local and foreign bureaucracies.
The persistence of uneven economic conditions also influences brokerage. This is shown in
the context of development aid, involving the complex distribution of resources from the global
North to Global South (Jensen, 2018; McKay & Perez, 2019; J. Ong & Combinido, 2017; Saban,
2015). Studies have shown that transfers of information and money between donors and beneficiaries
are brokered by citizen aid brokers, implying that trust relationships are developed not between
donors and beneficiaries, but between citizen aid intermediaries and beneficiaries. Although brokers
intermediate for established organisations and channels, they operate through highly personalised and
informal processes. In the brokerage process, diverse channels are utilised by global and national
organisations to facilitate the flows of information and deliver aid (McKay & Perez, 2019). By
setting up new sources of support and information, brokers thrive in a country where government
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support is unable to meet the needs of recalcitrant publics. Notably, their operation in delivering aid
allows them to establish control over local publics by identifying a list of whom they have “brokered
for,” thus, “reinvigorating inactive obligations from previous exchanges in order to create a
constituency for their activities” (McKay & Perez, 2019, p. 1906). While brokers can be resented by
clients, either by the brokerage fees they require or the influence that they wield, they are tolerated
because they have connections and resources that are useful, if not indispensable, and which can be
readily tapped. And while brokers may deliver on their promises, they also operate in ways that put
their own interests first, or at least along with those of their clients.
Brokerage in the Philippines
The Philippines is an important case study to understand brokerage. As presented in Chapter
1, the term brokerage has been applied to characterise the Philippine state in the process of actively
pushing and even “manufacturing” its citizens for overseas labour migration through its labour export
policy. Rodriguez (2010) defines brokerage as “…a neoliberal strategy that is comprised of
institutional and discursive practices through which the Philippine state mobilises its citizens and
sends them abroad to work for employers throughout the world while generating a ‘profit’ from the
remittances that migrants send back to their families and loved ones remaining in the Philippines” (p.
x). Guevarra (2010), on the other hand, articulates brokerage as a mechanism for image making of
labour export. For instance, Filipino workers are often framed by the State as “ideal workers”
because of their competitive skills in using the English language, their self-sacrificing and
subservient character, as well as their hardworking attitude (Soriano & Cabanes, 2020a). Although
the state has staunchly endorsed its labour export policy, there is a general shortcoming in terms of
informational and practical support for aspiring migrant workers. Non-state brokers, such as labour
migration agents and recruiters, fill this gap. According to Shrestha and Yeoh (2018), it is the
brokers’ wealth of information on local and global labour migration processes that legitimise their
work, assist and condition Filipino migrant workers with the promise that after years of overseas
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work, they would eventually be able to recuperate the brokerage fees. The brokers then profit from
using their skills, knowledge, and networks crucial for making sense of foreign and local
bureaucracies (Lindquist et al., 2012). Ultimately, brokerage mobilises transactions between
employers and workers, clients and customers, or even donors and beneficiaries, which process
facilitates access and exchange of capital.
Brokerage is not solely tied to labour exportation. It has also been deployed in entangling
racialised, gendered and classed bodies in the beauty and marriage migration industry. In brokering
beauty ideals, key figures such as beauty scouts, talent managers, models, and celebrities act as
brokers in conveying ideal femininity (Baldo-Cubelo, 2015; Rondilla & Spickard, 2007) and
masculinity (Lasco & Hardon, 2020) subjectivities. Prevalent is the functioning of recruiters – beauty
scouts and talent managers – who perform the role of identifying the next “superstar” or “surprise
beauties or bodies” from the countryside or low-income communities and offering them celebrity
deals or an opportunity to compete in national beauty pageants. The discovery of a “celebrity” and
the developments surrounding that discovery – from which community to what contract is eventually
clinched – is covered in Philippine media. One prominent case is Isko Moreno, who was recruited by
talent show host German Moreno from the slums of Tondo for his looks, and who has become a
successful actor and now also the mayor of the city of Manila. These recruiters, capitalising on
aspirations, facilitate a bridge between an ordinary Filipino who possesses particular ideals of beauty
– often Caucasian standards of having fair skin, well-chiselled nose, or deep-set eyes – and his or her
aspirations for recognition and celebrity stardom. Becoming a model or an entertainment celebrity is
unthinkable for an ordinary lass or lad from the countryside, and brokers put together crucial
information – how to dress, how to walk, how to use make-up, how to style the hair, how to talk –
and connect them to industry networks. The broker, who works as an intermediary between media
companies and individuals, then obtains commissions from contracts that the new discovery makes.
In Philippine society, beyond direct beauty brokering by beauty scouts and talent managers,
59
representations of attractiveness and desirability are further mobilised through media representation
of these “discovery” processes and further echoed in the aggressive promotion of beauty and
whitening products everyday by beauty companies and their celebrity endorsers (David, 2013; Glenn,
2008, 2009; Rondilla, 2009). Several scholars have highlighted that aspiring for and embodying
“whiteness” or having a fair-skin – a trope recurring in Philippine advertisements and articulated
through the preference for fair-skinned models or protagonists, is linked to racial and colonialist
hierarchy in the Philippines (Rafael, 2000; Rondilla, 2012). In a contemporary digital context, we can
see the emergence of YouTubers who not only present beauty standards of whiteness as a ticket to
recognition, attention, and ultimately success, but practical ways of achieving such beauty standards
that an ordinary Filipino can adopt. These themes are presented in Chapter 3.
In the context of brokering marriage migration, studies show that some Filipino women meet
their foreign partners by subscribing to matchmaking services or using online tools (Constable, 2003;
Tolentino, 1996). Further, brokerage is facilitated by catalogues or websites (Constable, 2003;
Tolentino, 1996) that provide detailed information or offer possibilities for geographically dispersed
individuals to meet, interact, and even marry. In a sense, matchmakers typically coordinate and pair a
woman with a man, with their correspondences occurring via letters or electronic messages
(Constable, 2003). Meanwhile, scholars have argued that interracial pairing demonstrates a form of
commodification of intimacy, wherein relationships are forged and further enhanced in transactional
or economic terms (Constable, 2009). A cohort of studies has shown how representations of
interracial relationships in the media often stereotype Filipino women as “mail-order” brides
(Gonzalez and Rodriguez, 2003; Robinson, 1996; Saroca 2002, 2007). As a result, Filipino women
who are in these types of relationships or marriage arrangements are stigmatised, discrimination and
even abused (Aquino, 2018; Laforteza, 2016; Saroca, 2007). Meanwhile, Filipino scholar Rolando
Tolentino (1996) argues that the country’s colonial past and neoliberal policies fuel the mobilisation
of Filipino women for marriage migration. In contrast, Constable (2003) contends that Filipino
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women who engage with matchmaking networks and channels have diverse reasons and agentic
capacities for marriage migration. Filipino women also deploy “countererotics” or ways that shun
stereotypes through online narratives (Constable, 2012), such as visibilising their caring, loving and
domestic persona. These points on the complexity of brokering intimate partners on YouTube will be
further discussed in Chapter 4.
As we will discuss in Chapter 5, labour arrangements can also be mediated by emerging
brokers on YouTube. Tracing the labour brokerage process from Philippine historical and colonial
roots, we note the crucial role played by cabos in negotiating and supplying labour for various kinds
of industries during the Spanish colonial system. In this context when Filipinos did not have the right
to own land, transacting with brokers was the only way for many peasants to land a job as seasonal
agricultural workers (IBON Foundation, 2017; Kapunan, 1991; Silarde, 2020; Soriano, 2021). Where
Filipinos had no choice but to work with agricultural contractors, cabos performed the role of
middlemen and acted as negotiators between workers and contractors, determining how much
workers would be paid for a specific scope of work or in helping workers determine where work was
available (Kapunan, 1991, p. 326). This labour arrangement can be extended in the digital realm, as
we highlight the role of platform labour influencers emerging on YouTube.
Building on some of the themes we presented, we ask, what conditions exactly underscore
Philippine society and culture that makes it conducive for brokerage? We argue that the process of
brokerage is not devoid of politics. As such, we articulate brokerage as working well within
pervasive “patron-client relations” (Nowak & Snyder, 1974) that underscore how brokers obtain the
legitimacy to bridge ordinary people and their aspiration to access resources that are often held by
elites; in turn, elites benefit from this brokerage process by retaining their control over surplus
(Nowak & Snyder, 1974, p. 23). Yet, elites can appear distant from the masses, and Nowak and
Snyder (1974) point to the role of political intermediaries, often emerging from the middle classes, to
bridge the national elite to the masses. Here we emphasise the ambivalent reputation of brokers
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where they frame themselves as “political or community mobilisers” – focusing on their contribution
to direct needs such as people’s livelihood opportunities as well as to broader aspirations such as
economic and political development (Kern & Müller-Böker, 2015, p. 18) while performing
reputation management and advancing political agendas.
This implies that brokerage is also inscribed in political aspirations. As we will discuss
further in Chapter 6, where politics is about mobilising interests, brokerage is about influencing and
controlling the flow of information and resources to allow parties to achieve their goals. Politicians
engage brokers to bridge them with ordinary constituents and obtain votes. On the other hand,
brokers also promise constituents resources, a political vision, or an illusion of closeness to the
politician in exchange for a vote. Functioning to bridge voters with political candidates (and political
aspirations) through “personalised patronage,” brokers obtain influence by directly mobilising
people’s interests and aspirations, making them inconspicuous but crucial players in the political
process. Yet, with politics becoming more embedded in social media, specialised patron-client
relationships have emerged in more functionally specific forms such as political machines and
disinformation architects (J. Ong & Cabañes, 2018; J. Ong, Tapsell, & Curato, 2019), which allows
for the re-enactment of political brokerage in digital form.
Ultimately, this book focuses on the conditions and dynamics that allow non-state, informal,
and individual brokers to thrive in a digital environment, particularly on a video-based platform such
as YouTube, which has also been increasingly used by Filipinos for diverse personal, political, and
even commercial purposes. In digital spaces, figures such as influencers, micro-celebrities, and
cultural intermediaries capitalise on their skills, knowledge, expertise, cultural taste, social networks,
experience, technological literacies, and a range of capitals to craft and circulate relatable, intimate,
personalised and affective content. Like a broker, the YouTuber weaves together a variety of
information that viewers seek, and it is through the capacity to present this organised information and
create networks between people and between people and other actors that his or her labour gains
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value. Social media can produce novel forms of brokerage through the circulation of images from
which aspirations can be anchored (McKay & Perez, 2019). We turn to the next section to discuss
this point further.
Influencers as Brokers
The literature on influencer culture abounds (Abidin, 2018; Duffy, 2017; Marwick, 2013,
2015), but the examination of how influencers broker political, economic and cultural aspirations in
the Global South has not been fully explored. In the first instance, influencers pertain to social media
users with niche audiences and following and who employ creative strategies adopted from
traditional celebrity culture to maintain attention and cultivate relationships with those audiences
(Abidin, 2015; Marwick, 2013). Further, they amass a smaller scale of followers compared to
traditional celebrities, but their strategies can forge a loyal following on any social media platform
(Khamis, Ang, & Welling, 2017). As Hearn & Schoenhoff (2016, p. 194) explain, these individuals
amass “celebrity capital” by cultivating as much attention as possible and crafting an authentic and
relatable “personal brand” via social networks, which they can also subsequently monetise. They
often create a persona to differentiate oneself and the content that they create (Abidin, 2015) while
using “personal sensations” to establish a connection with the audience and target emotions (Malefyt
& Morais 2012, p. 62).
Influencers can be characterised as cultural intermediaries through their participation in the
production of symbolic and cultural goods (Bourdieu, 1984). By being “in between” producers and
consumers of goods, they deploy strategies for generating capital and relatability while also being
translators of tastes, language, norms, rules, and regulatory frameworks between the mainstream
institutions and audience stakeholder groups (Hutchinson, 2017, p. 21). Yet, they also establish some
“distance” from the industry or the mainstream by creating their own contents (Negus, 2002; Lewis,
2020, 2019) while connecting media institutions and audiences through co-collaboration or co-
creation of contents (Hutchinson, 2017).
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Influencers perform their role similarly to cultural intermediaries through branding strategies
(Duffy, 2017; Abidin, 2018). Diverse narratives, tactics, and collaborative work allow them to enact
their role as “capital translators” that add value to media goods and services (Hutchinson, 2017).
Notably, branding strategies fuel the operations of a neoliberal economy, shifting the locus from
institutions to individuals positioned to be self-driven, innovative, and entrepreneurial in online
spaces (Duffy, 2017; Marwick, 2013). One way media creators render their content attractive and of
value is by engaging with the platform’s features (Burgess & Green, 2009) – visuals, sounds,
narrative style, self-recommendations, comment features, among others. This enables the rise of
ordinary people to take on the role of “experts” through tutorials and “explainer” videos that pull
together diverse informational content and blend information, interpretation, and entertainment in
their videos and channels, even as they also sometimes echo mainstream narratives (Hou, 2018; Utz
& Wolfers, 2020). As Lewis (2020) has argued, “micro-celebrity practices are not only a business
strategy but also a political stance that positions them as more credible than mainstream media” (p.
1).
The “influencer” as a concept is largely understood in niche-like environments such as
fashion, entertainment, blog, travel and the like, and often in the context of affluent societies.
Similarly, the operation of brokers has often been studied in the context of more traditional face-to-
face transactions. However, the relationship between influencers and brokerage is not well-
established, but we can see intersections in their strategies and how their work attracts value.
Drawing from our earlier discussions of brokerage traditions, we can see brokers’ crucial role as
bringing together dispersed information into knowledge as well facilitating connections among
disparate and previously unconnected actors which they then use to build profitable social
transactions. The broker intermediates for a client and an aspiration. So does an influencer, earning
clicks and likes for effectively selling a lifestyle or an idea deemed of value to their target publics by
satiating specific aspirations.
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Like influencers, brokers adopt a relatable persona (i.e. of a low-profile expert within a field
of interest – whether this is migration, stock exchange, real estate, humanitarian assistance, or car
dealership), crafts and maintains “communicative intimacies” (Abidin, 2015) to convey this
expertise, while maintaining a loyal audience. Community-building also serves as an important
anchor for the communicative strategies enacted by social media influencers (Garcia-Rapp, 2017;
Senft, 2008; Abidin, 2015). When an influencer has established an expertise or persona, he or she can
build on this persona by maintaining and targeting the communication to initial subscribers, actively
referring and addressing them as part of his or her community (Hou, 2018) and with the constant
intention of growing this community to facilitate a more organic exchange of content and
maintenance of income stream.
As we will discuss in the succeeding chapters, like influencers, brokers adopt strategies to
perform their brokerage role on YouTube by attuning their performance to the platform’s range of
affordances. However, a YouTuber needs to have the necessary skills for brokerage – digital
proficiency, technical skills for production and editing, and importantly, cultural know-how of the
YouTube’s language and features and how to optimise these. How influencers are conscious of the
platform’s vernacular and apply these in their presentation and engagement tactics crystallise their
brokerage role. With the creation of previously unavailable linkages (i.e. between information and
between people) being one of the key roles of brokers, the presentation of relatable knowledge and
enacting a community through the engagement of social media affordances illustrates the tight
relationship between influencer practices and brokerage in this contemporary digital environment.
YouTube as a Socio-Technical Broker
YouTube’s role in the information ecosystem has shifted from catering to lifestyle videos
into enabling and hosting “epistemic communities” where creators can make claims over knowledge
(Utz & Wolfers, 2020). This development collides with participatory and do-it-yourself (DIY)
culture on social media, where creators build content and share this with communities that then
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translate this knowledge into “collective intelligence” (Jenkins, 2006). This DIY culture of content
creation departs from traditional expert cultures of knowledge creation and sharing underscored by
gatekeepers and editors of content, bringing into fore new social imaginaries of YouTube as a
platform (Hou, 2018). On YouTube, the audience and the creators are in a constant gravitational
force and continuously overlapping, challenging institutionalised forms of knowledge, with even the
possibility of subordinating expertise (Marchal & Hu, 2020).
YouTube facilitates “social learning” (Utz & Wolfers, 2020) in a multimedia/infotainment
format that makes information palatable. The richness of visual and moving image accompanied by
music makes the conveyance of information more affective and dynamic. This is also supported by
the evolution of YouTube into a “hybrid cultural–commercial space” (Lobato, 2016, p. 357; Arthurs,
Drakopoulou & Gandini, 2018) where various forms of serious content become entangled with
commercial or entertainment styles of presentation. The interplay of visual and auditory styles
contributes positively to the narrative that can then trigger multiple audience engagement such as
subscribing, viewing, liking, and commenting. Specific to brokerage, YouTube carries with it an
inclusive, cultural characteristic that makes it a connective force not only between disparate forms of
information, but also between disparate parties. In analysing brokerage on YouTube, we resurface
the connectedness of communication systems with social systems, reflecting how technological
features shape social relations, but also how social contexts shape technology. To do this, we first
examine the platform’s governance mechanisms and affordances and then move on to how users
appropriate these affordances. YouTube’s platform governance mechanisms and algorithms “do
things” by embodying a “command structure” (Geofey, 2008, p. 17) that mediate, augment, and
condition our most trivial everyday experiences as these intersect with sociality (Bucher, 2016, p.
84). We discuss YouTube’s affordances according to the following dimensions: regimes of visibility,
ordering and relevance, and curation of content.
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One key affordance is the facilitation of “regimes of visibility” (Bucher, 2012) and YouTube
performs a powerful role in visibilising content creators and curating their content for interested
audiences. While media of all kinds function to make visible aspects of the social world by extending
seeing and sensing, they also determine our regimes of visibility, with platforms algorithmically
modulating our capacity to achieve social attention or alternatively be rendered “invisible” (Bucher,
2012). Here, we mean not just the visibility of a single video, but of a YouTuber’s series of videos
organised in a Channel, as well as the platform’s affordances of allowing YouTubers to categorise
their content to facilitate their visibility upon search. The platform’s capacity to make visible a set of
related content in the form of videos, video descriptions, comments, and so on can create a composite
of information that serve as persuasive narratives. Further, the dynamics of discovery are reworked
as algorithms allow culture to “find” us instead of us looking for it (Lash, 2007). For example, Rieder
and colleagues (2018) found that fresh news and trending issues were more likely to be surfaced on
YouTube over other content. The visibility of YouTubers and their content can be facilitated amid
porous governance mechanisms over who creates content and what information they share or
knowledge claims they might make (Bishop, 2019). This algorithmic visibility is a crucial ingredient
for brokerage to take place and can be understood as a part of “aspirational labour” as YouTubers
build careers and following via social media presence and visibility (Duffy, 2017).
Connected to the notion of visibility is the process of “ordering content” and giving relevance
to certain objects in the way they are sequenced in the search results and recommended videos,
implicitly rendering credibility and legitimacy to certain actors (and their narratives) over others
(Gillespie, 2016). Beyond making content visible, the platform’s “ranking culture” (Rieder et al.,
2018, p. 52) determines the level of value audiences give to them, with studies finding that while a
broad range of content are made “visible,” attention is directed to the content that platforms privilege
in terms of higher rank or order (Amoore, 2011). Studies also found that commercial logics often
determine their rubric of relevance, privileging trends and novel forms of cultures (Gillespie, 2014).
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Beyond visibility and ordering of content, perhaps an important affordance of social media
platforms that also emerge from platform user-interaction is how the platform “curates” content for
particular users. Curation works by categorising and filtering content according to the user's views
and preferences, and with computer algorithms having the capacity to infer categories of identity of
users based on their consumption behaviour. The extensive surveillance of users enables platforms to
construct “algorithmic identities” to personalise users’ experiences (Cheney-Lippold, 2011).
Considered to function as technological platforms’ soft biopolitics and biopower, this curation of
content based on a user’s algorithmic identity to suit a user’s tastes can be considered political
practice. Cohn (2019) argues, for example, that the creation of these personalised pathways to
discovering specific content also exposes a user to a curated narrative. At the extreme level, research
has associated platform curation work toward political polarisation (Jamieson, 2018) and even
radicalisation (Fisher & Taub, 2019), where users are targeted by platforms, pushing particular
content to them on the basis of their political inclinations, embedding them further in their political
bubbles, and thereby relegating them as political subjects of the platforms. This personalisation of
content is highly connected to the brokerage process, especially as brokerage processes thrive in
personalised affective narratives linked to people’s personal aspirations, interests, and inclinations
(Stovel & Shaw, 2012). However, users as well as creators also have a way to circumvent or
reinforce the working of algorithms through specific strategies anchored on “algorithmic literacy,”
where basic knowledge of how filtering mechanisms and design choices work can lead users to
“bursting” these bubbles (Reviglio & Agosti, 2020, p. 7) or creators using influencer strategies to
both optimise and game the platform’s logics.
This social-technical process underlying the platform’s capacity to organise visibility,
ordering, and curation of content for specific audiences configure the production of culture,
economy, and politics and likewise continually shape the strategies and tactics of content producers.
Platforms also update and shift their algorithms, shaping what is seen and engaged with without
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users’ consent or knowledge (Bucher, 2018; Bishop, 2019). Research on algorithmic knowledge
production investigates “technical” sites, such as recommender systems and tech organisations, to
examine how algorithms are constructed, operate, and are continually reconfigured (e.g. Pascuale,
2015; Reviglio & Agosti, 2020).
Beyond the working of the algorithm, it is imperative to explore YouTube’s affordances as
these intersect with human interaction. While algorithms make content visible, categorise and
organise this content, content that drives user engagement depends on how YouTubers as brokers use
the platform’s other features (Burgess & Green, 2009). Ultimately, the book aims to show that
YouTube facilitates the brokerage work of influencers while also assuming a brokerage role through
the governance of content between producers and consumers. By brokering digital transactions, not
only does YouTube as a platform benefit financially, but it also facilitates the brokerage of social
transactions that reinforce the principles of economic globalisation. We now turn to discussing
brokerage as moulded by socio-historically situated influences.
Digital Brokering of Aspirations in a Postcolonial Context
Many studies on influencer culture have focussed on neoliberal practices in online spaces
(Abidin, 2018; Duffy, 2017; Marwick, 2013). To date, few studies have situated their investigation of
influencer practices within the conditions created by colonial hierarchies (Gajjala, 2013; Nakamura,
2013; Sobande, 2017, 2019). This book attends to this gap by situating the principle and practice of
brokerage in a digital environment that is deeply enmeshed within neoliberal and postcolonial
structures. To elucidate this contribution, we highlight the different aspects of digital brokering as
simultaneously shaped by economic globalisation and postcolonial conditions that lead to affective
aspirations and paradoxical reconfigurations.
As we have discussed in the earlier sections, the mediation of aspirations is key to brokerage.
In traditional forms of brokerage, aspirations range from obtaining good value property to accessing
employment opportunities and social welfare services to obtaining resources in times of crisis. In the
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digital space, aspirations are anchored on transformations of lifestyle, upskilling, community
building, and capital access (Abidin, 2018; Berryman & Kavka, 2017; Glatt, 2017). For viewers, the
connection to aspirational content lies in what Kavka (2008) calls, “situated identification.” By
examining how affect is generated through the performativity of reality TV stars, Kavka (2008) notes
that a viewer accesses the performance of reality by real people and relate to such “real”
performativity. In this case, the presence of ordinary people on a mediated screen generates affect
through the intimacy of consumption.
We develop our understanding of brokering in digital spaces through the notion that a web of
affective content and networks facilitate proximity between the on-screen talent and the viewer
(Kavka, 2008). We extend this approach that “aspirations” become palatable most especially when
ordinary people aspire, act on, and display the achievement of their personal journeys, relationships,
and goals. Through a mediated selfhood enacted through images, texts and audio clips (Kavka,
2008), aspirations conveyed by ordinary people on screen accompanied by demonstrations of how
these can be actualised and reinforced through audience engagements allow these to obtain a political
dimension. In a way, the aspirations presented by the performer “tickle” aspirations for viewers,
despite these aspirations being anchored on the realities of inclusion and exclusion in imagined
worlds (Appadurai, 1996). As such, these aspirations may remain a fantasy especially for those who
do not have the ability and resources to actualise the same aspiration or living condition. In this
regard, we argue that emerging in digital spaces are what we refer to as “affective aspirations,” a
dreamwork mobilised through intimate contents, performances, and strategies that engage viewers
who consume content only to live vicariously through a mediated persona’s world as a result of one’s
uneven access to a range of capitals. In this case, affective aspirations essentially become the bind
between the mediated persona and the viewer who is aspiring what the mediated persona does.
Further, sustained connections are achieved through the visibility of ordinary individuals on screen,
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who also curates and presents a range of information and tactics through which viewers can consume
to achieve the mediated persona’s status amid the precariousness of everyday living.
We approach affective aspirations as tied to colonial legacies. We take coloniality to mean
“long-standing patterns of power that emerged as a result of colonialism, but that define politics,
culture, labour, intersubjective relations, and knowledge production well beyond the strict limits of
colonial administrations” (Casilli, 2017, p. 31). Postcolonialism implies that “people’s experiences
are continually shaped by the unequal hierarchies established by imperialism,” but which is
continually reconstructed through various interpersonal, national and global processes (Fujita-Rony,
2010, p. 3). Through a post-structuralist lens, implications of coloniality reflect in sets of socially
shared representational assemblages and practices that function as contingent anchor points in terms
of emerging relationships of individuals to their conditions of existence (Gajjala, 2013; Loomba,
1998). Building on this perspective, mediated spaces can produce acceptable and marketable
representational assemblages that are entangled with neo-colonial structures (Jamerson, 2019).
Affective aspirations showcase the raw, mundane, and intimate -- a form of calibrated
amateurism (Abidin, 2017) that appears to be disentangled with macro socio-historical relations. But
we argue that such content reflects consciousness governed by colonial discourses, such as through
media representations and interactions (Bhabha, 1994). Our conception of aspirations builds on the
work of Stoler and Bond’s scholarship on past and present imperial formations, arguing that “the
empire works in the everyday” (2006, p. 101). They called on scholars to emphasise the links
between the macro and micro in our analyses of postcoloniality by identifying “…structured imperial
predicaments by tracing them through the durabilities of duress in the subsoil of affective landscapes,
in the weight of memory, in the manoeuvres around the intimate management of people’s lives”
(2006, p. 95). This point on affective landscapes echoes Bhaba’s (1994) contention on the strategies
of hierarchisation and marginalisation of colonial cities. In a way, a networked environment
represents this reality in the age of modernity.
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We argue that the production of affective aspirations can be understood as a key strategy for
a mediated persona to connect with the viewers and sustain engagement. As affect circulates in
networked environments, visibility and performativity of aspirations can trigger desires to embody
the actions, mobilities and lifestyle performed by the mediated persona – the content creator. In
digital spaces, the desires for transformation that are being “sold” by the content creator become a
bait that attracts audiences to keep coming back and act on the prescribed action and achieve change.
In a postcolonial context, the concept of mimicry applies (Bhabha, 1994), wherein a colonised
aspires for the position of the coloniser. We contend, in a digital space, the formerly colonised – a
content creator with internalised colonialist systems then become followed and emulated by viewers
who likewise embody these postcolonial aspirations. However, both the performer and the viewer –
who attempt to mimic and embody “colonial positionality and legacies” – may feel ambivalent about
such transformations as a resemblance. As Bhabha (1994) notes, “white but not quite.” As such, the
quest for achieving or negotiating similarity becomes the driving force for continued engagement and
actions, and which can reinforce the inferior status of the colonised because of its unwavering desire
to be white and dominant (Bhabha, 1994).
In connecting our analysis of brokerage in digital spaces to the broader structure of economic
globalisation and postcoloniality, we are inspired by the work of Radhika Gajjala (2013) on micro-
transactional and digital practices in Indian society. For Gajjala (2013), the advent of digital
communication technologies and online channels have stirred a paradoxical case of empowerment
for previously colonised people. On the one hand, they are integrated into digital circuits that activate
exchange and sales in global markets. They embody “technocultural agency” in varying degrees
depending on socio-economic hierarchies, and asymmetrical capacities to negotiate online and
offline, and global and local spheres (Gajjala, 2013).
This perceivable condition being projected by YouTubers and their audiences seems to echo
Elisa Oreglia and Rich Ling’s notion of “digital imagination.” Applied in the context of digital
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technology use among non-techno-elites in the Global South, digital imagination is described as “the
process by which individuals within a society develop an understanding of the potentials, the
limitations, and eventually the threats of digital technology” (2018, p. 571). Like Oreglia and Ling’s
non-techno-elites who grapple with the promise of these new technologies, YouTubers similarly
conduct a “mental matching” to envision the possibility of achieving their aspirations (2018, p. 571),
which are then projected by other YouTubers. This leads us to argue that YouTube creates a state of
mind wherein audiences sustain a global vision or image of possibility whether or not they actually
benefit from its promises just yet. Drawing from the notion of the context-specific ways in which
individuals utilise imagination and draw from their own socio-cultural positions as a way to make
sense of the world despite having only a limited set of resources (Oreglia & Ling, 2018), we refer to
the state of mind being channelled by YouTubers as “paradoxical reconfigurations.”
We argue that the current digital landscape of influencer cultures operates as a space for
reinforcing and negotiating historically situated structures and hierarchies. Certainly, content
creators, who come from diverse income classes including those from marginalised communities, are
utilising digital technologies and online content to brand themselves as mobilising above their social
positions. These digital practices serve to renegotiate, transform, and reinvent the legacies and lived
experiences of neoliberalism and postcoloniality. Yet, their embeddedness in the digital sphere does
not necessarily change the structures of hierarchy and marginalisation, but instead facilitate the
possibilities of living within neoliberal and postcolonial conditions. In this regard, we coin the term
“paradoxical reconfigurations” to articulate how transformations in digital spheres that enable
modalities for self-representation, expressions of aspiring, and performances of achieving
simultaneously demonstrate agentic possibilities in contemporary modernity while replicating the
visions, ideology, and practices of neoliberalism and colonial legacies. As to be presented in the next
section, the brokerage and embodiment of affective aspirations delivers these paradoxical
reconfigurations.
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Brokering Filipino Aspirations
We locate the formation of affective aspirations of Filipinos as existing in tension with
established institutionalised knowledge imbricated in historical structures of knowledge production,
rooted in Philippine history and geography of modernity (Shome & Hegde, 2002). We also look at
aspirations for the nation and recognise that the aspirations – whether individual or national – extend
beyond the nation. This entails “geopoliticizing the nation and locating it in larger (and unequal)
histories and geographies of global power and culture” (Shome & Hegde, 2002, p. 253). By placing
the analysis within a broader socio-historical context, we will show YouTube to be an embodied
practice transcending both physical and sociocultural distance and empowered by mediated images
and discourses, as well as colonial imaginaries about political, economic, social, or cultural mobility
through brokerage. The mediated relations between YouTube, content creators and their audiences
allow Filipinos to collectively envision their world, as well as their nation, and the possibilities in
between.
As shown in Chapter 1, three centuries of Spanish colonial rule and half a century under
American rule have left lasting “legacies” that shaped Filipino consciousness and aspiration.
Following its independence in 1946, the country also remained an important ally of the United States
for political, economic and military reasons, and which succeeding Philippine political governments
embraced (Fujita-Rony, 2010, p. 3). This colonial past and present has paved the way for the
Filipino’s hierarchical racial affinity (Rafael, 2000) and transnational identities (Fujita-Rony, 2010),
where Western political and economic systems are often perceived to be more superior, or where
migration to these nations is deemed to bring the promise of class mobility entangled with a
multitude of indirect social advantages, such as the possibility of “living a better life” or the promise
of enriched social influence at home (Cabalquinto & Soriano, 2020).
As we examine the brokerage of affective aspirations on YouTube in the succeeding
chapters, we focus on the representational politics and paradoxical outcomes that are deeply
74
ingrained in imperial relations and neoliberal market forces. To do this, the book presents four areas
of investigations: bleached skin, interracial intimacies, world-class work, and progressive
governance. These topics have been selected to generate insights on how the digital space –
YouTube, in particular – is becoming a repository of affective aspirations and paradoxical
configurations that tend to perpetuate cultural, economic, and political power structures.
Bleached skin
Scholars have argued that aspiring for a white or fair skin is linked to notions of selfhood
underscored by Philippine colonial legacies (David, 2013; Rafael, 2000; Rondilla, 2012). As we have
shown in Chapter 1, ideologies of whiteness or a “skin-colour hierarchy” in the Philippines instilled
the idea that Spanish colonial masters were the superior race, and this hierarchy is reinforced by
creating a division between Filipinos and Filipinos with Spanish bloodlines (Camba, 2012). When
Spanish men reproduced with Filipinas, their children and their future generation would be called
mestisos/as who enjoyed privileged positions associated with economic wealth, political influence,
and cultural hegemony while pure Filipinos (indios) were more likely to continue to be less educated
and have less economic opportunities (Rafael, 2000, p. 165). To date, mixed-race figures embodying
the image of the mestiso/a remain privileged and idolised in contemporary Philippine society as
celebrities, beauty queens, newscasters, politicians, executives, and so forth (Mendoza, 2014), and
they are celebrated in advertisements and beauty pageants that promote standards of Filipina beauty
(Baldo-Cubelo, 2015; Rondilla, 2009), thereby reviving what Rafael called, “mestisa envy” (Rafael,
2020, p. 165). In this book, we focus on whitening the underarm, a part of the body which is often
framed by beauty and cosmetic brands as a female bodily issue that is abhorred and needing repair.
Colonialist bodily transformation is then articulated as a form of “objectified cultural whitening” or
the use of products to enact shared aspirations on whiteness (Arnado, 2019). In Chapter 3, we
showcase how neoliberal and colonial influences shape the orchestration of embodying a white and
smooth underarm.
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Interracial intimacy
Colonial influences also manifest in aspiring for a Caucasian partner. This point shows an
institutionalised form of cultural whitening wherein marriage provides the mobility and pathway for
mixed partnership or marriage (Arnado, 2019). We highlight that the institutionalised dimensions of
interracial and intimate aspirations are entwined with neoliberal and postcolonial conditions. In the
context of neoliberalism, scholars have presented the historicity of Filipino women’s overseas
mobility because of the lack of access to job opportunities and social welfare services in the
Philippines (Constable, 2006; Tolentino, 1996). In other cases, this mobility is accessible when a
white man marries a Filipino woman, which pairing occurs in online spaces (Gonzalez & Rodriguez,
2003). This has led to the popularisation of the term “mail-order bride,” a concept that has also been
criticised by some scholars, such as Constable (2003) and Saroca (2002) for generalising Filipino
women as lacking agency and capacity for decision making. This cultural logic of desire for a white
partner is produced through colonialist discourses, fashioned out of a specific historical relationship
between the United States and the colony, the Philippines, driven by American popular media
content and local media content that echo the same ideals, as well as everyday traditions and
practices (Tolentino, 1996). Further, the Philippine colonial past has paved the way for the Filipino’s
hierarchical racial affinity (Rafael, 2000). This translates to the aspiration for intimate relations
leading to marriage with white, foreign nationals, implying promises of class mobility entangled with
a multitude of indirect social advantages, such as achieving stability for oneself and for left-behind
family members as evinced in the flow of money transfers and material goods (Constable, 2003;
Tolentino, 1996) or the promise of enriched social influence at home, and even bearing light-skinned,
blue-eyed children (Cabalquinto & Soriano, 2020). In Chapter 4, we problematise the visibilities of
interracial intimacies on YouTube, which we argue demonstrate the processes of cultural whitening
and offers affective aspirations for ideal intimate relationships.
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World-class labour
In a nation-state like the Philippines that relies on exporting cheap and surplus human labour
to sustain its economy, freelance digital work serves as an additional, alternative, and lucrative
source of income. From foreign domestic labour to call centre labour (Abara & Heo, 2013) and now
to digital platform labour, Filipinos aim for work opportunities that match their “distinct” traits as the
top service workers of the world despite the many exploitative conditions accompanying this
distinction (Soriano & Cabanes, 2020a). This constructs the notion of the Philippines as a nation
systematically training and exporting service workers for the global market has been predominantly
constructed as a natural global order of things that Filipinos ought to take advantage of (Fabros,
2016; Soriano & Cabañes, 2020b). An important local context to be considered here is the continuing
expansion of the large informal economy and the continuing flexibilisation of work that drive the
popularity of platform labour locally (Ofreneo, 2013). The many Filipino professionals and casual
employees who are moving into online platform labour need to be placed side-by-side the many
others who belong to the “informal economy,” or those obtaining small gigs through informal
networks such as food peddlers in variety stores, mobile load sellers, public transportation drivers,
caregivers, domestic helpers, student-research assistants, among others, who are also eagerly jumping
into opportunities for obtaining a job in online labour platforms. This is why despite critiques about
poor security or the absence of long-term advancement, online labour platforms are often viewed as
an attractive employment option locally in comparison to other alternatives. And yet, despite
government pronouncements promoting digital labour as a crucial solution to unemployment,
mechanisms for supporting workers engaged in labour platforms are absent. For labour migration,
several private and public institutions have been set up to help workers aspiring to migrate overseas
for jobs in terms of employment seeking, expectation-setting, salary identification, taxation, or
welfare protection. For BPO-related jobs such as call centre work, foreign companies operating in the
country have institutionalised recruitment and employment mechanisms (Kleibert, 2015). By
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contrast, aspiring workers bid for jobs in labour platforms through the help of “brokers” (Soriano,
2021). As we will discuss in Chapter 5, these brokers or intermediaries use the function of multiple
social media spaces and particularly YouTube to create vignettes of success and possibility for
aspiring workers. In effect, they also play the role of brokers between workers and labour platforms,
while directly benefiting socially and economically from the process.
Politics and Progressive Governance
While the affective aspirations we have discussed in the previous sections pertain to the
personal, people’s behaviours and actions are equally driven by their desire for progress and
development at the national level (Appadurai, 1990) that can potentially shape personal
advancement. In most postcolonial societies, these visions are commonly anchored on Western ideals
of democratic development and economic progress (Fujita-Rony, 2010). Colonial history serves as a
backdrop and resource for the active construction of narratives of progress as marketable to its
citizens. “Images of colonialism and postcolonialism are integrated in banal forms of interactions”
(Vitorio, 2019, p. 106) such as everyday pronouncements, and political speeches, which are integral
to how Filipinos imagine the possibilities of national progress and development. As Thurlow and
Jaworski (2010) argue, “It is at the level of the interpersonal, everyday exchange of meaning where
the global and the local interface are negotiated and resolved, be it through processes of cultural
absorption, appropriation, recognition, acceptance, or resistance” (p. 9).
Both Spanish and American colonisers projected notions of civilisation that undermine the
Philippines’ own determination of development. These definitions continue to exist in the Philippines
today through what some scholars call “colonial mentality,” or “referring to the notion that
superiority, pleasantness, or desirability are associated with cultural values, behaviours, physical
appearance, and objects that are American or Western” (David & Okazaki, 2010, p. 850). Moreover,
despite the liberation of the Philippines in 1945, the country remains dependent on the U.S. as
reflected in foreign policies and international trade (Aguilar, 2014). At the time of former President
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Marcos, gargantuan and notable infrastructures were built to legitimise power attached to Western
imaginations of development (Lico, 2003), while the country resorted to the exportation of cheap
labour to address issues of economic crisis. It is interesting to note that transnational partnerships
during previous postcolonial administration can be articulated as fantasies of progress and
sustainability and modernisation, despite the increased marginalisation of ordinary Filipinos (Tadiar,
2004). In here, postcolonial governance is discussed by Benedicto (2013) by examining the
postcoloniality of architectures particularly during the Marcos regime:
The structure’s departure from and adherence to the tenets of architectural modernism mirror
the precarious position occupied by the Marcos regime as a postcolonial dictatorship. Its
architecture abides by central “international” principles such as the rejection of adornment
and frivolity, but it also affects spectacular excess through scale, height, and the starkness of
its contrast with the “thirdworldness” of metropolitan Manila. (p. 26)
In Chapter 6, we showcase how Filipino YouTubers mobilise affective aspirations on the
nostalgia of a progressive state during the Marcos period. In particular, we show how pro-Marcos
YouTubers represent aspirational tropes of “what was” (during Ferdinand Marcos’ “golden years” –
or an era when the Philippines was comparable to “Western states”) and “what could be” (i.e. if one
votes for another Marcos in the succeeding elections), while hiding the documented violent atrocities
surrounding that political regime. Under these visions of “what could be” involve visualisations of
national pride, regional competitiveness and equal standing, if not full independence from previous
“colonial controls.” Notably, political actors harness affective aspirations by advancing a political
agenda that illuminates tropes of nostalgia and comparison. However, this becomes problematic
especially when narratives contribute to political disinformation, while hiding its political agenda.
These four key themes – bleached skin, interracial intimacy, world-class labour, and
progressive governance – are critical sites for examining the historically-situated conditions that
structure the enactment of affective aspirations on YouTube. However, as we highlight in this book,
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they also serve as entry points to unravel paradoxical reconfigurations or enacting transformations
that simultaneously negotiate and reinforce existing asymmetries in a neoliberal and neo-colonial
landscape. In the next section, we present the key dimensions of analysing brokerage in the digital
space.
Key Dimensions of Brokerage in the Digital Realm
We propose brokering in online spaces as a mechanism of networked individuals who
capitalise on affective aspirations through personalised, creative, and branding strategies. It focuses
on the utilisation of various digital technologies and online channels enacting neoliberal principles
and colonialist legacies for crafting aspirations, nurturing networks, harnessing platform-specific
strategies, and monetisation. In developing our conception of brokerage in a digital space, we
introduce its four key dimensions, including aspirational content, discursive style, credibility-
building, and platform-specific strategies. These frames are applicable for interrogating the elements
and practices of YouTube content production and engagement of Filipinos, whose lived conditions
are entangled and mapped in the domains of neoliberal globalisation, colonialist conditions, and
digital environments.
Firstly, digital brokering involves the production of aspirational content that is well-emplaced
in postcolonial hierarchies and neoliberal imaginaries. We build on the literature on influencer
culture (Abidin, 2018; Duffy, 2017), noting how YouTube content creators, as brokers, capitalise on
putting together crucial information and intimate knowledge as relatable content. Certainly, contents
portray certain ideals, desires, aspirations, and intimacies (Abidin, 2015; Berryman & Kavka, 2017).
Despite allowing previously marginalised and colonised individuals to occupy online spaces, the
content becomes recognisable or visible through the frames of hierarchical structures, which weave
gendered, racialised, and classed aspirations (Gajjala, 2013; Nakamura, 2013). Further, these
contents produce paradoxical consequences especially when “being seen” is appropriated for the
triumphs of the invisible hands of a colonialist and economic globalisation (Gajjala, 2013).
80
Our approach to the analysis of content as texts is surfaced through the second frame of
brokering, which is the brokers’ discursive styles to highlight and amplify their key offerings. This
includes the narrative styles, video components, audio templates, and other add-ons that are engaged
for generating “communicative intimacy” (Abidin, 2015) between the content creator and the
audience. The appeal of content lies in the ability to show the performance of relatability on screen
by real people (Kavka, 2008). Moreover, engagement is fuelled by an influencer’s calibrated
amateurism, presenting what is raw, spontaneous and intimate (Abidin, 2017). These branding
strategies (Duffy, 2017; Marwick, 2013) are then translated to networked gains, such as followers,
content engagement, and profit. Further, various styles are understood to be reflecting the
embodiment of neoliberal values, such as showcasing innovation, a driven spirit, and
entrepreneurialism (Banet-Weiser, 2012; Duffy, 2017). Hierarchical and historically situated
structures shape the utilisation of different visual, aural and textual styles that re-enact the colonial
gaze (Gajjala, 2013; Sobande, 2017, 2019).
Credibility-building is the third aspect of digital brokering. The discussion foregrounds ways
of enacting authenticity and legitimacy to speak in influencer cultures (Abidin, 2018; Duffy, 2017;
Senft, 2008), which include visibilising “success” or “struggle” (Berryman & Kavka, 2018) and
behind-the-scene intimate encounters (Abidin, 2018). We highlight credibility-building as a form of
affective investment (Kavka, 2008) for the content creator to establish their legitimacy – as ordinary
people – to speak and be heard by their audiences. Kavka’s (2008) work is useful in this regard. By
examining reality TV shows, Kavka (2008) unpacked how people engage and connect to the content
because of a psychical investment or seeing performances by real people as a reality rather than a
representation. The provocation of visibilised transformations and expressions of triumph that
influencers know well to appropriate signal possibilities for ordinary people to negotiate the limits of
existing conditions. In a sense, this becomes a potent aspect of believability, which is translated to
viewing and other forms of engagement. This point is well captured in this statement: “Reality TV
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evokes what I call situational identification; we identify with the situation through its affective
resonance; this is what it feels like to be someone sitting around a kitchen table negotiating a fellow
intimate’s upset/anger/sense of exclusion” (Kavka, 2008, p. 92). In this study, we define credibility-
building as the act of portraying the aspirations, actions to achieve such aspirations, and “definitions
of success” of ordinary Filipinos for aspiring audiences.
Lastly, platform-specific strategies are part of digital brokering. Online channels have
affordances that allow individuals to produce, circulate and consume diverse content. However, in a
data-driven and networked environment, platform-specific features are exploited for gaining
attention, harnessing followers, and generating profit (Abidin, 2018). Individuals can be using
hashtags, keywords, click buttons, and other types of prompts that link content to wider audiences.
Simultaneously, algorithms render visibility, ranking, and curation of content. As argued earlier, the
platform itself is a broker, offering aspirations for audiences via notions of profiteering, social status,
differentiation, and domination (van Dijck, 2013). On YouTube, the neoliberal self is developed
based on hits, likes, shares, and the navigation of platform affordances through the entrepreneurial
spirit of its users (Duffy, 2017; Glatt, 2017). These conditions show the politics that exist in the
operations and governance of these commercial platforms (Gillespie, 2010), which evidently shows
who gets to be visible and invisible in digital spaces.
Brokerage as an analytical lens exposes the paradoxes that exist in online environments.
Aspirational content, creative and robust discursive styles, credibility-building strategies, and
platform-specific strategies are engaged for visibility and agency. However, we contend that these
practices enact valuable representational and connective opportunities for Filipinos in the context of
neoliberal economies and postcolonial conditions. As we will show in the succeeding chapters, the
positionality of Filipino YouTubers highlights ongoing negotiation of power, as well as the
contradictions, continuities and changes that relate to Philippine modernity in the context of global
digital capitalism.
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Revisiting digital brokering
Social media platforms such as YouTube have been pivotal in redefining the conduct of
Philippine contemporary society. In this Chapter, we presented brokerage as a critical lens for
analysing online content production and performativity on YouTube, including how this produces
affective aspirations and paradoxical reconfigurations. First, we built our discussion on the growing
literature on influencer culture and platform studies, as well as on the sociological literature on
brokerage. We argued that brokers enact the role of influencers through branding strategies and
mastery of the technological affordances of an online platform. We also argued that the platform
itself is a broker, facilitating the flows and control of information. But at the centre of articulating
brokerage is considering how economic, political, cultural, and socio-technological forces inform the
production of affective aspirations and paradoxical outcomes. Significantly, the book pays special
attention to how socio-historical frames can be used to re-define notions of brokering in the digital
era. Inasmuch as we posit that mediated practices are embedded in a postcolonial condition, it is also
equally situated in a neoliberal system. By taking the Philippines as a case study for investigation, we
highlight how the brokerage of aspirations in various aspects – bleached skin, interracial intimacy,
world-class labour, and progressive governance – manifests how ordinary people navigate their
dreamwork of progress, mobility, and stability in a digital, neoliberal, and neo-colonial terrain.
Crucial in the process is how aspirations, practices, and networking allow them to relive and
negotiate the legacies of colonial history and the conditions of digital capitalism. To unpack this, we
outlined and explained the four key dimensions of brokerage in a digital hub – aspirational content,
discursive style, credibility-building, and platform-specific strategies. These elements are showcased
and discussed across the succeeding case study chapters.
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CHAPTER 3
SELF
Abstract. This chapter underscores the brokering of ideal and dominant discourses of femininity
among Filipino YouTubers. Applying the concept of “cultural whitening” and a postfeminist critique,
it analyses the diverse affective, creative and ambivalent tactics performed by YouTubers. It first
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situates the examination of YouTubers’ imaginaries of standard femininities within the socio-
historical context of gendered, racial and classed hierarchy in the Philippines. On top of magnifying
the tropes, tactics, and tools articulated by YouTubers in legitimising bodily care routines and
showcasing transformations, it also captures the platform-specific mechanisms and marketised logics
in the brokerage of beauty ideals. The chapter concludes by underlining the paradoxical outcomes of
gendered, racialised, and classed visibility, performativity, and engagement on YouTube.
Keywords: underarm whitening, postfeminism, mestisa, cultural whitening, colourism,
entrepreneurial femininity
Diverse modes of representing standards of feminine beauty continue to dominate Philippine
media. More specifically, creative advertisements designed, produced and distributed by business
enterprises and creative agencies encourage Filipino women to achieve a recognisable beauty
through the use of a range of skin lightening products. Belo, Loreal, Nivea, and Olay are some of the
big brands that endorse the realisation and positive benefits of fairer skin among women and men.
These products are promoted and distributed by the beauty and media industry across multiple
channels, including online and offline. As creative, compelling and star-studded campaigns
communicate and sell whitening products online, profit flows into the processes and systems of the
media culture industry, including but not limited to health, fashion, and so forth. In a sense, the
production and circulation of celebrity-driven endorsements align with our conception of brokerage,
which emphasises the collection, curation and circulation of aspirational contents for certain
individuals, groups and markets in diverse media channels. However, brokerage in this context
contains the marketability of standard beauty within the imaginaries of individuals in the dominant
creative and media industry.
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The brokerage of beauty standards – skins practices – is governed by the beauty and media
industry and noticeable in the Philippine context. In 2019 alone, two particular ads created a buzz in
Philippine history of skin whitening products. Skin White released their “Dark or White, you are
beautiful” campaign. It featured twins Marianne and Martha Bibal, one with a white face and the
other with a brown skin tone. In the same year, Glutamax also released the campaign “Your fair
treatment,” highlighting that “3 in 5 Filipinos believe that people with fairer skin receive better
treatment than others.” This particular campaign of Glutamax succeeded their popular skin whitening
ad in 2009. In that campaign, Filipina celebrity Jinky Oda was presented with a transformation, from
being ebony to becoming ivory. These campaigns primarily highlight the duty of care of women to
their body in order to be beautiful and successful in life. Situated in the centre of the advertising texts
is the endorsement of beauty products and the best practices to use these consumer goods to achieve
the best results. The celebrity or endorser brokers the possibilities of jaw-dropping transformations
through the persistent consumption of the endorsed beauty items.
However, advertisements can also draw flak among discerning individuals who proactively
identify and critique unfair and insensitive media messages. Filipinos criticise the advertisements
across traditional media channels and online media for the stereotypical and discriminatory narratives
on a Filipina’s beauty standards. An example of this is the recent backlash on the 2021 “Pandemic
Effect” ad of the Belo Medical Group. The video shows a woman sitting on the couch and watching a
slew of bad news. With the constant exposure to media reports, the woman’s appearance changes,
including growing hair all over her body and gaining weight. The ad ends with the tagline, “Tough
times call for beautiful measures,” and also paired with the call-to-action that encourages viewers to
book a consultation with the medical group. Celebrities and several online stars have been part of the
campaign, showing their own “pandemic effect” stories and validating the need for self-care in tough
times. Although not particularly pertaining to skin whitening and focusing more broadly on the
women’s full body, the ad received criticisms from Filipinos because of “body shaming” women in
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the middle of the pandemic. Online channels have been filled with commentaries from individuals,
appropriating the hashtag #pandemiceffect into expressions of frustrations and disapproval. The
video has eventually been taken down.
To date, paradoxically, the Philippine media remains filled by a range of stories, creative
texts, and performances that still privilege fair-skinned and often mixed-raced figures. Imaginaries of
beauty standards – mestiso/mestisa looking – are deeply ingrained in media systems and texts.
Celebrities as brokers in the creative, media, and beauty industries are accomplices in the articulation
of legitimised beauty. But despite their strong positionality in “selling” what’s acceptable and
favoured, their performances are also deeply tied to their markets, either appealing or “hurting” them.
In noting this landscape and also tensions between the media personalities and audiences, we ask,
what has changed after all despite the expressions of revulsion for discriminatory media contents on
beauty standards? Further, has the democratising potential of the Internet and social media paved the
way for a reconfiguration of the expressions of beauty among Filipino women?
This chapter presents the modes of brokering an ideal feminine beauty among Filipina
YouTubers. It specifically shows how ten Filipina YouTubers communicate, promote and sell
feminine beauty by visibilising and curating the whitening and smoothening of their underarm
through bodily care routines. We chose this topic for two particular reasons. First, we are interested
in unpacking the brokering of an ideal Filipina identity in the Philippines through representations of
feminised beauty through “whitening” practices on YouTube. As presented at the outset, whitening
the underarm is one of the key themes that populate the promotion of beauty products in the
Philippines. Despite not being visible all the most, celebrities in advertisements, whose narratives are
influenced and controlled by the beauty and media industry, position a dark underarm as a problem –
the cause of embarrassment or a low self-esteem among Filipinas (Baldo-Cubelo, 2015). However, in
this chapter, the focus is how micro-celebrities (Abidin, 2018), who act as brokers by collating,
curating and distributing affective contents built on their personal experiences and ordinary expertise.
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Second, as the topic on skin whitening was too broad, we used Google Trends to narrow down the
topic. We initially used the word pampaputi (whitening). Through this process, pampaputi ng kili-kili
or underarm whitening appeared to be the most popularly searched keywords on YouTube during the
conduct of the study in August 2020. This revelation shows that underarm whitening has likely
become a priority for individuals who search such content and potentially aspire for such skin
transformation. We then accessed YouTube and collected videos. Based on collecting 40 videos
through algorithmic recommendations on YouTube, we came up with ten videos, which we closely
and critically analysed.
We approach our discussion by positioning Filipina YouTubers as curators and brokers of
beauty regimens that reflect cultural whitening. Deploying the conception of cultural whitening
(Arnado 2019), we investigate how Filipina YouTubers use YouTube as a platform to recommend
ways of achieving a fairer skin, a mechanism to broker beauty standards and facilitate access to a
range of capitals. As argued by many Filipino scholars, the act of desiring and embodying a fairer
skin deeply connects to the Philippine’s colonial history (Rafael, 2000; Rondilla, 2012). A fair or
white skin tone is ascribed with positive meanings as opposed to a dark shade. And skin colour
typically becomes a currency especially in one’s position and advancement in Philippine society,
which is reflected in the number of mestiso/as thriving in Philippine cultural, economic and political
scene (Rafael 2000; Rondilla, 2009). As such, wanting to have a fair or whiter skin is symptomatic of
reinforcing hegemonic racial, gendered and classed discourses.
We also apply a postfeminist critique (Banet-Weiser, 2012) of visibilising a “bleached”
Filipina beauty on YouTube. This consideration allows us to interrogate the brokering and framing of
standardised feminised identities that often involve the policing and control of one’s bodies through a
range of prescriptive individualised and entrepreneurial practices. More importantly, we highlight the
role personalised representations on YouTube indicate the appropriation and negotiation of racial
hierarchy in feminine subjectivity in postcolonial and neoliberal Philippines. Notably, the process of
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representations by broadcasting practices of consuming whitening is shaped by ambivalence (Banet-
Weiser, 2012; Glatt and Banet-Weiser, 2021) activating transformations that generate views, likes
and shares, yet reinforcing dominant discourse on beauty and femininity. The loop of beauty
standards is also amplified by the algorithmic modality of YouTube, often circulating contents based
on currently viewed videos. As such, the presentation of whitening practices essentially reinforce the
dominant ideals of flawlessness and femininity.
In the next sections, we map the racial hierarchy in Philippine society, allowing us to dissect
the nuances of brokering feminine subjectivity through cultural whitening among Filipina
YouTubers. We also connect the discussion to the allure of having a fair skin as a form of racial
capital, which contributes to the legitimacy of YouTuber’s brokering strategies. We then extend the
discussion of dominant discourse of femininity through a postfeminist lens, emphasising the
production of self-motivated, entrepreneurial and even colour conscious women. Nevertheless, these
sections will serve as foundations in foregrounding issues on notions of beauty, modernity and
success among Filipina in a digital age.
The Shades of Racial Hierarchy
In this chapter, we highlight how the colonial history of the Philippines and how this aspect
of Philippine society is considered to investigate the brokering of beauty standards of Filipino
women through underarm whitening on YouTube. We consider underarm whitening through
different, affordable and often DIY products as an indication of mediating notions of invested,
commodified, networked, and ambivalent femininity.
The desire for a fair skin in Philippine society is deeply tied to colonial legacy. According to
Philippine scholar Vicente Rafael (2000), the racial hierarchy that was implemented during the
Spanish colonial rule contributed to the valorisation of whiteness. Apart from the stark contrast
attached to having a white and dark skin, the high regard for whiteness was evident in the way
mixed-race individuals dominated the many aspects of Philippine society (Rafael, 2000). Mestisos/as
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were placed in privileged status, making others celebrate or envy them. In contemporary Philippine
society, mixed-race figures are seen as celebrities, newscasters, politicians, executives, and so forth
(Rondilla, 2012; Rondilla, 2009) as well as in advertisements that promote standards of Filipina
beauty (Baldo-Cubelo, 2015; Rondilla, 2009). Moreover, the marginalisation of dark-skinned
individuals compels a set of principles and practices that essentially celebrate skin whitening
(Rondilla & Spickard, 2007; David, 2013).
Racial hierarchy is reflected in colourism or stratification based on skin tone. Scholars have
argued that marginalisation based on one’s complexion is primarily part of colonialism and slavery.
Historically, and in a global context, Europeans and white Americans created the racial hierarchy to
legitimise the control and treatment of colonised and enslaved non-white people (Hunter, 2005).
During the British colonial rule in Southern Africa, dark-skinned people were treated as slaves. Their
skin tone was also associated with ugliness, violence, and contamination (Glenn, 2009; Dixon &
Telles, 2017). In contrast, mixed-race individuals had relatively better access to a diverse range of
benefits. For instance, the Mulattos or offspring of white men and slave women were accorded with
better treatment such as being assigned to work as servants and artisans (Glenn, 2009). In Latin
America, mestisaje or the intermixture of Spanish colonists and indigenous peoples along with
unacknowledged and mixture with African slaves were privileged to access education, civility and an
urban lifestyle (Glenn, 2009; Hunter, 2005). Across Asia, skin colour stratification was shown in
Japanese women wearing a white make-up, the distinction between lighter-skinned Aryans and
Dravidians of the South in India, and the Philippines’ mestiso/a and indigenous population (Glenn,
2009). More recently across Asia, Pan-Asian beauty or individuals with both Asian and Western
characteristics tend to dominate beauty standards (Yip, Ainsworth, & Hugh, 2019), which is
presented in various mass media outlets (Rondilla, 2009). Nonetheless, as a result of an entrenched
division based on skin, dark-skinned individuals are constrained in accessing a range of social
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welfare services and opportunities compared to fair-skinned people or individuals with Anglo
features (Hunter, 2007, 2011).
Agency is enacted through a spectrum of strategies among those individuals who are often
discriminated because of their skin colour. The use of a range of skin-lightening products (Glenn,
2009; Rondilla & Spickard, 2007), undergoing for cosmetic surgery (Glenn, 2009), and seeking a
light-skinned marital partner (Glenn, 2009) are some of the practices that dark-skinned people tend to
act upon. Scholars argue that this set of practices to become “white” reflects internalised racism
(Glenn, 2009; Hunter, 2011; Hunter, 2007; Harris, 2009), as a response to negotiating colourism, a
sense of belongingness, and intergenerational mobility (Glenn, 2009; Harris, 2009). For instance,
Hall (1995) coins the term “bleaching syndrome” to articulate how African American women tend to
obsess over skin-whitening products to partake in and embody the white and dominant culture,
despite the damaging and irreversible effects of bleaching the body. Complementing the articulation
of Hall (1995), Hunter (2011) coined the term “racial capital,” which drives the internalised skin
whitening practices. Hunter (2011) defines racial capital as “a resource drawing for the body that can
be related to skin tone, facial features, body shape, etc.” (p. 145). For her, having a light skin tone
“can be transformed into social capital (social networks), symbolic capital (esteem or status) or even
economic capital (high paying job or promotion)” (Hunter, 2011, p. 145). In here, a light-skinned
individual can access a range of benefits such as a high-paying job, a husband, an urban lifestyle, and
so forth. Through colourism, as Hunter (2005) reiterates, individuals are placed in a “beauty queue”
or the rank ordering of women where the lightest gets the most perks and rewards and the darkest
women get the least.
The discriminating effects on dark-skinned individuals by colourism have contributed to the
million-dollar industry of skin whitening across the globe, which is part of the global beauty
commerce that promotes fashion, dieting, and correcting cosmetic surgery (Jha, 2016). For instance,
in 2018, the global skin lightening industry was worth USD$8.3 billion (USD$11.75 billion) (Ng &
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Lachica, 2020). In a report by the Global Industry Analysts (2020), the skin market for skin
lighteners is estimated at USD$8.6 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach USD$12.3 billion by
2027. Notably, promoting and bolstering the industry is strategic advertising. Advertisements
typically tell consumers that having a dark skin is a problem and which solution lies at the use of
whitening products (Rondilla, 2009; Hall, 1995; Glenn, 2008). Strategies in selling skin whitening
products include positioning the “prestige of the product” and the intrinsic nature of a white skin. For
the former, narratives showcase the transformation of the dark skin or spots and the display of
doctors in their laboratory outfits (Glenn, 2009). For the latter, there is an emphasis on the use of
plant extracts while the light-skinned woman is against natural scenery (Glenn, 2009). In the
Philippines, light-skinned women who promote the use of skin-lightening and personal care products
are framed as “new women” – flawless, wanted, and successful professionals (Baldo-Cubelo, 2015).
Nevertheless, the solution offered to anxiety, discomfort and frustrations over hyperpigmentation is
possible through consuming whitening products.
In the Philippine context, the features of a mixed-race individual are aspired for by Filipinos.
In the first instance, a light skin is desired by Filipinos because of its association to indoor and white-
collar job, success, and membership in the upper class (Rondilla, 2009). More recently, the influx of
media messages as well as products from East Asia reconfigures the standards of Filipina beauty.
There is an appreciation of an ideal Asian beauty through the looks of Japanese and Korean
celebrities (Glenn, 2009). Media contents have also involved East Asian beauties in promoting
products and services. Rondilla (2009) uses the term “relatable ideal” wherein Filipinos can relate to
an Asian face and alignment with understanding of whiteness. However, despite the visibility and
participation of mixed-raced Asians in various media-related projects, scholars have argued that this
hybridity is paradoxical in nature (Jha, 2016; Rondilla & Spickard, 2007; Rondilla, 2009). While it
presents opportunities for an inclusive, new and multicultural mode of representations, it also tends
to valorise those defined primarily by Anglo features (Hunter, 2011). Further, as Filipinos tend to
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aspire for a Pan-Asian beauty, consumerist practices demonstrate the valorisation of having a whiter
skin (Yip, Ainsworth, & Hugh, 2019). In Asia, the promotion of Pan-Asian beauty, which highlights
the mixture of Asian and Western features, tends to discriminate against those individuals with a
darker skin colour (mostly from Southeast Asia) and essentially promote homogenisation (Yip,
Ainsworth, & Hugh 2019).
We deploy the concept of cultural whitening (Arnado, 2019) in discussing the brokering of
ideal femininity in Philippine context. Here, the habits of consuming whitening products signal the
embodied and objectified states of cultural whitening (Arnado, 2019). Through such processes, an
individual desires to achieve a lighter or white skin, which becomes a capital for enabling
connections, symbolic capital, and social mobility (Hunter, 2011). It is through these perceived
outcomes of using whitening products that scholars have argued the success of the skin whitening
industry in the Philippines. According to Mendoza (2014), the boom of skin lightening products in
the Philippines can be attributed to postcolonial and internalised racism, which advertisers and sellers
invest on in promoting and selling consumer goods. Particularly, by surveying 147 Filipinos in
Manila and Quezon City, Mendoza (2014) observed that there is a favourable response to purchasing
and using skin whitening products. Several buyers are convinced of the potential outcomes of
consistently using a skin whitening product. However, Mendoza (2014) also highlighted the dangers
of toxic and illegal whiteners that remain accessible via small retailers and informal sellers. For him,
there is a need for the Food and Drug Authority (FDA) in the Philippines to address such issue. This
is most important especially with the presence of high levels of harmful chemicals in whitening
products, such as hydroquinone, cortico-steroids, and mercury. Further, he noticed that there exists
an asymmetrical presentation of information among buyers and users of skin whitening goods. He
suggests that right and useful information should be highlighted in packaging. For instance, products
should convey the benefits of using products for skin protection from UV rays instead of simply
reiterating the whitening effect (Rondilla, 2009). Notably, while skin whitening products remain a
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valuable product in Philippine society, in countries like Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, and Gambia,
skin whitening products were already banned (Hunter, 2011). Ultimately, the widespread and public
promotion and use of skin whitening products succeeds in the Philippines because of the promise of
skin transformation and ascribed positive meanings to having fair skin. As to be shown in this
chapter, Filipina YouTubers and their promotion of underarm whitening broker and perpetuate a
dominant standard of beauty, femininity and flawlessness, which have been integral in the lexicon of
Philippine media.
In the next section, we extend our discussion of gendered, racialised and classed
representations of femininity through a neoliberal and postcolonial space of the Internet. We
highlight the portraiture of an individualised, entrepreneurial as well as postcolonial femininity in
Philippine society. We also advance how the mechanisms of brokering are weaved into the
ambivalent nature of neoliberal branding cultures and postcoloniality.
The Currency of a Lighter Skin through a Postfeminist Lens
Media texts and popular culture are powerful outlets for constructing ideal standards of
femininity (Banet-Weiser, 2012; McRobbie, 2004). Girls and women are typically encouraged
through traditional (Banet-Weiser, 2012; McRobbie, 2004) and new media (Kanai, 2019) to invest in
improving their bodies (Strengers & Nicholls, 2017), enabling transformations and modifications that
articulate empowerment (Gill & Scharff, 2011, Banet-Weiser, 2015). However, practices on
achieving beauty, self-esteem and accessing a web of capitals is linked to consumerism. One has to
purchase and use certain personal products to partake in routine care of the body. In a sense, the body
becomes a site for constant monitoring and policing, which practices are shaped by gendered (Gill &
Scharff, 2011; McRobbie, 2004) and commercial structures (Banet-Weiser, 2015). In this chapter,
through the lens of a postfeminist critique of brand cultures, we interrogate how representations of
bodily enhancements with skin whitening products among Filipina YouTubers contribute to the
paradox surrounding the brokering of Filipina subjectivity. A salient point in our discussion is how
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representations occupy digital spaces and more likely demonstrate the negotiation of colour
consciousness for visibility and commodification of gendered subjectivities. Notably, we focus on
the case of the saleability of underarm whitening for women, a market that has been heavily targeted
by underarm whitening brands (Baldo-Cubelo, 2015; Rondilla, 2009) as opposed to Filipino men
who are typically targeted by companies that sell underarm deodorant or other skin care products
(Lasco & Hardon, 2020).
Postfeminism highlights a set of ideologies, practices and strategies that often position
women as individualised and entrepreneurial beings especially in neoliberal societies (Banet-Weiser,
2012; Gill & Scharff, 2011). In popular media, women are represented to engage with diverse
consumption habits to achieve success, stability, mobility, and control in one’s life (McRobbie,
2004). This approach has been adopted across marketing campaigns of products for girls and women.
Female consumers are presented with notions of empowerment through consumption of goods and
services (Banet-Weiser, 2012). In contemporary times, digital spaces are explored and utilised by
marketing companies to prescribe ideals of femininity (Banet-Weiser, 2012), which result to
contradictory practices and affects (Kanai, 2019).
We are particularly interested in how ideal femininity is brokered in the commodified space
of the Internet. We illuminate this by showcasing how YouTubers, just like brokers (Stovel & Shaw,
2012), collect, curate and disseminate relevant information to forge and sustain relations and capital
building. However, we interpret the outcomes of these practices are not devoid from tensions. For
this reason, we deploy the conceptual framing of “branding postfeminism” by Banet-Weiser (2012).
For Banet-Weiser (2012), digital spaces have provided women to not visibilise or broadcast their
everyday practices. However, digital practices have also been appropriated for brand cultures,
compelling girls and women to perform based on hegemonic gendered discourses. For instance, in
investigating how girls use YouTube to curate and present their everyday lives, Banet-Weiser (2011)
argues that video production and a range of contents are largely influenced by adherence to gendered
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structures in order to generate hits, likes and shares. This means that authenticity is shaped by
existing and powerful structures, such as the norms in digital cultures that stir high engagements
among viewers (Banet-Weiser, 2011). Furthermore, online performativity is often prescribed to be
aligned with branding an individualised and entrepreneurial self (Banet-Weiser, 2012; Duffy, 2017).
As such, while these women utilise their own brand to create presence and intimacy in online spaces,
they are also subject to cultural and commercial structures and conditions that often compel them to
negotiate their capacities and performativity. It is for this reason that commodified and networked
spaces are characterised for its ambivalent nature (Banet-Weiser, 2012; Glatt & Banet-Weiser, 2021).
In the context of our study, we pay attention to the use of online media for the brokering of
certain ideals on femininity and beauty. Echoing Banet-Weiser’s contention (2012), girls and women
use digital media channels to create their brand in neoliberal and networked spaces. Often, enacting
visibility, developing social networks and establishing intimate connections are achieved through
branding strategies (Abidin, 2015; Duffy, 2017; Marwick, 2013). Branding strategies engage with
gendered performativity, emphasising the construction of independence, an entrepreneurial vibe, and
resilience despite the odds. Of a particular focus in this study though is the intertwining of gender,
race and class in the performativity of constructing feminine subjectivity, complementing studies on
how people of colour represent themselves in online spaces (Sobande, 2017; Nielsen, 2016). In our
study, we critically reflect upon how postfeminist ideologies can be extended in the enactment of
cultural whitening (Arnado, 2019) or practices through which Filipino women aspire for and enact a
white aesthetic to navigate the uneven terrain of digital and commodified spaces. This point echoes
studies that highlight how social hierarchies are well positioned in digital spaces, such as when
brands promote whiteness through the use of a mobile application (Glenn, 2009) or the production of
forums that cultivate ways of achieving Anglo features (Rondilla, 2009). Ultimately, women,
especially from the Global South, or from the Philippines, negotiate brand and digital cultures, which
we argue are influenced by colonial ideologies and histories. Further, “colour consciousness”
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manifests in online performances, interactivity from the audience, and even amplified by the
technical features of the online platform (Jamerson, 2019) such as algorithmic recommendations (van
Dijck, 2013).
In engaging with postfeminist critiques of brokering ideal femininity, we unearth the nuances
and contradictions of representations generated through online practices and strategies. To achieve
this is to draw the connections between the visualisation of beauty regimens and colonial history of
the Philippines. In here, we draw from the work of Bhabha (1994), noting how hybrid identities of
colonial subjects engage with practices of “mimicry” to aspire for a dominant and privileged position
occupied by colonisers. Here, colonised subjects desire and fantasise a sense of inclusion, status, and
modernity by “mimicking” the practices of the colonisers. In the context of enacting white aesthetic,
individuals aspire for and work their way in for achieving a lighter or white skin to embody
whiteness. This act is sustained by internalising the positive meanings ascribed to whiteness, such as
embodying purity, joyfulness, privilege, and high social status. However, mimicry has its excess,
slippage and ambivalence. The processes and practices of embodying an imagined whiteness tend to
be defined as “white but not quite” (Bhabha, 1984). One may consistently attempt to change one’s
physique via the use of skin whitening or undergoing cosmetic surgery, but the outcome only serves
as a resemblance.
Pinpointing the limits and ambivalence of mimicry is not only the concern of this chapter.
We argue that mimicry is utilised as a branding strategy among Filipina YouTubers who monetise
and benefit from their narratives and representations of ideal beauty. Certainly, Filipina YouTubers
tend to position themselves as entrepreneurial and self-motivated in navigating digital and
consumerist cultures. However, the ambivalence of representations manifests when transformations
are “not quite” or may indicate what Arnado (2019) notes as temporary cultural whitening. The
ambivalence also manifests especially when performativity is constructed by hegemonic ideals of
beauty in the commodified space of the Internet. Nevertheless, this chapter showcases the brokering
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of ideal femininity among Filipina YouTubers who capitalise on their body care routines to achieve a
whiter underarm. We now present our discussion of our data methods and analysis.
Data Collection
This chapter investigates ten videos produced by female YouTubers from the Philippines
who present and curate tips and procedures on underarm whitening. In August 2020, we utilised
Google trends to identify the most searched word on YouTube in the Philippines, particularly
focusing on the topic of skin whitening. Instead of searching generic keywords “skin whitening,” we
opted for a more specific and local term. In such an approach, we used the Filipino word pampaputi
or “whitening.” After conducting the word search, we were provided with different phrases, such as
pampaputi ng kili-kili (underarm whitening), pampaputi ng balat (skin whitening), and so forth. The
keywords pampaputi ng kili-kili were the most searched keywords. From here, we used the keywords
pampaputi ng kili-kili on YouTube search.
By keying in the words pampaputi ng kili-kili to search for videos on YouTube, we accessed
a total of 40 videos. These videos were collected based on accessing a main video as well as the
recommended videos. The videos were filtered based on the number of subscribers and viewers. We
only included videos with a minimum of 4,000 view hours and videos produced by YouTubers who
have a minimum of 1,000 followers. This decision was made following YouTuber threshold on
monetised contents. Further, we selected videos produced by non-celebrities or by media institutions.
We also excluded videos that do not focus on underarm whitening. Upon ranking the videos based on
views, the top 10 videos were chosen (see Table 3.1). These videos were watched multiple times.
Notes were produced to jot down key observations. The videos were transcribed and analysed. The
four key frames used particularly looked at content, discursive style, credibility building, and
platform specific strategies.
This chapter opted to employ anonymity for the data to protect the privacy of individuals in
interracial relationships. We followed the ethical decision-making and recommendations of the
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Association of Internet Researchers (2012, 2019) by ensuring a careful and ethical handling, analysis
and presentation of the selected and publicly accessible videos. We de-identified the name of the
YouTubers by using a pseudonym. Following the work on Lange (2014) on protecting the privacy of
content creators, we also used a generic title for the videos. Further, we also translated the quotes to
English based on context and avoided incorporating texts as word-for-word (Zimmer, 2010). These
approaches allowed us to protect the privacy of the YouTubers.
During the analysis for this chapter, we linked our observations to our key inquiry on
unpacking how the ideal Filipina beauty is brokered. It is through this approach that we critically
engaged with how the YouTubers negotiate postcolonial and marketised realities in a digital
environment.
[INSERT TABLE 3.1]
Table 3.1 Lifestyle brokers and their videos promoting underarm whitening.
Prescribing Ways to Whiten the Underarm
The main topic of the ten YouTube videos is underarm whitening. Ten women shared their
personal experiences and strategies in achieving a smooth and white underarm. They also highlighted
the symbolic capitals that accessed as a reward of their persistent bodily care practices. We argue that
their brokering practices contribute to the construction of the meanings and standards of ideal
Filipino femininity, as often discursively represented in media contents (Baldo-Cubelo, 2015). In our
investigation, these curated skin-related personal problems and successful transformation primarily
brokered beauty ideals. In the following sections, we present the four dimensions of brokering that
contribute to the articulation of beauty standards, including affective content, discursive style,
credibility building, and platform-specific strategies.
The Travails of a Skin Transformation
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Most of the videos structured the process of underarm whitening through a logical sequence
of skin transformation. We argue that this approach tends to complement the approach of aggressive
marketing campaigns and advertisements on skin improvement – showing the problem, finding and
applying the solution, and activating a renewed and glowing skin (Baldo-Cubelo, 2015; Rondilla,
2009). This step-by-step process essentially allows the YouTubers to generate value to and legitimise
their beauty regimens.
Firstly, the YouTubers spoke about their issue – a dark underarm. They highlighted a dark,
rough, hairy, and sometimes smelly underarm. Such conditions were abhorred, highlighting the
existence of bodily issues that counter the aesthetic of beauty ideals such as having a bright and
flawless underarm. Furthermore, they mentioned the impact of having a dark underarm on their
confidence to wear a range of clothes. A case in point is reflected in the statement of Anna, “It’s
stressful because I used to have dark underarms and I know that some of you are going through with
the same feeling that you can’t wear your favourite sleeveless because you’re not overconfident with
your underarms.”
Secondly, YouTubers highlighted the cause of hyperpigmentation. These women blamed
shaving, plucking and aggressive scrubbing for the darkening of their skin. In some cases, four
YouTubers pinpointed hormonal changes during pregnancy as a culprit of their skin issue. As Anna
shared,
I started having dark underarms when I got pregnant. It’s not only the underarm but also my
nape, groin area, and other body parts, and even the hidden parts of the body, which is
normal because of the hormonal changes in the body during pregnancy. So that’s the
problem. Everything returned to its condition except for my underarms and my underarms
became darker…
Identifying the causes of a dark underarm also led the YouTubers to prescribe caring
practices for one’s body, including avoiding shaving, aggressive scrubbing and even plucking. For
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instance, Maria provided a list of solutions to avoid the darkening of the underarm. She suggested to
her viewers to stop shaving. She also highlighted the use of a deodorant with whitening ingredients.
Moreover, she advised her viewers to avoid wearing clothes with ruffles which can irritate the
underarm. But more importantly, she highlighted the importance of caring for one’s underarm during
day and night. For her, bodily care must be worked on from morning until night. As such, she
mentioned a product and explained its effect.
For me, it’s very important that if you use something (referring to underarm whitening) in the
morning, then you should also apply something at night because your body is relaxed when
you sleep. So for example in skin care, when we take care of our skin, we put a lot of things
and it’s even better if you care so much at night because your skin takes a rest and it will
absorb the product.
Essentially, the YouTubers suggested that women like them must reclaim their bodies that were
undermined by their own aggressive skin practices. Here, bodily issues become a self-responsibility
that demands urgent actions (Elias, Gill, & Schraff, 2017).
One of the major concerns in altering the underarm into a white and smooth state is the lack
of access to affordable yet effective products. In the Philippines, studies have shown that expensive
skin products can deter Filipino consumers from buying safe products and opting for informal
markets (Mendoza, 2014; Ng & Lachica, 2020). However, over the past years, YouTubers have
become an active and major player in promoting alternative and relatively affordable skin whitening
products in the Internet, with some even showing injectables for skin lightening (Ng & Lachica,
2020). In our study, the YouTubers served as brokers in finding ways to address the issue of
accessing affordable underarm products. They provided and recommended a range of alternative,
accessible, affordable, and claimed to be effective products. They even demonstrated how the
product is used and visibilised its outcome.
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In a way, this approach countered issues of costs especially for women who could not find a
cheap yet effective underarm whitening product. Firstly, some YouTubers featured the use of readily
available and cheap skin care products in the market. This was the case for most YouTubers who
typically reviewed products and other goods. In some cases though, existing personal care products
and natural remedies were recommended. For instance, Carlene admitted that she’s a “budgetarian”
or a budget conscious person. However, despite having a limited financial resource, she aspired and
worked on her way to achieve a white underarm. She used body oil. As she confessed, “I am a
budgetarian mother. I tried it [body oil] and yes it was very effective.”
Secondly, others showed the production of a do-it-yourself mixture which was transferred to
a spray bottle. This was the case of Andrea, who demonstrated how to create a do-it-yourself
underarm whitening product. In the video, the YouTuber prepared and mixed three key ingredients –
water, deodorant crystals (tawas) and lime (kalamansi) (see Figure 3.1). The mixed ingredients were
put in a spray bottle, which the YouTuber used on her underarm. Andrea was very proud of her
affordable alternative for an underarm whitening product, “You already have a deo-spray for 5 pesos
for the lime, 15 pesos for the deodorant crystals, water, and spray bottle.”
[INSERT FIGURE 3.1]
Figure 3.1 Still from a YouTube video. The ingredients to be used for a DIY underarm whitening
product.
Third, a YouTuber like Karla opted for an alternative, accessible and cheap option for
underarm laser treatment. In her video, she narrated that she inquired in a clinic about the cost of a
laser treatment for the underarm. She then learnt that the cost was 5,000 pesos (USD$252). As she
did not have the budget, she decided to get a similar and cheaper product online. Now, she uses this
product to lighten her underarm. As she said, “I just had a few sessions and it’s quite economical. It
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really looks like the tools used in a clinic. It’s money saving if you’ll use it at home. This tool can be
used in the house and this device can be used for the legs and armpits, upper lip, hairline, bikini line,
and anywhere.”
Overall, YouTubers demonstrated that there are alternative options to address one’s dark
underarm, contributing to the brokering of beauty standards. Indeed, this performativity shows that
women are left with no excuse in improving their body because the YouTubers showed that one can
be practical and strategic in achieving a glowing and smooth underarm. Notably, on top of the
concerted and practical efforts to embody a white underarm, one is encouraged to be “patient.” As
Karla said, “My advice to you is you need to be patient especially at a time when there is no instant.
Whatever will that be, work hard for it. Whatever is that, like a job, person, or an underarm. Your
problem could also be a similar problem to others. You just need to find products that suit you.”
Identifiable Tropes, Tools, and Tactics
Most of the videos were delivered through a genre of confessional talk (Raun, 2018). The
YouTubers mostly faced and spoke to the camera. The “storytelling” was also sometimes supported
by visuals of a dark underarm. As the videos focussed on featuring the underarm, most YouTubers
wore sleeveless. Evidently, the outfit signalled the revelation of a whiter and rejuvenated underarm at
some point of the narrative. As the storytelling continued, the YouTubers revealed a white underarm.
This underarm also served as the surface when the YouTubers demonstrated the application of the
whitening cream or liquid. Ultimately, the confessional talk was paired with the spectacle of a
“before” and “after” visual of the “problem” area. This structure guides the viewers in bodily
transformations.
In marketing campaigns of skin whitening products, having a dark skin tone is considered a
problem (Baldo-Cubelo, 2015). The consumers are made to feel guilty and then encouraged to act on
this problem by buying and consuming the right and effective product to address the skin problem
and eventually boost one’s confidence and status in life (Baldo-Cubelo, 2015; Mendoza, 2014; Lasco
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& Hardon, 2020). In the digital space, YouTubers used a tactic to highlight the underarm issue and
enticed the viewers to watch and follow their transformative journey. Notably, for the YouTubers,
different discursive “monikers” were used to brand a dark underarm. For instance, Anna referred to
her dark underarm as madilim na nakaraan (dark past). Gale called it makulimlim (shady). Andrea
used the term mashoho (stinky). These words reflected the internalised abhorrence for a dark
underarm that demands immediate action through the consumption of various products.
YouTubers brokered the “tools of the trade” in bodily enhancements. Whitening creams, skin
care products, and natural remedies were showcased in the videos. We noticed that skin care products
like body oil, cotton balls, and lime were prominent in several videos. In several do-it-yourself
demonstrations, the YouTubers showed how each ingredient was prepared and combined to produce
a mixture (see Figure 3.2). Graphics were juxtaposed with the shots of the ingredients. In cases that
existing products are used, the YouTubers link the product information in the description box. For
instance, the description box of Ariza had the following texts: “PRODUCTS MENTIONED:
Johnson's baby oil PHP 25, Luxe organic aloe vera gel PHP 199 [link of Luxe], Milcu deodorant
powder PHP.”
[INSERT FIGURE 3.2]
Figure 3.2 Still from a YouTube video. The process of preparing a DIY underarm whitening product.
Thumbnails were utilised to show the highlight of the video. Majority of the videos had a
photo of the YouTuber with a light or white underarm, a photo of a dark underarm, some products,
and a catchy phrase. In some videos, a thumbnail highlighted a “fast” solution for addressing dark
underarms. The videos of Susan had Paano pumuti in just one week (How to whiten in just one
week). Anna also claimed, Maputing kilikili in less than 3 days (White underarm in less than 3 days).
These time-based statements were presented to attract the viewers in accessing the different and
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quick steps in achieving a whitened underarm. However, to prove the effectiveness of using products
for a quick transformation, YouTubers still showed how the products were access, concocted, and
used. For instance, in the case of Anna, the different ingredients in creating a DIY product for
whitening the underarm were showcased. She was seen mixing and applying the mixture on her
underarms. Interestingly, she mentioned that her demonstration was based on a YouTuber who
showed how to whiten the underarms in three days. She thanked the YouTuber in the description box
of the video: “Thanks to LovelySkin for the inspiration!” In the video, she used graphics to highlight
which video clip referred to day one and day three. In day one, she put the mixture on her underarm.
On day three, she revealed her underarm. After showing a before and after shot, she said, “So there
you go and I am feeling shy in showing my underarms but at least I can be proud because there was
an improvement and I can see a clearer and improved underarm from my dark underarm. I am happy
because it’s summer here so I can wear the sleeveless that I used to wear before.”
The tips for whitening the underarms were framed as a form of “help” by the YouTubers to
their viewers who might be struggling with underarm issues. The statements often highlighted that
the YouTubers went through experiences and these might be similar to viewers. As such, they were
positioned as women who are helping other women with their bodily issues. In here, a sense of
collective emerged but particularly for the embodiment of dominant beauty ideals. For instance,
Carlene highlighted, “I hope this video helped my ‘sis’ out there who are budgetarian or thrifty like
me.” And on a more general term, a YouTuber like Anna emphasised, “Hopefully it (referring to the
video) helped those who are going through a gloomy future with their underarms.” In such a
statement, the value of the video is framed as a source of collective knowledge and skills among
women who want to address a “dark” future because of having skin issues.
Lastly, YouTubers capitalised on interactivity to engage the audiences. They purposely give
in on the viewers’ demands to craft their content, reflecting relational labour (Baym, 2015). For
instance, Maria mentions in her video that her viewers saw her photo while she was in a popular
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beach destination in the Philippines. In the photo, her white underarm was seen. She then received
some comments, asking about her routines in having a white underarm: “I had a photo showing my
arms up on the beach and then many of you commented, Ate Maria, can you share your tips on your
underarm. What do you do with your underarm? Why is your underarm white?” This statement
prompted her to produce a video, “So this video is the answer to all of your answers.” Meanwhile,
some are motivated to produce videos through direct video requests. This was the case for Athena,
saying, “This is the most requested video in my channel. Many commented in the comment section
that I produce this video.” Nevertheless, these both statements show that the audience or viewers are
curious about some tips and procedures in whitening the underarm. As such, the performativity of the
YouTubers adjusts to the viewers’ requests in order to sustain engagement and more likely generate
profit.
Building the credibility of a skin guru
The ten videos capitalised on the aesthetic of transformation to establish the credibility of
using an existing or a DIY underarm whitening. YouTubers typically showed a close-up photo of
their dark underarm and this is typically contrasted to the final result. A skin revelation was followed
by a personalised, playful and intimate discussion of skin regimens. The narratives, which centre on
individual experiences, act as mechanisms for brokering beauty ideals and the perceived benefits.
There are different ways through which the YouTubers establish the effectiveness of their
product. Firstly, several of them used a timeline approach. This means that the video presented a
compilation of underarm whitening routines through visuals and storytelling, leading up to a final
and whitened state of the underarm. A case in point is Molly who demonstrated the creation of her
affordable DIY version of tawasmansi (deodorant crystals with lime), an underarm whitening
mixture. After producing the mixture, she started applying it on her underarm. The videos presented
the transformation of her underarm during the third and tenth day of use. So far, she was happy with
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the results. However, Molly also articulated a sense of ambivalence in the final outcome of the
transformation. She still identified some dark shades in her underarm. As she shared:
I am so happy with the results! Right now this is the status of my underarm. The chicken skin
slightly vanished and lightened. The dark shade, this particular line, it’s quite difficult to
remove that fold in the underarm. That’s the number one problem in our underarm, the fold.
But all in all I am super happy, in the past, in my first update, I had dark shades in my
chicken skin then, right now it's more lightened.
For some who did not use a timeline approach, the current state of a whitened underarm is shown to
the camera. The YouTuber then talks about the products and routines that helped the further
whitening of the skin. This was the approach by several YouTubers like Lisa, who tried using
underarm whitening products to restore the condition of her underarm prior to pregnancy. In the
video, Lisa admitted that she had gone through 15 sessions of laser treatment to make her underarm
smooth. On top of this, she detailed in the video her routine to maintain her white underarm. She
presented a step-by-step demonstration of applying different products, such as body oil, a spa milk
salt, a lime, and also an Aloe Vera gel. As she explained the use of these products, she also warned
the viewers who want to try the routine to pay attention to their skin’s sensitivity to avoid irritation.
Most of the YouTubers warned their viewers to be extra careful in using a range of products
to whiten and smoothen the underarm. As brokers, they highlighted the downside of using a range of
skin whitening products. The word “irritate” was often used to emphasise a negative outcome. Yet,
despite raising their concerns over product use, they still promote and use a range of underarm care
products. To protect themselves from potential complaints from their viewers who might follow their
regimens, they used a “disclaimer” in recommending a range of products, services and practices.
Among the ten YouTubers, nine used a disclaimer. Below are some examples of the YouTubers’
disclaimer:
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The products that I’m using MAY OR MAY NOT WORK for you. We have different
SKIN TYPES ✨✨ 😉😉
Any information associated with this video should not be considered as a substitute
for prescription of any professionals. Please always remember that we are not all the
same. Products that work on me, may or may not work on you. “USE IT AT YOUR
OWN RISK”
My kilikili is not perfect (My underarm is not perfect.). I am not a skin
expert/dermatologist.
A “disclaimer” operates in two ways. Firstly, it allows the YouTuber to detach oneself from the
viewer who might use the recommended product and goods. This means that the YouTuber is not
accountable for the potential effects of the featured underarm whitening cream or liquid spray.
Secondly, the disclaimer highlights the specific socio-cultural reading of the suitability of a certain
product to individuals. According to Hardon (1992), Filipinos tend to assess the efficacy of
medicines in everyday conversations through assessments of suitability or hiyang. Hiyang is
understood by comparing the drug’s effects on oneself or others as well as effects based on dosage
level and product price (Hardon, 1992). For the former, if the product does not work for oneself but
works for others, then the product is not hiyang for oneself. For the latter, if a high level of dosage
still does not work for oneself, then one should stop taking it because it is not hiyang for oneself. As
such, hiyang becomes the basis for Filipinos to opt for alternative cure or therapy. When a drug does
not meet the expectations of the individual, instead of “letting” the medicine work, other options are
considered. Notably, it is also important to point out that the lack of access to health services and
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medication compel Filipinos to opt for alternative solutions such as herbal medicines or buying drugs
without prescriptions.
In our analysis, the narratives of the YouTubers become prompts for the viewers to assess the
efficacy of the whitening products. Viewers were informed that the products or services accessed by
the YouTubers are hiyang for them. It is through this point that the “disclaimer” works. The
YouTuber can detach oneself from any risks or tensions that the viewers may experience in using
their promoted products or services because they reiterated in the disclaimer that the product is
hiyang for them and may or may not be hiyang for the viewers. Despite this uneven effect, the videos
construct the imagined efficacy of the skin-whitening product via displaying a white and smooth
underarm. This outcome then becomes the basis for legitimacy of the product, therefore attracting the
viewers to watch the video, follow the YouTuber’s routines, and even use the same products to enact
transformation.
Lastly, YouTubers who claimed a fast and effective way of underarm whitening presented
some documentation of the transformation of the underarm. This was the case for Susan, who
showed how to whiten one’s underarm in “just one week.” Interestingly, Susan did not show a
sequence of before and after images. Rather, she presented her routine, such as using body oil and
lemon to cleanse and whiten her underarm. She demonstrated how to apply the liquids on her skin.
Further, she also promoted ways of taking care of one’s underarm, including avoiding plucking and
shaving, opting for waxing, the use of hiyang (suitable) antiperspirant or deodorant, and gently
scrubbing the underarm. These practices were highlighted to ensure the whitening and maintenance
of the underarm.
The textures of platform-specific strategies
The ten videos contained different platform strategies to ensure a sustained engagement of
the imagined audiences. Hashtags were common in four out of ten videos. Hashtags were embedded
in the upper section of the video title. Examples were #Kilikiliroutine (Underarm routine),
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#MurangPampaputiNgKilikili (Affordable underarm whitening product), #lightenarmpits,
#darkspots, #natural remedies, and so forth. In some cases, a YouTuber also took pride in
representing oneself through a hashtag. For example, Molly used the hashtags, #FilipinaYouTuber,
#DIYTawasMansi and #Kilikiligoals (underarm goals). Using the hashtag #DIYTawasMansi
primarily highlights the “TawasMansi” or Potassium Alum mixed with lemon.
The description box was also filled with relevant information. Texts often include the
products used in the demonstration, the links where the used products can be accessed or bought, the
ingredients used in producing a DIY underarm whitening liquid, the YouTuber’s social media
handle, an email for interested businesses and partners to advertise and collaborate, as well as other
online channels for selling products and services. For example, in the description box of Molly’s
video, a range of information was shown, including a disclaimer, a list of links of past YouTube
videos, promotion of another YouTuber, an email for collaboration, hashtags, and tools used for the
production of the video.
Hello! 🤗😚 DIY TAWAS MANSI. Hope it helps you 😉😉 (Don’t Judge 😅) Please
maximize or minimize the volume if needed. Sorry about my audio. Thankyou! 😘😘
DISCLAIMER: The products that im using MAY OR MAY NOT WORK for you. We have
different SKIN TYPES ✨✨ 😉😉
Product Mentioned: Water Empty Spray Bottle Tawas Calamasi
You can also watch: How i get Monetised: [YouTube link]
My First YouTube Sweldo: [YouTube link]
Filming Set Up for Beginners: [YouTube link]
My Glow Up Story: [YouTube link]
My Weight Loss Journey: [YouTube link]
KILI Story Part 1: [YouTube link]
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Achieve Glass Skin (Skincare Routine): [YouTube link]
PLEASE DO SUBSCRIBE ON MY NIECE YT CHANNEL: [YouTube link]
Follow me on: Tiktok @Molly
Facebook [Facebook profile page]
Instagram [Instagram page]
FOR BUSINESS/COLLABS/OTHERS Email me at: (email address)
Camera Used: Samsung NX Mini/Iphone 6+
Video Editor: iMovie
Thumbnail Editor: Picsart
Thank you for watching!!!!! 🥰🥰 ILOVEYOU GUYSSS 💖💘💞💕 #FilipinaYouTuber
#DIYTawasMansi #KILIKILIGOALS
The last few frames of each video also reflected platform-specific strategies. In some
instances, YouTubers showed their social media channels and invited their viewers to connect and
follow them in these outlets. But commonly, the last frame of the video was embedded with
thumbnails of the YouTuber’s past videos. In here, the algorithms worked by feeding viewers with
similar types of contents on beauty routines. For instance, in the video of Andrea, suggested videos
related to her underarm whitening video were about her previous video on trying a new make-up set
and buying the skin whitening product glutathione. Similarly, a series of recommended videos
appeared in the last frame of Gale’s video, presenting titles on beauty routines, including permanent
underarm hair removal, whitening of the knees, elbow, and other parts of the body, and an
explanation on sperm facial mask. Nevertheless, these recommendations were operationalised based
on coding beauty regimes of the YouTuber contributing to the formation of filtered aesthetic and
ideals of femininity.
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Lastly, YouTubers deployed call-to-action statements to ensure the sustained consumption of
their viewers of their online contents. For example, Carlene said in her video, “Please don’t forget to
like this video. If you do, don’t forget to subscribe and click the bell button so you can be updated
with my uploads. Thank you guys. Bye.” After delivering her line, the video transitioned to some
graphics stating, “Thanks for watching. God bless.” These texts were accompanied by a kiss emoji.
In some cases, some YouTubers encouraged a more participatory engagement. For instance, Andrea,
who showed a step-by-step procedure of a skin whitening liquid in a spray bottle, was encouraging
her viewers to comment on her video especially among those who would try her prescribed skin
whitening solution. As she said, “So that’s it for our video, the first DIY of the year. Thank you for
watching. Don’t forget to like and subscribe to my channel. And please comment if you will also try
it. Bye bye.” Andrea’s approach in engaging audiences was similar to Karla’s strategy. However,
Karla was performing more of a relational labour (Baym, 2015) by positioning herself as readily
available to respond to any questions from her viewers. As she noted, “If you already tried these
products, just comment down below and share your experiences with me. And if you have any
questions, just leave a question or comment in the comment section and I will try to answer them.”
Here, one can interpret this as a strategy to know the impact of the product to the user as well as
boost potential engagement from the audience through comments.
For some YouTubers, the rhetoric of care was used to encourage viewers in consuming and
sharing the videos. This gesture may contribute to a sustained circulation and consumption of the
YouTuber’s video, which then drives the monetisation of content as well as reinforcement of the
aesthetics of beauty ideals. This was the case of Susan, stating:
Thank you for watching. I hope you learned something on this day. Sharing is caring. Why
don’t you share this video to your friends so they can also brighten their dark underarm. If you
do like this video, don’t forget to give me a thumbs up. And thank you so much again for
watching. Don’t forget to subscribe. Click the bell button so you can be notified if I have a new
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uploaded video. So you won’t miss out any tips that I will be sharing to everyone. Thank you
very much.
In Susan’s statement, the words “sharing is caring” is highlighted. This means that although whitening
one’s underarm can be considered an individual journey, the potentiality of effecting positive change
for others through collective and networked practices can be enacted upon. One becomes a pillar of
support for others who have an underarm problem, which solution can be addressed through
“recommending” the YouTuber’s content on underarm whitening. In a sense, once an individual views
the video, the products are promoted, contents are continuously recommended, and beauty standards
are reinforced through a loop of contents operationalised and controlled by algorithms.
Commodifying a Loop of Beauty Ideals
Based on the ten videos that we analysed, we observed how contents brokered the aesthetic
of beauty ideals for Filipino women. The YouTubers build on their personal experiences to collate
and distribute useful information to enact an affordable and effective skin transformation. In the first
instance, the personalised narratives in a confessional format talked about the problems of and
solution to a dark underarm. In the brokering process, they highlighted their frustrations, skin care
practices, and successful transformation. These diverse themes in content creation were weaved
together to capture, curate and perpetuate dominant ideologies on being an empowered, strong and
confident Filipino woman, which has been a common framing in traditional media channels (Baldo-
Cubelo, 2015).
Despite the emphasis on ways of achieving a white underarm, the YouTubers deployed a
disclaimer. This means that what works for them might not work for others. In the context of
Philippine culture, the disclaimer from the YouTubers can be acceptable especially when medicinal
products are assessed based on hiyang. As such, the YouTubers are emphasising that there are
different effects of the products on individuals, but one can still attempt to try for such products can
be hiyang for oneself. And there’s only one way to determine the suitability of the product, which
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according to the YouTuber, is to verbalise and share one’s experience in using similar products
through commenting on the video.
As brokers, these YouTubers promote beauty ideals, specifically in embodying their smooth
and glowing underarms. The visuals created the desire for whiteness, highlighting that women who
have dark underarms by birth, as a result of pregnancy, or “improper” skin care practices can restore
or have a white underarm. Here, the dark underarm was abhorred and only the use of commercial and
DIY skin care products can solve the problem that is essentially skin deep – lack of confidence.
Through a postfeminist lens, the YouTubers operate as conduits in the amplification of postfeminist
branding (Banet-Weiser, 2012). For the female YouTubers, bodily issues were used to engage
audiences and paved the way for entrepreneurial practices. Further, they embodied a sense of colour
consciousness, highlighting the capitals that go with having a white underarm – confidence, beauty,
and admiration from the viewers. The viewers were invited to watch the videos in the hopes of
enacting skin transformations on themselves and accessing various capitals – a sense of
empowerment, beauty, and privilege.
A sense of collective was harnessed by YouTubers in digital and feminised spaces. Sharing
of tips and tactics for beautification means caring for others who might be going through similar
problems. This, we argue, is another co-optation of postfeminist branding. In digital cultures, the
collective matters because it fuels hits, views and subscriptions. For online content creators, the
collective is paradoxically harnessed for entrepreneurial quests. These individuals highlight their
relatable problems, generating intimate connections from viewers (Abidin, 2015). In some cases,
audiences demanded from the YouTubers to cover a pressing issue – whitening the underarm or any
other lifestyle-related topics. In here, the audiences suggested topics that internalise gendered,
racialised and classed hierarchy, which is then appropriated by the YouTuber as a marketable
content. As such, it seems that the collective is embedded in the ambivalence of brand cultures –
enabling empowerment through visibility and participation yet cementing dominant discourses.
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Significantly, while the videos showcased how to improve one’s body, hegemonic discourses are
constantly negotiated through platform-specific modality. In digital spaces, the production and
consumption of hegemonic representations are more likely perpetuated by a loop of contents that are
influenced by algorithms which often circulate contents based on similarity and popularity (Pariser,
2011; van Dijck, 2013). In this case, YouTube, as we conceptualised in Chapter 2, serves as a socio-
technical broker that circulates information based on the conditions enacted by the content creators,
such as the production and distribution of creative contents that are mostly viewed, liked, and shared
by viewers, and such practices fuel a loop of similar or matching and discursive contents.
Nonetheless, YouTube becomes a space where hierarchical discourses in the Philippines are
perpetually negotiated through a set of commercial practices, networked arrangements, and
internalised colour consciousness.
Beyond skin deep? On the paradox of digital brokering
This chapter has presented the brokerage of beauty ideals among selected YouTube videos of
Filipina YouTubers. It particularly highlights the range of practices and strategies that promote and
enact the whitening and smoothening of the underarm. By closely examining the aesthetic, rhetoric
and technical features of online contents, we have demonstrated how desires and practices of having
a flawless underarm pave the way for negotiating hegemonic structures in Philippine society. One the
one hand, the Filipina YouTuber utilises creative, playful and personalised contents to visibilise
oneself and even harness a sense of collective. However, online performances tend to resonate
existing marketing campaigns on feminine beauty and lifestyle (Baldo-Cubelo, 2015, Rondilla,
2009). The body, particularly having a dark underarm, signifies embarrassment and repulsion, and
this affective state demands a solution such as consuming or creating underarm whitening products.
As such, the online narratives particularly position empowerment through entrepreneurialism (Banet-
Weiser, 2012). Moreover, we also argue that the videos essentially co-opt hegemonic racialised
desires of having a bright and smooth underarm, which is positioned as crucial for accessing diverse
126
symbolic capitals – confidence and status. Meanwhile, the viewers are then presented with texts and
resources that tap into imaginaries and criteria of flourishing feminine subjectivity. They are also
invited to partake in a sense of collective as imagined by the YouTuber, including acting on one’s
skin problem, and inviting others to address similar issues through networked practices. Notably, the
technical organisation of YouTube also complements the loop of cultural whitening. Through
algorithmic systems, the recommended videos align with the key themes of the videos produced by
the YouTuber and potentially consumed by the viewers. Ultimately, we argue that the YouTube
videos on constructing Filipina beauty standards, as amplified by platform specific strategies and
technical organisation, indicate the negotiations of subjectivity, positionality, and visibility in
postcolonial and neoliberal Philippine society.
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CHAPTER 4
RELATIONSHIPS
Abstract. This chapter illuminates the curation of interracial relationships between Filipino women
and their foreign male partners on YouTube. Drawing upon the conception of countererotics, cultural
whitening, and a postfeminist critique, it problematises intimate, affective and creative approaches
enacted by YouTubers in networked and monetised environments as a form of brokering of idealised
interracial coupling. The analysis of LDR (long-distance relationship)-themed YouTube videos is
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situated within the socio-historical context and technological landscape of mixed-race partnership
and marriages in the Philippines. Ultimately, the emotive narratives, personalisation mechanisms,
and platform-specific strategies construct and marketise the vernaculars of interracial relationships.
The chapter ends with the possibilities, economies, and parameters of broadcasting intimate
relationships in networked spaces.
Keywords: interracial relationship, mediated intimacy, postfeminist entrepreneurialism, Long-
distance relationship, dating apps, marriage
Unprecedented industrialisation, global expansion of markets, and the rapid development of
transport and communication technologies have facilitated new ways for the conduct of individual
and family life. Sociologist Anthony Giddens (1991) has identified this arrangement because of
individualisation in modern society, highlighting the changing notions and practices of conducting
intimate lives. For Giddens (1991), as individuals participate in the labour force, one’s life choices,
pathways, aspirations, and arrangements have become individualised. Notably, in contemporary
times, the emancipation from existing social structures that define partnerships and familial
arrangements (Bauman, 2000) has been mobilised by the advent of ubiquitous digital communication
technologies and mobile dating applications. Individuals no longer meet their partners within a
locality. They are also ushered into what Constable (2005) refers to as “global hypergamy” or union
of individuals coming from diverse backgrounds living across countries. The interaction, union, and
eventual settlement of proximate or geographically dispersed individuals are facilitated by either
cross-border mobility or virtual forms of intimate exchanges (Constable, 2003).
This chapter focuses on the brokerage of ideal interracial relationships between Filipino
women and their Caucasian male partners on YouTube. It examines ten videos produced by Filipina
YouTubers, with their contents showcasing the collation of personalised stories around their intimate
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relations with their partners. A critical examination of these selected contents problematises how the
aesthetics, rhetoric and platform-specific strategies of gendered, racialised, and classed
representations broker, perpetuate as well as challenge pre-existing representations of an intimate
interracial partnerships involving Filipinas. To approach this, we connect our examination of the
narratives to the broader socio-historically specific contexts through which representations, meanings
and mediated practices are produced. In the Philippine context, the ascribed and discriminatory
meanings of interracial relationships are informed by the historicity of the uptake of web
technologies among Filipinos who aspire for, engage and end up in interracial relationships
(Constable, 2003). For instance, scholars have pinpointed that the emergence of matchmaking
technologies has been reported and known to facilitate the flows of mail-order brides in the
Philippines, highlighting how women from poor economic backgrounds are just after a foreign visa
and money (Constable, 2003, 2006; Rondina 2004). Through the historicity of partnerships and
marriages between a mail-order bride and a foreign man as facilitated by web platforms, the figure of
the Filipina has been consistently associated with mail-order brides (Gonzalez & Rodriguez, 2003).
However, scholars have argued that such reductionist representations often elide the diversity of
factors why a Filipino woman would end up in an interracial relationship (Constable, 2003; Saroca,
2002).
Several scholars have unveiled the politics behind the desires for interracial partnerships.
They have argued that Filipino women are commodified in matchmaking platforms, often placing
them in online catalogues and inviting the gaze of men who can “afford” to purchase a desired
woman (Rondina, 2004; Tolentino, 1996). They have also pointed out that the capacity and desires
for having a Caucasian partner are tied to the Philippines’ colonial past (Tolentino, 1996). Through
exposure to cultures, traditions and language of the colonisers, the Filipino’s taste, views of the
world, and understanding of social mobility have been contaminated with colonial meanings
(Tolentino, 1996). The desire for partnering, establishing affinities, or being associated with the
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colonisers stems from aspiring for the privilege that has been ascribed to foreigners and even fair-
skinned people (Rafael, 2000). As presented in Chapter 2, the desire for a Caucasian partner is
associated with raising one’s social status by having a mixed-race child (Hunter, 2005; Glenn, 2009),
which symbolises intergenerational mobility and privilege especially when “whiteness” is ascribed
with positive connotations (Rondilla, 2009). As such, to date, there is a salient number of interracial
partnerships between Filipino spouses and foreign nationals, who are not necessarily Caucasian. For
instance, with the growing number of Koreanovelas in the country, there are Filipino women who
moved to Korea to marry Korean men through “marriage brokers” (Garcia, 2011). Nonetheless,
although the source of matchmaking is not particularly identified, according to the statistics released
by the Commission on Overseas Filipinos, there were 559, 944 marriages between Filipino spouses
and foreign nationals from 1989–2018 (Commission on Filipino Overseas, 2018). Over half a
million, or 511,453 Filipino women and 48,491 Filipino men were married to a foreign national from
1989 to 2018 (Commission on Filipino Overseas, 2018). The top three countries with the most
number of foreign nationals with Filipino spouses from 1989 to 2018 are the U.S. (245,219), Japan
(125,813) and Australia (42,644) (Commission on Filipino Overseas, 2018).
In examining the selected videos of YouTubers who curate and visibilise their interracial
relationship and broker idealised interracial coupling, we particularly identify “LDR” or a colloquial
Filipino term for “long distance relationship” as a central theme of the videos. The word “LDR” was
a result of our keyword search of the words “Filipino and Foreigner” in Google trends. For this
chapter, we situate our examination of the LDR-themed videos through the lens of countererotics or
the utilisation of the Internet to counter or contest sexualised, objectified and stereotypical
representations of individuals in interracial relationship (Constable, 2012). Here, we highlight how
creative and personalised representations of intimate relations by YouTubers indicate agentic
practices (Constable, 2003). Importantly, we further examine online performances as informed by
neoliberal and postcolonial contexts, noting how postcolonial performativity is showcased in diverse
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texts (Spivak, 1999). However, we also argue that the aesthetic and lexicon of enacting intimate
interracial relationships adheres to the process of what Arnado (2019) conceptualises as “cultural
whitening,” which conception was deployed in Chapter 3. Through cultural whitening, the
partnership or marriage of a Filipina to a white man indicates the residues of colonial desires. An
interracial partnership – in particular a marriage to a white man – is perceived to facilitate social
mobility and a stable future (Rondina, 2014). Its attainment therefore aligns with a positive ending in
a “fairy-tale” like quest.
We also analyse the videos as part of digital and commercial cultures, highlighting our
contention on how interracial intimacies are brokered. We argue that the portraiture of cultural
whitening is co-opted for profit making among YouTubers. The contents broker imaginaries of
happiness and the promise of a good and intimate life among viewers. Further, gendered and
racialised ideals are reinforced through visualisation, curation, and storytelling. Through these key
points, we posit that the visibility and performativity of Filipina YouTubers as symptomatic of
postfeminist entrepreneurialism, signalling how narratives and aspirations of interracial marriage can
be utilised for entrepreneurial practices and branding strategies in digital environments (Banet-
Weiser, 2012). This means that YouTubers broker the idea that mobility, intimacy, and happiness can
be achieved through the consumption of digital channels. This manifests in how Filipinas discuss
their personal experiences in the online dating scene and sustaining an LDR arrangement as the
relationship progresses. Moreover, the “quest” for finding the right one is also utilised to attract
followers, generate views, and earn profit on YouTube. Complementing the presentation of valorised
success in matchmaking practices is the operations of algorithms, placing contents in a cycle based
on popularity and similarity (van Dijck, 2013). Ultimately, the curation of interracial and intimate
encounters on YouTube offers a vantage point to re-think the brokering of intimate relations in a
postcolonial, neoliberal, and digitalised environment. Before we discuss the findings of the chapter,
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we map how the socio-historical, socio-economic, socio-political, and socio-technological contexts
have shaped the notions, practices, and meanings of interracial relationship in the Philippines.
The Construction of Postcolonial Intimacies
Several studies have discussed how the logics of desires for an interracial relationship among
Filipinos are shaped by historical, political, and economic forces. Filipino scholar Vicente Rafael
(2000) argues that racial hierarchy, as a form of colonial legacy in Philippine society, influenced the
attitudes and practices of Filipinos towards Westerners and mestisos/as. He articulates that the social
hierarchy that began in Spanish colonisation has instilled in the Filipinos’ mind the privilege and
dominant positions of the colonisers and the mestisos/as. As discussed in Chapter 3, the Spanish
colonial period ascribed fair-skinned people with imagery of civility, beauty, and success (Rafael,
2000; Rondilla & Spickard, 2007). Moreover, mestisos/as or mixed-race heritage (typically
individuals with a combined indigenous and Spanish and Chinese background) often held a
privileged position in political and economic sectors (Cabañes, 2019; Rafael 2000). In contrast,
indigenous Filipinos were associated with barbarism, violence, and deviance, which then contributed
to legitimising control and policing by the colonisers (Rafael, 2000). Moreover, as part of a colonial
legacy, Filipinos position Westerners on the top of the racial ladder, followed by Orientals such as
Japanese, Koreans and Chinese, and Indians (associated to loan sharks), Middle Eastern (associated
to terrorism), and African people (Cabañes, 2014, 2019).
The high regard to foreign nationals continued during the American period. As presented in
Chapter 1, the American period saw the deployment of benevolent assimilation. This approach
allowed the colonisers to frame “American rule” as friendly and akin to familial relations. The result
was the provision of a range of support systems among Filipinos, such as placing elite Filipinos in
government positions, the distribution of American-based media contents, and the implementation of
a US-patterned education system (Aguilar, 2014). These key ingredients in the process of benevolent
assimilation paved the way for the exposure, appreciation, and further colonisation of Philippine
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society. The portrayal of American cultures, traditions, and practices have defined standards of a
good, secure, and advanced life (Tolentino, 1996). Moreover, the mobility and settlement of several
Filipinos in the U.S. mediate colonial desires. Narratives on the good life of nurses in the U.S., and
the success stories of those who studied in the U.S. and secured a high position in Philippine society,
constructed the colonialist project as legitimate and desirable (Aguilar, 2014; Choy, 2003).
Nevertheless, colonial influences are powerful frames that impact cultural taste, aspirations, and
practices among Filipinos.
In the context of interracial marriages, Tolentino (1996) argues that the logic of desire to
search and marry a foreign partner is informed by colonial, capitalist, and militarist structures in
Philippine society. Tolentino (1996) points out how the presence of U.S. military camps in the
Philippines and the work opportunities available for Filipinos in the U.S. reconfigured intercultural
sociality and intimate relations (Tolentino, 1996). For the former, Filipino women, and also children,
were subject to prostitution as military camps populate some regions in the Philippines (Tolentino
1996). The lack of job opportunities in some areas in the Philippines compelled some women to opt
for sex work and prostitution. By working as waitresses and entertainers in military camps, women
met foreign men, which led to partnerships, marriages, pregnancies, and unfortunately for some,
abuse. As such, the word amboy became popular, which meanings are ascribed to a mixed-race child
or particularly a child of an American man and a Filipina. The hospitality jobs of Filipino women
were also evident in the number of Filipina nurses who assist American soldiers in base camps
(Tolentino, 1996). Nonetheless, these are some work trajectories of Filipino women during the
American rule.
The Philippines remains a neo-colonial state, which stirs the enactment of interracial
encounters and relationships. Although the U.S. granted the Philippines its independence in 1945, the
Philippines has remained a neo-colonial state because of the nation-state’s economic dependence on
the U.S. through neoliberal policies (Tolentino, 1996; Aguilar, 2014). U.S. military bases remain in
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the Philippines and the Philippine economy has been operationalised to the demands and policies of
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. The Philippines borrowed money from
such institutions, and in return, it opened its economy to deregulation, privatisation, and
liberalisation. This political and economic landscape has then contributed to racialised, gendered and
classed structures that exploit Filipinos. This is reflected in the exportation of migrant Filipinos
(Rodriguez, 2010; Guevarra, 2010) as well as the commodification of women’s body (Tadiar, 2004)
through prostitution and sex work (Tolentino 1996; Roces, 2009). Given the affiliations developed
during and after American rule, the advent and use of letters, catalogues, and eventually web
technologies have contributed to the continuities of harnessing interracial partnerships. However, the
Filipino woman’s body became deeply associated with the term “mail-order bride.” Here, a Filipino
women’s marriage to a foreigner is understood to be a form of neo-colonial fantasy or the fulfilment
of interracial ties that carry the promise of a good life (Tolentino, 1996). However, for the male
foreigner, marrying a Filipina fulfils a nuclear family fantasy, positioning them as dominant in the
relationship while the woman performs a submissive, domesticated, and nurturing role (Tolentino,
1996). Notably, some interracial marriages come with diverse issues. Some women fall as victims of
human trafficking, sex slavery, and domestic abuse (see Garcia, 2011; Kusel, 2014; Lee, 1998;
Lindee, 2007). In contrast, Filipino women are also portrayed as abusive in a relationship or someone
who will dupe men (Parreñas, 2011). Moreover, the violence against women is also legitimised by
framing women as fraud or individuals who are just after a marriage with a foreigner to obtain
permanent residency (Amy, 1997).
Other scholars have argued to locate a sense of agency of Filipinos who meet and marry
foreign nationals in various matchmaking channels by moving away from simply engaging in
representational politics (Constable, 2003; Parreñas, 2011; Saroca, 2002). For instance, by
conducting an ethnographic study of Chinese and Filipino women who married U.S. nationals
through matchmaking channels, Constable (2003) has argued how Filipino women demonstrate their
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agency in various ways. First, not all women who access websites or engage with matchmaking
agents consider themselves as being commodified and sexualised. Constable highlights that markers
of difference, such as class or educational background, tend to contribute to the agency of women in
handling interracial relations. Further, Filipino women have different motivations, intents, practices,
and strategies in finding a romantic partner and being in an interracial relationship. For example,
some Filipinas opt to marry a foreign national because they could not find a local man who can
accept their cosmopolitan ideals of romance (Cabañes & Collantes, 2020), or their living conditions
such as being widowed, a single mother, or too old for a local man’s taste. Additionally, the choice of
images, text narratives, as well as communication process, allows for the formation of self-
actualisation (Constable, 2003).
More recently, Constable (2012) has also highlighted how Caucasian men who marry
Filipino women call out discrimination and stereotypical representations of Asian women through
virtual communities, such as newsgroups and forums. Countererotics, as a concept, pinpoints how
Filipino women veer away from sexualised and exoticised representations. Here, Constable (2012)
coins the term countererotics to describe the oppositional narratives and testaments of those in
interracial relationships against the sexualisation and objectification of women. Despite such
contention, Constable (2003, 2012) argues that emphasising the agency of women in interracial
relationships should not be romanticised. Women may face discrimination from the family of their
foreign husbands (Constable, 2003; Parreñas, 2011) or even in their ethnic communities (Aquino,
2018). They can also be subject to unwanted requests from their family members because of
perceiving their marriage to earn and send dollars (Constable, 2003). Nonetheless, by presenting the
challenges that women bear and negotiate in interracial relationship, abuse and exploitation are not
elided (Constable, 2003).
It is important to note that women’s agency in postcolonial conditions are reflective of the
social structures women navigate in Philippine society. In this regard, we engage with the work of
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Arnado (2019) on cultural whitening. By examining the lives of Filipino women married to white
men, Arnado (2019) coins the term cultural whitening to capture and explain the desire for whiteness
among Filipino women who marry white men. Specifically, she proposes three states of cultural
whitening: (1) embodied (habits), (2) objectified (consuming goods and products), and (3)
institutionalised (including education, migration, marriage, and citizenship). For her, the desire for
whiteness among Filipino women stems from the opportunities enabled by “being white” – such as
accessing economic mobility, physical security, and assimilation in a multicultural country. This
connects to Tolentino’s (1996) notion of “neo-colonial fantasy” as reflected in the desires for an
interracial partnership or marriage. However, Arnado (2019) highlights that Filipino women feel
ambivalent towards their transformed lives. Here, the more they become “white,” the more they lose
their connections to their roots. The whiteness is evident in living overseas, a reconfigured sense of
decision making, speaking a foreign language, and so forth. As such, they typically employ forms of
resistance such as continuously practising Filipino traditions and upbringing via cooking or retaining
their Philippine citizenship. However, as Arnado (2019) notes, cultural whitening is an indication of
how Filipino women navigate gendered, racial, and even classed hierarchy enabled by colonial
legacy in the Philippines.
As we have presented, interracial relationships in the Philippines are informed by socio-
economic, socio-political, and socio-historical conditions. However, it is important to note that those
in interracial relationships also demonstrate agency through diverse practices, despite the
contradictions underscoring this exercise of agency. In the next section, we turn our discussion to the
role of fast-evolving media channels in shaping the enactment of interracial ties and relations.
Technological transformations are crucial in shaping the agency and experiences of Filipino women,
which are leveraged on for brokering an interracial and intimate relationship.
Continuities, Contestations, and Contradictions in Mediated Worlds
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Even before the advent of dating websites, various matchmaking tools, including video tapes
and letters (Constable, 2003), catalogues (Tolentino, 1996), websites (Del Vecchio, 2007; Zug, 2016)
and matchmaking agencies (Constable, 2003) have been utilised by men and women who are in
search for a romantic partner. In the Philippines, these matchmaking outlets have been analysed
through textual and critical discourse analysis, highlighting how women are typically sexualised and
commodified (Tolentino, 1996) as well as exoticised and eroticised (Robinson, 1996; Starr & Adams,
2016). Meanwhile, white men are framed as customers of these women, positioning them as strong,
dominant, and “saviours” of women (Tolentino, 1996; Zug, 2016). Nevertheless, the dichotomous
representation of gendered, racialised and classed individuals often depicts power differentials in a
“transactional” or “economised” modality.
Matchmaking channels have diversified over the past years. Certainly, web technologies still
exist and facilitate interactions, meet-ups, and eventual marriage (Rondina, 2004). More recently, a
diverse range of social media channels and dating applications have surfaced, providing new ways of
enabling interactions and intimate relations. These dating applications can be argued as a continuity
of previous matchmaking channels that allow individuals to present themselves through profile
photos, texts, and other digital information (Ellison, Heino, & Gibbs, 2006). These channels have
also facilitated a space for non-heteronormative relationships (Licoppe, 2014; Hobbs, Owen &
Gerber, 2017; Quiroz, 2013). In the context of the Philippines, dating applications are becoming
popular. According to the report released by YouGov Philippines in 2017, half of the 2,777 surveyed
Filipinos used an online dating app (YouGov Philippines, 2017). Further, recent studies show that
digital matchmaking channels allow Filipinos to meet foreign nationals as intimate partners and
embody a sense of cosmopolitanism (Cabañes & Collantes, 2020). However, discrimination arises
from existing prejudices to certain racialised, gendered and classed bodies in interracial
matchmaking. Here, interactions and relationships are perceived as transactional, and Saroca (2007)
notes as “akin to prostitution and devoid of romantic love” (p. 82).
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In this chapter, we highlight the representations of intimate and interracial relationships on
YouTube. This is of great importance as networked and personalised media are becoming critical
spaces to display, affirm, and even counter racialised, gendered, and classed relations (Constable,
2012). In these spaces, personalised and localised contents (Hjorth, 2011) and vernacular creativity
(Burgess, 2007) become focal points for participating in an intimate public (Dobson, Robards, &
Carah, 2018). On YouTube in particular, ordinary individuals curate their personal, quotidian and
intimate experiences (Strangelove, 2010), which trigger opportunities for interactions and
connections in an online community (Burgess & Green, 2018; Lange, 2007). In an online space
though, performativity is reflected in how people present themselves, which indicates strategies to
navigate the public and private self (Lange, 2007). As we will show in this chapter, the YouTubers
broadcast their intimate relationships to either affirm or negate notions of an interracial arrangement.
The exposition of intimate, challenging and success stories function as important sources for the
brokering of interracial intimacies.
An online space like YouTube is not a neutral space (van Dijck, 2013). As discussed in
Chapter 1, it has its own business model and governance which can shape the performativity, content
circulation, and other forms of mobility in digital environments. Examining YouTube allows us to
reflect on how the blurring of boundaries between amateur and professional contents has been made
complex especially when new systems and processes impact who and what becomes visible, popular,
and profitable. For instance, the emergence of multi-channels networks on YouTube shapes the
privileging of contents among content producers who are not necessarily amateurs and not also
professionals (Lobato, 2016). At the same time, ordinary or amateur producers tend to negate
YouTube’s privileging of celebrities’ visibility in the online space, noting how YouTube has initially
positioned itself as a space for community making (Burgess & Green, 2018). Evidently, what this
presents is that the governance of the operations of YouTube is primarily controlled by its business
model. Profit-making is achieved through which contents adhere to a popularity principle – the more
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likes, shares, and comments then the more chances of having contents embedded with ads. With this
understanding, content producers create their own and unique strategies to standout in a competitive
and saturated market (Marwick, 2013). Here, mundane, intimate and relatable contents are
capitalised on by YouTubers or Internet celebrities to generate value and profit (Abidin, 2018,
García-Rapp, 2017; Glatt & Banet-Weiser, 2021).
In the context of interracial relationships, for instance, by examining how interracial
relationships are constructed on YouTube, Sobande (2019) argues that intimate interactions are
visibilised and romanticised online to garner attention and views among audiences. Further, online
narratives, constructed to appeal to demands of audiences that fetishise interracial relationship, may
reinforce heteronormativity and racial objectification (Sobande, 2019). Building on this point, the
online space potentially demonstrates a form of postfeminist branding (Banet-Weiser, 2012). For
Banet-Weiser (2011), YouTube has been utilised by women as spaces for empowerment –
visibilising themselves and generating a collective support. Online spaces facilitate exchanges that
mediate a sense of belonging and community. In contrast, digital practices can also become a locus
for tension especially when generating likes, views and shares depends on the audiences that have
internalised social structures. Here, visibility must conform to audience expectations, which the
content creator has to manage through various strategies of relational labour (Baym, 2015). This
point echoes Sobande’s (2019) study, which showcased how women in interracial relationships tell a
particular narrative that will entice the viewer’s expectations, including reiterating heteronormativity,
romanticising interracial relations, and even fetishising a mixed-race baby. Overall, online spaces
become sites of contradiction especially when social structures, governance, and business models
shape the contours of intimate ties. We now discuss the videos of selected YouTubers who visibilise
their interracial relationships on YouTube.
Intimate Expressions on YouTube
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This chapter examines ten videos produced by ten female YouTubers from the Philippines
who are in an interracial partnership. These videos were collected using Google trends. Initially, we
used the keywords “Filipino and Foreigner” to identify the most popular words used in the
Philippines to search for YouTube videos on interracial partnership. The keyword “LDR” emerged,
and this word was then used to access, filter and analyse YouTube videos about the intimate
partnership between a Filipino and a non-Filipino. In July 2020, 100 videos were collected and
viewed based on the results via YouTube search. Out of the 100 videos, we selected the first 50
videos with the highest number of views and subscribers. From the 50 videos, we selected 10 videos
and transcribed the contents. The study shows that the YouTube videos of 10 Filipina YouTubers
(refer to Table 4.1) primarily showcase the activities involved in the formation and maintenance of a
long-distance relationship. In our examination of the selected videos, we highlight how the contents
of each video act as mechanisms for the brokering of intimate and ideal interracial partnerships. We
then categorised the themes of the videos in relation to our conception of brokering on YouTube,
including affective content, discursive style, credibility building and platform-specific strategies.
We observed ethical considerations in our data collection, analysis, and presentation,
following the guideline of Deakin University’s Human Research Ethics Committee (DUHREC)
(project number 2018–364). Similar to Chapter 3, we also followed the ethical decision-making and
recommendations of the Association of Internet Researchers’ Ethics (2012, 2019) by ensuring an
ethical handling of selected and publicly accessible videos. This chapter employed anonymity to
protect the privacy of individuals in interracial relationships. We de-identified the name of the
YouTubers and their partners by using a pseudonym. We also used a generic title for the videos. We
also removed identifiers, including country of origin, settlement, and other personal information. The
quotes incorporated in this chapter were based on the contextual translation of the original texts
(Zimmer, 2010). These approaches allowed us to protect the privacy of the YouTubers.
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As we present in the following sections, the YouTube videos can be considered
countererotics as they challenge the sexualised and objectified imagery of a Filipina in an interracial
relationship (Constable, 2012). However, despite the attempt of representations to subvert the
sexualisation of women, the aesthetics and rhetoric of the videos tend to convey the process of
cultural whitening, which reinforce hegemonic social structures (Arnado, 2019) especially in a
commercial and gendered (Banet-Weiser, 2011) or racialised digital environments (Sobande, 2019).
[INSERT TABLE 4.1]
Table 4.1 Relationship brokers and their videos curating interracial relations.
The tale of finding a partner
A distinct feature of the YouTube videos is the affective and personal storytelling of enacting
a long-distance relationship through an ordinary person’s voice and lenses. It is common for the
videos to start with the story of how a Filipina or the Filipina YouTuber met their foreign partner.
Here, the YouTuber articulates what online platforms were used that led to online interactions. The
YouTuber then shares how more intimate, personalised, and creative interactions are moved and
developed in another platform, such as Skype, Facebook or Viber. These practices show that the
effort to meet and sustain an intimate interaction occurs in an environment populated by multiple
devices and online channels (Madianou & Miller, 2012). The visuals and texts are utilised through a
messaging application or longer conversations through videoconferencing. After presenting the
exchanges in different platforms, the narrative is followed by the physical meetup of the Filipina and
the foreign national. Often, this moment is captured in the airport, showcasing the arrival of the
foreign national and being met by the anxiously waiting Filipina. Intimate moments of being
physically together are captured. Eventually, the “reunited” couple are typically seen travelling
together and even enjoying several tourist spots in the Philippines. Further, the foreign national
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engages in a “meet-and-greet” session with some family members and friends of the Filipina.
However, the videos also show that the foreign national had to leave again and an LDR arrangement
is opted to sustain the relationship. Dramatic moments in the airport are presented, showing the
couple saying goodbye to each other. As such, the moment of separation and shifting back to a
mediated or long-distance relationship may then entice the viewers to continuously follow the
YouTuber’s quest for overcoming the challenges of a distant coupling. As if following the plot of a
regular television romantic series one is left with a question, will the relationship work? The success
of an LDR is then gauged when a relationship lasts or ends in a marriage and physical reunification
of the couple.
A case in point is the video of Marcus and Ann’s Journey, showing a fairy-tale-like love
story. In the video, viewers are informed that after seven months of online communication,
particularly video call, Marcus and Anna decided to meet in the Philippines. They are shown to be
having fun, cuddling, dancing together, and even touring places. Eventually, Marcus asked Anna to
marry him, a union to be sealed upon the blessing of Anna’s parents. Marcus returned overseas and
they went back to online communication. After seven months, Marcus came back to the Philippines.
They got married. The video ends with a statement from Anna about preparing for a visa application.
The happy ending of the story is captured through the marriage photos.
It is without a doubt that the narrative presents a modern-day fairy tale. A woman meets a
man through an online channel and eventually ends up in a marriage. Over the past years, this
aspirational trajectory has been capitalised by various dating platforms that market matchmaking
opportunities for individuals who are in search of a local or overseas partner (Constable, 2003;
Tolentino, 1996; Zug, 2016). Supporting the saleability of a matchmaking process is the inclusion of
testaments from “satisfied” or “happy” customers, who are essentially able to find and marry their
dream partner through an online site (Constable, 2003, 2012). However, in these web technologies,
the main feature of matchmaking focuses on the “meetups” and the happy union or marriage of two
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individuals. What is missing though are the tiny and most intimate details of meet ups, the courting
stage, and activities leading up to a marriage. This void, we argue, is now filled by the narratives of
Filipina YouTubers who share their everyday experiences and travails in finding their partners
online. Elsewhere, we have highlighted how a Filipino woman in an interracial relationship
showcases the intimate details – ups and downs – of sustaining an interracial partnership
(Cabalquinto & Soriano, 2020). In our study, the YouTubers used their own experiences to showcase
the challenges and benefits of meeting an online partner while also developing a persona for
themselves and their partner to engage audiences and eventually monetise their contents in an online
platform such as YouTube. They present the actual steps in enacting interracial encounters, and more
importantly, the triumphant feeling when a long-distance relationship turns into physical
reunification. In a sense, the “investments” put into meeting the partner online, and sustaining
relations beyond borders that eventually lead to a marriage or long-term partnership (Constable,
2009), while generating profit from YouTubing indicate the commodification of intimacy.
A case in point is the YouTuber Jasmine Cruz and her video entitled “Our love story:
Storytime.” During the conduct of this study, her video had a total of more than one million views.
Through a storytime genre or a confessional format (Raun, 2018), her video details how she met her
Caucasian partner through a dating website. Her video narrates how she signed up for the online
channel to speak to someone but not really after “having a boyfriend.” She confesses that she just
broke up with her boyfriend and wanted to take things easy. She also highlights, on the dating
website, she met her partner, Jack. Back then, her partner responded to her through the dating
website and they eventually shifted their exchanges on Viber. They chatted for six months through a
combination of various online channels. Eventually, they decided to meet in Malaysia, an encounter
convincing her of Jack’s kindness. Eventually, after completing the trip to Malaysia, they decided to
visit the Philippines, which led to Jack meeting her parents. Eventually, they became a couple and
sustained their long-distance relationship. Jasmine, after several months of staying and waiting in the
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Philippines, followed the man overseas. She visited him with a tourist visa but eventually went home
again and then back overseas when a de-facto visa was released. Ultimately, Jasmine’s journey
exemplifies a success story.
However, despite the success story, Jasmine warned her viewers about signing up on online
dating websites. She said, “To all my viewers who are 18 years and below, please take care. I won’t
tell you not to sign up, it’s your life. But please take care. It can be dangerous.” This statement
presents the anxiety that Jasmine felt when she was about to leave the country and meet Jack, but
also signals the YouTuber’s acknowledgement that her stories can influence her viewers’ actions.
She mentioned that she was feeling anxious about a meet-up. Yet, she also highlighted that the
“constant communication” with Jack pacified her fears. For her, the consistency of exchanging
messages, photos, and even videoconferencing act as evidence of Jack’s genuine intention. As
Jasmine had unsettling experiences online, such as being messaged by random men wanting to marry
her, she reminded her viewers about the importance of being cautious in an online dating scene.
Nonetheless, YouTube provides a space where women discuss individual safety by highlighting the
important role of “getting to know” someone through constant communication.
YouTubers construct their persona and their partner’s persona on YouTube. In the first
instance, the YouTubers present themselves as women who are “willing to wait.” They showcase this
in different dimensions. First, they present the virtue of “patience” by engaging in the use of online
channels to forge and maintain interactions with their partners without aggressively demanding for an
immediate meetup or marriage. Second, they perform such acts right after the partner goes back
overseas. In such performativity, what is presented is how a person’s “perseverance” gets to be
rewarded in the end. The waiting period becomes a testing period for knowing each other and
gauging if the relationship will work. Notably, the culmination of enduring a long distance or
technologically mediated relationship is transformed into a partnership or marriage.
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An evident example of this is the music video of Cathy and Dayne, “Long distance
relationship story 2017.” In their video, Cathy talked about the challenges of living apart. She shared
that Dayne left the Philippines in 2016 and moved back overseas. She exclaimed, “I was feeling
lonely when he left, we got used to being next to each other already. After one day, when he got back
to his city. He called me and I was so happy but still sad. We were so emotional and couldn’t help
but cry.” This statement was then followed by a narration of how they sustained the relationship
using different online communication channels. Special occasions celebrated through digital media
use were shown. For instance, during Cathy’s birthday, Dayne called her on video, but also sent
some surprise gifts. Meanwhile, during Dayne’s birthday, Cathy prepared a cake, and Dayne was on
video call. In a sense, these practices of sustaining intimate ties at a distance demonstrate how both
individuals are enduring the long-distance relationship through online communication and other
forms of emotionally charged and ritualised activities such as sending gifts and celebrating from afar.
In a way, Cathy’s ability to wait and engage in long distance communication demonstrates the
characteristics of a loving and caring partner. Her videos prove that a long-distance relationship with
a foreign partner can work with the right character and effort, and this can then lead to eventual
reunification. As she highlighted, “LDR is NOT easy and it will never be. When the person you love
the most is far from you. All you can do is to wait ‘til you meet again. But you will wait coz you
know it’ll be worth it.”
Women in the videos also demonstrate their agency in an interracial relationship. They
present their decision-making abilities before going into a relationship. For example, in the video of
Happy Place, Regine and her Korean husband Teo recalled the day they met. Interestingly, they did
not meet through a matchmaking website. Regine detailed that she was just waiting for the results of
her nursing board exam in 2008 when she decided to look for a part-time job. She ended up teaching
in an English Academy, which specialises in teaching English to Koreans in the Philippines. At the
time she was teaching in the academy, her now husband became her student. Fast forward, they
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became official partners two weeks before Teo left the Philippines to go back to Korea. That moment
began their seven years of long-distance relationship. Like other YouTubers in this study, the foreign
national typically visited the Philippines after a few months of being away from their Filipina
partners. In the case of Regine, Teo returned to the Philippines two months after he left the
Philippines, also at a time when Regine’s mother was celebrating its birthday. Interestingly, Teo’s
parents also visited the Philippines in September 2010, which Regine highlighted, “Koreans actually
introduce their special someone (may it be their girlfriend/boyfriend or fiancé) to their parents or
relatives once they’re sure that they’ll marry that person.”
Although this background story of their marriage was mentioned, compared to other videos
that we examined, Regine did not reveal the details of how they maintained the long-distance
relationship. What she highlighted though is her migration to Korea on a student visa, showcasing the
effort to invest in a potential partnership. As she said, “So I came here in 2015 but I didn’t come here
on a marriage visa because we’re not married. I came with a student visa. My reason for that is that I
told Teo that most of our relationship we spent apart so we don’t know if we’re really compatible.
Because even it entailed a lot of money because you have to enrol to at least two semester coz that
will be the duration for your visa so I took that route instead of getting married.” Eventually, they got
married in 2017.
The character of the foreign national is also constructed in the videos. Often, the foreign
national is presented as a kind, welcoming, and genuine person. This approach contributes to the
brokerage of an ideal interracial relationship. It highlights the importance of “choosing” the persona
of a foreign partner that can harness a good and meaningful relationship. As such, YouTubers
showcase their partner’s characteristics through curated activities.
First, the YouTuber points out the unique and endearing characteristics of the man, which
paves the way for the development of special and intimate feelings. For instance, Jasmine talked
about how her feelings for Jack developed.
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He says that I am “chaka” (ugly) in my photos in the dating website so I eventually like him.
I like people who are like that. Again, to be honest, there were so many guys in that website
that even though I put my ugly photos they will still tell me, “Oh my god, you’re so pretty. I
want you to be my wife.” I am like, what? The reason why I put my wacky photos in there
because I don’t want people to visit my site because they can see my cleavage in my picture.
I want them to visit my site because they want to speak to me, and they are serious to find a
special someone. To be honest, I really don’t have time to chat or flirt with guys.
In the above statement, the foreign national has to pass a “test” based on kindness. But more
importantly, it counters the existing and generalised assumptions about matchmaking sites where
overseas men find and buy a bride.
Second, the effort of an overseas man to travel to the Philippines despite the vast distance
was used to frame a man’s authenticity. In most videos, most physical meetups happened in the
Philippines after a routinised online communication. The Filipina is often the one who waits for the
man. In a way, the visit of an overseas man becomes a symbolic conquest, demonstrating the effort,
dedication, and commitment to pursue the relationship. For example, in the video of Triple Hearts,
the man based in Australia was planning a surprise visit to the Philippines. At the outset of the video,
he is seen chatting with his partner, Bonnie. He mutes the microphone in his mobile phone and walks
towards the woman. On screen, the viewers can hear him saying to Bonnie that he is visiting the
Philippines. But with a muted microphone, Bonnie couldn’t hear it. The phone conversation ends,
and Patrick begins his long journey to the Philippines for a surprise visit. His journey is documented
from the airport up to landing in Manila and reaching the area where Bonnie resides. He is shown
approaching some locals to ask where Bonnie lives. In one encounter with a man on the street, he
shows Bonnie’s photo and asks the man if he knew her. Luckily, the man recognises Bonnie and then
accompanies him to Bonnie’s place. Bonnie sees him and she looks very surprised and happy. In this
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video, viewers are delighted with the conquest of the man, showing the commitment in the
relationship.
Lastly, the foreign national is portrayed as adaptable. This means that the man enjoys Filipino
food, meets the woman’s friends and family members, and learns to adjust in a new environment,
even for a short period of time. For instance, going back to the video of Triple Hearts, the man is
seen not only overcoming the challenges of travelling to the Philippines, as shown in how he walks
in narrow pathways in Manila. But he is also presented as showing respect to Bonnie’s family by
doing Filipino practice of respecting the elderly – the mano or a Filipino gesture of respect wherein
an individual bows and presses one’s forehead on the back of the hand of an older person. Similarly,
the video of Marcus and Anna’s Journey shows how the man respects the woman’s family. In the
video, Marcus asks for the blessings of Anna’s parents. Through a photo embedded in the video,
Marcus engages Anna’s father in a serious conversation. And in the video of Jasmine Cruz, Jack is
described as someone who is “patient” during his stay in the Philippines. She says, “You can tell if
your foreigner boyfriend is patient when he showers without a heater. We don’t have a heater at
home. The water coming out of the shower is cold. But he survived. He took a bath with a cold
shower!”
YouTubers presented content that visibilise the story of meet ups, use of digital technologies
to sustain a long-distance relationship, and the eventual reunion, marriage, and settlement elsewhere.
This narrative structure is presented like a fairy-tale where a woman and a man find each other and
live happily ever after (Rondina, 2004). However, instead of highlighting the “outcome” of
exchanges in online spaces, the YouTubers construct their persona and their partners as “authentic”
and “committed” in the relationship. This approach convinces the viewers that getting involved in an
interracial relationship is more than using a digital technology and enabling connections. For the
YouTubers, forging and maintaining interracial intimacies necessitates a critical investment of time,
feelings, and constant communication, reiterating the “genuine” aspect of a relationship or sincerity
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of the couple. We then argue that these contents are constitutive of brokering. The YouTubers, their
visibilised stories, and intimate expressions primarily broker the possibility of a “successful
interracial relationship” that brings positive affective experiences and potentially, social, and
economic mobility. Functioning like marriage brokers, these YouTubers walk their audience through
the process of clinching successful interracial relationships through a series of video narratives,
selling aspirations while also illustrating how aspirations can in fact be achieved. Like traditional
brokers, they put together an array of crucial information albeit this time told across their video
series: the comparative advantage and disadvantage of different dating apps, why foreign men are
attractive, how to identify a serious man, the value of patience, how to make one’s dating profile
appear authentic, how to maintain an LDR, the process of securing a marriage or de facto visa, and so
forth. These sets of information that are embedded in their stories and confessions serve as a crucial
vantage point for other aspirants to obtain first-hand information from fellow Filipinas who likewise
desired and have gone through the experience with demonstrated success. The viewers are presented
with engaging narratives that tickle a desire of what could be a good and intimate interracial
relationship. However, affective representations that are shaped by colonialist legacies are also
witnessed, consumed, and lived vicariously by viewers. In the next section, we present the different
discursive styles that the YouTubers employ to curate their sweet encounters.
Staging intimate encounters with texts, stickers, and photos
Most videos had a distinct visual, aural, and textual style in presenting the formation and
sustenance of a long-distance interracial relationship, which eventually led to physical reunion and
marriage. Among the ten videos that we analysed, seven deployed a music video format. This means
that YouTubers told their intimate story through a montage of graphics, photos, and even additional
emojis and stickers. Additionally, the music set up the mood in the love story, often representing the
emotions that the couple went through in sustaining an interracial relationship or marriage, including
an online meet up, sustained online interactions, physical meet up, online interactions, and eventual
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marriage and reunification. These stages are supported with contents that often reveal the most
intimate and personalised experiences of the YouTuber and the foreign partner. Ultimately, in
relation to previous discussions, the YouTubers broker the notions and practices of enabling a
rewarding interracial relationship.
An example of utilising a music video format to present one’s story is the video Lovers Lane.
The story is told by Lisa from the Philippines, and her LDR journey with Don. The video starts with
a fading in music, the song Perfect by Ed Sheeran. As this music plays in the background, a series of
photos emerge, including the photos of Lisa and Don overlaid with iconic flags. More information is
revealed, including the platform they used to sustain their relationship, as well as the timeline and
screen capture of online communication prior to the physical meet up in the Philippines. Photos of
intimate interactions during their travel in a tourist spot in the Philippines are also shown. Eventually,
an image of the engagement is shown, but also followed by a farewell shot in the airport. The video
ends with the ceremony of the marriage. The song Perfect plays through the entire video, conveying
the sweetness behind the couple’s journey and interactions.
Upon close examination, the creative and personalised dimension of the videos are
characterised by details that shape the framing of a technologically mediated interracial relationship.
Evidence of tools, practices and encounters that contribute to the production of genuine and
flourishing relationships are showcased. First, the couples’ photos are designed with additional
stickers and even emojis that showcase the personalisation of intimate interactions (Hjorth, 2011). In
some cases, they incorporate symbols from their respective home countries, indicating their origin.
Second, screenshots of online interactions showcase the “authenticity” of the relationship. The
personalised exchanges reflect the invested effort and time by both parties in “making the
relationship work.” This point complements the findings of Saroca (2002) on how Filipino women
assess the authenticity of their interaction and relationship building with a foreign man based on
consistency and quality of interactions in messaging channels. In this study, however, the YouTubers
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present a screenshot of video calls and intimate exchanges on Facebook messenger. Third, the
YouTube videos broadcast a screenshot of the matchmaking tools as well as other online channels
that they used to get to know each other and maintain intimate ties (See Figure 4.1 for an example).
Fourth, the videos include dramatic “first meet ups.” Often, slow camerawork is used to add a
dramatic effect on the meet up. Fifth, travel photos are presented, showcasing how individuals
express their feelings and love for each other in a co-located setting after months or years of online
communication. And lastly, marriage photos often culminate in the music video format. It shows a
marker of success of an interracial partnership that has been built through LDR and also a limited
time of physical togetherness during the man’s visit in the Philippines. Ultimately, these contents
support the framing of an interracial relationship – genuine, worked on, and also safe.
[INSERT FIGURE 4.1]
Figure 4.1 Still from a YouTube video. YouTubers and their videos broadcasting interracial relations.
For a confessional set-up, intimate banters and additional props are used. An example of this
is the video of Happy Place. In the video, the viewers can see Regine seated on a couch with her
Korean husband Teo. Regine refers to the set up as “sit-down video.” What is interesting though is
the presence of big stuffed toys. The set up essentially emulated a cosy living room like that of a talk
show. Meanwhile, Regine and Teo are playful and casual in the video. Both greet the viewers with a
Korean greeting, “annyeong haseyo, guys!” Interestingly, Teo greets the viewers using Tagalog
greetings, such as “magandang araw” (beautiful morning). Teo also shows his affection to Regine
by saying, “Magandang Regine” (beautiful Regine), making Regine laugh. The video focuses on the
love story of Regine and Teo, overcoming seven years of long-distance relationship before deciding
to be reunited and get married. As they share their love story, they are also seen engaging in a funny
“stuffed toy” fight. This playful gesture on the video essentially frames the relationship as genuine
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and filled with happiness. The gesture typically happens when Teo teases Regine on a certain detail
of a story. An example is how Regine asks Teo about his past text messages to her when she was
working in a hospital in Manila. Regine finds it strange that Teo messaged her given that she already
left in the English Academy. In the video, Teo responds to Rona’s query on why he messaged her.
He says, “Maybe I want to learn English through text messaging!” Both laugh and Regine hits Teo
with the stuffed toy. Eventually, the storytelling ends with Regine asking Teo, “Do you think waiting
for seven years is worth it?” Teo replies with the words, “Of course!” Regine then exclaims, “It was
one of the best decisions of my life. Kinikilig!” with the translation and definition of the word
kinikilig (elated) superimposed in the video. At the end of the video, the couple does a popular
Korean “heart gesture,” with the graphics “Annyeong!” Ultimately, the set-up, playful banters, funny
yet intimate gestures, and additional props and overlay graphics vibilises the past and present of
enacting a happy and genuine interracial relationship that has overcome a long-distance arrangement.
We also noticed that some of the YouTubers used labels to brand the relationship. They
would use a hashtag that combines their name and their partner’s. For example, John and Fiona use
“TEAMJF” to label their relationship. The label has been used in the video, such as “After a year of
LDR, WE FINALLY MET!!!!#TEAMJF.” Significantly, six out of the ten YouTube videos combine
the name of the couples as the YouTube channel’s name, such as “Cathy & Dayne” and “Marcus and
Anna’s Journey.” We identify such labelling of the channels as a testimony of the depth of the
interracial relationship. Importantly, we argue that this approach also follows a distinct trend in
Philippine media wherein love teams use a hashtag or code to label their happy relationship. For
example, KathNiel refers to the combined names of one of the Philippine’s most popular celebrity
couple, Katherine Bernardo and Daniel Padilla.
Wedding photos are also incorporated in the videos. They often showcase the culmination of
all the hardships and sacrifices of the interracial relationship. An example of this is the video of
Marcus and Anna’s Journey. The couple is shown wearing elegant white outfits as the ceremony took
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place in the city hall. They are surrounded by family members and friends of the woman, showing
their blessing or approval of the union. The officiating judge is also shown, indicating the legality of
the marriage. The video ends with the guy kissing the woman, with the image superimposed with the
texts “Marcus & Anna.” We argue that wedding photos are evidence of a successful long-distance
relationship. The marriage represents how long-distance relationships work through consistency and
hard work in a duration of months or years of physical separation. Significantly, we argue that
visualisation of navigating an interracial relationship counters the stereotypical representation of
Filipino women as gullible and passive in ending up in a commodified interracial relationship via
web channels.
Curating credibility through the possibility of interracial coupling
Most YouTubers capitalised on their own journey to prove the possibility and positive
outcomes of an interracial relationship. They exposed the “pains” and “gains” of navigating an
interracial relationship, which is typically tested through a long-distance arrangement. By
foregrounding their experiences, they position themselves as having the authority to offer advice and
support for viewers who are thinking about venturing in an interracial relationship.
The YouTubers typically showed the hardships of finding a suitable partner, which can also
end in a positive and happy outcome. This is the case of Honey and Sonny. In the video, Honey tells
how she met Sonny. She shares that Sonny was supposed to meet his chatmate in the Philippines, but
it did not happen. Eventually, Sonny went back to the online site. Meanwhile, Honey was
heartbroken after her ex, a chatmate, left her. She eventually activated her dating profile, which led
her to meeting Sonny. Eventually, they both met online and eventually opted to continue their
interactions over Skype. As Honey points out, “Days passed, and we keep in touch. We chat day and
night every day until we feel in love with each other.” Sonny visited the Philippines in 2017 for a
short period, and they went back to a long-distance relationship again. On Skype, Sonny proposed,
and Honey said yes. Honey started processing her fiancé visa. With this story, Honey ends the video
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with the text, “Distance is nothing when two hearts are meant for each other.” By closely examining
the narrative of the video, Honey establishes her credibility to speak about interracial and long-
distance relationship based on her own experiences, “While I am also broken hearted because my ex
left me without any reason (Chatmate but never meet in person).”
Experiences translated into “important advice” were also utilised by other YouTubers to
establish credibility. For instance, in the video of Cathy and Dayne, fun and challenging experiences
of a long-distance relationship are presented, which are then used as a springboard to give advice. As
presented in the video, “LDR is NOT easy, and it will never be. When the person you love the most
is far from you, all you can do is wait ‘til you meet again. But you will wait coz you know it’ll be
worth it.” Similarly, the video of Team Power Hugs also articulates this kind of advice, “For those
who have LDR out there, don’t give up and stay happy. I know LDR is not easy but be patient and
when you finally see each other…IT WILL BE WORTH IT!!” In some cases, a YouTuber highlights
the reward of waiting for a special someone. This is communicated by Jasmine in her video, “We are
both very happy. We keep on telling each other, I am very lucky, he is very lucky. It’s quite good to
hear from the man that you love saying that he is lucky that I came into his life. I get teary eyed. But
the truth is I am the one who’s lucky because I didn’t search for him. He just came into my life
unexpectedly and my life has become great because of his presence. He makes me so happy. So, love
will just come at the right time.”
Notably, YouTubers also offer advice on how Filipino women can position themselves in a
long-distance relationship. A case in point is Cathy Lim, a Filipina married to a Caucasian man. As
per Cathy, the channel works “to share our LDR story and to inspire some couples who are in the
same situation.” In her video, she gives five tips to women to demonstrate their value in a
relationship. First, she points out that women should learn how to handle their anger. She says, “You
need to control your anger (referring to moments of misunderstanding). Let it pass.” Her second tip is
about learning to remain calm. In her words, “For us Filipina, it’s in our character to be palengkera
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(loud market vendor), bungangera (nagger). If you’re in an LDR, stop nagging.” The third advice is
on not being clingy. She supports this advice by pinpointing how one’s doubt and mistrust can stir
surveillance of others. For her, it is advisable to control one’s doubts and make the guy miss you. The
fourth advice is focusing on improving oneself. She reiterates that women should make themselves
positive, delightful, and easy to be with. She emphasises,
We often tend to say that looks do not matter for foreigners. Don’t believe that. A man will
always be a man. If you’re fat, and you’re in an LDR, then beside him is a sexy woman who
likes him, sexy and beautiful, and then you are fat and beautiful. You’re beautiful but you’re
fat, and you’re in an LDR. Come to think of it, who will he choose? Is it you who’s living
away or the person beside him who likes him? If you’re sexy and beautiful, your boyfriend
won’t be attracted to others. He will even be more excited to meet you in person, in the
Philippines or elsewhere.
Lastly, Cathy’s final advice is on being responsible. This means how one should be a caring and
thrifty person. She then contrasts these values with the behaviours of other Filipinas,
Foreigners often search for Filipina because those foreigners who marry a Filipina are happy
because they’re responsible … It’s frustrating to see some Filipino women who are being
complained by their partners because they’re a gold digger, not taking care of their husband
and children, and splurges money. That’s why sometimes we’re roped into a bad judgment.
In these statements, she shows how Filipino women in an interracial relationship can assert their
agency through their behaviours. However, it is interesting to note that the advice also reinforces a
certain type of stereotype. First, she particularly highlights the need for self- improvement – being
sexy and beautiful – to nurture a healthy and long-lasting relationship. Further, she also highlights the
domesticated figure of a Filipina, noting a caring wife and mother. Across these representations, we
see how agency becomes relational, which practices often feed a patriarchal system.
Intimate engagements with platform-specific tactics
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We observed that YouTubers deployed a range of strategies that shape the branding and
promotion of their videos. We particularly identified these strategies by looking at the “About”
section of the YouTube channel, prompt for subscription, the call-to-action statement to facilitate
continued online engagement, as well as promotion of multiple platforms used to promote content.
These techniques contribute to the YouTubers’ relationship-building tactics with their online
audiences.
The “About” section of the YouTube channel is crucial in the branding of the content.
Among the videos that we analysed, four YouTube channels had descriptions about their
relationship. For example, Triple Hearts showed some information about the YouTuber and its
partner:
MABUHAY Hello! Welcome to our life. Patrick is from overseas while Bonnie is from
the Philippines. We met in the Philippines in 2014. Since then, we have been in long distance
relationship for 5 years until we decided to close the distance in April 2019. We got engaged
on 24th of November 2019 and getting married soon! HOW EXCITING!!!! :)
Similarly, Team Power Hugs highlights their relationship status in the about section of the YouTube
channel, “Hey guys! Welcome to our channel! Here you can follow our (LDR) life. We are still in a
Long-Distance Relationship, but we hope to close the distance in 2019!” These statements essentially
brand the contents of the YouTube channels as representations of an interracial and long-distance
relationship. More importantly, the channels were also framed as a source for advice and tips on
navigating such relationships. This is pointed out in the about section of Cathy Lim, “I just would
like to share our LDR story and to inspire some couples who have the same situation.”
The framing of the contents was operationalised in an entrepreneurial context. Among the ten
YouTube contents that we examined, three YouTubers were explicit in presenting their YouTube
channel as open to monetisation. They articulate this in two ways. First, they present their brand
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through their interests and activities, moving away from the narrative of being in an interracial
relationship. This is seen in Jasmine’s framing of her channel, which has grown to amass over one
million subscribers: “Hi Everyone, Welcome to my channel. I am Jasmine also known as Loving Jas.
I am a vlogger/digital influencer with a passion for beauty, fashion and everything lifestyle.” This is
similar to Cathy Lim’s channel description, “Now, I'm already a mom, a mom vlogger, influencer
with a passion for beauty, fashion, lifestyle and love sharing all of my mom tips and adventures with
you guys. From cooking to a day in the life vlogs, I upload videos of tutorial, tips and daily basis of
my day-to-day life along with promotional videos.” Further, both channels of Jasmine and Cathy
accept business inquiries. As noted in Jasmine’s page, “For collaborations and business inquiries:
(email) … Want to send something? (address).” In Cathy’s channel, as presented, “For business
inquiries: (email).” These strategies primarily show that the YouTube channels are monetised by the
YouTubers who curate and visibilise their interracial relationship or life overseas in general.
YouTubers craft ways of sustaining their audiences and subscribers. They do this in two
ways. First, they use call-to-action statements to encourage their viewers to subscribe to their
channel. For instance, Regine of Happy Place ends her video with the following statement, “Thank
you guys for watching. Please like and share if you haven’t already. Don’t forget to click the
subscribe and bell button so you’ll be updated for our uploads. Similarly, Jasmine closes her
storytime video with such call-to-action, “…please do not forget the subscribe button below. You’ll
be notified of my videos daily if you hit that subscribe button below there so go ahead and please do
it. And I hope to see you guys tomorrow. Bye!” Meanwhile, a YouTuber like Cathy Lim highlighted
some of the key contents of her channel, “And for those who are looking for more LDR tips, don’t
forget to check the subscription box.” Second, sustaining audience engagement was managed using
multiple platforms. For example, several YouTubers embed icons of their social media channels,
which their existing and potential subscribers can follow. Nevertheless, these strategies allowed the
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YouTubers to generate viewers and subscribers in the channel, which can then be translated as
metrics for monetisation of the channel and the contents.
Lastly, valuing the viewers was shown through statements of appreciation among
YouTubers, which is considered as a form of communicative intimacy (Abidin, 2015). For instance,
at the end of her video, Jasmine states, “I just want to say thank you to all those who are supporting
us, you guys are the best. Thank you for always watching my videos. Thank you for always watching
our vlogs. Guys thank you. I always say this but I mean it. You guys are the best.” Regine of Happy
Place had the same statement, “And again guys, thank you for watching and we’ll see you in our
next video. Anyeong!” Notably, YouTubers showed how they value their viewers by encouraging
them to suggest topics for the contents. For example, Cathy Lim says, “For those who want to make
suggestions, please use the suggestions box. That’s for you. Or you can follow me in IG (Instagram),
or search my name on Facebook. You can also send a private message if you don’t want to be
exposed in the comment section.” Regine of Happy Place had a similar but shorter statement, “Also
comment down below if you have any questions for us.” Meanwhile, in Jasmine’s video, giving a
thumbs up for the video was encouraged, “Anyway thank you so much for watching this video. I
hope you enjoy it. Please do give this video a thumbs up if you enjoyed watching. And let me know
if you want to see more storytime from this channel.”
Contradictions of Agency in the Brokerage of Interracial Intimacies
The ten videos that we analysed showed the experiences of Filipino women and their foreign
partners in a long-distance relationship. These videos mostly presented the perspective of Filipino
women. We argue that these women acted as brokers of meaningful and successful interracial
relationships, which have been articulated through a range of representations, practices and platform-
specific strategies. In the first instance, the narratives begin with detailing how the couple met via
matchmaking and online sites. The interactions progress and further develop using other
communications platforms. A common key highlight is the first physical meetup of the couple, which
163
shows how co-located interactions are performed and embodied through playful and intimate
activities, including eating together, cuddling, and visiting several tourist spots. These moments are
succeeded by the couple’s return to a long-distance arrangement again by utilising digital
communication technologies. Eventually, the video concludes with the happy reunification of the
couple in the foreign national’s home country. All these constitute the brokering of information
crucial for constructing an aspiration of an interracial relationship, offer evidence of its possibility,
solidifying its value for an ordinary Filipina as an “image of an ideal relationship,” and sustaining the
connection of multiple actors that desire and exchange their personal stories of intimacy through
comment loops.
The narratives are like fairy tales (Rondina, 2004) yet offer a different style and trajectory.
Scholars have argued that promotional materials of online or matchmaking sites often show a happy
ending of online meet ups (Constable, 2003; Rondina, 2004). However, we noticed that prior to the
happy ending of the story, individuals presented the “effort” needed to overcome the challenges, and
ultimately, the rewards of forging and maintaining a long distance and interracial relationship. All
these connect powerfully to the aspirations held by many of their avid subscribers – to find a similar
relationship in the future. The Filipina YouTubers also broker women’s positionality, challenges, and
agentic practices in the relationship. As presented, while Filipino women visibilised the intimate
exchanges on a messaging application, Skype, and other online channels, they also expressed the
sadness and frustration of living apart, as shown in the use of images, of saying goodbye in the
airport or by incorporating sad face emojis. Significantly, these fairy tale narratives attempt to
challenge the notion of commodified bodies of Filipino women in matchmaking sites. In the videos,
relationships and interactions are framed as authentic, which is supported by a range of evidence,
including screenshots of exchanges, frequency of contact, and the interaction of the foreign national
with the Filipina’s friends and family. As such, the story provides an important vantage point on the
ways in which Filipino women present their agency in an online space. Here, online representations
164
are countererotics (Constable 2012) or challenge the stereotypical notions of Filipino women who
met their foreign partners online (Constable 2003).
We approach the showcase of a fruitful interracial relationship as form of brokerage. In the
first instance, the videos show the pathway to overcoming a long-distance relationship and enabling
physical togetherness. Furthermore, the Filipina YouTubers construct and curate their persona as
someone who is caring, enduring, and domesticated, appealing to cultural expectations in Philippine
society. They also framed the character of their partner, someone who is kind, caring and genuine.
Nonetheless, the YouTubers also create aspirations for their viewers by showcasing their most
personal, intimate and everyday activities, which Abidin (2017) identifies as calibrated amateurism.
However, several of these videos are operationalised in an entrepreneurial frame.
Several of the videos incorporated branding and monetisation strategies, indicating the labour
additionally embedded in making their representations of the story believable and relatable. The
YouTubers not only present strategies or “how to” in dealing with a long distance and interracial
relationship. As a form of brokerage, they also sell, implicitly or explicitly, the potentiality of a good
life through interracial relationships. This capacity, we argue, is influenced through the Philippines’
colonial past. The narratives presented the process of cultural whitening, through the institutional
frame of marriage (Arnado, 2019), which also conveys imaginaries of stability, mobility, and
security. Nevertheless, through the YouTubers’ curation of their intimate and interracial
relationships, thumbs up, views, and subscriptions are generated, and these outcomes are constitutive
of profitability in an online space of YouTube. Indeed, echoing the contentions of Constable (2009),
online practices reflect the commodification of lived and intimate experiences.
Brokerage in online spaces is wrapped in contradictions. Certainly, the success stories of the
Filipina YouTubers counter the stigma or sexualisation of women. They broadcast their lives with a
sense of agency, as reflected in their story making, visualisation, and navigation of online spaces.
However, in a marketised environment, they generate profit from their online practices, which
165
essentially engage audiences and complement the platform’s operations. This speaks to being an
entrepreneurial and self-driven woman in digital cultures (Banet-Weiser, 2012). Significantly,
representations are political. The self-portrayal of women tends to reinforce a caring and altruistic
individual, appealing to the demands and expectations of the viewers who contain women in certain
categories. In some cases, the viewers celebrate the stereotypical role of Filipino women in an
interracial relationship – someone who is there to care for the man and deliver domestic work
(Cabalquinto & Soriano, 2020). Here, Filipino women can be confined to domestic subjectivities,
reinforcing the historically situated gendered, racialised, and classed structures in Philippine
postcolonial reality. Significantly, such representation becomes a modality for profit-making because
this is what is demanded by the viewers whose views about individuals are tied to hierarchy
(Sobande, 2019). Nevertheless, we argue that the brokering interracial relationships signal the
negotiations of Filipino women in navigating the constraints and hierarchies in a postcolonial,
neoliberal, and digital Philippine society.
The possibilities and economies of interracial intimacies
This chapter has shown the dynamics of brokering interracial relationships among Filipino
women and foreign nationals on YouTube. By analysing ten YouTube videos of Filipino women in
an interracial relationship, we highlight how intimate, personalised, and creative narratives serve as a
negotiation of women’s positionality in postcolonial and neoliberal contexts. To begin with, using the
concept of countererotics, we display how the imagery of a Filipina counters the sexualised and
commodified figure. Further, men in the videos are represented as being kind, caring, and accepting.
Notably, the narratives are presented in a fairy tale style, yet highlighting the possibility of a
successful relationship as initiated and sustained by using a range of online channels and authentic
exchanges. However, using a “cultural whitening” frame, we argue that showcasing intimate and
interracial relationships on YouTube has the tendency to perpetuate the imaginaries of certain
racialised, gendered and classed bodies. In some of the narratives of the YouTubers, women’s
166
subjectivity in a relationship is constructed and policed to cater to the male and colonial gaze. One
has to “please” the taste and desires of the men in order to nurture a healthy relationship. Further,
women’s stories serve as launch pads for stirring imaginaries of happiness, security and social
mobility. These online and affective representations articulate romanticised versions of intimate
relationships, attract viewership, stir online engagement and generate profit-making. In a digital
environment, curated and popular contents are amplified by the platforms’ algorithms and
entrepreneurial system. Nevertheless, the brokerage of interracial ties on YouTube underscore the
tensions and negotiations in digital cultures, showing how agency, visibility, and branding strategies
are co-opted and negotiated in networked, marketised and postcolonial spaces.
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CHAPTER 5
LABOUR
Abstract. This chapter offers a critical insight on digital and flexible labour and the role of YouTube
in brokering labour relations and economic aspirations in the digital economy. It focuses its attention
on the “skill-making” content and practices of Filipino platform labour influencers on YouTube,
where they showcase their capabilities to obtain a captive market and attain celebrity status as
“global knowledge workers.” Using YouTube provides an opportunity for platform labour
influencers to deliver training and support to aspiring platform workers who seek to earn dollars
while working at home, while also crafting imaginaries and ideals of success in the platform
economy. The chapter shows that YouTubers, through the brokerage of skills and promotion of the
viability of platform labour, perform the role of matchmaker between aspiring workers and digital
labour platforms while simultaneously advancing the broader visions of digital capitalism.
Keywords: platform labour, digital labour brokerage, skill-making, aspirational labour, gig economy,
cloudwork
Carlo beams with pride as he announces to his thousands of YouTube subscribers a new
milestone: he has made his second million as an online freelancer. Displaying his monthly dollar
earnings, a new car, as well as a modern workstation, Carlo is ecstatic to proclaim that he has made
the best decision to leave his full-time call centre job for platform work, challenging his subscribers
that they could achieve the same success with the right recipe of hard work, persistence, and
entrepreneurialism. He has worked hard to achieve his current state, starting as a book chapter writer
for a small client clinched from a labour platform way back in 2011 and now a digital marketing
“guru,” working with a number of clients from the popular labour platform Upwork, and recognised
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as the “coach” for hundreds of Filipino platform workers and aspirants. In 2016, Carlo started to
organise training sessions for friends who wanted to learn how to start with online freelancing after
noticing and being inspired by a substantial growth in his earnings. Realising that training is a
possible mechanism to help aspiring Filipino platform workers and at the same time a potential
source of additional income, he began to organise these sessions regularly, initially with a few
aspirants. Now Carlo speaks regularly at freelancer events, organises paid coaching classes, hosts his
YouTube channel on online freelancing, and runs a Facebook community composed of his former
and current trainees and their network of friends. His YouTube channel is dedicated to regular videos
on how to survive and thrive in the freelancing world: from teaching about specific skills, to how to
set up an online office, how to manage a foreign client, and how to invest one’s earnings.
Burdened by employment woes such as infrastructural immobility and low wages, countless
Filipino professionals like Carlo are found to be migrating to online platform labour in exchange for
autonomy, spatial flexibility, and the possibility for higher earnings. Meanwhile, those not meeting
the eligibility requirements of traditional labour – whether due to physical disabilities or educational
attainment – may now also justly compete for jobs by curating an attractive portfolio that highlights
their skills. As briefly discussed in Chapter 1, platform labour is likewise being championed by the
Philippine government as a solution to bridge its rural employment gap. Platform workers (more
commonly called “online freelancers” in the Philippines), mostly located in the Global South, can
now directly obtain “gigs” through online labour platforms and microwork intermediaries such as
Upwork, Onlinejobs.ph, Rev, Fiverr, or Freelancing.com. The Philippines has become one of the
largest labour supplying countries in these platforms (Graham, Hjorth, & Lehdonvirta, 2017, p. 142),
now ranked first among the fastest growing freelancing markets in the world with 208% growth in
2020 (Payoneer, 2020). In contrast to business process outsourcing (BPO) such as call centre work,
digital labour platforms allow business processes to be outsourced without the mediation of formal
BPO companies (Graham et al., 2017). Platforms perform the labour matching role where clients or
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buyers of work (mostly located in high-income countries) post jobs in these platforms and aspiring
workers (mostly located in low-income countries) can bid on them directly (McKenzie, 2020; Wood
et al., 2016).
This chapter focuses on the rise of platform labour brokers (Soriano, 2020) on YouTube (and
the informal economy underlying them) who attract and train Filipino platform workers into this
labour market, therefore performing a crucial, but under-noticed brokerage role between workers and
platforms, and among workers. The chapter will show that for Filipinos, YouTube has become a
crucial site for the circulation of labour aspirations in the digital economy, also underscored by the
Philippine postcolonial condition. These digital labour brokers on YouTube are playing an important
role in facilitating the local popularity and viability of platform labour and at the same time pushing
norms among local workers in this industry.
The need for influencers, locally called coaches, trainers, or peer mentors, embodies the
transaction of ambiguity underlying digital labour in the Philippines. In the advent of abundant
information infrastructures and “flexible” work environments, it is assumed that intermediaries will be
bypassed in electronic markets as workers can do away with traditional hiring and employment
procedures as well as gatekeepers and connect to potential clients directly. Yet, we see an emerging
category of digital labour intermediaries on social media who are playing a significant role in the
expansion and continued uptake of digital platform labour in the country. In this chapter, we examine
the transactional nature underlying this producer-audience relationship, the activation of trust and
influence through personalised practices and mediated encounters, as well as the power dynamics
underlying the digitally mediated symbolic and material power taking place between them and their
respective teams and subscribers.
Platform labour in the Philippines
Platform labour is celebrated by the Philippine government as a viable solution to
unemployment and emerges as a highly attractive work option especially as employment conditions in
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the country are fraught with socio-economic tensions. The popularity of platform labour is expanding
alongside the COVID-19 pandemic which has resulted in thousands of labour displacements both in
the local economy and among Filipino migrant workers who were forced to return home. Marketed as a
flexible and competitive source of income, platform labour has also been attracting Filipino workers
who have trouble in coping with the conditions surrounding older employment models such as BPO,
overseas labour migration, or in supplementing casual and unstable employment elsewhere.
Government’s over-optimism toward digital labour can be seen in parallel to Richard Florida’s notion
of the rise of the “creative class,” a group of socio-economic subjects who had jobs based on creativity
and individual talent and who could usher cities into a new era of economic development and
prosperity while addressing the unemployment gap (Florida, 2014). Many Filipino workers find
platform work appealing as it provides them with new work opportunities to earn dollars, facilitates
entry into the “global tech workplace,” and offers a flexible work arrangement that allows them to
overcome the challenges of commuting while giving them an opportunity to be economically
productive while spending valuable time with their families at home (Soriano & Cabañes, 2020a,
2020b). A characteristic that attracts many Filipinos to platform labour is their English proficiency,
developed through an American education system and postcolonial culture that privileges English
proficiency as a ticket to success (Soriano & Cabañes, 2020a). Our interviews with platform workers
also show that digital labour has created aspirations for workers in the countryside, as well as those
with disabilities, who are often ineligible for local employment, to join the global knowledge
workforce. Yet while workers are able to gain substantial benefits from platform labour, research on
digital worker experiences highlight its problematic realities, which include increasing levels of anxiety
over labour insecurity, financial and career instability, limited bargaining capacity over clients and
platforms, physical stress, and isolation – all of which challenge the over-optimism accorded to digital
labour by government and platform promotions (Hesmondhalgh & Baker, 2010; Graham, Hjorth et al.,
2017; Lehdonvirta, 2016; Soriano & Cabañes, 2020b).
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Despite strong government promotion of digital labour as a solution to unemployment,
mechanisms for supporting workers are limited. For BPO-related jobs such as call centre work,
foreign companies operating in the country have institutionalised recruitment and employment
mechanisms (Padios, 2018), with human resource officers guiding aspiring workers in the hiring and
employment processes and with employee handbooks outlining details for promotion possibilities
and navigating day to day operations. For labour migration, several private and public institutions
such as migration agents (Lindquist, Xiang & Yeoh, 2012; Shresta & Yeoh, 2018) and government
departments have been set up to assist workers aspiring to migrate overseas in terms of employment
seeking, making sense of local and foreign bureaucracies, expectation-setting, salary identification,
taxation, or welfare protection (Rodriguez, 2010). By contrast, many new entrants and aspiring
digital freelance workers try to learn the ropes through YouTube or by directly taking on gigs from
different platforms, which can involve direct experiences of scams, client abuse, acceptance of low
rates, or frustration over the inability to obtain well-earning gigs from labour platforms.
Given the tension between the promising opportunities posed by platform labour and the lack
of institutional mechanisms to help workers navigate the ambiguous digital platform environment,
these influencers perform a brokerage role in various social media platforms and freelancer circles as
they usher workers toward aspirations of stable six-digit incomes, crafting an attracting portfolio,
gaining loyal foreign clients, and obtaining a sense of self-fulfilment by becoming economically
productive while performing their nurturing roles at home. Most of them current or former digital
platform workers having achieved some level of success, they know the realities and ambiguities of
shifting into platform labour from regular full-time employment, the pernicious conditions yielded by
the platforms’ design, and have been exposed to the difficulties of working with foreign clients
(Soriano & Panaligan, 2019). They rise as an “elite” group of workers because they capitalise on
their experiences and exposure to the challenges of digital labour and translate these into aspirational
narratives which they also monetise.
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Labour brokerage
Online freelancing influencers on YouTube represent a contemporary manifestation of labour
brokerage in the Philippines, although the intermediary role of labour brokers has been persistent
historically. Amid labour-only contracting which dates back to the Spanish colonisation from 1565–
1898, a labour arrangement called the cabo system was used in negotiating and supplying labour for
various kinds of industries and especially in agricultural farmlands or haciendas that hired workers
on a seasonal basis (IBON Foundation, 2017; Kapunan, 1991; Silarde, 2020). Because Filipinos were
deprived of the right to own land and had no choice but to work with agricultural contractors, cabos
performed the role of middlemen and acted as negotiators between workers and contractors,
determining how much workers would be paid for a specific scope of work or in helping workers
determine where work was available (Kapunan, 1991, p. 326; Soriano, 2021). Cabos deducted a
percentage fee for their brokerage role (Kapunan, 1991, p. 328) and this set-up thrived under
patronage structures and the “paternalistic orientation of Filipinos” as they were also seen as the
“fathers of a big family,” providing workers information and advice beyond work-related matters and
with the labour transactions fusing with social and community relations (Kapunan, 1991, p. 327).
After over three centuries of Spanish rule, the American colonial system suppressed the cabo system
and instead promoted the adoption of trade unionism. However, historical records show that the
cabos merely took on leadership roles in trade unions to sustain their influence, capitalising on
networks that they had previously established (Silarde, 2020).
Beyond the Spanish and colonial rule, labour brokerage entities have taken over the place of
cabos by directly or indirectly intermediating for workers in their search for employment. With the
Philippine government pushing for labour export policy and celebrating labour migrants as modern-
day heroes, many Filipinos aspired to work overseas and sought guidance on how to navigate
national and global migration processes and requirements (Rodriguez, 2010; Soriano, 2021).
Although national government agencies have been set up to support overseas labour migration, and
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with a growing number of Filipinos aspiring to clinch a job overseas to earn dollars, “migration
agents” (Lindquist, Xiang & Yeoh, 2012; Shresta & Yeoh, 2018) or “private recruitment agencies”
(Lin, Lindquist, Xiang et al., 2017) persisted because they offered key services that these government
agencies do not sufficiently provide. These labour migration brokers do not just put together
ambiguous labour migration information for aspirants, some of them help directly facilitate a match
between Filipino workers and foreign contractors, of course deducting significant fees in return for
the transaction.
Like platform labour, the labour migration process involves significant ambiguities. One
needs to figure out and make sense of the numerous documentary requirements and obtain the
necessary approvals and signatures and navigate both national and foreign bureaucracies. As we have
discussed in Chapter 2, for an ordinary aspiring worker without access to informational resources, the
service offered by brokers is indispensable for helping aspiring workers understand labour migration
procedures, simplify the complicated steps and requirements, make sense of the different agencies
and their documentary requirements, and mediate in complex transactions. Secondly, like platform
labour, migrant labour is laden with scams and abusive employers. Workers know about these scam
stories from documented evidence about Filipinos ending up working with clients who refuse to pay
or who physically or violently abuse workers. Some of these agents promise workers to match them
with well-screened clients who are respectful of labour and human rights, although this does not
always translate in reality. According to Shresta and Yeoh (2018), it is the brokers’ wealth of
information on local and global labour migration processes that legitimise their work, allowing them
to charge significant amounts of money from Filipino migrant workers with the promise that after
years of overseas work, they would eventually be able to recuperate these fees. And yet, it is also
well documented how many Filipino migrant workers carry the debts they incur from migration
brokers for many years, sometimes compelling them to remain as migrant workers for extended
periods of time.
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