Filipino American creator talks gatekeeping within the community: ‘It be your own people’
One creator has gotten real about gatekeeping within her culture and the negative impact it’s had on her self-expression.
Los Angeles-based life coach Kim Saira (@kimssaira) recently posted a video about the apprehension she feels discussing her Filipino American culture. Kim calls out the criticism she receives from fellow Filipinos.
“As much as I love to make content about what it means to be Filipino American, the reason why I hesitate so much is because of backlash from other Filipinos. And yes, this is a conversation I’m so ready to have,” Kim says. “For context, I am full Filipino immigrant into America. I definitely believe that Filipino Americans and Filipinos who live in the Philippines are living in two different aspects of culture.”
“I’m faced with a lot of comments about how I’m not Filipino enough in some sort of way”
When Kim posts content regarding her own experience as a Fil-Am creator, she claims she’s faced with backlash, particularly from other Filipinos who accuse her of “not being Filipino enough.”
“I’m faced with a lot of comments about how I’m not Filipino enough in some sort of way,” she explains. “Meaning if I don’t speak Tagalog, or if I don’t know the entire history of the Philippines, then why even talk about my culture?”
Gatekeeping within the Filipino community, according to Kim, isn’t uncommon.
“I noticed so much gatekeeping and crab mentality of who gets to be more Filipino,” she says. “It’s interesting because, on this healing journey, we’re learning what it means to take up space and to be authentic and to be unapologetic. And at the same time, people are gatekeeping about who gets to be more Filipino?”
“Yesss this 100%! It’s that constant feeling of never being enough”
Filipino Americans who’ve had similar experiences have shown their support.
“it be your own people,” one TikToker commented.
“I grew up also being told that I was not really Filipino because I didn’t speak Tagalog,” another user explained. “Keep making your content, please.”
“Language shouldn’t determine the validity of someone’s heritage as you can understand and embrace your culture in many other ways still,” someone wrote.
“Yesss this 100%! It’s that constant feeling of never being enough,” another shared.
Kim has often been told that she doesn’t really “know what it means to actually be Filipino” despite being a Filipino immigrant.
“As far as how it’s made me feel, it feels like I’m fighting for a seat at my own table,” Kim tells In The Know by Yahoo via email. “For a while, it’s discouraged me from learning more about my culture because what’s the point if I’m not ‘Filipino enough’ anyway? However, I’ve since unlearned that mentality and taking my own steps to learn more about what it means to me to be a Filipino American immigrant.”
In deeming people like Kim as unworthy of identifying as Filipino, this idea of community is thrown into question. How can a community persist if deserving members are barred from joining?
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