Suffering sireyna
The Suffering Sireyna: The Representations of Gay Men in the “Suffer Sireyna” segment of Eat Bulaga
ABSTRACT
This study examines the “Suffer Sireyna” segment of Eat Bulaga and how gay men are portrayed in broadcast texts. Specifically, the study looks at the physical and non-physical suffering that the contestants went through and how these sufferings form the portrayals of gay men in the contest. Such suffering includes the challenges they are tasked to do and the ridicule they receive from the hosts of the program, the other contestants and even from themselves. The study aims to illustrate that the program reinforces the stereotypes of gay men and dominant patriarchal ideologies of homophobia and heteronormativity. However, the gay contestants have subverted and empowered themselves in the segment through their speech and their resilience. In order to surface the representations of the gay men in the contest, textual analysis was utilized and the images and verbal messages presented were analyzed.
Keywords: Gay men, Suffering, Representation, Empowerment