Surfing, masculinity and resistance at Cloud 9: Filipino men who surf negotiating tourism spaces and social hierarchies on Siargao Island, Philippines

Abstract

This paper explores the interplay between global surfing masculinities, the colonial/feminising touristic order and local cultural norms in the Philippines through an analysis of surfing masculinities and the Visayan hierarchical ordering principal sipog (supog/ulaw), or shyness/modesty/shame/embarrassment. The touristic order constructs tropical tourism destinations as effeminate, a process which marginalises, excludes or emasculates local men. However, through adherence to the masculine modes of modern surf culture, Filipino surfers on Siargao Island find a viable pathway through which to assert dominance and resist and reject the touristic order. Yet, while local men who surf on Siargao Island assert dominance and control in surfing spaces, outside these spaces their subjectivities are complicated by overarching social and class hierarchies, global inequalities and local cultural norms (sipog). In tourist spaces, their behaviours tend more towards shyness, modesty and deference.