Diasporic media consumption and cultural identity construction of Filipino women in Denmark

There is a strong presumption that media has globalized people’s identities. But what is the relationship between media and people’s identities? This paper attempts to answer this question as it documented the experiences of the Filipino women, as shaped by consumption of diasporic media and cultural identities, and analyzed aspects of media use to sustain their cultural identities. It examined the ways the women use the media in sustaining cultural connections and at the same time negotiating new identities in their host country. It further discusses how the women maintain their transnational ties and how they manage to sustain their cultural identities despite their direct exposure to a different culture. The information in this study came primarily from in-depth interviews of five Filipino women. From the interviews, common threads were identified and used to analyze and explore how their cultural identity is articulated and validated and how these manifest in their media consumption, transactional activities and cultural identity formation. Results revealed that the respondents share a common history of marriage migration. The women assert that in general, Filipinos are culturally adaptable. This cultural adaptability, brought about by the colonial experiences under Spain, the US and Japan, have aided them in the processes of assimilation and integration into the Danish culture. All the women spoke longingly and lovingly of the Philippines and wish to return home as often as they can. For them, maintaining stronger transnational ties remains very important. They do not wish to cut those ties with their country and they keep alive their connections by engaging in transnational activities and communicating with their families back home. It should be highlighted that these activities are facilitated by the media. Consequently, they have internalized a cultural definition of Filipino that is tied to the home and represented by a fixed profile of shared language, beliefs, traditions and values. Their invocation of family values, respect for other people, and generosity are all pointed critiques of what they perceived lacking in Denmark and its people. Their common experiences in Denmark, living arrangements, leisure activities, household responsibilities of being wives and mothers; have allowed them to form a community based on “shared lives” regardless of their regional and class backgrounds.