Power Asymmetries on the Intimate Front of Bondage and Colonialism: Sexual Exploitation in the American-Occupied Philippines 1898-1946

Abstract

This essay examines sexual exploitation in the Philippines through the lens of human bondage, directly challenging the official civilizing narrative of the American Empire in the early 20^th century. Using a transnational approach, I analyze American imperial ideology and colonial control on the intimate front, where sexuality, gender, and race were reconstructed to marginalize Filipina/os. By integrating perspectives on American military masculinity, prostitution, racial politics, and the commodification of the colonial subject, I argue that the American occupation expanded hierarchies in the Philippines. Under globalization driven by Southeast Asian colonization, contrasting images of Filipina/os and American occupiers became central to U.S. dominance in the Philippines. Therefore, photographs, newspapers, cultural works, and travel diaries that perpetuated racial-sexual stereotypes were key primary sources in this investigation. Furthermore, the sexual and racial marginalization during the colonial period continues to shape experiences of Filipina/os today. Finally, while I give significant attention to the consequences of power asymmetries in the American-occupied Philippines, Filipinas exercised agency in a way that complicates an exclusively victim-centred history. While sex work existed at the intersection of agency and oppression in the colonial Philippines, sexual violence remained a colonial tool for reinforcing American racism and imperial fantasies.