5 Filipino Stereotypes to Break

Summary

In a thought-provoking episode, Joyce Pring tackles prevalent Filipino stereotypes including the misconception that English fluency indicates intelligence, the habitual nature of 'Filipino time', and the pervasive gossip culture. Pring delves into the cultural nuance of owing debts of gratitude, challenges consumerism trends, and encourages embracing punctuality and valuing Filipino culture. Her engaging discussion invites viewers to reflect on these cultural norms, providing a refreshing perspective on how Filipinos can grow beyond these stereotypes.

Highlights

• Joyce challenges the stereotype that equates English fluency with intelligence, emphasizing the richness of Filipino language and culture 🇵🇭.
• Gossip culture is pervasive; Joyce encourages shifting focus to empathy and meaningful communication 🗣️.
• She calls for an end to 'Filipino time', advocating for punctuality as a sign of respect ⏲️.
• Joyce talks about the nuanced application of reciprocating kindness in Filipino culture 🤝.
• Critiques the growing trend of consumerism and flaunting wealth on social media 📱💸.

Key Takeaways

• English fluency does not equate to intelligence - value communication in any form 🤓.
• Punctuality shows respect and enthusiasm, let's break away from 'Filipino time' ⏰.
• Shift conversations from gossip to meaningful, idea-driven discussions 🤫➡️💡.
• Know when to draw the line in reciprocating kindness to avoid exploitation 🙅‍♀️.
• Focus on relationships and values over materialism for true fulfillment 💖.

Overview

Joyce Pring dives into the comedic yet pressing stereotypes that affect Filipino society, candidly discussing how English fluency is often wrongly linked to intelligence. She encourages valuing eloquence in any language and debunks the notion that not speaking English fluently equates to a lack of intelligence.

The podcast humorously grapples with 'Filipino time', a common cultural hallmark, urging listeners to adopt punctuality out of respect for others' time. Additionally, Joyce tackles the ingrained gossip culture, challenging audiences to pivot conversations toward enriching and empathetic discussions.

In addressing the cultural debt of gratitude, she speaks to the importance of setting boundaries to prevent social exploitation. Joyce also critiques the surge of consumerism among Filipinos, contrasting the pursuit of materialistic lifestyle with the fulfillment found in valuing relationships, empathy, and self-growth.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction The introduction chapter begins with a reflection on the complexity of reciprocating kindness. The narrator acknowledges the cultural nuances in the Filipino context, where kindness can often be exploited. They candidly share potential risks involved in their perspective. The chapter also serves as a welcome note to the 'Adulting with Joyce Spring' series and directs listeners to further content and resources available on Joyce's YouTube channel and her website, encouraging them to explore digital tools to enhance their adulting journey.
• 01:00 - 05:30: English Fluency and Intelligence The chapter 'English Fluency and Intelligence' begins with the hosts introducing the episode and acknowledging the presence of a toddler, Mr. Eliam Trino, who will be playing in the background. They express the importance of adapting to life's circumstances rather than trying to change them, in this case, working around the toddler's presence rather than stopping his play. They emphasize the decision to discuss the topic because many people could relate to the previously discussed topic of 'the five.' The introduction sets the stage for a conversation about English fluency and its relation to perceived intelligence, a theme that resonates with a broad audience and is relevant to adulting.
• 05:30 - 08:30: Filipino Time and Punctuality In this chapter, the focus is on the concept of 'Filipino time' and its impact on punctuality. The speaker discusses certain stereotypes associated with Filipinos and stresses the importance of changing these perceptions. The chapter also touches upon the types of people you should have in your life and those you should avoid, relating these insights to common Filipino stereotype behaviors.
• 08:30 - 16:30: Gossip Culture This chapter discusses the culture of gossip, highlighting its complex role in communication and society. It starts by acknowledging that while gossip can be entertaining, it can also be detrimental, spreading misinformation or personal attacks. The chapter explores different perspectives on gossip, recognizing it as a tool for social bonding and information dissemination, yet also critiquing it for its potential to harm relationships and reputations. Furthermore, it touches upon the subjective nature of humor and how jokes or stories that might be humorous in one context can be inappropriate or unkind in another, particularly when it involves making fun of someone's accent or background. The transcript snippet suggests a reflection on how humor is personal and varies greatly across cultures and individuals, often linked to deeper issues of identity and respect.
• 16:30 - 21:30: Utang Na Loob (Debt of Gratitude) The chapter titled 'Utang Na Loob (Debt of Gratitude)' challenges the notion that fluency in English equates to intelligence. The speaker emphasizes that many Filipinos use the term 'speak English' to denote intelligence, which is a stereotype that needs to be debunked. They stress that language proficiency does not define one's intelligence, sharing insights from personal experience on how people can be underestimated if they are not fluent in a particular language.
• 21:30 - 29:00: Crass Consumerism The chapter titled 'Crass Consumerism' discusses the misconception that fluency in English equates to intelligence or capability. It highlights the importance of understanding and valuing the Filipino language and culture, emphasizing that many intelligent Filipinos may not speak English fluently. The narrative calls for a recognition of the richness of the Filipino culture and the need to decouple language proficiency from an assessment of a person's intellectual abilities.
• 29:00 - 31:00: Conclusion The author argues against the perception that English fluency is a measure of one's intelligence. They highlight the fact that many smart and capable individuals may not be fluent in English simply because it is not the language spoken at home, and it is thus not a language they are accustomed to using.

5 Filipino Stereotypes to Break Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 I know it's a complicated thing because I do believe that we have to reciprocate the kindness I really know that in the Philippino context can be used and abused so much honest with you and I might get into hot water again for this welcome to adulting with Joyce spring watch the full video of this episode on my channel trip w.y youtube.com/ joyspring TV and if you want to level up your adulting game check out joy spring.com collections for my digital
• 00:30 - 01:00 products and course welcome to another episode of adulting with Joyce spring and Mr eliam trino is here with us playing in the background I hope you don't mind I have a toddler and so we have to live life with a toddler instead of trying to stop it Kang we have to find a way around it so we're going to do the episode with him playing in the background hopefully that doesn't distract you too much we really wanted to do this topic because I feel like a lot of people resonated with the five
• 01:00 - 01:30 people that you should have in your life and so the five people that you shouldn't have in your life or the five people that you should not become in other people's lives and these are Filipino stereotypes that I think we can all relate to and what we want to change so first stereotype that I often hear and I probably benefit from English fluent
• 01:30 - 02:00 is a testament to your intelligence so I don't think it's funny I don't think it's I mean obviously I understand where the comedy is coming from it's just not my comedy but I don't think it should be funny that like my accent when
• 02:00 - 02:30 you speak English but most Filipinos a lot of Filipinos would say English and I think that is something that we need to challenge and debunk because just because we aren't fluent in English or in any other specific language it doesn't mean that we're not smart and I want to say that also coming from experience in that um you know sometimes people are not very very good
• 02:30 - 03:00 at communication they're just not very eloquent they're not articulate but that doesn't necessarily mean that they're not smart it just means that that's not a strong suit that they have and recognizing that English fluency does not determine intelligence or capability is so so important it is important to Value the richness of Filipino language and culture and to actually understand that there are a lot of intelligent Filipinos that just happen do not know
• 03:00 - 03:30 how to speak English or they're so smart they're so good at what they do but English was never their language English was never a language that they used at home and so it was never a language that they became accustomed to so I think this whole idea that English fluency is a testament to your intelligence
• 03:30 - 04:00 is so wrong on so many levels but I also want to add to this um with regards to like intelligence smart shame like oh like I I often experience this WOW feeling smart no I often experience this now when you're opening up a topic or it seems like it's an important or like a deep or a serious topic somebody will literally go in a group and shame you in
• 04:00 - 04:30 front of everyone like okayo um and I think I think that discourages us from thinking critically and opening up important conversations especially in group settings because we're so afraid of being called Pabo or show off and I remember just you know having this conversation with my friends and saying guys I I think I think we
• 04:30 - 05:00 shouldn't shame each other like if you're nerding out on something good for you like I am here to nerd it out with you or to listen in your nerding out and like just support you in that and let you shine as a nerd or as a smart person and not shame you for wanting to be that like funny gy and often times you make fun of people who are are smart let's
• 05:00 - 05:30 just be honest like I guess anywhere but specifically for so so that's number one okay number two Filipino time we all know what Filipino time is Filipino time is 30 minutes after the appointed time that is the Baseline of Filipino time and challenging the notion of Filipino time
• 05:30 - 06:00 uh by valuing punctuality and respecting other people's time is something that we have to start practicing in our culture my goodness I have to admit that I used to be always late just because it's the kind of family that I grew up in we were always late to functions to school events in general late and it was only when I started working in
• 06:00 - 06:30 and and I didn't mind waiting anymore because okay so how do we debunk this and how do we challenge this and how do we stop this from happening I want to preface this by saying that I understand that Filipino time can be a thing because of outside circumstances meaning public transportation system so
• 06:30 - 07:00 that results to a lot of people having a hard time getting to places that results to incredibly bad traffic especially in Metro Manila that results to a lot of people just even if you leave the house early malate situation basically um so I do understand that that can be a factor but Filipino time in the sense that you have all all the Comforts of driving your own
• 07:00 - 07:30 car getting to a place and not worrying about traffic malate I think it's time that we start a trend wherein I'll be early you know what I will be here on time I will be here 5 minutes early than the appointed time and I will be willing to wait for people just so I can start this culture even just within my circle of friends and family that we respect each other's
• 07:30 - 08:00 time because what does being on time connote being on time and being punctual means that not only are you excited for the thing that you're showing up for but that you respect the time of the people who are going to show up in that particular event as well that you respect them enough to not wait let them wait for you not ask them to wait for you and understand that they may have other engagements after your meeting or
• 08:00 - 08:30 after the time that you're meeting so let's debunk and stop Filipino time let's stop giving each other excuses to not be on time anymore all right next let's do gossip culture I don't even know where to start with the gossip culture of the Philippines I challenge you to just start observing the conversations that spring up whenever you have dinner with
• 08:30 - 09:00 family and friends and I ask you to start jotting down conversations are they about ideas are they about um profound ideas you know what's happening around the world cultural things or are they about other people and I will tell you that once I started doing this I started realizing that almost every one of my circles here in the Philippines talk about other people instead of ideas and
• 09:00 - 09:30 yes my love and it's just it's crazy how gossipy Filipinos are number one social media bashing councel culture and everything because we just live in a culture that promotes gossiping and I want to challenge you that when you
• 09:30 - 10:00 start noticing this if you start noticing that people are gossiping around you to stop it from happening to stop it from continuing when somebody starts talking about and one of the things that I practice is um and obviously I'm not perfect like obviously sometimes I would still ask other people to Spill the tea or I would listen in on their gossip conversations but I am practicing and I am trying and one of the things that I try to do and one of the phrases that I try to do is I
• 10:00 - 10:30 say yeah that's interesting no but what do you think we can learn from that gang pivot them yeah yeah that's a that's a that's a that's an interesting story you know about that person that you were telling about so what did you learn from it what what what are the things that you think they could have done better or something like that and another phrase that you can use is yeah I think you know I think that's a really interesting topic that's circulating online right now but I really don't think that it's our story story to tell it I don't think
• 10:30 - 11:00 it's our story to really promote to other people and by doing that I think we shift our mindset from just gossiping to promoting empathy understanding and of course positive communication as well and and stop spreading harmful rumors or engaging in just Lawless conversations about other people's lives so I think we have to have another entire episode just
• 11:00 - 11:30 on gossiping itself but there's that number four is a indebtedness in English and for a lot of people it's do this particular thing that I know you don't want to do and I remember seeing a post about this a few months or years ago I don't even remember um that said like so
• 11:30 - 12:00 so listen I'm here to tell you that reciprocating the kindness that you receive from other people is very important but there is a boundary that you might cross if you just continuously do that and continuously let other people step all over you just because my
• 12:00 - 12:30 I really do believe that there's a fine line and I think it's a case toase basis it's an individual experience type of thing where and you have to be assertive and start saying no when they're just abusing you and telling you so I know it's a complicated thing because I do believe that we have to reciprocate the kindness the generosity
• 12:30 - 13:00 and the good things and the blessings that we receive from other people and we have to pass that on and also show that we appreciate them for it but I really I really know that in the Filipino context can be used and abused so much okay so for my final point today actually this is something that I personally have did not think of but I saw online um of some of the toic Filipino traits that we have
• 13:00 - 13:30 to let go of and it's called crass consumerism so crass consumerism is defined like this in recent years there has been a growing trend of excessive materialism and consumerism in the Philippines some individuals may prioritize acquiring material possessions and displaying wealth over other more essential values such as empathy and social responsibility although one could make the argument that this is the social climate of the entire World we're in we just care about
• 13:30 - 14:00 wealth and consumerism and displaying wealth and fancy things on social media rather than promoting self-improvement uh empathy for others and caring for each other I think it really has seen a growth especially in the Filipino context in the recent years with you know influencers celebrities and even just normal friends and family that you see on social media constantly
• 14:00 - 14:30 showing you their bule finds or telling you that you should buy this luxury item luxury bag luxury things etc etc etc so I want to say that there's a nuanced way to look at crash consumerism right I do believe that everybody is entitled to enjoy the fruits of their labor and if it's something that you want to post on social media although it's not my cup of tea I I think that you should be able to do that it is a free country after all and you can and do what you like with
• 14:30 - 15:00 the money that you earn and and show that to other people but I also believe that it is our social responsibility to be realistic when it comes to these postings and displ of wealth we have sometimes you know okay I'm going to be completely honest with you and I might get into hot water again for this but sometimes when I see people people post luxurious stuff
• 15:00 - 15:30 like excessively luxurious stuff over and over again like branded things and Philip I'm talking about Filipinos in general branded things um luxurious trips luxurious everything like just pure opulence it makes my heartbreak because I know that the average Filipino does not live that way and that's what is aspiration in our culture like aspirational sa is
• 15:30 - 16:00 Super G Super Y super branded super luxury super opulence and I don't think enough people are talking about aspiring for other things more important things like having good values being having foundational things that are really important which is healthy relationships a good relationship with God you know exercising um showing up and serving
• 16:00 - 16:30 others showing up for and serving others and I think that's what happens when we are in the culture of Crash consumerism and it really breaks my heart cuz we have a younger generation growing up in a society where they think that being an influencer and having all these wonderful material things that's the best that you can get like it's not guys
• 16:30 - 17:00 it's not the end all the all of things it's not the most important thing and having all these material things will not make you happy the best bodoodle finds are just that they're just bodoodle finds eventually one day they will sit in your cour in your closet not being used or you're going to have to sell it and it's going to fade away I'm telling you that's really what it is but if you don't know that and if you think that's what's going to give you happiness fulfillment and joy then you
• 17:00 - 17:30 were in for a really really sad time and out of all the Filipino traits that I think we need to debunk and watch out for this might be the most important one because I think it's foundational that we have to realize is it these material things or is it relationships a relationship with God a relationship with our spouse our relationship with our children our family our friends is it these luxurious
• 17:30 - 18:00 and opulent things or is it serving and helping as many people as possible with whatever time talent and treasure God has given us and it's a conversation that really needs to be had um and I want to hear your thoughts on it as well but there those are I think that was five right was that five was anybody keeping tabs yeah that was uh my list of five Filipino toxic traits and stereotypes that we need to challenge
• 18:00 - 18:30 and debunk and want I think about it and hopefully these are things that you know you were able to reflect on as well if you have any thoughts on it I'd love to hear your thoughts uh is the hashtag adting with joyspring DM me email me at info@ jooy spring.com and we'll see you on the next one follow that's it for this episode of adulting with Joyce spring if you liked this podcast please don't forget to use the # adulting withjoy spring and also check out ww.
• 18:30 - 19:00 jooy spring.com for the show notes and tag me on social media with you know it at joyspring I'll talk to you guys again soonam