Pinoy

"Pinoy" is a demonym referring to Filipino people in the United States, the Philippines and around the world.cite book
last = Rodell
first =Paul A.
title=Culture and Customs of the Philippines
publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group
isbn = 0313304157, 9780313304156
page = 218
date=2001
url =http://books.google.com/books?id=y1CVR74_KHQC
accessdate=2008-08-18] Filipinos usually refer to themselves informally as "Pinoy" or sometimes the feminine "Pinay". The word is formed by taking the last four letters of "Filipino" and adding the diminutive suffix -y. It was used as self-identification by the first wave of Filipinos coming to the continental United States before World War II and has been used both in a pejorative sense as well as a term of endearment similar to "Chicano".cite book
last = Posadas
first =Barbara Mercedes
title=The Filipino Americans
publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group
isbn = 0313297428, 9780313297427
page = 165
date= 1999
url =http://books.google.com/books?id=FR8qo2MPMR4C
accessdate=2008-08-18] cite book
last = Coronadon
first =Marc
title=Crossing Lines: Race and Mixed Race Across the Geohistorical Divide
publisher=Rowman & Littlefield
isbn = 0970038410, 9780970038418
page = 91
date=2004
url =http://books.google.com/books?id=psydQ_VWwN8C
accessdate=2008-08-18] Both "Pinoy" and "Pinay" are still regarded as derogatory by some Filipinos though they are widely used and gaining mainstream usage.cite book
last = Leonard
first =George
title=The Asian Pacific American Heritage: A Companion to Literature and Arts
publisher=Taylor & Francis
isbn = 0815329806, 9780815329800
page = 484
date= 1999
url =http://books.google.com/books?id=ZzipfA-IyccC
accessdate=2008-08-18]

"Pinoy" was created to differentiate the experiences of those emigrating to the United States but is now a slang term used to refer to all people of Filipino descent. Mainstream usages tend to center on entertainment ("Pinoy Big Brother") and music ("Pinoy Idol") which has played a significant role in developing national and cultural identity. Pinoy music impacted the socio-political climate of the 1970s and was employed by both Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos and the People Power Revolution that overthrew his regime.

Origins

"Pinoy" was coined by expatriate Filipino Americans during the 1920s and was later adopted by Filipinos in the Philippines.cite book
last = de Jesus
first =Melinda L.
title= Pinay Power: Peminist Critical Theory : Theorizing the Filipina/American Experience
publisher=Routledge
isbn = 0415949823, 9780415949828
page =
date=2005
url =http://books.google.com/books?id=1lZBJvrkItwC
accessdate=2008-08-18] According to historian Dawn Mabalon, the historical use has been to refer to Filipinos born or living in the United States and has been in constant use since the 1920s. She adds that it was reclaimed and politicized by "Filipino American activists and artists in the Fil-Am movements of the 1960s/1970s".

Motivations

The desire to self-identify can likely be attributed to the diverse and independent history of the archipelagic country - comprising 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean - which trace back 30,000 years before becoming a Spanish colony in the 16th century and later occupied by the United States which led to the outbreak of the Philippine-American War.Harvnb|Dolan|1991-3] [Citation
url=http://www2.hawaii.edu/~gaspar/churches.html
title=Sacred Homes of the Ekklesia: The Colonial Churches of the Philippines
author=Gaspar, Roger Gerard B
publisher=Self-published. Hosted by the University of Hawaii
accessdate=2008-02-05vc|date=August 2008] The Commonwealth of the Philippines was established in 1935 with the country gaining its independence in 1946 after the Pacific Theatre of the Second World War.cite web
url=http://www.gov.ph/aboutphil/general.asp
title=General information
publisher=Government of the Philippines
accessdate=2007-10-01
cite web
url=http://www.gov.ph
title=Official Website
publisher=Government of the Philippines
accessdate=2007-10-01] The Philippines have over 170 languages indigenous to the area most of which belong to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian languages family. In 1939, then president Manuel L. Quezon renamed the Tagalog language as the "Wikang Pambansa" ("national language").Citation
author = Andrew Gonzalez
year = 1998
month =
title = The Language Planning Situation in the Philippines
journal = Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development
volume = 19
issue = 5, 6
url = http://www.multilingual-matters.net/jmmd/019/0487/jmmd0190487.pdf
accessdate = 2007-03-24
pages=487 ] The language was further renamed in 1959 as "Pilipino" by Secretary ofEducation Jose Romero. The 1973 constitution declared the Pilipino language to be co-official, along with English, and mandated the development of a national language to be known as "Filipino". Since then, the two official languages are Filipino and English.Citation
url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rp.html
title=World Factbook — Philippines
publisher=CIA
accessdate=2008-07-24]

There are more than 11 million overseas Filipinos worldwide, equivalent to about 11% of the total population of the Philippines.cite web
url=http://www.prb.org/Articles/2003/RapidPopulationGrowthCrowdedCitiesPresentChallengesinthePhilippines.aspx
title=Rapid Population Growth, Crowded Cities Present Challenges in the Philippines
author=Yvette Collymore
month=June
year=2003
publisher=Population Reference Bureau
quote=An estimated 10 percent of the country's population, or nearly 8 million people, are overseas Filipino workers distributed in 182 countries, according to POPCOM. That is in addition to the estimated 3 million migrants who work illegally abroad
accessdate=2007-08-14]

Earliest usages

The earliest known usages of "Pinoy"/"Pinay" in magazines and newspapers date to the 1920s include taking on social issues facing Pinoy, casual mentions of Pinoys at events, while some are advertisements from Hawaii from Filipinos themselves.cite web
title="Pinoys" search of The United States and its Territories, 1870 - 1925: The Age of Imperialism
publisher=University of Michigan
date=1920s
url =http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=philamer&cc=philamer&type=simple&rgn=full+text&q1=pinoys&cite1=&cite1restrict=author&cite2=&cite2restrict=author&singlegenre=All&firstpubl1=1814&firstpubl2=2004&Submit=Search
accessdate=2008-08-18] cite web
title="Pinoy" search of The United States and its Territories, 1870 - 1925: The Age of Imperialism
publisher=University of Michigan
date=1920s
url =http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=philamer&cc=philamer&type=boolean&rgn=pages&q1=pinoy&op2=and&q2=&op3=and&q3=&cite1=&cite1restrict=author&cite2=&cite2restrict=author&singlegenre=All&firstpubl1=1814&firstpubl2=2004&Submit=Search
accessdate=2008-08-18] The following are the more notable earliest usages:

United States

In the United States, the earliest published usage known is a "Philippine Republic" article written in January 1924 by Dr. J. Juliano, a member of the faculty of the Schurz school in Chicago - "Why does a Pinoy take it as an insult to be taken for a Shintoist or a Confucian?" and "What should a Pinoy do if he is addressed as a Chinese or a Jap?"cite web
last = Sundita
first =Christopher
title=Much Ado About Pinoy
publisher=Salita Blog
date=12 March 2006
url =http://salitablog.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_archive.html
accessdate=2008-08-18] cite book
last = Juliano
first =Dr. J.
title=Reflections of a "Traveler": How Long Will I Stay In America? Will I Marry An American Girl?
publisher=Philippine Republic, University of Michigan, Collection: The United States and its Territories, 1870 - 1925: The Age of Imperialism
page = 17
date=January 1924
url =http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=philamer;cc=philamer;q1=pinoy;rgn=full%20text;idno=ACC6198.1924.001;didno=ACC6198.1924.001;view=image;seq=00000041
accessdate=2008-08-18]

Philippines

In the Philippines, the earliest published usage known is from December 1926, in "History of the Philippine Press", which briefly mentions a weekly Spanish-Visayan-English publication called "Pinoy" based in Capiz and published by the Pinoy Publishing Company.cite book
last = Taylor
first =Carson
title=History of the Philippine Press
publisher=University of Michigan, Collection: The United States and its Territories, 1870 - 1925: The Age of Imperialism
page = 59
date=1927
url =http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=philamer;cc=philamer;q1=pinoy;rgn=full%20text;idno=ACR6448.0001.001;didno=ACR6448.0001.001;view=image;seq=00000063
accessdate=2008-08-18, "Pinoy"'s publication date is 27 December 1926. The publisher was Pinoy Publishing Company. Other than that, there's no further information.] In 1930, the Manila-based magazine "Khaki and Red: The Official Organ of the Constabulary and Police" printed an article about street gangs stating "another is the 'Kapatiran' gang of Intramuros, composed of patrons of pools rooms who banded together to 'protect pinoys' from the abusive American soldados."cite book
title=Khaki and Red: The Official Organ of the Constabulary and Police
publisher=University of Michigan, Collection: The United States and its Territories, 1870 - 1925: The Age of Imperialism
page = 6
date=October 1930, [Vol. 10, no. 10]
url =http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=philamer;cc=philamer;q1=pinoy;rgn=full%20text;idno=ACR6448.0001.001;didno=ACR6448.0001.001;view=image;seq=00000063
accessdate=2008-08-18]

Notable literature

"Pinoy" is first used by Filipino poet Carlos Bulosan, in his 1946 semi-autobiography, "America Is in the Heart" - "The Pinoys work every day in the fields but when the season is over their money is in the Chinese vaults."cite book
last = Bulosan
first =Carlos
title=America is in the Heart: A Personal History
publisher=Harcourt, Brace and company
date=January 1924
url =http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=philamer;cc=philamer;q1=pinoy;rgn=full%20text;idno=ACC6198.1924.001;didno=ACC6198.1924.001;view=image;seq=00000041
accessdate=2008-08-18] The book describes his childhood in the Philippines, his voyage to America, and his years as an itinerant laborer following the harvest trail in the rural West. It has been used in American Ethnic courses to illustrate the racism experienced by thousands of Filipino laborers during the 1930s and 40s in the United States.

Pinoy music

In the early 1970s Pinoy music or "Pinoy pop" emerged, often sung in Tagalog - it was a mix of rock, folk, and ballads - marking a political use of music similar to early hip hop but transcending class.cite book
last = Lockard
first =Craig A.
title=Dance of Life: Popular Music and Politics in Southeast Asia
publisher=University of Hawaii Press
isbn = 0824819187, 9780824819187
page = 135-151
date=1998
url =http://books.google.com/books?id=_likSSE9sEAC
accessdate=2008-08-18] The music was a "conscious attempt to create a Filipino national and popular culture" and it often reflected social realities and problems. As early as 1973, the Juan De la Cruz Band was performing "Ang Himig Natin" (Our music), which is widely regarded as the first example of Pinoy rock.cite book
last = Rodell
first =Paul A.
title=Culture and Customs of the Philippines
publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group
isbn = 0313304157, 9780313304156
page = 186
date=2001
url =http://books.google.com/books?id=y1CVR74_KHQC
accessdate=2008-08-18] "Pinoy" gained popular currency in the late 1970s in the Philippines when a surge in patriotism made a hit song of Filipino folksinger Heber Bartolome's "Tayo'y mga Pinoy" (We are Filipinos), and later with Filipino band Bamboo's "Noy-pi" ("Pinoy" in reversed syllables). Nowadays, it is used as an adjective to some terms highlighting their relationship to the Philippines or Filipinos. Pinoy rock was soon followed by Pinoy folk and later, Pinoy jazz. Although the music was often used to express opposition to then Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos and his use of martial law and the creating of the Batasang Bayan, many of the songs were more subversive and some just instilled national pride. Perhaps because of the cultural affirming nature and many of the songs seemingly being non-threatening, the Marcos administration ordered radio stations to play at least one - and later, three - Pinoy songs each hour. Pinoy music was greatly employed both by Marcos and political forces who sought to overthrow him.

ee also

* Demographics of the Philippines
* Ethnic groups in the Philippines
* List of Austronesian languages
* List of Austronesian countries by linguality
* Race and ethnicity in the United States Census

References