Dangerous Intercourse: Gender and Interracial Relations in the American Colonial Philippines, 1898–1946

312 Pages·2023·13.392 MB·English

by  Tessa Winkelmann

Dangerous Intercourse
A VOLUME IN THE SERIES
THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD
Edited by Benjamin A. Coates, Emily Conroy- Krutz, Paul A. Kramer,
and Judy Tzu- Chun Wu
Founding Series Editors: Mark Philip Bradley and Paul A. Kramer
A list of titles in this series is available at cornellpress . cornell . edu.
Dangerous Intercourse
Gender and Interracial Relations in the
American Colonial Philippines, 1898–1946
Tessa Winkelmann
Cornell University Press
Ithaca and London
Copyright © 2022 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or
parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in
writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University
Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.
Visit our website at cornellpress . cornell . edu.
First published 2022 by Cornell University Press
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Winkelmann, Tessa, 1981– author.
Title: Dangerous intercourse: gender and interracial relations in the
American colonial Philippines, 1898–1946 / Tessa Winkelmann.
Description: Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2022. | Series: The
United States in the world | Includes bibliographical references
and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022012905 (print) | LCCN 2022012906 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781501767074 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781501767081 (pdf) |
ISBN 9781501767098 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Miscegenation— Social aspects— Philippines. |
Miscegenation— Political aspects— Philippines. | Interracial
couples— Philippines. | Interracial marriage— Philippines. |
Racially mixed families— Philippines. | Racially mixed
c hildren—P hilippines. | Philippines—C olonization—S ocial
aspects. | Philippines— History—1898–1946.
Classification: LCC GN254 .W56 2022 (print) | LCC GN254
(ebook) | DDC 306.84/509599— dc23/eng/20220422
LC rec ord available at https://l ccn. l oc. g ov/ 2 022012905
LC ebook rec ord available at https://l ccn. l oc. g ov/ 2 022012906
Cover illustration by Bianca Austria
Contents
Acknowl edgments vii
Introduction: Dangerous Intercourse: Romantic Pretense and
Colonial Vio lence 1
1. Marshaling Interracial Intercourse during the Philippine-
American War, 1898–1902 19
2. Colonial “Frontiers”: Empire Building and Intercourse in the
Northern and Southern Philippines 47
3. Colonial Sociality and Policing Dangerous Intercourse,
1898–1907 86
4. The Trials of Intercourse: Criminality and Illegitimacy in
the Colonial Courts 120
5. Depicting Dangerous Intercourse: Sam and Maganda on the
Pages of Empire 152
6. Making Mestizos: Filipino American Mixed- Race C hildren
and Discourses of Belonging, 1898 and Beyond 183
Conclusion: “My Filipino Baby,” Absolution, and the Aftermath
of an Imperial Romance 221
vi CONTENTS
Notes 229
Bibliography 263
Index 287
Acknowl edgments
I wish that I did not have to start t hese acknowl edgments with loss, espe-
cially at a time when so many are experiencing their own grief. For me, that
loss has coincided with the conclusion of this proje ct. Much of this book is
about how Filipinas made t hings happen, even under the pressure of extreme
duress. Life for many of my friends in the Philippines is still like this. Susan
Quimpo, Gayia Beyer, and Ged Hidalgo all hoped and worked to make big
changes in the face of ongoing national crises— environmental racism, pov-
erty, a fractured pol iti cal system, the debris of imperialism, and so on. When
I first started thinking about and researching this book, I wasn’t sure that I
would be able to do all the work I felt was necessary to complete the proj-
ect. These three helped assure me that it could be done and forged my ini-
tial contacts with the people who would ultimately appear in the book. I
signed up for Susan’s brainchild, Tagalog On Site, when I was a master’s stu-
dent in ethnic studies at San Francisco State University. I wanted to build
my conversational, reading, and writing skills in a language I grew up with
but was never expected to really know. While learning Filipino with other
Filipino Americans in Manila, we met Gayia, who introduced us to her
family and ancestral homelands in Banaue, and Ged, who literally navigated
us all around Manila so that we could buy load for our phones and attempt
to use our language skills in public. Whenever I expressed to them my hesi-
tance about d oing this proje ct, they were always reassuring with a quick,
“Of course you can do it, why not?” Maraming salamat sa inyong tulong, mga
viii ACKNOWL EDgMENTS
kapatid. We lost Susan, a never smoker but a lifelong resident of one of the
traffic capitals of the world, in the summer of 2020 to severe emphysema.
We lost Gayia and Ged to COVID-19 in the first half of 2021, when much
of the first world had already vaccinated those with preexisting conditions.
These preventable deaths gut- wrenchingly highlight the continued precar-
ity of those in postcolonial nations, especially women. I dedicate this book
to you, mga tatlong diwata. Thank you for being the lifeline of this book.
Trying to finish a research- based book while navigating the teaching and
ser vice demands of a tenure- track job and raising two toddlers as a first-
generation w oman of color was (and is) no small task. I needed so much help,
and in so many dif er ent ways— financially, academically, emotionally, and
physically. This is my road map.
The research for this book would have been impossible without the gener-
ous support of the Fulbright Institute of International Education fellowship
and the amazing support of the Manila- based Philippine- American Educa-
tional Foundation (PAEF) staf, Marj Tolentino, Esmeralda “EC” Cunanan,
Yolly Casas, and Eileen “Con” Valdecañas. I could not have navigated (liter-
ally!) the embassies and archives without them. Research grants at the Bentley
Historical Library at the University of Michigan and the Newberry Library
in Chicago allowed me to spend months rather than days immersed in the
archives. A Ford Foundation postdoctoral fellowship was awarded to me at a
crucial time. Baby two was on the way, and time away from teaching respon-
sibilities for writing and childcare was very much needed.
At the University of Illinois, I was fortunate to find support both finan-
cially and in the form of mentorship and community. My mentor and ad-
viser, Augusto Espiritu, was instrumental in guiding me to this proje ct when
I, as a new gradu ate student in history with no prior experience in the field,
felt like a fish out of water. His help along the way, as well as the guidance
of my dissertation committee— Kristin Hoganson, Leslie Reagan, and Dave
Roediger— gave this proj ect its shape and substance. Kristin was, in many
ways, the co- adviser of my gradu ate proje ct, and I have benefited from, and
continue to benefit from, her expertise in the field of the United States and
the world, as well as her belief in and generous support of my work. A com-
munity of scholars and friends sustained me in Illinois, whether it was read-
ing drafts of my work or helping me navigate how to pre sent at my first
academic conference. Thank you to Moon Kie Jung, Caroline Yang, Junaid
Rana, Martin Manalansan, Kathy Oberdeck, J. B. Capino, Genevieve Clu-
tario, Christine Peralta, Long Bui, Constancio Arnaldo, Norma Marrun,
Mary Ellerbe, Christine Lyke, Clarence Lang, Yaejoon Kwon, Vince Pham,
ACKNOWL EDgMENTS ix
Shantel Martinez, Merin Thomas, Glenn Lopez, Mark Sanchez, Utathya
Chattopadhyaya, Sonia Mariscal, Cynthia Marasigan, and Joyce Mariano.
At the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, I have been lucky to be able to
share academic space with one of the most diverse undergraduate populations
in the United States. Thank you to all the students who have helped me be-
come a stronger teacher. Isi Miranda, Marimar Rivera, Annie Delgado, and
Sana Azim all provided tremendous support for this proje ct, helping me with
translations, securing photo permissions, and d oing research, and I was so
fortunate to work with you all. Learning from and working with my col-
leagues h ere has made the book better and made me a better scholar. Thank
you to Raquel Casas, William Bauer, Mark Padoongpatt, Miriam Melton-
Villanueva, Jef Schauer, A. B. Wilkinson, Carlos Dimas, Austin Dean, Da-
vid Tanenhaus, Andy Kirk, Claytee White, Stefani Evans, Priscilla Finley,
Yuko Shinozaki, Sheila Bock, Michael Alarid, Heather Nepa, Annette Am-
dal, and Shontai Zuniga. Susan Johnson, newly arrived to our department,
or ga nized a manuscript workshop for me, as well as workshops for several
other ju nior faculty members. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to
share the draft in such a supportive forum and thankful that colleagues and
readers still attended virtually amid an unfolding global pandemic. Thank
you to Mary Renda and William Bauer for your thoughtful, insightful, and
detailed comments, which pushed this work over the finish line.
Other friends and mentors have also taken time out of their busy sched-
ules and lives to read, comment on, and support this work. Thank you to
Judy Wu, Vernadette Gonzalez, and JoAnna Poblete for providing early feed-
back and encouragement on the manuscript when it was still a dissertation.
I don’t know how you all take on as much as you do and still find time to
make such impor tant contributions to the lives of young scholars and ju nior
faculty. I have learned so much from you and am always in awe. Chris Capoz-
zola, Simeon Man, Margaret Rhee, Adrian De Leon, and Joy Sales have
always been encouraging and supportive, and I am so glad we share many of
the same conference cir cuits. Susan Crame and her extended f amily took a
chance answering an Instagram message from me regarding their colonial-
era descendants. Thank you for believing I was not a catfish and for sharing
your history with me. Anna Gonzalez was the first Filipina woman I saw in
a position of power when I started as an undergrad at the University of Cali-
fornia, Irvine. She got me started on this path early on, and I am so thank-
ful that she saw something in me to nurture.
In the Philippines, so many people opened their homes to me and ofered
their assistance, and this proje ct would not have come together without them.
x ACKNOWL EDgMENTS
Thank you to the Santos- Chee f amily for always opening your home to this
wayward cousin whenever I visit. Tanya and Auntie Bridgette Hamada sim-
ilarly housed me so that I could be close to the archives at Ateneo and the
University of the Philippines (UP). Waldette Cueto’s help at the American
Historical Collection and beyond was invaluable. Thank you to Mario Feir
and Stephen Feldman for welcoming me into your home to browse your col-
lection of rare Filipiniana and for your care in preserving this heritage. A
special thanks to Marc Chavez, whom I first met at the UP archives when I
was looking at the H. Otley Beyer papers. Marc still ofers to help me when
I can’t physically be in the Philippines to request documents. Thank you so
much for your friendship over the years and for the huge stacks of old colo-
nial documents that you somehow always manage to get for me. I value both
the documents and your friendship im mensely, but mostly your friendship.
I am so fortunate to have met other students and Filipino Americans—
Jennifer Buison, V Fixmer- Oraiz, Natalie Fixmer- Oraiz, Tarhata Brazal,
Espie Santiago, Patty Tumang, Meds Medina, Laurel Fantauzzo— who have
become friends, community, and support systems both in the United States
and in the Philippines. Thank you, mga kapatid.
The time freed up to revise and complete this book was pos si ble only
because of the many w omen who helped me raise my c hildren. I d on’t know
what I can say that can convey how grateful I am that you came into our
lives during a global pandemic and agreed to feed, clothe, and care for
Ada and Simon. Chasity Saunders, Ashley Smith, Sara Kalaoram, Iana
Relampagos— you made my c hildren’s lives better. You made my life bet-
ter. I hope that one day I can give you back some of what you gave us.
Support and childcare from both blood and chosen f amily members have
also been invaluable for the completion of this book. Thank you, Overgaards—
especially Tita Joy, who loves Ada and Simon so much that she is always will-
ing to come to Las Vegas for weeks at a time to help out. My mom helped
show me early on the resilience of immigrant w omen of color, even when
faced with crushing odds in this society. You may not have been actively
teaching, but I was actively learning. My dad gave me the resources to fund
my language- learning trip to the Philippines, even though I think it made him
sad I w asn’t also actively trying to learn German, and even though he, like
much of my f amily, still d oesn’t completely understand what I do. “That pa-
per” I’m writing is fi nally done, every one! Christina Winkelmann and Mor-
gan Swift always opened their home to us and, along with Joelle Gazmen and
Felicia Tsang, made frequent trips to Las Vegas that helped maintain my sanity.
They also listened to my job talks and kept me abreast of the latest pop cultural