Charice Pempengco: Tomboy, lesbian, or both?

So it turns out former Glee star Charice Pempengco is gay — a lesbian. That didn’t come as much of a surprise considering she had lesbian written all over the “new look” she came out with last April. Then again does sporting the “butch” look necessarily preclude a woman being straight? Here’s the thing though: I suppose some lesbians turn to sporting the butch look to enhance their ability to attract girls. So if a girl then hooks up with a woman sporting the butch look, does that make her a lesbian too? But then if said girl was attracted to this butch look sported by the former avowed lesbian, why would she be considered a lesbian if it was the maleness of this butch look she was attracted to?

Confusing!

new_look_charice_pempengcoI do recall, Charice’s fans too were confused at first. In fact, it seems they have been confused about Charice’s frequent look changes for some time. This is a snippet from a report from a while back

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Naguguluhan nga tuloy ang ilang mga tagahanga ni Charice sa transformation na gusto nitong ma-achieve.

Noong magpa-blonde nga si Charice a la K-Pop hairstyle noong maging judge siya sa The X Factor Philippines, umani siya ng mga hindi magagandang comments.

May nagsabi nga noon na nakahawig tuloy niya ang komedyanteng si Maverick Realova (ang comic partner ni Ariel Villasanta) dahil magkapareho sila ng kulay at style ng buhok.

Noong i-post nga ni Charice sa kanyang Instagram page (@officialcharice) ang kanyang new look at marami ang nag-download nito para i-post sa iba’t ibang blogs, nakakuha ito ng magkakaibang feedbacks.

Ilan nga sa mga nag-comment ay lalo raw nagmukhang tomboy na si Charice. Mukha na raw itong lalaki talaga.

Not surprising. Looking back, and seeing just how girly Charice used to be, one would really struggle with this recent radical transformation. Was Charice’s coming out about her gayness that necessary then considering her metamorphosis from petite doll to, well, petite butch back then already said it all?

old_look_charice_pempengco

Her verbatim admission in an interview with The Buzz host Boy Abunda, was that she was a “tomboy”. In the Philippines, it seems, you are a lesbian when you look like a boy, as such, referred to as a “tomboy”. It’s kind of like acting girl-like is the hallmark of the male homosexual. To be lesbian you are a “tomboy”.

Alyssa_QuijanoNow Tomboy Charice, I heard, is currently in a relationship with X-Factor finalist Alyssa Quijano. Does that make Quijano a lesbian herself? But.. but.. she is not and does not look like a “tomboy”.

Well recalling my days as a high-school student in an all-girls’ school, I do recall some of my friends hooking up with self-proclaimed “tomboys”. Back then tomboys didn’t really come across as all that too convincing. For one thing, not too many of them had the resources or wherewithal to take on the full lifestyle and look. For another, many of them were just plain and simple confused. That’s easy for me to say as hindsight comes in handy in those cases. I know now that many of these high school tomboys now pretty much lead straight ladies’ lives. Those friends of mine who were the “girls” in these “relationships” remain the girls in their relationships with their husbands and boyfriends today.

I wonder if we’ve seen the last of these Charice transformations. Maybe like my high school tomboy specimens, this is just a stage she is going through. Confused perhaps? Well, Charice is in her early 20s so it is unlikely that she remains “confused” about her identity and sexual orientation at such an age.

25 Replies to “Charice Pempengco: Tomboy, lesbian, or both?”

  1. What is this article?!? This whole thing is a mess!

    To start with, YES, coming out is very necessary for someone who would like to be recognized as gay. It’s also a very important and oftentimes harrowing process for someone coming out of the closet. Just because someone is transforming from “girly” to “butch” does not mean that officially coming out isn’t needed anymore. Please, be more respectful and open-minded about it.

  2. Who knows if this is just another dictate by a producer or talent manager to manufacture publicity. That’s how it often goes in Pinoy showbiz.

    But yes, I like Charice’s nice wavy locks pic. Really cute.

  3. Trouble comes for Charice, epecially here in the Philippines that not being cisgender reduces the individual to a farce.

    BTW, she looks like Daniel Padilla in her tomboy image.

  4. I think the use of tomboy within the Philippines equates to lesbian, whereas in US (I’m not sure with other English speaking countries), it refers to girl acting in boyish manner, but not necessarily a lesbian.

    I’ll say that the use of tomboy = lesbian is limited in Philippine English.

    1. Tomboy must be a filipino euphemism for the butch lesbian, the ugly one, the one who has the ‘male’ role, as opposed to the sexy lipstick lesbian.
      Ellen degeneres would be a tomboy in filipino terms, but still a muff diver in any language

      1. Tomboy must be a filipino euphemism for the butch lesbian, the ugly one, the one who has the ‘male’ role, as opposed to the sexy lipstick lesbian.

        A possibility. After all the sexy lipstick lesbians might me perceived as closet lesbian within the Filipino culture (though it’s slowly becoming tolerant of them).

    2. In the west, a tomboy is usually a preteen girl that likes to play rough and likes hanging with the boys, but that does not make them a lesbian. I knew plenty of tomboys growing up who matured into “normal” even a few bombshells.

  5. At least playing for both sides doubles your chances of a date.
    The elephant in the room wasn’t charice being gay, but charice herself.

    ( CNSNews. com) –” The National Institutes of Health ( NIH ) has
    awarded $ 1 . 5 million to study biological and social factors for why “ three -quarters” of lesbians are obese and why gay males are not , calling it an issue of “ high public-health significance. ”

    Save the money, just ask charice and rosie o’donnell

  6. If she is a lesbian, then she should start dating women who are lesbians. Being a tomboy doesn’t automatically make her a lesbian. In fact, a tomboy can be hetero, bi or lesbian. I want to see her that she really IS a lesbian. Otherwise, she’s being a poser.

    1. I also look forward to the video of her muff diving when her career is nose diving.
      Soundtrack “Angel, Angel Down We Go Together” morrissey

    2. We were actually thinking that this is only a publicity stunt because she doesn’t have that many projects anymore. Not sure, though how her future looks like. If she can pull off an Aiza-Seguerra i.e., composing her own songs, then maybe people will still support her.

  7. If a girl prefers bulad over longanisa, then she is a lesbian. I am sure it will be quite comical watching her warble The Whitney Houston and Celine Dion tunes with her OA vibrato looking like a boy.

    Thankfully her time as the “Philippine Sensation” is finally over. She was just a pet project of Oprah (rumored lesbian), Rosie Odonnel (confirmed lesbian) and Ellen (a confirmed lesbian) to begin with. There are so many Filipinos with loads more talent than the great imitator.

    The question is how did this sexual orientation come about? Could she have been molested when her lazy family had her working in bars as a singer so they did not have to work?

  8. With Charice out of the closet of course people wonder who is next. Not sure about you guys but one name keeps coming up at least in my circles.

    1. Does his name rhyme with “oy” as in “Oy vey”?
      Does his name have three NOs in it?
      Does he have a big slut of a sister?

  9. I guess down the road, it might as well entertain us more with her prowess as a songstress than her ‘escapades’ I personally do not want to know.

    I like her singing and happy that she’s successful with it regardless.

    1. yep looks like it. her body’s like that of a MILF – big boobs, no butt, barrel-shaped torso.

      i hope charice will hit her head on something and realize she’s carrying too many burdens on her shoulders. too many mouths to feed.

  10. Gay people who are celebrities can go on being so (celebrities) without losing or sacrificing their sexual orientation and still be open to it whilst “enjoying” being true to oneself, their fame and popularity, such as Elton John, Ellen DeGeneres, and many more. Charice Pempenco could have done EXACTLY the same rather than living in a “deteriorating” state both physically and financially. She had the opportunity to get out of poverty (which she did), where Many Filipinos are in, doing nearly “anything” just so to get out of their poverty-stricken and miserable life.

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