History & Sexuality | The Red Room Exhibit in Palm Grass Heritage Hotel
This blog has some #nsfw content, so if you are under 18, you may want to skip to the next blog.
I had a very fun and educational weekend last week. Gabii sa Kabilin was finally back after a 2-year hiatus due to the pandemic. Let me share with you a snippet of what Gabii sa Kabilin is, especially for those who are not from Cebu City.
Kabii sa Kabilin is a one-night-only, 6-hour cultural and heritage tour in Cebu City which is celebrated annually. Different museums and heritage sites open their doors for thousands of tourists from 6 p.m. until 12 midnight.
You can check my previous blog for more details.
For this year's event, 20 museums participated, and one of the heritage sites that I went to is the Palm Grass Heritage Hotel.
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A Brief Background on Palm Grass Heritage Hotel :
Palm Grass is Cebu's only heritage hotel. This history of the hotel's owners has a deep root in the Katipunan Revolution in Cebu, particularly the Battle of Tres De Abril on April 3, 1898.
The founders' mother, Caridad Tan-Guivelondo, who shares the surname of Don Isidro Guivelondo, was one of the early conspirators of the Cebu Revolution against Spain. It was in Don Isidro’s house that the Tres de Abril uprising was orchestrated by the Cebuano Katipuneros.
While their father, Mamerto Arcilla Blanco, also shared stories about the Blanco Katipuneros who escaped from the Guardia Civil through the esteros of Colon,No other hotel in Cebu will greet you with security guards dressed in Juan Luna's Katipunan uniform; a replica of the vistidora worn by Andres Bonifacio and Leon Kilat; and walls adorned with 300 names of Cebu heroes, the majority of whom participated in the Spanish revolt.
For the Gabii sa Kabilin's event, Palm Grass has the theme "Lovers & Warriors in Cebu History."
They showcase some tribal musical instruments, artwork, and tribal weapons, A rated PG exhibit called the Red Room, Henna Sessions and Puso weaving and a lot more.
But I think the highlight was the Red Room.
The Red Room shows the different traditions of Cebu's forefathers when it comes to sexuality. The research was also backed up by the accounts of Pigafetta during the first circumnavigation of the world.
Are you ready? Grab a popcorn, as you are in for a surprise. Let's start the tour!
Welcome to the Red Room!
Shocking! Scandalous! No shame! The devil's work!
That was the reaction of our European friends when they had a first-hand encounter with these traditions. Per the accounts of Pigafetta, they were shocked and found these things to be Satanic work, so during their 300 year invasion of the Philippines, they tried their best to eradicate these practices and even punished the natives through lashing if they were caught still practicing these traits.
Penis Rings
"If you want it, then you should have put a ring on it" says Beyonce in "Single Ladies"
But this ain't no ordinary ring.
This is how Antonio Pigafetta described this tradition in his accounts :
"The males, both large and small, have the head of their member pierced from one side to the other, with a pin of gold or of tin as thick as a goose feather, and at each end of this pin some have a star-shaped decoration like a button, and others, one like the head of a cart nail… The pin or tube or a hole through which they urinate, and the pin and the stars always remain firm, holding the member stiff. "
During the pre-hispanic times, the tradition of penis rings was more like a right of passage to adulthood. The penis rings are made out of lead, brass, or sometimes gold, and they are also called sakra or sagra.
Pigafetta also notes in his accounts of how the men back then had the most concern for the pleasure of a woman.
A woman's pleasure is the most important, Louder Pigafetta!
It was also said that prehistoric women were aggressive and in control when it came to sex; they liked the pain and pleasure. Say hello to BDSM, but on a serious note, women had power over men.
The women back then also had a term for someone who was good in bed—they called him a "Karakoa" or a war ship. So if the performers where called War Ship, I wonder what the opposite would be? small fishing boat? lol
If you are a man living in the pre-colonnial times and you don't have these equipment, then rest assure that the woman will be of no interest in you. That's how important these were during that time.
Just imagine how angry the woman must have been when the priars and the conquerors started to whip out the tradition.
Penis Pins
This is also known as Tugbuk, which is described as small bars or tubes of brass, gold, ivory, lead, or tin, pierced through the head of the penis at an early age.
Buyo Leaf
The use of Buyo leaf as a means of consent was practiced during pre-colonial times. If a man is unable to speak openly to the woman he desires, he will ask the woman for a Buyo. If the woman gives her the leaf, it means she consents, and if she does not, it means the man should stop hoping and the woman is not interested in him.
Buyo is also known in English as the Betel Leaf.
Pilok sa Kanding or Goat's Eyelash
One of the sexual devices used in precolonial times and even up until now, is made out of goat eyelids and includes the bristles or the hair. It is worn by men to enhance their sexual performance.
That's it for our Red Room tour. Was your mind blown just like mine? It made me think of Maria Clara, the demure image of a Filipina, and now I learned that she is actually a product of the Spanish influence during the colonization. The image of Maria Clara is how they depict a woman should be and not the aggressive type they first encounter when they colonize our natives, The Spaniards worked so hard to eliminate the sexual traditions of our forefathers just to make the perfect Dalagang Filipina example, do you think they suceed?
It's nice to know about our history. The stories of the past make us understand and know more about the present. Don't you agree?
I'll share more of the other heritage sites that I visited during the Gabii sa Kabilin tour on another blog. 'Til next time.
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All photos were taken and edited by me unless stated otherwise. Images may have been shared to my social media accounts prior posting to the blog.
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