The President as Macho: Machismo, Misogyny, and the Language of Toxic Masculinity in Philippine Presidential Discourse

Abstract

This chapter interrogates the unsettling language of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, particularly his decidedly misogynist or anti-women rhetoric. It specifically examines a series of speeches containing what the president and his spokespersons regard as “rape jokes” against the backdrop of a macho rhetoric that has developed and evolved throughout the rhetorical history of the Philippine presidency. Using a schema theoretic framework informed by critical discourse studies, metaphor studies, and rhetorical theory, the paper argues that Duterte’s sexist rhetoric is not unique. It is merely a reaffirmation of long-standing misogynistic rhetoric that has been sustained and reinforced by presidents and a complicitous public before Duterte took power. Duterte’s rape jokes should then be seen not as a unique feature of the president’s individual rhetoric, but as an extension and recontextualization of rhetoric that had already been established over time. The chapter concludes by recommending that while the president needs to be called out for his unpresidential use of language, critical discourse analysts should also work towards unsettling the broader discourse within which the president’s utterances are instantiated.