Student Body

SHIFTING GEARS: HUMANITY AND THE RAPIDITY OF EVOLUTION IN THE NAME OF POST-PANDEMIC “NORMALCY”

Time check: Month seven of quarantine, month ten of COVID-19, and month something of constantly feeling like the world's changing too fast around us. In this issue of The Feed, we take a deeper look into this new era of pandemic-induced normalcy, and the changes it brings to the way we think and exist in the world.

PAULINE NACAR / 27 October 2020

Seven months ago, life in the city was subject to dedicating hours of your life to the mercy of day-to-day traffic, creating a feeling of relentless travel from destination to destination, and perpetually being surrounded by people, structures, and a lot of noise. As society was forced to slam on its brakes without warning, its residents were also left with no choice but to stop, or at the very least, slow down.

The unprecedented deceleration of day-to-day life allowed industries and communities to reboot and restart in an attempt to adapt to the requirements of this so-called New Normal. Now seven months in, and we are no longer merely changing our lifestyles momentarily to deal with the challenges of now, but to make long-term commitments for what society needs to live a better life now and tomorrow.

As the Philippines remains to be in varying levels of quarantine, and this whole ordeal has far exceeded what we expected to be a temporary break, we, as a society, are pushed to innovate, transform, and change everything we once knew as the only acceptable way to live. In our now frequent moments of solitude and silence, a new sense of urgency has erupted for a totally different set of focused issues that we had the liberty to ignore before as we went about the daily grind.

In post-COVID-19 Philippines (is this even considered to be “post”?), we put more emphasis on quality of life for everyone.

This trickles down to the stories we consume as a society that are more eager to reflect inclusivity, diversity, and real narratives we’ve never seen before in mainstream media; the louder voices of the youth in the face of oppression and abuse, especially when it comes to marginalized communities; and greener and more sustainable alternatives being at the forefront of radicalizing capitalism and consumerism.

To bring these topics further into the spotlight, we’ll be zooming in on web series Gameboys: The Series, and how it pioneered a new era of storytelling surrounding Boys’ Love (BL) with our cover personality Kyle Velino, who, in great lengths, showcased a whole spectrum of “humanity”–the good, the ugly, and the downright chaotic–in his role in the well-received online series.

This issue is also set to highlight how the drag industry is taking over the virtual stage, allowing this fabulous corner of humanity to be more accessible to people across the world, and how Filipino society is leaning more towards cycling as a mode of transportation to lessen pollution and transition into a more environment-friendly lifestyle, starting with a community-based cycling group, First Bike Ride PH, founded by young creative, Lester Babiera.

As it is, the first few months of quarantine were dedicated to reacting to our current problem, and finding ways to bring our chaotic lives from the outside into the safety and security of our homes. Now, then, the next chapter calls us to reorganize society and figure out what we’re putting back out into the world once we’re free from the confines of these four walls.

The times have drastically changed in a span of seven months. We’ve entered a whole new era defined by the ever-growing digital space, and the shrinking and sinking structures of pre-COVID society. As mankind continues to evolve in rapid speed, let this issue be a reminder of things we should be focusing on, and working hard towards. From Neutral to Drive, let us shift our lifestyles and be more active to avoid getting left behind in this race towards a more inclusive and progressive humanity.