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Let’s continue to FIGHT FOR EQUALITY!!

Today we find that the these traits of the Filipina are constantly being put under pressure and attacked by the sexism and chauvinism of the west which has been handed down to us by our former colonizers.  Now is the time for the Filipina to take back her glory and meet the expectations of those who upheld the name ‘Babae’ and disgust themselves with the terms of the female oppression brought upon by the western thought in the guise of chivalry.  Chivalry is not a way of respecting women.  Chivalry is a way of ensuring that women remain subservient to men!

            Chivalry is not the answer to female oppression.  It was it what makes female oppression endure.  It is that which makes certain the further demise of the female half of the world’s population.  It is the enaction of the belief of many men that women are incapable.  As women, particularly Filipinas with a proud history of being recognized as the equals of men, ask not chivalry from the world or from men, ask instead that they recognize your ability to care for yourselves and stand up for your own.

            Feminism is not something new for the Filipina.  For the Filipina, feminism is the regaining of consciousness.  Not the assertion of female equality but the affirmation that you are among those who are capable, suitable, and made for the governing of society.

            Now is the time for the Filipina to awaken and reopen her eyes to all the wonders she is capable of doing once the blindfold of her subservience is taken off.  To the Filipina, I plead that you wake up and rise up to take your place in society.  Forget the possibility or reality of gender inequality.  The only way you can repeal that reality and tear down its foundations is confronting it head on in force, infiltrating the system which allows it perpetuate and instilling within it the values which you choose to uphold —  equality for all regardless of sex, gender, creed, or preference.  So, for the sake of yourselves and the many generations of Filipinas bound to follow and be inspired by your actions take up the torch and the light the way.  Guide the way forward as your ancestors once did, and lead the march.

Have you ever wondered what the Tagalog term for ‘her’ is?  Have you ever wondered what the Tagalog term for ‘he’ is?  How about the Tagalog term for sister, or brother, or niece, or nephew?  And how about for granddaughter, or grandson?  Do you notice something?  They are non-existent. The Tagalog language is not a language that finds distinction necessary in gender as there is no reason to separate the genders at all. Be it you are male or female, you are Tagalog nevertheless, and most importantly you are socially relevant and equally important.

            The Tagalog language rarely finds the need to differentiate male and female unlike, for example, the English language which compartmentalizes everything and separates many, if not most, nouns by the gender.  Now why is it exactly, that the English language, or that of practically any European nation, compartmentalizes its language by gender?  The simple answer is that the cultures to which those languages belong find it necessary to put a divide in between the two sexes, a divide which is more than biological, it is socio-cultural.

            We find that in the European context women are subservient to men, and men portray themselves as masters over women using ‘noble’ traits as a way for them to further maintain their social status as the dominant sex as oppose to what they really are, an equally capable partner sex in the game of life.  We can see this in occurrences in the languages.

            Take for example the children.  Why is it that beyond children there is a further distinction dividing the children into their sexes, son and daughter?  Is it perhaps implying that there is a socio-cultural difference between the two other than already obvious biological distinction?  Indeed it is. 

            There is a further division in of the term children in to son and daughter because both have different roles in levels of importance, or significance in society.  Essentially daughters are meant to get nothing from the fathers and married off to the best suitor simply to fulfill the biological role of the woman which is to bear and give birth to even more children.  However, the sons are a different story.  The sons in the European setting, historically speaking, are groomed to take over the family estate.  The sons are preferred and highly valued by their families as they are given a high social significance whereas the daughters are not particularly preferred but are nevertheless raised whereas the sons are nurtured by their society.

            In the Tagalog setting there is only one word for son, daughter, and child, and that is the word anak.  Has it ever occurred to you ask why?  To ask why the Tagalogs never saw the necessity of having a distinction between sexes?  The answer, again, is simple.  To the Tagalogs sons and daughters are equal.  Although they maintain different roles in society both are considered to be important roles in the society.  The men take over the physical needs of the community whereas the women take over the cultural, intellectual aspects of the community.

            The sons were to grow as hunters and warriors while the women were meant to grow to become equally useful citizens as spiritual leaders as well as preservers of culture, or simple terms, as the artists.

            Be it you are a daughter or a son you are an anak and therefore there is no socio-cultural preference for one or the other except for when there is a lack of one or the other.

            It is not only to these words that this test can be applied.  I challenge you to do the same with other English, or generally European, words and their Tagalog counterparts.  Try it for yourself and see the gender equality present in the Tagalog language.  It may come to surprise, especially if you are among those who believe that the Filipinos are backward.  It might get you to think that perhaps, it is the Europeans that are rather late with the realization that men and women are equals.

The Philippines is a country that has been infected by the sexism and chauvinism of the west particularly that of the United States and Spain, as it was primarily these two countries that enjoyed a significantly long stay in the country to really impart their cultural traits.  And as much we may thank them for imparting with us some of their habits and glory, we may also share with them some bitterness in imparting with us the negatives aspects of their cultures and corrupting our modern culture.

            Prior to the arrival of the Spaniards the Filipina was a well respected citizen of the Barangay who enjoyed roles which were equal to those held by the men of the society and without a doubt were just significant.  In the Philippines of old, the women and men were in charge of different aspects of society.  For one, the men were to do the hunting, and warring.  Secondly the women tended the farms, planting, harvesting, as well as feeding the animals.  And most importantly the distinction lay in the way that these two sexes were perceived to be equal yet different in their social functions.  Men were meant to ensure the welfare of the Barangay’s physical attributes, i.e., the barangay itself, the people, the farms, etc. whereas the women were meant to ensure the survival of the cultural attributes of the barangay i.e., the cultural identity, religious practices, etc.

            Women in the Philippines were highly revered as they were seen to be the bringers of light in the society as it was to them that the role of ensuring the survival of the Barangay’s cultural identity, as well as nurturing and educating the children in the ways of the barangay was tasked.  Without a doubt these women were successful in their endeavors to do so considering that there are still massive remnants of pre-colonial Filipino culture alive today, especially in the northernmost and southernmost parts of the islands, being that these particular areas did not suffer the worst of the onslaught of colonialism.

            In the Philippine society of our ancestors women were not seen as incapable of anything, and as a matter of fact they were even capable of being leaders in the society.  The Babaylan, or priestesses, did more than just lead the spiritual lives of the citizens of the barangay.  These Babaylan were indeed influenced the decisions of the Datu and were highly regarded as advisers.  And this was happening in a time when the Europeans were busy promoting chauvinism and masculine preference in the guise of noble chivalry.

            In the Philippines of those day women were not expected to stay in the house, in the kitchen, cleaning up, preparing the meals, or serving the husband.  In those days the Filipina was expected to work just as hard as the men, and no excuses would be taken.  The separations in social roles were equal.  The men dealt with the physical, and the women dealt with the metaphysical, and then some.

            It must also be remembered that in the old Philippines the women were the counterparts of what we, today, consider to be the ‘intellectuals’ in society.  It was the women that were the scientist, doctors, and counsels of the barangay second only in command to the Datu. 

            Of course there was a glass in the sense that the Datu was always male.  But of course this is simply because the Datu was the richest, most powerful, and most prominent warrior selected by the barangay, or followed by the barangay.  Given that the Barangays were often in conflict it became necessary for a warrior from the Bayani class to be the leader.  And that is where the glass ceiling has been places.  Although women could also be warriors, the primary function of women, as mentioned above, was to the metaphysical, or proto-scientific and cultural.  And the women, lead by the Babaylan, would only fight after the warriors are no longer able to fight.  But this does not mean that the women of the old Philippines were the last to fight.

            As a matter of fact the women, led by the Babaylan, were the second line of defense for the Barangay.  The first line being the warriors, and third being the Panday class, and lastly the civilian population, primarily the kids, the women under the leadership of the Babaylan, a woman leader, was next in line at all times to defend and take command of the Barangay.  Indeed there was no role that the women were not able to fulfill in their society.  As a matter of fact it was the women who had more opportunities and were more favored by the Barangay.  The Filipina of those days was expected to be as much, or perhaps even more, resilient, intelligent, and hard-working as the men of the Barangay.  The expectation for women was to be equals men.