THE FILIPINO WOMAN: A Gendered History
THE FILIPINO WOMAN: A Gendered History
Abstract
This paper explores the historical, religious and philosophical underpinnings of how women have been relegated into the background in recent years by tracing the history of women in the Philippines.
The respected status Filipino women enjoyed during the pre-Spanish Philippines were predicated on the notion of equality and partnership dictated by the social roles played by both men and women. Spanish conquest of the Philippines altered the hitherto existing social order. The Spanish imposed religion in the colony which had so much misogynistic ideas that demeaned women.
Centuries of Spanish colonialism had disfigured the social landscape for women in the Philippines. Womanhood was bestowed with new meanings to the disadvantage of women. And yet the women of the Philippines themselves had been vindicated and they have restored the social status of respect they once enjoyed.
Currently, the entire legal system of the Philippines had already taken cognizance of the important role of women in nation building. What remains is whether or not such policy pronouncements get implemented.
Introduction
Introduction
The biblical account of creation in the Book of Genesis tells us that the Creator made man in His own image. Man and woman He created them. The chronology of creation, however, gave primacy to man. After the created man has settled in the Garden of Eden, the Creator said: "it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him". The Creator thus formed out of the ground various wild animals and various birds of the air and brought it to man ... but none proved to be a suitable partner for the man. Consequently, the Creator caused man to sleep and out of his rib He created a new being called 'woman' for out of her man, this one has been taken. It thus appeared that as man's companion, the woman was not even the first choice.
Taking the story of creation a bit further, the woman succumbed to temptation. She ate the forbidden fruit which she also gave to the man. When the Creator confronted them on what they did, the man placed all the blame on the woman. As a consequence, to the woman the Creator said: "I will intensify the pangs of your childbearing; in pain shall you bring forth children. Yet your urge shall be for your husband, and he shall be your master". And to the man He said: "Cursed be the ground because of you! In toil shall you eat its yield all the days of your life". And then, they were banished from the Garden of Eden. Pain and suffering has entered the world through the woman.