The changing role of women in Philippine society

Mahomed must have meant another country and I know this because I was born in the Philippines and I have yet to see the sexism and mistreatment of women which he described. I can say that women and men have always had equal rights in the Philippines because I have yet to see my mother act subservient towards other men. The fact is that unlike other countries, Filipino women have arrived and they aren’t too scared to show their faces nor do I picture them as walking like subservient zombies wearing something like…. ninja outfits! Women’s rights in the Philippines is the best in Southeast Asia because it remains the only Christian country untainted by some ancient desert religion which degrades women.

The best part is that Catholic women in that predominantly Catholic country are rebelling against established norms and have now recognized the right to do as they wish to their own bodies. Reproductive rights are being lobbied by radical women’s groups in the Philippines. I would even dare say that the Philippines is a secular country today. Where else can you see women wearing lettuce leaves parading on the streets for animal rights in Asia except in the Philippines?

Women play a vital role in society and government. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo still remains the Philippine president and among the Forbes list of top powerful women in the world.My social network, multiply, has two Filipina woman senators and they are both smart,beautiful and the best part-they don’t wear a heap of clothes over their heads!

It was also a Filipino women, Corazon Aquino(who was elected President), who rallied millions of people to kick out a male dictator named Ferdinand Marcos sometime in 1986. Plus that country has had its share of women with foot and shoe fetishes like Imelda Marcos, though having thousands of shoes isn’t a crime. The fact that an Imelda Marcos is a Filipino shows that like it’s western counterparts- the Philippines has its own share of fruitcake females who are tolerated (and even loved) by their society and their men.

Most Filipino women are educated,bilingual and possess a College degree. Most are working women who are call center workers, nurses, doctors, teachers, and IT workers. A lot of Filipino women have immigrated to other countries (like my parents) and they do not find it difficult to assimilate to western culture because the Philippines has been an American colony for more than a century.

Filipino women have fought side by side with its allies in the war against terror and female doctors from that country have participated in UN peacekeeping medical missions. On the lighter side, there are too many Filipino women who have won in both the Miss World and the Miss Universe beauty contests.

And Mahomed, after reading your article (which I doubt would remain number one), I daresay that your statement that “there is nothing good about the Philippines but terrorism” is pathetic, if not downright ignorant. The Philippines admittedly has its Abu Sayyaf Islamic crazies on one of its 7,100 islands but the country has been winning the war on terror. Also please take note that only five percent of the Philippine populace is Islamic, which even makes the future of Filipino women look brighter.

If there is anything that Filipino women should be liberated from, it should be from poverty, particularly in areas far from Metro Manila. Perhaps, with the help of other women from other parts of the world, the women in Philippine society can be completely free.