How to: Be the Modern Filipina
In the extremely rigid Spanish society, a Filipino woman (of status, particularly) was expected to be meek, God-fearing, submissive, chaste, quiet, and the like. She was good for two things: marrying off and having children.
Now reader, don’t you protest. “The Filipina was strong, she stood by her children and her husband! She was part of the cause!”
While amazing Filipinas stood out during the revolution (Tandang Sora, Gabriela Silang, to name the most well-known), you have to understand that many women were quite helpless. Where’s my proof, you ask? Jose Rizal.
Jose Rizal’s two key women in his novel Noli Me Tangere, Maria Clara and Sisa, are represent the effects when a patriarchal society grows its women only until the don’t want them to grow. Take Sisa, who would be like any wife and mother in her time: limited by the titles “wife” and “mother”. When the people that made her those—her husband and her sons—disappeared from her life, she just LOST IT. You all know how badly she lost it.
And Maria Clara. The Maria Clara. A lot of people looked up to Maria Clara. She was literally that girl who was so perfect and had everything in the world. She was rich, beautiful, well-dressed, well-mannered, and she had the perfect boyfriend too. But when her daddy turned out not to be her daddy, and the man she loved disappeared, she LOST IT TOO. Because of her dependence on said men, she felt that society wouldn’t accept her anymore (it really wouldn’t have). She decided to hide in a convent forever, where she died young and tragically. What a waste.
I could go on about the leading ladies in El Filibusterismo too, about how Huli committed suicide feeling tabooed by society after she was sexually violated, or how Paulita was matched with someone predicted to be more successful, but at this point, I’d like to illustrate the bigger picture for you.
Basically, the Filipina was way different before.
Or so you think.
Despite being allowed to vote or become CEOs, the old school of thought on a “proper Filipina” remains present in our progressive country. For example: being told by someone who literally screams “OLD SCHOOL” that I wouldn’t be accepted by the family of whoever I’m dating if I didn’t go to mass every Sunday.
Another example: the standard of beauty. I discussed this before in How To: Love the Skin You’re In. Until now, a lot of people value foreign beauty over Filipina beauty, based on skin color alone. Old school thinkers would assume that being dark is unladylike, as it is evidence of partaking in unladylike activities. Like, spending time outdoors, apparently.
Yet another example: the feeling of fear when I dress the way I want to. It’s not a secret that it’s really hot, and that my university doesn’t have air-conditioning in most rooms. While I am confident about what I wear on most occasions, I can’t help it. I was trained to think that to prevent any harassment, I have to be as decent as possible. Apparently, we have to adjust to men and not vice versa. After all, they get the best pieces.
That’s the Maria Clara talking.
Maria Clara is meeting everyone’s expectations, without making any of her own. Maria Clara is listening too much to what everyone else says about who she is, that she could never say she is “herself”. Maria Clara is building a stain glass window without any support. Maria Clara is a weak, unambitious, shallow, and fragile.
Why be the Maria Clara, when you can be the Modern Filipina?
The Modern Filipina has a goal that is one with the nation. The Modern Filipina is creative and expressive. She shares her thoughts and ideas and makes sure she’s heard. The Modern Filipina forms herself for the greater good of her country.
The Old Thought is dying out. Are we going to back-track or move forward?