what-a-move

[what-a-move]

Masterlist

—Sexism—

~ An Introduction to Sexism

~ History of Sexism

~ Encounters of Sexism in the Philippines (1)

~ Encounters of Sexism in the Philippines (2)

—Feminism—

~ An Introduction to Feminism

~ History of Feminism

~ Current Efforts for Feminism

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Written by Benavides, Holman, Molina and Solsona.

What A Move's goal is for the better of small communities, expanding to bigger communities in terms of gender equality and a better lifestyle for everyone. The Philippines, a very traditional and religious country: we aim to maintain that culture and taste while improving gender equality and treatment towards each other. In the local context, we always start in our household, school and workplace. We can help and be helped by teaching and learning with what we obtained and experienced. Another crucial factor is to start within yourself, move forward with pure intentions. Feminism will help each other thrive for the very best of ourselves.

- N. Solsona

By having valor, or the strength or courage that What A Move strives for, we would get through everything and achieve what we want, gender equality. Many people like myself have a strong will which is very much needed in this world full of chaos. People should start standing up for themselves, wether they may be male or female or the people in between. As long as we work together, we will MOVE in order to pave a better future for the future generations.

- S. Molina

Everyone has a different ideology that means everyone can have different perspectives. In my observation, more than half of us do not experience this kind of issue, and the lesser half experience it because there are people out there who were born and grew up to be this kind of person they like. Sometimes sexism or feminism occurs because of the prejudice and belief of others. There is a lower chance that things like these will be removed, but I’m not saying we don't have a chance to remove this once and for all. I hope that people would then remove the ideologies of being sexist. The women who got treated less should be likely to be treated equally, the same as men.  The ideology of underestimating all of them should be removed. Women have powers and skills in handling a political position, sharing ideas in decision-making, voting rights, etc. My only recommendation is, it should be further in the system of education for people to know about, instead of jumping to conclusions. 

- S. Holman

Sexism has created a large impact and we should be aware of this. A lot of women can’t have jobs because of sexism and the label about them. Our country should treat women as equals to men. Individuals, we should treat women as equals to men. We should give them the right to speak and live as human beings. Feminism should be spread and promoted throughout the world and women should be treated like men. As one of the writers of this blog, I want women to be equal to men and we need to change our perspective on women, we should not label women as negative words. As an individual, we need to treat women with respect and integrity. We should change our minds when it comes to treating women. They’re humans. We’re all humans. You are Human.

- J. Benavides

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Written by Nichelle Solsona

To be young and claim opportunities and give help, we can do so much for our community and increase our efforts for feminism. (“8 ways to change the course for women’s rights,” 2019) We can start with ourselves and in our households, to change and improve in our small community. We address and speak out for ourselves when needed, we stand up for other women who have been victims, we enhance the path we’re on by maximizing our opportunities and resources. We educate and be educated, the strongest power is to have great knowledge about it. Accomplishing that, we can now act on it wisely, advocating and joining groups that talk about coping with their experiences. To wisely use this knowledge in the school grounds.

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History of Feminism in The Philippines   

Written by Shaun Holman

The Philippines has been noted off and described as having one of the smallest gender inequality in the whole world. The gender gap has been closed in both education and health. The country also had two female presidents that are: Corazon Aquino and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. These achievements and accomplishments that these two female presidents have, reflect a long history of efforts by women to show the power and involve themselves equally in society and governance. The struggle for women’s right to vote was a sign of early feminism in the Philippines. It spanned for about three decades, reaching its most crucial point in September 1937 with the ratification by the Commonwealth government National Assembly after a plebiscite vote by women voters on April 30, 1937. The movement of women in the Philippines dated back to the first feminist movement, which is the suffrage movement back in the 1920s that helped legalize the right of women to vote here in the Philippines in 1937. One of the noteworthy accomplishments was the creation of the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), now called the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women” (NRFW), from the year 1975 thru the Presidential Decree 633 and under the regime of President Marcos. Businesses from the Philippines are taking rough measures to preserve or improve the gender balance in leadership roles. According to the recent report, ‘Women in Business’ by Grant Thornton International Ltd., female executives in senior management positions in Philippine companies dropped from 47% in 2018 to 37.5% in 2019. However, Filipino women also remained to be the highest among women holding senior management positions in Southeast Asia, followed by Singapore and Vietnam with 33% and 36.9%, respectively. 

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Written by Sam Molina

Feminism advocates the gender equality between men and women. The gender equality that feminism is advocating for would be seen everywhere in politics, economy and society, this is because in this current society that we’re living in, there are still men and women who doesn’t have equal rights and opportunities in these aspects of life. Inequality in rights and opportunities affect their livelihood, employment and as well as the economic growth of the country. These are just a few reasons why the advocacy for feminism is active till this day.

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Written by Sam Molina

As a young woman living in the Philippines, of course, I have encountered sexism multiple times. A most common encounter is catcalling, back in 7th grade, I was walking down the street with my friend wearing our school uniform, all of a sudden this guy in the passenger seat of a truck said “Hello miss beautiful” with a whistle and proud smile. I just kept on walking alongside my friend who said “hello” back to the guy, when that happened I felt so uncomfortable and just kept my head down and walked faster to avoid talking to the guy. I remember the guy saying “hey you… with the red shirt” at that time, I was the only wearing a red/maroon shirt as my friend was wearing a black shirt so I knew immediately that the guy was trying to talk to me, mind you I was only 13 and all covered up. Till this day, I can still remember that encounter and how I reacted. Many girls like the past me can’t stand up for themselves because they think that they wouldn’t be able to do anything because the mindset that they have come from the words of our own society and culture saying “Men can do anything they want and girls are one of their nature’s wants.” This mindset that girls have was embedded in our brains from the very beginning of our lives because of these men who treat women as toys that they can play around with.

Now, as a female teenager who grew up and learned so much from the experiences all throughout the years, I learned that women shouldn’t be afraid to stand up for themselves against these people who have a weak mentality. We shouldn’t be afraid to speak up for ourselves, if we suppress our emotions more, the more people will take advantage of us. Letting them know that we have our defences and offences will make them snap back to reality and think about what they are actually doing. I usually argue with sexist people just to make them feel ashamed of themselves, and I won’t get tired of arguing with them because these powerful attacks and words that I hold are enough to make them realize that what they’re doing is wrong and should be ashamed. Then again, there’s still a long way to go in order to change this society that we’re living in. This issue dates back to many years ago which is why the concept of sexism is embedded deep into many Filipinos’ minds that it built a strong foundation that they would do anything just to prove they’re right even though they’re not. Women are strong, we just have to ignite this fire within these girls’ world full of darkness in order for them to realize that there is still an unlit fire within them that is enough to fuel themselves to change the world.

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Written by Nichelle Solsona

‌In one way or another, as humans, we are bound to be judged and held back for various reasons. Somehow, a gender, as a woman, increases these chances. It is obvious and undeniable that there are acts of gender inequality everywhere, to the most professional and business places to the wall of your own home. I’m a 16-year-old girl, a minor, a human being. The most coming act and normalized standard of sexism are catcalling, one of the most basic yet scary things to experience. There is this one incident where I was with my younger sister at the mall, buying drinks, bonding and having a good time. This guy working next to the food stall I’m buying at catcalls me. I don’t know what led to him doing this, he calls names, makes noises- calls for me. I felt really scared because one would expect to be safe within a store with a bunch of trained employees that keep their manners, however, this happened and the worst thing is that my sister witnessed it. A 16-year-old girl to experience that and a 6-year-old kid to witness that should not be the norm in this society. Another incident that is very common in Filipino and/or Asian culture is pressing or pressuring young women into worrying and making relationships their number one priority. Women in my family in gatherings and events are often questioned about their relationships and having a family; always asked and pressured to make the right choices as a woman in topics like these. When I compare it to the males in the family, them being single means they are living the life and are called free, whereas women are looked at as wife material only. Although this doesn’t really is seen as a big deal, it has shaped young girls to only think that that is their only extent and potential; it hinders so much opportunity, free-thinking and goals. It becomes an instinct to us to immediately think of marriage, husbands and having children; not even giving us the depth or having a good career or self-importance first. These are unfortunately the already set norm in our society, (Flynn, 2015) if we look it up, women all around the world have experienced it to some extent, thousands of articles written about it and many of us agree with it.

As a woman, it is definitely unavoidable, which leads me to cope in different ways, to adapt and have a coping mechanism that is sometimes unhealthy. The first thing really that comes to mind is my safety, unfortunately, the impact in my mental health and wellbeing is at the bottom of the list. Catcalling can lead to dangerous situations; harassment, encouraging other men or the surrounding people to catcall further and other much more situations such as kidnapping and human trafficking. As much as I’d like to expand my experience and go explore everywhere, catcalling hindered me from doing so. I cope with it by avoiding, ignoring and fleeing. I avoid it with more clothes, having another guy with me, not going to places where it is common or by simply avoiding men. I ignore them by continuing with what I’m doing, looking straight forward with my goal and not giving them any feedback or attention. I flee by getting away from that situation; when it gets worse I walk away from situations like that and have a close friend company with me to keep me safe, take the high road as they said (Hickok, 2017). For the subtle sexism in family gatherings, again we ignore and take the high road. I ignore and joke about it, they are still family, it doesn’t really bother me that much, however, it’s not the same case for my younger relatives. I take these types of situations as motivation and prove them wrong by acting and not just by words.

To be young and claim opportunities and give help, I can do so much for our community and increase my efforts for feminism. (“8 ways to change the course for women’s rights,” 2019) I can start with myself and my household, to change and improve in my small community. I address and speak out for myself when needed, I stand up for other women who have been victims, I enhance the path I’m on by maximizing my opportunities and resources. I educate and be educated, the strongest power is to have great knowledge about it. Accomplishing that, I can now act on it wisely, advocating and joining groups that talk about coping with their experiences. To wisely use this knowledge in the school grounds.

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Written by Shaun Holman

During the Spanish era, the role of Filipino women were to only barr a child and only housewives as this was a usual thing to do at that time. They were often regarded as accessories of men. The Philippines was ruled by Spain for about 333 years (1565-1898) where the Spaniards treated both women and men poorly. The Spaniards considered Filipinos as “Indios”, seeing themselves as a higher social standing than these natives. In general, women were unable to fight for their rights and were restricted by certain norms and expectations in society. Filipino women were not always allowed to share and express their ideas in society. Women stayed as inferior and weaker to men and were discriminated  not only by men but the very institutions they belonged to in society, examples are Church, Family, Community etc. While Filipino men were also considered in a low position or simply peasants, Filipino women that are under Spanish Colonization were far inferior to peasants and they were arguably seen and considered as slaves unless they came from a really wealthy family.

During the American Colonial Era however, the women had the privilege to receive the same education as men. They were given a chance to work in textile, food and real estate industries which were dominated by men during the Spanish colonial era. Women were given rights and a chance to expand their opportunities which paved the way for many powerful women in the law and medical industry till this day. However, during the times of Japanese colonization, women has suffered due to the abuse of the Japanese soldiers who have taken them as “comfort-women”. Filipino women were treated as objects that the soldiers can just play around with, till this day, these comfort women haven’t received the apology that they deserve.

Hopefully, we won’t be able to experience these suffering that our ancestors has experienced as we want a good society for everyone. To make the history good for the future and to pave a good way for the future generations.

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Written by: Jeremy Benavides

As a part of society, we are in charge of taking care of each other and the future would be the people leading the society in a few more years. We want to do a lot of things as a part of youth, during our youth, it is when we are the most active, and we strive for our biggest dreams such as achieving gender equality. For many years in history, gender inequality was evident in many societies, that included the Philippines. Even now, sexism is still present in the current society we are living in but what exactly is sexism?

Sexism is basically discrimination between genders, it is seen in the attitude, beliefs, policies, and behavior of the people who want to gain dominance over the other gender as they believe that their gender is way more superior or powerful. Sexism also shows gender stereotyping and being bias to women. This is why in the current society that we’re living in, things such as misogyny and toxic masculinity are shown in the society by weak and fragile males. This ideology has an effect to politics, economy and society if you analyze and observe closely.

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What A MOVE Comes to Tumblr!

M.O.V.E. stands for Movement of Valor and Equality.

This blog is meant to encourage people to move for themselves and the future. To move for Valor to help us in any situation we might experience and for Equality for everyone.