Role Of Filipino Women In The Philippines

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Different cultures had different influences on the Philippine population which became a big factor that affected the historical account of the status and roles of Filipino women in the society (Rojas-Aleta). Half of the population in the Philippines is comprised of women. Women were undermined by men. During the early 1900s, women were taught of roles that are gender specific, roles that would make them a good housewife in the future by taking care of the children, paying the taxes and the like. They were taken cared of by men because they were regarded as that of a homemaker and mother of their children but most likely because they were treated as trophies. This prompted women to refrain themselves from involving in social, economic, political, …show more content…

A birth of either a boy or a girl is considered to be an event to be joyful about in the family, since what matters is that a child has been born (Infante 16). In some cultures though, it is seen to be slightly more biased in favour of male children as they would pay a midwife a slightly greater money on a birth of a boy. One trait that was noticed not only in the Philippines, but also all over Asia was that the families always preferred to have a male child rather than a female (Dolan). But despite that, some ceremonies and cultural practices in the past shows the primitive attitude towards children that suggested equal consideration for either sex (Infante 17). Women were given the task to hold the money and pay for bills, which to some degree gave them the power of the purse (Dolan). They also had the right to choose who to marry. Women were able to decide to divorce with their male counterpart without any costs. Women were able to take on political authorities in the society and it became a central role for them. A shift in gender roles began to rise during the arrival of the Spanish (Perez). Since the Spanish colonial period, a tradition was established of making the women inferior, which was observed to be extracted from women because of their submissive attitudes (Dolan). This became a solid footing on making women inferior to men in the

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