The Filipino Woman

The Filipina is often seen as an embodiment of exotic Asian beauty. With two Filipina Miss Universe titlists who have won the much coveted crown, there is no doubt that Filipinas are indeed beautiful women. There is much more to this about the Filipina, however, that Filipinos and non-Filipinos alike may not be aware of. Here are three things about a Filipina that you may not yet probably know about:

The Filipina is changing the political face of the Philippines. I don't just refer to President Gloria Arroyo and the former president Corazon Aquino who toppled a 20 year dictatorship in 1986. I also refer to ordinary Filipinas who are actually changing and shaping the socio-political face of the country. Ordinary Filipina housewives, students, mothers, employees, and yes, even OFWs actually have the Philippines in their hands. During the 1998 and 2001 national and local elections, for example, Filipinas dictated who would be the leaders of the country as evidenced by a higher voter turnout rate among Filipino women. The recently concluded 2007 national election on the other hand, resulted in Gabriela, a Filipina focused partylist, to have the legislative powers to pass, vote for and turn down bills in the Congress.

The Filipina is an achiever in the fields dominated by men. Who says Filipinas are just singers and actresses? The Filipina is also actually outstanding in the field where intellectual men are most likely the competitors such as in the field of science and technology. A Filipina, Sophia Lucero, for example, was announced last August 7 as runner up in the Sandbox Designs Competition which was participated in by a number of blog designers worldwide. Carmen Velasquez, on the other hand, is a Filipina who has been enlisted in the American Men and Women of Science for discovering 32 new species and one genus of parasites in local fishes in the Philippines and if you have been born prematurely and was kept in an incubator, thank Fe del Mundo, an outstanding Filipina whose studies have led to the invention of the incubator and jaundice relieving devices. Not to be ignored is the fact that 97 percent of the businesses in the Philippines have women in senior management positions showing that the Filipina is an achiever in the fields traditionally dominated by men.

The Filipina has her own battles that you also have to fight for. The Filipina is a beautiful, intellectual and competent individual but there remain issues and challenges that the Filipina faces. She remains to battle the false image that has been conjured up for her in the internet resulting in prejudice and stigma to the Filipina. We can change this by constantly writing and speaking about what a Filipina really is. Because of lack of employment opportunities in the Philippines, Filipinas are also exposed to threats of trafficking and slavery in their hope of finding a better job overseas. In addition to this, the Filipina also has her own domestic battles that range from physical to economic abuse.

Filipinas, strong as they are can take these challenges. These challenges however would become much easier when there are Filipinos out there who are willing to give the Filipinas an opportunity to shine and who will help Filipinas have what is naturally theirs: Pride in being a Filipino.