It seems that despite our technological marvels and advances, one thing other than change will remain constant. Despite our proud country saying that it is liberal and democratic, the Filipinos’ beliefs and actions speak otherwise. Despite our leap in science and undying call for equality, nothing much has changed. The women might be out of their homes and working, but the challenges and the discriminations fired against them are the same.
Two generations ago, women are considered as properties of men. They have no bearing in a social world. They could only agree with their husbands, bow their heads, and submit themselves to the fate that they will be ravaged sexually every single day. This was a woman’s place before. But how much has changed?
A generation ago, women’s voices were finally heard. They can vote, they can work, and they can provide for their families. Yet when they go home, they are expected to have cleaned the house, fed the children, and to wait on hand and foot for their husbands. This was a woman’s place before. Now, has this changed at all?
In her novel, Bushnell (2005) paints a very adapt picture of what happened to the women of today. They are considered as a force to be reckoned, with their strength and beauty a deadly mixture to make any man fall on his knees. Their wit and sarcasm are enough to lead their daily lives, and even one character in the novel has stated that she doesn’t need a man to be complete.
Yet deeper into the story, as the plot unfolds, one can see how Bushnell (2005) creatively spun a new fabric on top of what has been happening all these years. Yes, the women have important jobs, beautiful homes, and submissive husbands. But they are acting like men. The husbands were expected to retire and mind the children, while the wives make millions of dollars. The role of housekeeping and playing Mother is being played by the husbands who were depending on the wives’ salaries to keep the family secure.
What happened to equality? There is nothing worse than a feminist saying that men and women should be equal. What men could do, women can do better: yes, this is true. But there are better ways to do things to surpass whatever the men in the families could provide, other than enslaving them into the old cliché.
A hundred years after our grandmothers fought for independence in the World War, the situation of men and women are still the same. Only now, the roles are reversed. Yet the same old factors are there. One would be left home to mind the children and play house, while the other would go out, have affairs, and enjoy life, while bringing home the money to feed the family.
This is not the equality our foremothers and forefathers had in mind for their children. Sexual equality is not about one gender triumph over the other. It is about the husband and wife getting in harmony, working hand in hand in building their family. There shouldn’t be a breadwinner and a housewife or househusband. Instead, what should be there is the love that was supposed to be the link between the two of them, in order to create a loving environment for their children.
Yet before we can reach this golden era wherein women and men will not try to compete with each other, it will be years and decades before we truly realize the meaning of equality. This, my friends, is what disheartens me.
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