Historical Overview of Gender Studies

(Nineteenth Century View of Gender: 1 January 1801 – 31 December 1900)

Learning Objectives:
1. Discuss the historical overview of women and gender histories.
2. To discuss the nineteenth century gender roles in the Philippines.

Gender and Society

“Gender refers to the socially constructed characteristics of women and men, such as norms,
roles, and relationships of and between groups of women and men. It varies from society to
society and can be changed.” Gender roles in some societies are more rigid than those in
others.

Gender History
Human understandings of sexual difference—the many and various ways that the existence
of male and female is figured in social relationships, beliefs, practices, and institutions—this is
gender. Being products of human culture, notions of gender are not constant but are specific
to time and place. That means gender is inherently historical. Gender definition is always
present, yet never static. Even within a given time and place, the categories of masculinity and
femininity are in a process of being forged, disseminated, contested, reworked, and reaffirmed.
Therefore, representations and enactments of gender attributes and proprieties will appear in
every arena in which women and men live and interpret their lives.
Some historians (and non-historians) think "gender history" is a synonym for women's
history; others, however, feel that speaking of gender history minimizes or dismisses women's
history. Gender history expresses the main intent of the field of women's history since it
began, that is, to show that understanding of the past cannot be gained without paying
attention to women and men as such, to systematic differentiation of womanhood and
manhood, masculinity, and femininity.

The initial impulses and ambitions in women's history were:

1. to make women visible,
2. to put women on the historical record:
3. to enable women's voices to be heard and to listen to them,
4. to show women's points of view.

That was not a simple endeavor. It involved changing—broadening—what had been seen as
"history," what had been seen as historically important. It involved revising typical periodization
and reassessing assumptions about causation in history. Focusing on women's lives and
experiences involved revisualizing what was subject to history.
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people involved with each other through
persistent relations, or a large social grouping.

Elements in a society:
1. sharing the same geographical or social territory,
2. typically, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations.

Human societies are characterized by patterns of relationships (social relations) between

individuals who share a distinctive culture and institutions; a given society may be described as
the sum of such relationships among its constituent members.
In the social sciences, a larger society often evinces stratification and/or dominance patterns
in subgroups. A society can also consist of like-minded people governed by their own norms
and values within a dominant, larger society. This is sometimes referred to as a subculture, a
term used extensively within criminology.
More broadly, a society may be illustrated as an economic, social, or industrial
infrastructure, made up of a varied collection of individuals. Members of a society may be
from different ethnic groups.
The word society may also refer to an organized voluntary association of people for religious,
benevolent, cultural, scientific, political, patriotic, or other purposes.

Why is gender important in society?

Gender is an important consideration in development. It is a way of looking at how social
norms and power structures impact on the lives and opportunities available to different groups
of men and women. Globally, more women than men live in poverty.

Why is gender awareness important in our society today?

Gender awareness raising plays an important role in informing women and men about
gender equality, the benefits of a more gender-equal society and the consequences of gender
inequality. ... Gender awareness raising intends to change attitudes, behaviors and beliefs
that reinforce inequalities between women and men.

What are examples of gender and society?

Gender roles in society means how we are expected to act, speak, dress, groom, and conduct
ourselves based upon our assigned sex. For example, girls and women are generally expected to
dress in typically feminine ways and be polite, accommodating, and nurturing.

19th Century Gender Roles for Women

The nineteenth century often invokes flowery images of romanticism and heavily
embellished architecture. By today's standards, it can also be seen as an oppressive era for
women especially with regards to society, marriage, and the household. The Vern and Bonnie
Bullough Collection on Sex and Gender spans many topics including birth control, abortion,
homosexuality, cross dressing, sex education, and prostitution, and includes numerous works
demonstrating popular public opinion and more subversive, revolutionary ideas about
appropriate roles for women during the 19th century.
Mary Virginia Terhune, known by her readers as Marion Harland, was an American novelist.
A mother of three, Terhune wrote on domestic roles for women including etiquette, cooking,
and the importance of maintaining a household. In these writings, she addresses in depth the
oppression of women and the ways in which public opinion allows for it. In one of her first
books concerning Woman in the household, Eve's Daughters, Terhune examines the value of
women in the public's eye when she writes that, to a refined man, women are "…valued
according to the amount of hard usage she will endure." She goes on to write that wealthy
woman are to be "…treasured in a windowed cabinet…" These opinions depict the harsh
perspectives of the time: wives and mothers worked tirelessly without recognition in part
because it was expected of them to do so.

Dr. Eugene Becklard was a French Physiologist who published guides for single and newly
married people that were intended to eradicate confusion and complications in conception and
other ailments that plagued Victorian youth. In a stark contrast to Terhune's writings, Dr.
Becklard employs a hefty dose of pseudo-science to explain various aspects of reproductive
biology and the human body. In his book, The Marriage Guide, he states that conception cannot
occur in feelings of horror or disgust. Hence, no woman ever became pregnant from a rape
committed on her against her inclination." Even more striking than his medical revelations are
his ideals regarding women. Dr. Becklard says, in short, that the goal of every woman's life is
to be married. His opinion is very much a reflection of popular opinion and likely resonated
strongly with contemporary readers.

19th Century Gender Roles in the Philippines

What were the gender roles in the 19th century?

Women and men were not equal in the 19th century. Women were seen as 'the weaker
sex'. This particularly affected middle class women because they had no reason to leave the
home or go to work. The middle classes took the role of women very seriously because they did
not have to worry about things like poverty.
Women in the Philippines have traditionally controlled the family finances. In traditional
societies they have been responsible for planting and household chores and childcare although
men have participated some in these duties. Women have traditionally been expected to be
involved in nurturing tasks like education and service, while men were supposed to be leaders
in politics.
 Filipino women are usually called Filipina. Their role of a woman in many ways is defined by
Catholicism. Women generally do not smoke or drink or eat alone. These are things associated
with prostitutes. On one hand in the Philippines, girls are twice as likely to suffer from
malnutrition as boys. On the other hand, women are often invited to dinner and evening outing
unlike other Asian countries when night out are often men only affairs.

What were women's roles in the 1800s?

In the 1800s, women usually stayed at home. They cleaned the house and cooked and
sewed. They did not often go out to work and many girls did not go to school. Women from
very poor families worked as servants.

In pre-colonial times, among many ethnic groups, custom law gave women equal rights
with men. They could own and inherit property, engage in trade and industry, and succeed to
chieftainship in the absence of a male heir. They had exclusive right to educate and to name
their children. They were also the money keepers. During the Spanish times, a woman
continued the use of her maiden’s name after marriage, or else merely appended her husband's
surname to her own, and the children assumed the hyphenated surname. Her husband may
have built their house, the symbol of their conjugal state, but she was the maybahay, literally
the owner of the house.

Prior to the coming of the Spanish colonies Filipino women had the same social status as
the men. They can own property, divorce their husbands, be ritual leaders or Babylon’s and
even new rulers in place of men. These women even wrote poetry in banana leaves. They were
an empowered lot. But when the Spaniards came, they started a tradition of subordinating
woman. Nevertheless, Filipino Woman were given education during the Spanish period due the
introduction of the Education Decree of 1863 by Isabella the II which mandated the
establishment of at least two free primary schools, one for boys and one for girls, in each town
under the responsibility of the municipal government. Leonor Florentino, the mother of
Philippines Woman’s literature, was a product of this public education. Her poems which were
recognized in Europe was written in both Spanish and Ilocano. During the final moments of the
19th century, a group of women who were known as the “21 woman from Malolos, Bulacan”
fought for the eradication of discriminatory laws especially pertaining to education including
the learning of the Spanish language.
There are many women who deserve recognition for their roles during the Philippine
Revolution of 1896. Some of the notable ones are Teodora Alonzo, the mother of Dr. Jose Rizal,
was the one who taught him all the noble principles he fought for. Melchora Aquino, also
known as Tandang Sora is recognized as the mother of the Katipunan because she took care of
the ailing Katipuneros. She was exiled by the Spaniards to the Marianas Islands because of this.
Gregoria De Jesus, the wife of Andres Bonifacio, is known as the mother of the Philippines
revolution. She played a large role in the growth of Katipunan and served as the custodian of all
the weapons and belongings of the Katipunan. Aguila Esteban, assisted the Katipunans by being
the one who traveled to Manila to procure copper, lead and other materials needed in making
gunpowder and bullets. Hilario Del Rosario-Aguinaldo, the first wife of Emilio Aguinaldo,
organized the daughters of the revolution, which later became the National Association of the
Red Cross. Gliceria Marella Villavicencio was named by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo as the Matriarch-
General of the Revolutionary Forces in recognition for her services to the Philippine Revolution.
Marcela Agoncillo made the first Filipino Flag. Aguida Kahabagan was the only Woman general
in the Philippine Revolution who fought in the battle fields against the Spaniards. Teresa
Magawa, the first woman General in the Visayas led the troops in the battle of Bario Yoting,
Capiz in early 1898.
Filipino women have played a big role in the shaping of our country. They not only served as
mothers, sisters, and wives but they also played an active role during the Philippines
Revolution. They showed bravery, perseverance, and love of country not only in the privacy of
their home but in the battlefields as well.

Filipino women and work

Traditionally, rural, and tribal women do all the household related chores. Heavy works that
require more strength is done by the husband. Now, the chore work is evenly distributed with
the men doing just as much work as the women. The scope of their functions includes cooking,
cleaning, teaching the children, washing clothes, repairs, budgeting, and helping in the farm.
The husband is the one who makes sure the farm would yield quality crops, so he does all the
maintenance work. In some cases, where the husband needs help from other men, the wife
would make sure that the men are fed, so she cooks food and bring it to the farm. The Filipino
women, ensures that everyone is well fed, including any workers, relatives, or visitors.

In general, Filipino women find pride in their work. They do not find themselves alienated
from their chores because they work with, around, and for their families. This family-oriented
mindset gives them a sense of dignity and responsibility. The family and the children are the
primary priority some Filipino women's life.
In addition to doing housework, the contemporary role of a Filipino wife today is to provide
financial support in the household by seeking employment in higher-earning occupations which
then expands the Filipino female work outside the household.

In the early 1900s, the female workforce in the Philippines was also a highly debated topic
during workers’ conferences. In 1910, during the first Congress of Labor, the decision to enact
a law that would regulate the employment of women and children was approved due to poor
working conditions (“dark and ill-ventilated rooms, smoke-filled factories”, etc.) for women and
children. Then, in March 1923, “An Act to Regulate the Employment of Women and Children
in Agricultural and Non-Agricultural Establishments and Other Workplaces” was passed to
oversee the welfare of women and children. In 1960, under the Department of Labor, the
Bureau of Women and Minors was created and was responsible for the promotion,
development, and the protection of the welfare of working women and minors. Since then,
more acts were made to oversee the welfare of women workers, as seen in both the 1935 and
1973 constitutions.

Women and government in the Philippines

 Corazon C. Aquino, 1992, the first female president of the Republic of the Philippines,
recognized by the international diplomatic community as the "Mother of Asian Democracy".
Compared to other countries, Filipino women have gained and enjoyed equal rights with men.
They have become presidents, senators, congresswomen, mayors. They have served in
government offices and have held cabinet positions for presidents. Filipino women have proven
that they can carry out responsibilities and tasks as well as their male counterparts. There are
48 women Representatives elected in the 15th Congress (2010 national election). They
accounted for 21.6 percent of the total 222 Representatives as members of the Lower House. In
2010 Senatorial election, there were 14 women who ran out of 61 candidates (23.0%), of which
two entered the top 12 winning senators (16.7%).

The number of women who engage in politics are smaller compared to their male
counterparts. This was primarily because engagement in politics is considered "dirty."

A recent study revealed that there is a re-emergence of the empowerment of Filipino

women through the political process, just as they were prior to the arrival of conquerors from
Spain. Philippine women are rediscovering their strengths. Filipino women had been successful
in implementing policies by becoming executive staff members, advisers to politicians, and as
advocates within non-governmental organizations.
 Modern-day Filipino women are making strides in electoral politics by initiating more female-
oriented programs. They are performing well as leaders, although generally, Filipino women
still often earn political seats by having fathers and husbands who are politically connected, a
"dynasty system" that hinders other Filipino women from joining the electoral process. Other
factors that prevent full engagement of other well-qualified Filipino women from the Philippine
political scene are the expense in politics and the importance of the family name.

Participation of Filipino women in Philippine politics was encouraged during the Beijing
Declaration in 1995 at the United Nations' Fourth World Conference on Women. In February
2005, however, a United Nations review on the progress of Philippine women and their role in
politics revealed that despite "an increase in the quality of female politicians, there was not
enough increase in" the number of women participants in government activities. From 1992 to
2001, Filipino women had been elected as local chief executives, functioning as mayors,
governors, and captains of villages. One influential factor contributing to the increasing
number of female politicians, is the elevation of Corazon Aquino and Gloria Macapagal-
Arroyo as Philippine women Presidents.

Early Feminism in the Philippines

The Philippines has been noted as having one of the smallest gender disparities in the
world. The gender gap has been closed in both health and education; the country has had two
female presidents (Corazon Aquino from 1986-1992 and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from 2001-
2010); and had its first woman Supreme Court justice (Cecilia Muñoz Palma in 1973) before the
United States had one (Sandra Day O’Connor in 1981). These achievements reflect a long
history of efforts by women to involve themselves equally in governance as well as in society.

The struggle for women’s right to vote was the site for early feminism in the Philippines. It
spanned three decades, culminating in September 1937 with the ratification by the
Commonwealth government National Assembly after a plebiscite vote by women voters on
April 30, 1937. With 447,725 “Yes” votes, a number well above the 300,000-quota stipulated by
the 1935 Constitution, finally “the Filipina got the vote.”

Writer, feminist activist, and beauty queen Pura Villanueva Kalaw wrote and published a
pamphlet in 1952 called: “How the Filipina Got the Vote,” summarizing three decades of
organization and legislative lobbying by women’s groups, with the support – paradoxically – of
men in positions of power.
The women’s organizations primarily responsible for suffrage mobilization had begun as
socio-civic organizations early in the 20th century. The Asociacion Femenista Filipina organized
in July 1905 under the leadership of Dona Concepcion Felix (later married to Felipe Calderon),
and shortly after, Pura Villanueva (later married to Teodoro M. Kalaw) responded to the call to
organize women nationwide by organizing the Asociacion Femenista Ilonga. The objectives of
the organization at that time were limited to social concerns such as prison reform,
improvement of education, and “prevention of individual immorality.” As gleaned from Purita
Villanueva’s early writings published in El Tiempo (a major newspaper in Iloilo), this social
activism was rooted in the concept of women as precisely positioned in the domestic sphere as
shapers of moral sentiments of the young in their care first, as well as influencing their
husbands and other family relations. Education to keep abreast of the times and to hone
rationality were considered important for women to be able to fulfill this role.

A visit to Manila in 1912 by two suffragettes, Dr. Aletta Jacobs from Holland, and Mrs. Carrie
Chapman Catt from the United States, turned the focus of women’s organization to suffrage.
The meeting of Filipino women leaders with the foreign visitors resulted in the organization of
the Society for the Advancement of Women (later changed to Women’s Club of Manila). During
World War I, the Women’s Club of Manila helped government efforts by participating in the
sale of Liberty Bonds and fundraising for the Red Cross.

The endorsement of woman suffrage to the Philippine legislative assembly by three

successive American governors-general was a major factor in the push to woman suffrage,
although such high-level endorsements were no guarantee of easy success. Governors-General
Francis B. Harrison, Leonard Wood, and Frank B. Murphy endorsed woman suffrage to
assemblies between 1918 and 1933; the Senate approved the bill initially in 1919, but it took 26
years from the first bill presented by Congressman Sotto at the First Philippine Assembly in
1907, through several defeats, until Gov. Gen. Frank Murphy affixed his signature to a woman
suffrage bill in December 1933. Throughout this period of legislative struggle, women
continued to organize and mobilize support: the Women’s Club of Manila organized the
National Federation of Women’s Clubs in 1921, the Liga Nacional de Damas Filipinas was
organized in 1922, and the Women’s Citizens League in 1928.

However, the 1935 Constitution presented yet another hurdle for woman suffrage. The
provision on suffrage stipulated that the right of suffrage shall be extended to women of “not
less than three hundred thousand women” vote affirmatively in a plebiscite. Women’s
organizations did not back down from the challenge and mobilized to get more women
registered and to come out on voting day. The campaign featured a multilingual radio campaign
on the eve of the plebiscite by women leaders Judge Natividad Almeda Lopez (Spanish), Josefa
Jara Martinez (Ilongo), Pilar Hidalgo Lim (English), Concepcion Felix Rodriguez (Tagalog),
Geronima T. Pecson (Pangasinan), Corazon Torres (Cebuano), and Josefa Llanes Escoda
(Ilocano).

Twenty-nine percent of eligible women voters registered to vote from April 10-17, 1937; of
these, about 86 percent eventually voted on April 30, 1937. Filipinas voted 10 to 1 in the
affirmative, handing a victory to the suffragists that exceeded the constitutional quota. Thus,
the women got the vote.

Notwithstanding this early victory, and the generally small gender disparity in the
Philippines, it is in the category of “political empowerment” that the country fares less well –
16th in the world (instead of in the top 10 in other categories). Combine this with the fact that
many women become officials due to their membership in political clans and it’s evident that
considerable distance remains to achieve full empowerment of women. But there is no doubt
that this distance will be far shorter, thanks to the progress forged by Filipinas in the first half of
the 20th century.

References:

https://www.google.com/search?q=what+is+the+relation+between+gender+and+society
%3F&source=hp&ei=BW3DYKKjIs36-QaE97ugAw&iflsig=AINFCbYAAAAAYMN7Ff96MeZe-
H79qVLIbiFGB6uIRj-A

https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/48642.html

https://waaids.com/item/736-sexuality.html
http://factsanddetails.com/southeast-asia/Philippines/sub5_6c/entry-3876.html