Chapter 12

Women in the Philippines

Gender And Society

Women in the Philippines
Negative
• Women Stay at home to take good care of their family.
• Women are not given participation in the war and in decision making in revolution.
• Women are not included to train for the war, thus making them defenseless which makes the.
Vulnerable during the attack of the enemies.

Positive
• Women are great advisers and they give moral support.
• Women are support system by fulfilling their roles as a mother and as a wife.
Women in Pre – colonial
The Philippine situation is unique as it is rooted in the colonial history of the country. The customs of the
native populations and the accounts in Spanish chronicles can both be used to infer the actual state of pre-
Spanish women in the Philippines. According to these sources, there was a genuine level of equality
between men and women in pre-Spanish times.
 
It can be stated that discrimination against daughters and sons existed before Hispanic colonization.
• Parents took pride of their children equally, even to the point of deriving nicknames from their children.
• Male and female children did not experience any form of inequality regarding division of inheritance.
• Male and female children were also educated equally, each took an active role in society when they
grew up.
Women in Pre – colonial
At the point of first Spanish contact:
A majority of the natives could write using their own calligraphy.
As stated at least in code of Kalantiaw;
• Sexual inhibitions regarding virginity in marriage was not universally valued
• Sex education was prescribed as a duty of a mother to her daughter.
Women in Pre – colonial
• Marriages were arranged and a dowry was paid by the groom to the wife’s family.
• Women kept her name, if she was particularly meritorious, the husband took her name.
• Every family member was also seen as an equal partner in marriage because each spouse maintained their
ties with the other spouse's family.
• Even then, women ran the home and were primarily or equally responsible for all significant decisions
pertaining to the management of the home.
• Women also took part in the negotiation of contract with their spouses.
• Women were free to exercise their decisions concerning reproduction, with abortion as an option.
• According to ancient laws, both husband and wife had the option of divorce and had the same rights to
property and children.
Women in Pre – colonial
Women played an important role in the economic life of the people, they were involved in:
• Actual Planting and harvesting
• Weaving
• Making pottery
• Trading
Women controlled a large portion of the family's wealth and even oversaw its land holdings.
Women were in charge of:
• Billings
• Contracts
• Correspondences
Women in the Hispanic Period
Women in the American Era