I.

) THE FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE

Both young men and women-and adults...should be taught
on matters of respect between sexes. - Joms Salvador,
GABRIELA Secretary-General
Feminism is a perspective or ideology committed to promoting the social role of
women and dedicated to the goal of gender equality. The core features of feminism are
1.) women empowerment (socio-political and socio-economic aspect); 2.) gender
equality (socio-cultural aspect), 3.)sustainable protection for womens welfare
( legal aspect). According to history, feminism can be observed into two main phases
namely:
THE MAIN PHASES OF FEMINISM IN MODERN HISTORY
First-Wave Feminism Emerged in the 19th century and was shaped by the
campaign for female suffrage (right to vote). Women should enjoy the same legal and
political rights as of men.
_____________________________________________________________________
Second-Wave Feminism Advanced by radical feminists such as Kate Millet (1970)
and Mary Daly (1978). It was manifested by SEXUAL REVOLUTION- transforming
cultural and personal relationships as well as economic and political structures; hence,
attaining gender equality.
II.) WHY FEMINISM?
Because it has been vividly observed that throughout history, MEN DOMINATE
WOMEN THROUGH A PROCESS OF PHYSICAL AND SEXUAL ABUSE. Men created
an ideology of rape- that MEN can always dominate women and women should be
submissive to men (Susan Brownmillers Againt Our Will, 1975). This orientation
resulted to growing gender marginality among males and females.
For instance, WORLD BANK Gender Data Portal 2015 reported that women are paid
less than men, in most countries earning only an average 60-75% of male
employee.Therefore, feminist movements have socio-political significance by stopping
the penetration of this reality in our consciousness and creating now a gender-sensitive
society.
III.) WOMEN IN THE PHILIPPINE SOCIETY
From January 2010 to September 2012, GABRIELA national office was directly
approached with 1,670 complaints of VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN (VAW). These
VAW violations include physical abuse, abandonment, refusal to grant child custody
and infidelity as stipulated by RA 9262 or the Anti-VAWC Law. According to Gabriela
deputy-secretary general Obeth Montes, the worsening problem of VAW in the
Philippines can be attributed to three main reasons:
POVERTY- The women lack economic opportunity- Most of the victims of
domestic violence came from the lower-income classes.- O. Montes

CULTURE OF IMPUNITY- Women are very vulnerable to mens abusive acts.

GOVERNMENT INCOMPETENCY- Weak implementation of government laws
policies such as the RA 9262 that will dispense justice for the abused women

OUR SOLUTION TO THESE PROBLEMS:

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT TOWARD NATION-BUILDING AND

DEVELOPMENT
Article II Section 14 of the 1987 Constitution stipulated that the STATE
RECOGNIZES THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN NATION-BUILDING AND SHALL
ENSURE THE FUNDAMENTAL EQUALITY before the law of women and
men. Hence, the Philippine government had enacted numerous statutes and
programs that will empower women toward more progressive nation-building. To
name a few, the following are some of them:
Republic Act 7192 of 1991- Women in Nation Building Law in which
this mandates the integration of women as full and equal partners of men
in development and nation-building. This law provides that a substantial
portion of government resources be utilized to support programs and
activities for women.
Republic Act 7688- An act giving representation to women in social
security commission.
Republic Act 7822- An act providing assistance to women engaging in
micro and cottage business enterprises
Republic Act 9262- An act that protects women and their children against
any form of abuse
Philippine Plan for Gender Responsive Development (1995-2025)- It
is the national plan for women that consolidates the actions commitments
of the Philippines during the Beijing World Conference on Women. This
framework is the point of reference for monitoring gender mainstreaming
(mitigating unequal gender relations in the country).

GAD (Gender and Development Budget)- It is integral with the national

plan and is aimed at institutionalizing gender concerns in the mainstream
development process and agenda, It prescribes for the allocation of 5% of
the government agencys/local government units budget in genderresponsive activities and projects.
THE MAIN QUESTION: HOW

CAN WE ACHIEVE WOMEN

EMPOWERMENT?

OUR SHOUT-OUT :

LET WOMEN BE IN PHILIPPINE POLITICS

Women in
Politics

Gender-Equality
Men & Women
National
Collaborative Development
Efforts
When we involve women in politics, we can create a more productive and gender-sensitive
community.

Saint Louis University

School of Humanities
Department of Political and Social Sciences
A.Y. 2015-2016
P
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The Human Development Report 2002 (UNDP) revealed that 35% of the Filipino
administrators and managers are women-which is one of the highest percentages in the
world. Additionally, approximately 17.2% of all the Philippine legislative seats are occupied by
women and 2/3 of professionals and technical workers are women. This puts the Philippines
Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) of 0.523 as the highest in Asia. Besides, letting the
female gender participate in our politics is the true spirit of democracy.
Female leaders can as effective as male leaders for the female gender is known to be
intuitive, visionary and all-accommodating. However, the undying discrimination of the female
gender persists. Thousands of women are discriminated in the employment or even in
government seats by virtue of marriage and parenthood. It is a fact that there is a perceptible
increase in number of women elected into government posts but the assumption to institutional
leadership does not necessarily signify an expected degree of political equality. The question of
resources also affects womens access to decision-making positions since men and women do
not enjoy same access to resources that yield political power!

T
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Therefore, the lack of political power of women in the government deprives

women of their rights and opportunities. Will you let this happen?
..IF NOT, MAY YOU BECOME OUR PARTNER IN OUR ADVOCACY

MORE WOMEN SHOULD BE IN PHILIPPINE POLITICS!

YES TO WOMEN EMPOWERMENT! YES TO GENDER EQUALITY!
YES TO PROGRESS!

TRIVIA ABOUT WOMEN

March 8 isInternational Womens Day. First celebrated in 1909, IWD was initiated because of numerous
protests by American women who worked in the textiles industry.
(Source: www.clix.com.ph/facts-trivia-women)
Baroness Raymonde de la Roche of France was the first licensed woman pilot in 1910.
(Source: www.airandspace.si.edu)
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova is a retired Russian cosmonaut and politician. She is the first woman
to have flown in space, having been selected from more than four hundred applicants and five finalists to
pilot Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963
(Source: www.nasa.gov/tereshkova-cosmonaut)
If we have Corazon Aquino as first female president of the country in 1986, then the Taiwanese people
have Tsai Ing-wen as their first female president elected in 2016.
(Source www.bbc.com/news/world-asia)
The youngest author is a female--she is Dorothy Straight. She was only 4 years old when she wrote HOW
THE WORLD BEGAN in 1964 for her grandmother.

(Source: www.linkedin.com/in/dorothy-straight)

Advocacy Project of:

BA Political Science 4 Students

Political Science 34 (11:30-12:30 TTHS)
Faculty: Dr. Mary Grace C. Baywong