Pioneering women
Pioneering women
Posted 00:07am (Mla time) Feb 11, 2005
By Rina Jimenez-David
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A15 of the February 11, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
ABOUT 30 years ago, soon after "women's lib" made the jump from the United States and the West to the developing world, misogynists and various critics lost no time getting on the feminists' case.
Feminism, they said, had no place in Philippine society because it was a "mere" import from the West (like representative democracy?) and was an ill fit with local mores and traditions. Even more damning was the assertion made by leaders of the leftist and so-called "progressive" movement that women's agitation for their rights and share of power was "distracting," if not derailing, the revolutionary drive for national liberation. If I remember right, some did promise that once progressive forces "won" the revolution, they would have all the time and leisure to begin listening to women. (As an aside, don't you wonder what would have happened to the women's movement if the women had believed such drivel? We would no doubt still be confined to making sandwiches for rallies and stroking the egos of the male "revolutionaries.")
So it must come as a distinct shock to these critics and the rest of the nation to find out that this year the country is observing the Centennial of the Feminist Movement in the Philippines. Yes, feminism -- or at least its formal, organized expression -- is already a hundred years old in the country!
* * *
AS a backgrounder states, "One hundred years ago, while the dust of the Filipino-American War had not yet settled, a group of nationalist women formed the first nongovernmental organization (NGO) in the Philippines, with the vision of taking care of the women and children who were left malnourished and ill by years of strife. Concepcion Felix, Trinidad Rizal and other prominent women (founded) Asociacion Feminista Filipina (Filipina Feminist Association) in 1905, signaling the beginning of the Feminist Movement in our country."
The first and most lasting project of Asociacion Feminista Filipina was Gota de Leche (or Drop of Milk), the first non-denominational private social welfare initiative in the country.
Beyond its charity work, though, Asociacion Feminista was instrumental in the "social transformation" of Filipino women. It's members played a key role (in conjunction with Asociacion Feminista Ilongga, founded a year later in Iloilo) in the struggle for women's right to vote and the passage of legislation for women's rights, and which has resulted "in the creation of perhaps Asia's most politically informed and vibrant women's movement."
* * *
A COALITION of women from government and non-government groups, called the NGO-GO National Network of the Feminist Centennial will launch its year-long round of activities with a benefit dinner-concert, "100 Years of Hearts and Hands" on Sunday, Feb. 20 at 4:30 p.m. at the gardens of the Gota de Leche compound on Sergio Loyola Street in Sampaloc.
On this occasion, the NGO-GO National Network will give awards of recognition to "women and women's groups who nurtured the feminist movement over the last hundred years." Special recognition will be given to the founders of Asociacion Feminista: Concepcion Felix de Calderon y de Rodriguez and Pura Villanueva Kalaw. In addition, 17 women, who composed the early membership of feminist organizations, will be recognized. They are: Encarnacion Alzona, Librada Avelino, Natividad Almeda Lopez, Minerva Guysako Laudico (the lone surviving awardee), Pilar Hidalgo Lim, Josefa Jara Martinez, Tarhata Kiram, Trinidad Legarda, Josefa Llanes Escoda, Clemencia Lopez, Maria Paz Mendoza Guazon, Constancia Poblete, Paz Policarpio Mendez, Sofia Reyes de Veyra, Rosa Sevilla Alvero, Maria C. Manzano and Geronima Pecson.
Special tribute will also be given to four early "feminist men," who championed, in their writings and legislative work, the rights of women. They are: Apolinario Mabini, Rafael Palma and Assemblymen Filemon Sotto and Miguel Cuenco.
Eighteen pioneering organizations espousing feminist principles, including the rights and welfare of women, will likewise be recognized. These are (in order of founding): National Federation of Women's Clubs, YWCA, Philippine Association of University Women, Girl Scouts of the Philippines, Sigma Delta Phi, Civic Assembly of Women of the Philippines, a.k.a. NCWP, Zonta, Soroptimists, Kabapa, Pilipina, ISSA, Center for Women's Resources, Third World Movement Against the Exploitation of Women (TW-MAE-TW), Stop Trafficking of Filipino Women (S.T.O.P.), Gabriela, Concerned Women of the Philippines, Women's Health Care Foundation, Women's Desk of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines, and Women's Media Circle Foundation.
Pioneer institutions that promoted women's education will also be cited: Instituto de Mujeres, National Teachers College, Centro Escolar de Señoritas (now known as Centro Escolar University), and Philippine Women's University.
Descendants of the individual awardees and representatives of the awardee institutions are urged to contact the secretariat of the NGO-GO Network (telephone numbers +632 7359687 and +632 734684, ask for Lily) as soon as possible.
* * *
DANCE enthusiasts are invited to come and watch "Dance Avenue" at the University of the Philippines Theater tomorrow, Saturday, at 6 p.m., the second "back-to-back" concert of the Miriam College High School Pep Squad and "Sayawatha," the high school dance troupe.
My niece Crissy Tan-Cardoso, a member of the MCHS Pep Squad, managed to twist our arms to watch last year's performance and while we may have gone there out of a sense of family loyalty, we left the theater enthused and raving about the young dancers' abilities and the magnificent production values.
Tickets are at P60 and P120 each and should be available at the gate.
Posted 00:07am (Mla time) Feb 11, 2005
By Rina Jimenez-David
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A15 of the February 11, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
ABOUT 30 years ago, soon after "women's lib" made the jump from the United States and the West to the developing world, misogynists and various critics lost no time getting on the feminists' case.
Feminism, they said, had no place in Philippine society because it was a "mere" import from the West (like representative democracy?) and was an ill fit with local mores and traditions. Even more damning was the assertion made by leaders of the leftist and so-called "progressive" movement that women's agitation for their rights and share of power was "distracting," if not derailing, the revolutionary drive for national liberation. If I remember right, some did promise that once progressive forces "won" the revolution, they would have all the time and leisure to begin listening to women. (As an aside, don't you wonder what would have happened to the women's movement if the women had believed such drivel? We would no doubt still be confined to making sandwiches for rallies and stroking the egos of the male "revolutionaries.")
So it must come as a distinct shock to these critics and the rest of the nation to find out that this year the country is observing the Centennial of the Feminist Movement in the Philippines. Yes, feminism -- or at least its formal, organized expression -- is already a hundred years old in the country!
* * *
AS a backgrounder states, "One hundred years ago, while the dust of the Filipino-American War had not yet settled, a group of nationalist women formed the first nongovernmental organization (NGO) in the Philippines, with the vision of taking care of the women and children who were left malnourished and ill by years of strife. Concepcion Felix, Trinidad Rizal and other prominent women (founded) Asociacion Feminista Filipina (Filipina Feminist Association) in 1905, signaling the beginning of the Feminist Movement in our country."
The first and most lasting project of Asociacion Feminista Filipina was Gota de Leche (or Drop of Milk), the first non-denominational private social welfare initiative in the country.
Beyond its charity work, though, Asociacion Feminista was instrumental in the "social transformation" of Filipino women. It's members played a key role (in conjunction with Asociacion Feminista Ilongga, founded a year later in Iloilo) in the struggle for women's right to vote and the passage of legislation for women's rights, and which has resulted "in the creation of perhaps Asia's most politically informed and vibrant women's movement."
* * *
A COALITION of women from government and non-government groups, called the NGO-GO National Network of the Feminist Centennial will launch its year-long round of activities with a benefit dinner-concert, "100 Years of Hearts and Hands" on Sunday, Feb. 20 at 4:30 p.m. at the gardens of the Gota de Leche compound on Sergio Loyola Street in Sampaloc.
On this occasion, the NGO-GO National Network will give awards of recognition to "women and women's groups who nurtured the feminist movement over the last hundred years." Special recognition will be given to the founders of Asociacion Feminista: Concepcion Felix de Calderon y de Rodriguez and Pura Villanueva Kalaw. In addition, 17 women, who composed the early membership of feminist organizations, will be recognized. They are: Encarnacion Alzona, Librada Avelino, Natividad Almeda Lopez, Minerva Guysako Laudico (the lone surviving awardee), Pilar Hidalgo Lim, Josefa Jara Martinez, Tarhata Kiram, Trinidad Legarda, Josefa Llanes Escoda, Clemencia Lopez, Maria Paz Mendoza Guazon, Constancia Poblete, Paz Policarpio Mendez, Sofia Reyes de Veyra, Rosa Sevilla Alvero, Maria C. Manzano and Geronima Pecson.
Special tribute will also be given to four early "feminist men," who championed, in their writings and legislative work, the rights of women. They are: Apolinario Mabini, Rafael Palma and Assemblymen Filemon Sotto and Miguel Cuenco.
Eighteen pioneering organizations espousing feminist principles, including the rights and welfare of women, will likewise be recognized. These are (in order of founding): National Federation of Women's Clubs, YWCA, Philippine Association of University Women, Girl Scouts of the Philippines, Sigma Delta Phi, Civic Assembly of Women of the Philippines, a.k.a. NCWP, Zonta, Soroptimists, Kabapa, Pilipina, ISSA, Center for Women's Resources, Third World Movement Against the Exploitation of Women (TW-MAE-TW), Stop Trafficking of Filipino Women (S.T.O.P.), Gabriela, Concerned Women of the Philippines, Women's Health Care Foundation, Women's Desk of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines, and Women's Media Circle Foundation.
Pioneer institutions that promoted women's education will also be cited: Instituto de Mujeres, National Teachers College, Centro Escolar de Señoritas (now known as Centro Escolar University), and Philippine Women's University.
Descendants of the individual awardees and representatives of the awardee institutions are urged to contact the secretariat of the NGO-GO Network (telephone numbers +632 7359687 and +632 734684, ask for Lily) as soon as possible.
* * *
DANCE enthusiasts are invited to come and watch "Dance Avenue" at the University of the Philippines Theater tomorrow, Saturday, at 6 p.m., the second "back-to-back" concert of the Miriam College High School Pep Squad and "Sayawatha," the high school dance troupe.
My niece Crissy Tan-Cardoso, a member of the MCHS Pep Squad, managed to twist our arms to watch last year's performance and while we may have gone there out of a sense of family loyalty, we left the theater enthused and raving about the young dancers' abilities and the magnificent production values.
Tickets are at P60 and P120 each and should be available at the gate.
posted by Dante at 12:07 AM
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