International Journal of Arts, Sciences and Education ISSN: 2799 - 1091

Volume 2 Issue 1 | December 2021 Page No. 61-70

Exploring Gender Stereotypes in 21st Century Philippine Narratives

Pauline Grace P. Casil-Batang

College of Allied Health Sciences: [email protected]
Cagayan State University – Andrews Campus
Tuguegarao City, Cagayan

Abstract: This study examined narratives in the 21st century Philippine literature. It specifically
aimed to determine whether stereotypes are present in the narratives and whether the stereotypes
assigned to each gender are positive or negative. These narratives in the form of short stories were
written and published within the timeframes set in this paper; 2001-2006; 2007-2012; and 2013-
present and won First Prize Palanca Memorial Awards for Short Stories in English served as the
corpus in this study. Mixed-method – quantitative and qualitative research design was utilized in
the study where gender representations were extracted through the stereotypes assigned to male
and female characters. Moreover, these stereotypes were content analyzed; they were quantified
and further qualified as positive or negative stereotypes. The results show that stereotypes are
present in the narratives of 21st century Philippine literature and bias is given to women for they
were assigned with more negative stereotypes as compared to male characters. This presents the
reality in the grassroots that despite the efforts of the government and the growing awareness of
Filipinos regarding gender equality, issues related to gender still exist in the present time.

Keywords – content analysis, gender stereotypes, 21st century narratives, The Home of Sierra
Madre, Turtle Season, Zeotrope

I. INTRODUCTION

The Magna Carta of Women as couched in RA 9710 states that “discrimination against
women refers to any gender-based distinction, exclusion, or restriction… and a measure or
practice of general application is discrimination against women if it fails to provide for
mechanisms to offset or address sex or gender-based disadvantages or limitations of women.” The
United Nations Human Rights expresses that “wrongful gender stereotyping is a frequent cause of
discrimination against women. It is a contributing factor in violations of a vast array of rights such
as the right to health, adequate standard of living, education, marriage and family relations, work,
freedom of expression, freedom of movement, political participation and representation, effective
remedy, and freedom from gender-based violence.”
In the Philippines, with its long history of being a victim of gender bias, the existence of
RA 9710 reflects the serious campaign against any type of gender discrimination. The presence of
active and dynamic women’s movement, numerous organizations and non-government
organizations (NGOs) shows that there is a great effort among the Filipino people to promote and
support gender equality in the country. Indeed, the Philippine government works hard in changing
the status of women in the country.
With all these supports and moves from the people and the government, how far has
Philippines gone in terms of gender equality? Based on the latest Gender Gap Report 2021, the
Philippines ranked 17th among the 156 countries. In Asia Pacific, the Philippines placed second

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next to New Zealand, ranking fourth globally. These figures are based on the four indices,
economic participation, political empowerment, health and survival, and educational attainment.
However, these results could be or could not be translated to what really is happening in
the grassroots. Literature being considered as the reflection of life, culture, ideals, and beliefs of
the people in its time plays a vital role in revealing the unnoticed and the subtle forms of gender
inequality in the present time. Also, literature builds nation; nation breeds literature (Perez-Grajo,
2019). This inseparable connection between our nation, its people and culture, and literature,
reflection of life and culture of the people, cannot be underestimated. As Mustedanagic (2010)
declares that whenever a text is read, an interpretation is made by the reader and meaning is
constructed. Furthermore, the reading/learning materials that learners use in school could also
become the source of their ideas and concept about the world. And so, literature as an omnipresent
material in school can be used to reinforce or weaken governments effort toward the promotion of
gender equality. It is therefore important to include literature with a variety of characters that are
not tied into stereotypes of race, gender, or socioeconomic status (Chick, 2002; cited by Nebbia,
2016).
With all these information about literature and gender equality, this paper aimed to
investigate how men and women are represented in the 21st century Philippine literature
particularly in narratives. Specifically, it sought to identify the gender stereotypes present in the
narratives. The narratives were selected based on the set timeframe of the study (2001-2006; 2007-
2012; and 2013-present), and the awards they won in Palanca Awards for short stories (must have
won First prize). This research aimed to study how gender equality is translated in the life of every
Filipino through its literature.

II. METHODOLOGY
Research Design
The research used of the mixed method ― qualitative and quantitative research design.
The data were content analyzed where stereotypes found in the narratives were quantified. Further,
extracts and excerpts where stereotyping surfaced were taken for qualitative discussions.

Sampling Technique
The narratives used in the study are in the form of short stories particularly written in the
21st century. Narratives were selected based on the timeframes in the 21st century literature set in
this paper; 2001-2006; 2007-2012; and 2013-present.
From these timeframes, the following short stories were selected, Turtle Season by
Timothy R. Montes (2001), The Home of Sierra Madre by Sigfredo R. Iñigo (2009), and Zoetrope
by Richard C. Cornelio (2016).

Data Gathering Procedure

The process of extraction of stereotypes found in the narratives was done manually.
Further, they were then identified whether positive or negative stereotypes. The researcher had to
read each narrative one at a time to give enough focus and time in this stage. This process took her
few weeks to finish. After extraction of the data from the narratives, the researcher sought for
expertise of other language researchers to validate her data.

Narrative Sample

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The narratives selected in this paper were considered based on two (2) criteria. First,
they have to be written and published in the 21st century and second, they should have won the
First Prize in the prestigious Palanca Memorial Awards for Short Stories in English.

Analysis of Data
The study used content analysis. The data from the three narratives were content analyzed
with the use of quantification and qualification of statements. For the quantification, frequency
count and percentages were used; whereas for the qualification, statements were extracted as
excerpts to serve as corpus for the analysis.
Content analysis was used to determine how females and males are represented in images
of females and males which focused on the positive and negative labels assigned to the characters.
These labels were then taken and identified in terms of gender stereotypes.

III. RESULTS and DISCUSSION

Content Analysis of the Narratives in 21st Century Philippine Literature

The content analysis for each of the narratives from different timeframes includes labels
assigned to the characters. Analyses of these elements are presented in order to show whether
gender stereotyping is present in the 21st century Philippine narratives and which gender was
assigned with positive and negative stereotypes.

Stereotypes in Turtle Season

Bias is seen against women in Figure 1 as there are no positive stereotype present among
the female characters and but more of negative stereotypes listed compared to that of males’. In
the figure, it is evident that females are put in the bad light because they are represented negatively
in the story.
Unlike for males, even though there are negative stereotypes given to them, there are still
more positive stereotypes listed and that makes their representation fair. Hence, it can be said that
Turtle Season favors men more than they do for women.
Among the stereotypes observed for male characters is their being competitive, may it be
about work or about personal life. This stereotype is present to Capt. Daza, Lt. Salazar and Prof.
Hernandez. Another positive stereotype present is being independent. Independent in a way that
male characters show that they could handle things on their own. Like Capt. Daza who refused to
accept the help of Prof. Hernandez about his anguish toward his wife’s affair with other man. The
label hard on the outside and soft inside is very much evident to Capt. Daza. He may be dealing
with terrorists and cultists and appears to be a tough man but he is soft when it comes to his wife.
In fact, he cried and he knelt down in front of his wife just to beg for her to stay with him. He even
said that he is willing to request for reassignment just to keep his wife with him.
However, there are two negative stereotypes present among the male characters. One is
having a dominant behavior (Klapp, 1962 cited in Mustapha, 2012) in which Capt. Daza possesses.
This is observed when he refused to make outright decision about the film they got from the
cultists. Furthermore, another negative stereotype is being sexually aggressive. Despite being
impotent, Capt. Daza still shows that he is sexually aggressive toward his wife.
When it comes to the female characters, there is no positive stereotype listed in the table
but there are negative stereotypes. The negative stereotypes are observed from Daisy. In the story,
Daisy is used as an object that is meant for gaze (Klapp, 1962 cited in Mustapha, 2012). It is the

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scene where she is in the beach and she is wearing provocative and revealing clothing (Klapp,
1962 cited in Mustapha, 2012). Also, it appears that she is a jobless woman and that she depends
on the income of Capt. Daza. Her being weak is seen when Capt. Daza confronted her about her
affair with other man. In the scene, she just cried without telling anything to Capt. Daza which
reveals that women tend to be stereotypically emotional (Hartman and Judd 1978) in Stockdale,
2006.

4
3
2

0
Female Negative Male Negative Female Positive Male Positive
Figure 1. Stereotypes in Turtle Season.

Stereotypes in The Home of Sierra Madre

Based on figure 2, males’ positive stereotypes are more highlighted than their negative
stereotypes; while it is the other way around for females’. Though this case is better than that of
the first story, still bias against women is present in The Home of Sierra Madre.
Emphasizing the negative stereotypes for women and the positive stereotypes for men
creates unequal representation of gender.
The father in the story projects the positive stereotype of making decision for the family.
In addition, adventurous is observed toward the son who makes life in the farm exciting and
thrilling by trying new things.
However, the father is seen as aggressive when he had a quarrel with a drunken corporal
in the barracks whom he almost shot and when he suspected someone had stolen their carabao
and prepared his .45.
For female characters, the positive stereotype listed is their showing support to male
characters. The mother for instance, despite her disapproval about her husband’s retirement from
the army, she remains quiet and supported him with his plans for the family. When the husband
bought homestead and built a hut in the mountain, she was there and even stayed there to show
support. Moreover, she also supports her son for his dream of attending university. Aunt Binang

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and cousin Luzviminda, too supported Anton on his birthday celebration by being the ones in
charge of the food.
Nevertheless, negative stereotypes among women that are observed in the story is their
incapability to make decision for the family. In the story, the mother knew that the pension of the
father as a retired army is not enough to support the family but she was not able to assert her point
to her husband. Another negative stereotype is the use of women in the story as objects that dance
(Klapp, 1962 cited in Mustapha, 2012). In the line, “The girls of the village sat on benches and
inverted mortars, barefoot and sunburnt like men, their long hair glistening with fragrant coconut
oil. I watched them dance with men to the dull rhythm of a guitar that went dyal-dyal teng, dyal-
dyal teng, dyal-dyal teng until I fell asleep; the dancing went on till dawn.” it is observed that the
presence of the girls in the dance party are given more emphasis than that of men.

2 2

1 1

Female Negative Male Negative Female Positive Male Positive

Figure 2. Stereotypes in The Home of Sierra Madre.

Stereotypes in Zoetrope

Figure 3 indicates that in the last story which is written in 2016, women take the spotlight
enjoyed by men in the first two stories. This time, positive stereotypes for women are given more
emphasis than their negative stereotypes. However, men were placed behind women as there were
no positive stereotypes observed from them but only a negative stereotype.
The table below shows the gender stereotypes assigned to the male and female characters
in the story Zoetrope. There are no listed positive stereotypes among male characters in the story.
However, one negative stereotype is observed from Joaquin. In the lines, “When I finally decided
that I’d Do It, it wasn’t with the man I was going with at the time, someone who I was drawn to
intellectually and emotionally and physically, but who believed, to my chagrin and alarm, that the
exercise of his sexual will was fundamental to any relationship he had had with a woman. You’d
have thought that with a man like that, who always had his hand up my thigh unbelievably
immediately when no one was watching, I’d get laid faster than you could say sex.” it can be
inferred that the man in the lines which refers to Joaquin, is sexually aggressive.

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While for female characters, there are positive stereotypes presented in the story such a
meeting a Prince Charming, wearing a white fluffy dress are a stuff of women’s dream, and having
filmic imagination. Nonetheless, women in the story are presented as too concerned about their
physical appearance is a negative stereotype among women.

1 1

0
Female Negative Male Negative Female Positive Male Positive
Figure 3. Stereotypes in Zoetrope.

Summary of Stereotypes in the Three Narratives

The following Table shows the summary of stereotypes in the three narratives. The results
show that both females and males perform gender stereotypical activities (Cincotta, 1978) in Tietz
(2007). Based on the table, negative stereotypes toward women are highly emphasized than men’s
negative stereotype while positive stereotypes are observed more in men than in women.
This result gives a notion that despite the many changes at the present time as regards
gender, stereotypes are still very much alive and it appears to be a point of bias between genders.
Unfortunately, women remain to be a victim of negative stereotypes.
This finding is parallel with the content analysis on gender representation by Talosa &
Temporal (20218) where they concluded that the need to de-gender the English language targeted
at making language gender neutral or gender inclusive is quite of imminent importance. Teachers
around the globe who reinforce students’ learning of English language to make them competent
intercultural speakers or skilled language users, should work on giving deliberate reinforcement
on the deviation of these stereotypes or sexist structures in the field of language discourse.

Table 4. Stereotypes in the three narratives.

Gender Negative Positive

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Frequency Percentage Frequency Percentage

Female 7 63.64 4 44.44
Male 4 36.36 5 55.56
TOTAL 11 100 9 100

IV. CONCLUSION

Content analysis as employed in the study generated results which show that stereotyping
is still evident in the narratives of 21st century Philippine literature. Further, bias is seen in the
stereotypes assigned to women. This implies that gender inequality is still evident in the minute
details in the life of Filipinos. The efforts of the government and the awareness of Filipinos
regarding gender equality remain challenged as these are not yet completely translated in life of
the everyone as reflected in the literature of this time.

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