Gender Hierarchy Against Women

Why are men more “superior” than women right now? Back then, men and women were equal.
Before the Philippines was colonized, we had babaylan. Babaylan are women who work and
study rituals for personal and medical use. They are experts in literature, religion, history,
psychology , medicine and many more. Women are as important as men, they are recognized and
considered in every aspect in life. However, everything changed and became harder for women
when colonizers came. Their education, job, lifestyle, opportunities and even how people see
women changed.

Western colonization’s patriarchal belief system continues to have a crucial and long-term impact
on gender hierarchy within Filipino households, one of which is motherhood, that includes social
expectations. Even before, it is imposed that a woman's primary obligation is to care for her
husband and children, and is considered as her most valuable contribution to humanity. In
accordance, the Philippine society confined women’s roles to childbearing, childcare and
housekeeping. These roles are depicted as the perimeter of a woman’s value that if expectations
of the society are not met, they are labeled as incompetent or unfulfilled in life. In modern
society, even though women are progressively competent in a workplace setting and seen as an
equal partner in marriages, gender hierarchy is still evident in a household and seen among the
young family members. Girls are perceived to be weaker and are only suited in feminine work
while boys who are perceived as more “valuable” and worthy of investment as they have higher
chances of succeeding later on in life. As a result, apart from this unequal division of household
chores being rooted in our culture due to limitations back then, young women of the family are
extensively expected to do numerous household chores and serve the male members of the
family. On the other hand, young men are least expected to do such basic chores like sweeping or
washing dishes, because they are “men”. For example, daughters are expected to be good at
household chores and if not, they are scolded for being incompetent while sons who don’t know
how to do a chore are easily dismissed by parents with the belief that their child got much better
to do like school activities. However, while it is believed that men have higher capability than
women, they are still expected to do household chores while being excellent in academics, while
young men of a household are only expected to put their time and effort into academics and
society will still think and see men as a higher being.

According to UNESCO, school closures have sent about 90% of all students out of school,
among them more than 800 million girls. When the pandemic came, most of the girls needed to
drop out mainly because of 2 reasons. The first one is the internet connection. And the second
one is young women need to delay their education or take some time off their studies because of
household chores including. When the schools reopened, most of the returned students were
men, while some women stopped to help their family. One of us experienced gender inequality at
her previous school. She was one of the heads of the photography team in her school. However,
she was chosen to take photos at some events. The reason is because there are male
photographers available—the photographers she taught on how to take photos and pictures.
Inequality does not stop in education. There is also gender inequality in the workplace. “Women
today still face challenges that have to do with their gender stereotypes that affect their
opportunities for work. This situation is not only detrimental to the development of our values as
a society, but also the growth of our economy. Regardless of gender, lower labor force
participation translates to lower productivity and slower GDP growth,”said NEDA
Undersecretary for Policy and Planning Rosemarie G. Edillon. Gender inequality became one of
the hindrances for the Filipino women workers. Most of the job offers and promotions are hard
for a female worker to get. Companies consider male workers first before female workers.
Women are unable to show their abilities to work because they know that at the end of the day,
they will still first see men before women.

Gender inequality against women began when the Philippines were colonized, and it became
worse as time passed by. Women experience inequality not only in the Philippines, but all over
the world. We experienced inequality even when we were children. We experienced it at school.
We are unable to join competitions, gain recognition, being considered first before men, and
expected to be prim and proper. Because if not, there will be heavier consequences than what
men will experience. After the inequality in education, women will continue to experience
inequality at work. Job offers will be everywhere, however women seem to find themselves a job
a little more harder. And when they get a job, they are unable to show their full capabilities to
work because of the gender inequality. Even when they deserve a promotion, it is hard for
women to get promoted because some companies focus more on men. The inequality will not
stop at work, it will continue until women have a family. The expectations are worse. They are
expecting women to do almost all of the household chores and take care of everyone inside their
home just because the husband is tired from work. Gender inequality against women never stops.
Yes, it is kind of improving, however it never stops. Generation after generation, women
experience gender inequality to the point that they think that they can never do anything about it.
References:

Education sector | Philippine Commission on Women. (n.d.). https://pcw.gov.ph/education/

Israel Sobritchea, C. (n.d.). The Ideology of Female Domesticity: Its impact on the status of
Filipino women.
https://scispace.com/pdf/the-ideology-of-female-domesticity-its-impact-on-the-status-piu
9uzyz8s.pdf

Rodriguez, L. L. (1990). Patriarchy and women’s subordination in the Philippines.

Why gender inequality often starts at home. (n.d.). Plan Canada Site.
https://plancanada.ca/stories/why-gender-inequality-starts-at-home

Women in the workplace: Paving a better landscape in the labor force. (n.d.).
https://www.pids.gov.ph/details/news/in-the-news/women-in-the-workplace-paving-a-bet
ter-landscape-in-the-labor-force

User, G. (2020, March 11). “The Power of Pinays” – a short essay by Wilfred Galila, Kularts SF
— SOMA PILIPINAS. SOMA PILIPINAS.
https://www.somapilipinas.org/community-1/powerofpinays