The films for these modules portrayed the influence of religion in Philippine society on social justice, and specifically, the inequality and unbalanced views of the roles of women in society and their standing in the family hierarchy. In Bata, Bata Paano Ka Ginawa, we saw how the Catholic Church’s influence on the societal structures prevented the mother from having a fulfilling and clearly defined role in her family. With divorce being illegal in the Philippines, she had the difficult position of having to explain to her children’s teachers and caretakers the explanation for different family names. Furthermore, her children themselves had a difficult time understanding why their mother had two husbands, and if she loved one more than she loved the other.
The fact that the mother worked at a women’s shelter was also ironic I felt. Here was a situation where she was fighting for the right of women to protect themselves from abusive husbands, and to safeguard women and children, while at the same time she herself was in the unique position of being ostracized by society for having children with two different men and not being able to divorce one man and marry another. At the same time, when she later hears from her current “husband” that he is leaving her for another woman, and in fact, has been married to that woman for a year, is another surprise that I felt illustrated the point that women were still being treated as second-class citizens.
The films brings to light the issue of religion and social influence, and of how tightly integrated the Catholic belief system is ingrained into Philippine society. That the mother was a social activist was interesting as well, as I thought that perhaps she should have been trying to influence the marriage system, if only to address the problems that were intimate to her. Her work entailed supporting women in abusive relationships, indirectly opposing the conservative and accepted vies towards women in marriage, yet she herself was in an unequal relationship with her current and former husbands. If it was it simply a matter of gender equality, then I think that the issue would have been resolved a long time ago, however, because of the connection to religion and social values, as well as the historical significance of the Catholic Church in Philippine society, this inequality among gender and sexuality continues to exist.
Among the countries in the world, the Philippines and Malta are the only countries that prohibit or ban marriage, only allowing annulments in certain circumstances. Other catholic countries allow marriage, even the heavily influenced country of Italy. This seems unequal, as celebrities, and those of higher social standings can afford the costs of annulments, and have the influence to attain approval, while those in lower classes are unable to reach those goals. Beyond the issue of religious influence on the process, getting an annulment is also highly discriminatory against women, as the costs are prohibitive, the reasons that are accepted are usually not common enough to qualify, such as getting pregnant with another man.
The issue of acting ethically was also addressed, as the behavior of the mother, wanting sex, and addressing her desire for it in her conversation with the nun. She raised the point that if a woman wanted sex, she would be considered a whore, while if a man did, he was just behaving normally. The attitude towards women and sexuality is also unequal in Philippine society, with the politically correct stance being that a women is either a sexually repressed homemaker, serving her husband’s needs, a virginal girl waiting for marriage, or some kind of wanton slut, in comparison to the accepted views of men in the opposite roles. How to balance these two facets, and act justly towards women and gender roles while remaining in the confines of religious authority and still viewing the relationships in the global sense and the boundaries of human rights is a difficult task, and one that the Philippines continues to struggle with. That being said, I think that progress made over the years since the overthrow of Marcos has shown that the Philippine people are making vast strides towards a fair and just society, not simply among rights for women, but equality and justice for all people and all classes of society. This struggle does seem to have its unintended victims, but like all revolutions, there are costs to pay that will ultimately lead towards a better life for all.
-S. Smith
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