Women’s Movements and the Filipina

Maria Natividad Roces

Published by University of Hawaii Press 2012

Women’s Movements and the Filipina

1986–2008

Maria Natividad Roces

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824861216

Overview
Contents

About this book

This book is about a fundamental aspect of the feminist project in the Philippines: rethinking the Filipino woman. It focuses on how contemporary women's organizations have represented and refashioned the Filipina in their campaigns to improve women's status by locating her in history, society and politics; imagining her past, present and future; representing her in advocacy; and identifying strategies to transform her. The drive to alter the situation of women included a political aspect (lobbying and changing legislation) and a cultural one (modifying social attitudes and women’s own assessments of themselves). In this work Mina Roces examines the cultural side of the feminist agenda: how activists have critiqued Filipino womanhood and engaged in fashioning an alternative woman.

How did activists theorize the Filipina and how did they use this analysis to lobby for pro-women’s legislation or alter social attitudes? What sort of Filipina role models did women’s organizations propose, and how were these new ideas disseminated to the general public? What cultural strategies did activists deploy in order to gain a mass following? Analyzing data from over seventy five interviews with feminist activists, radio and television shows, romance novels, periodicals and books published by women’s organizations and feminist nuns, comics, newsletters, and personal papers, Roces shows how representations of the Filipino woman have been central to debates about women’s empowerment. She explores the transnational character of women’s activism and offers a seminal study on the important contributions of feminist Catholic nuns.

Women’s Movements and the Filipina provides an original and passionate account of the contemporary feminist movement in the Philippines, bringing to light how women’s organizations have initiated change in cultural attitudes and had a significant impact on contemporary Philippine society.

Reviews

The rich tapestry of this movement is captured in this small but compact book written in clear and crisp
prose. . . . this a good introductory work on Philippine feminism and the women's movement that will suit a range of audiences such as students, scholars and practitioners, and which leaves open numerous possibilities for further
exploration, comparative studies and theorizing on feminism and social movements.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction: Women’s Movements and Womanhood Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I. Representations: Representing Women
1. The Religious Roots of Women’s Oppression: Feminist Nuns and the Filipino Woman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	35
2. Prostitution, Women’s Movements, and the Victim Narrative Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	52
3. The Woman as Worker Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	65
4. Indigenous Women: Women of the Cordillera Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	87
5. “There Is No Need to Endure”: Women’s Health Movements Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	104
Part II. Practices: Fashioning Women
6. Women’s Studies on the Air: Radio, Television, and Women’s Movements Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	127
7. Fashioning Women through Activism, Ritual, and Dress Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	144
Part III. Spaces: Locating Women
8. Women’s Movements in Transnational Spaces Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	173
9. Women’s Movements in Liminal Spaces: Abortion as a Reproductive Right Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	184
Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	198
Appendix 1: List of Women’s Organizations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	205
Appendix 2: Radio and Television Shows Discussed Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	211
Selected Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	251
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	263
About the Author Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	278

Language: English
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 288

eBook

Published: February 29, 2012
ISBN: 9780824861216