Asia, Philippines: We have to see ourselves as a team and not as opponents

Some 20 years ago I was always asked this question: “There are so few women in your class. How do you feel about that?” This was the time when I was a freshman at university taking Electronics and Communication Engineering. In a class of 45 people we were only five women. Engineering degrees are predominantly taken by men. I managed to finish the course.

Compared to our Asian counterparts, Philippine women enjoy a certain independence and opportunity. One can see this in our rich history. We were one of the nations where women were allowed to be educated and to vote. Asian families are culturally patriarchal. It has been engraved in our system. Women, by nature, bear children and take care of the family while men are providers of the family. Competing with each other is not good practice. We have to live as a team, as one entity, and not as opponents. We have all been created according to our intended purpose. There are certain things that only a man can do and there are things that only a woman can do. Spiritually, emotionally, and physically we have been created accordingly. We have to co-exist and live alongside each other. The key is having the opportunity to co-exist.

Food, safety, health—particularly reproductive and sexual health—education, and economic participation are all basic needs and are the rights of every human being, whether man or woman. Despite this basic knowledge we all know that this is not happening at all levels of society. When one has no food, safety is compromised. When safety is compromised, health is affected and so is education. If these basic needs are not met and there is no room to co-exist there will be an imbalance in society. This can be felt most at the grassroots level of society. And it has nothing to do with gender equality. These are issues we all have to deal with. The number of women and children who are hungry, the number of women who die giving birth because of insufficient health care, the number of women who do not know how to read and even write their own name, the number of women who are educated but receive less pay than their male counterparts—at the end of the day, these women are all part of the family and thus the community. All over the world, women and children are seen as the weaker side of society, but it shouldn’t be the case.

Going back to my own experience, I don’t consider myself lucky to have finished my degree in a male-dominated profession. I had the opportunity and I took it. Despite the cultural issues and preconceived ideas, I made it. It was not always a pleasant experience, of course, but such is life. Already the question of how I feel being in a male-dominated profession is discrimination in itself. If we are to co-exist, let us all take the opportunity to do so. Let us do our best not because we are women but because it is the right thing to do. If there are no opportunities, then let us find some—and use them in a manner that correlates with others. On International Women’s Day let us be aware that we are here to lead responsible lives for ourselves, our family, and society. Let us use every opportunity we have to improve ourselves and our lives.


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07.03.2016

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