FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY

Communication Journal
Philippine Copyright 2007
By Far Eastern University
Department of Communicatin
Institute of Arts and Sciences

Published in 2007
By Far Eastern University Publications
Far Eastern University
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Manila, Philippines
Telephone: (632) 7360039
Email: amalcampo@feu.edu.ph

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ISSN: 1656-8168

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Cover Design:
Ross Joseph B. Copiaco
Jon Paolo O. Nora
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 FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY

Communication Journal
Vol. 3 An Annual Publication of the Department of Communication 2007

JOEVEN R. CASTRO
Editor

CHERISH AILEEN A. BRILLON

LIANA M. BARRO
Editorial Board

GENEROSO B. PAMITTAN, JR.

REGGY C. FIGER
Advisers

The Communication Journal is the official publication of the Department

of Communication, Far Eastern University. It publishes annually a wide variety
of scholarly and original articles by younger as well as established scholars. It is a
forum for the dissemination of research in communication, media, and society.

Articles and reviews in Communication Journal do not represent the

views and opinions of the editorial board, the department, the FEU Publications,
and the University. Responsibility for statements and the accuracy of facts rests
solely with the individual authors. The editorial board reserves the right to accept
or reject material submitted to it for consideration.
 FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY

Communication Journal
Vol. 3 An Annual Publication of the Department of Communication 2007

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ARTICLES

Ding ang Bato! The Rise of Super Hero(ines)

and Violence on Local Television 1
Cherish Aileen A. Brillon

Nosebleed! Untangling the String of Inday Jokes

in Computer-Mediated Communication 20
Arvin William H. Dauz

Womans Body Power

in Philippine Sex Melodramas 33
Jamal Ashley Abbas

Tear the Box: Deconstructing Sexualized

Portrayals of Women in Idol Ko si Kap
and Lagot Ka Isusumbong Kita! 53
Joeven R. Castro

Filipino Women on the Cover

of Cosmopolitan Magazine 66
Gino Go, Jellyn Maxion,
Joanna Sy, & Edlenn Racoma
 Wives Voices: The Social Construction
of Wifehood among Selected Muslim
and Christian Wives in Quiapo, Manila 80
Reggy C. Figer & Ruly Lee B. Cagadas

REVIEWS

Feminizing Television Programming 98

Jaypril B. Jaring

From Page to Stage: A Review

on William Shakespeares AsYou Like It 107
Joey B.Ting

Wind, Water, Fire:

Faces of Feminism in Kaleldo 114
Ingrid K.Velasquez & Arby Mari B. Larao

INTERVIEW

Beyond Bias and Barriers:

An Interview with a Passionate
Speech Communication Teacher 121
Walter H. Yudelmo
A Note from the Editor

The theme Women and Communication was a major challenge for

this years editorial board. Articles came in trickles. The already established
school on womens studies was probably one reason.
Unfazed, I asserted the need to retain the theme. When positive
changes in the treatment of women still take a snails pace, there is a greater
impetus of continually deconstructing texts in the mass, mediated, and
interpersonal communication. The cause of empowering women has not
been fully attained yet despite the prevalence of studies on women. Or the
prevalence itself is an indication of the gravity of the problem.
This issue is a contribution to the discourse on how women are treated
in our society. It discusses the different faces and struggles of womanhood.
Surprisingly, most contributors are men, a positive sign to a certain extent,
that they have started or renewed the advocacy of enabling or empowering
women. Women have found an ally in the person of young communication
majors whose exposure to media literacy pursuits have opened their minds
to become critical of the conventionalized dynamics between men and
women.
Cherish Aileen Brillon starts the empowerment by discussing how
violence, even if considered as inherently negative by some, has been
positively used by Darna, a female superhero, to fly away from the male-
crafted world of superhero genre.
Arvin Dauz discussion on Inday jokes also provides an alternative for
liberation by using computer-mediated technology to create a virtual reality
for female domestic workers that differ from the traditional perspective as
dim-witted individuals.
Jamal Abbas elevates the feminist discourse by showing how female
sex workers in Filipino sex melodrama films have used their bodies, not
really for mens gratification, but to attain personal needs. His glorification
of womens right to decide what to do with own bodies amid moral
conservatives cynicism enables womens self-reflexivity.
vii
 The first step to empowerment is awareness.The textual analyses used
by the contributors aim to provide the readers lessons on how to read media
texts using feminism. My own article deconstructs mens sexual privileges
embedded in television situational comedies. I identified and scrutinized
four indicators to divulge mens strategies that consummate their visual and
sexual desires at womens expense.
Gino Go, Jelly Maxion, Joanna Sy, and Edlenn Racoma also disclose
how the cover of a well-circulated magazine has stereotyped Filipino woman
to conform to a Westernized standard of beauty that distorts her image in
real life. With traces of political economic analysis, the article pinpoints
patriarchy and capitalism as culprits behind womens commodification.
From media studies, Reggy Figer and Ruly Cagadas finally bring us
back to interpersonal communication by sharing a research that is focused on
how Catholic and Muslim wives negotiate with their husbands and construct
realities about their being wives. Their work is a salient proof that patriarchy
is still deeply entrenched in the politics of the home or the family, which is
the basic unit of the society.
There are now small success stories of empowerment. In the reviews
section Jaypril Jaring proudly introduces the only station for women in the
PhilippinesQTV 11. Its efforts to discuss womens issues on national
television by female hosts themselves is a bold and pioneering move to
recognize the value of women.
Joey Ting, while critical of the execution of theater elements, has
detected the effort of Director Estrella in incorporating a gradient of radical
feminism and Anne Bogarts viewpoints in her direction of Shakespeares As
You See It.
FEU Film Society officers Ingrid Velasquez and Arby Mari Larao
have reviewed the digital film Kaleldo to feature a triad of unconventional
female characters as exemplars of those who tried to step out of the box of
patriarchy.
Finally, Walter H. Yudelmo expresses pride in encountering the
empress of speech communication in the Philippines, Prof. Isabel S.
Soriano, who shared the importance of speech in understanding the real
needs of any audience.
This journal, as a venue for young and established scholars for the
promotion of communication and media scholarship, came into being
because of the following men and women: Thank you to all contributors;
my editorial board composed of Profs. Cherish Brillon and Liana Barro for
painstakingly assisting me in editing the articles; Profs. Mike Limon and

viii
Jhonalyn Concha for helping me during the journals foundational stage;
Prof. Reggy Figer for acting as my online adviser and critic; my chair Prof.
Gene B. Pamittan, Jr. for believing in me and supporting this scholarly
pursuit; Prof. Danny Vibas, Publications Editor, for his meticulous eyes
that improved the overall makeup of this journal; Dean Jaime An Lim and
Associate Dean Violeta Jerusalem for supporting this academic endeavor;
the very accommodating Miss Agnes Malcampo and her staff particularly
Iren dela Cruz for working like a bullet train just so we could finish this
journal on schedule.
For the most important woman in my life, my mother, and for my
idols/mentors Dr. Zenaida S. Martinez, Dr. Lourdes Portus, Dr. Paz Diaz,
Prof. Chi-Chi Fajardo-Robles, and Prof. Josefina M.C. Santos, I dedicate this
journal to you.

JOEVEN R. CASTRO

ix
Ding ang Bato! The Rise of Super
Hero(ines) and Violence
on Local Television

Cherish Aileen A. BRILLON

Feminism has changed not only how women dene their roles in society, but also
how they are portrayed in mass media.What was once considered a male spacethe
superhero genreis now very much appropriated by women. The mushrooming of
fantasy-action series in the countrys leading television networks, ABS-CBN and GMA
Network, has created a new breed of heroines on primetime TV. Women now engage in
stunts, stghts, ight, and other action sequences that parallel those of male action
heroes in saving the day and the oppressed.

This article studies the rise of women superheroes on television as exemplied by

what many consider as the most popular superheroine in the country: Darna. It also
discusses the implications of women superheroes that use violence to achieve justice as
an end. Finally, it asserts that despite the criticisms leveled against women superheroes,
the genre still provides a welcome change in how women are represented in the
entertainment media.

A NEW BREED of superheroes has invaded our television screens. They are
strong, confident, complicated, beautiful, and sexy. They are not men; they
are women, with not just brawn but also brains. The popularity of female
superheroes in the country as exemplified by Alwina (portrayed by Angel
Locsin) in Mulawin1, Darna2 (Angel Locsin) and the Sanggres of Encantadia3
(played by Sunshine Dizon, Iza Calzado, Karylle, and Diana Zubiri) proves
that saving the day and helping the oppressed are not just mens domain
anymore.
COMMUNICATION JOURNAL 2007: 1-19
Brillon

According to Helford (2000), the phenomenon of heroines may be a

recent popular trend but having women as central characters on TV shows
can be traced as far back as the 1950s with shows like I Love Lucy, Leave it
to Beaver and Father Knows Best. Those shows played up women as ordinary
housewives, in accordance with societys expectations. It was in the 1960s
that innovation on TV programming changed how women were portrayed
and this was achieved by incorporating fantasy. This was implemented
in shows like Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie, both of which depicted
women with magical powers. However, men tempered their powers (and
consequently their characters) by forbidding them to use these powers in
their daily lives when the masculine egos were messed up.
The 70s and the 80s saw significant changes in the womens movement.
Women closed ranks and trooped to the streets to fight for equal rights to:
education, employment, participation in government policies, and other
matters affecting their existence (Projansky, 2001). These changes spilled
over the sphere of mass media. The 70s showed women as warriors and
icons, which became the precursor of todays women heroes on TV. Shows
like Wonder Woman, Bionic Woman, and Charlies Angels, which featured women
with intellectual and physical prowess, not to mention cleavage, became
popular. In the 80s, women like Ellen Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver in
Aliens) and Sarah Connor (played by Linda Hamilton in Terminator) with their
tough, steel-like muscular stance, became the in thing in movies. It was the
90s, however, which benefited from the gains of womens movement and
ushered in a new era in female representation on TV. In the 90s, women had
more rights and more media exposure as there was a noticeable increase in
women-centered shows. Other factors, according to Ms. Redgie Magno,
production unit manager for Darna, included a shift in the demographics,
particularly the 18-34 age bracket, whether female or male, as recent trend
showed audiences inclined toward shows that feature women as superheroes
(personal communication, May 26, 2006).
This increasing trend of female visibility, especially in the genre of
science fiction, has advantages as well as negative repercussions. Women
in these shows used their powers to help them in the ultimate goal of
ridding the world with bad elements. At the same time, this heightened
power resulted in an apprehension among media circles that women shows
were getting more and more violent. Fox News4 reported increased female
juvenile violence, with some critics laying the blame on what they called

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 Ding ang Bato!

feminization of superheroes.
According to one Harvard professor, this trend encouraged women
to resolve problems by using violence as a means. She said that todays girls
resorted to kick em, beat em up solutions (Beaucar, 2001). Some wary critics
have also said that the appeal of female superheroes hinged on the fact that
they were still sexualized objects or models for women to measure up to
and for men to ogle at.
This study outlines the rise of women superheroes on TV and discusses
the implications of female superheroes using violence to achieve justice.
It focuses on the 2005 GMA-produced telefantasya, Darna (specifically
episodes aired from April 4 to April 21 and from May 31 to June 2, 2005).
The choice of Darna as the subject of this study lies on the widely held
perception that she is the most iconic of all local superheroes and has the
most successful multimedia franchise since 1950s, when an illustrated komiks
novel of the same title was published by Mars Ravelo in Pilipino Komiks.
The superheroine Darna has appeared in 15 movies and in an animated series
produced by GMA in 1989. The komiks character also became a popular
product endorser and was featured in Ballet Philippines theater production
in celebration of her 50th year last 20035. As a testament to her enduring
popularity, Darna, the TV series, was a consistent top rater during its nine-
month run on GMA 7.

Postfeminism and Women Representation

Heroes, especially among young adults, are usually associated with

images of Superman, Batman or X-Men. In the Philippines, the late Fernando
Poe Jr. and Ramon Revilla Sr. lorded over the roles of action heroes as
Panday and Nardong Putik, respectively. These men, in one way or another,
had shown their audience the meaning of strength and bravery apart from
possessing physical strength that was enough to defeat ten people at the
same time.
But where are the women?
According to Suzanne Danuta Walters (in Projanksy, 2001: 66),
Postfeminism defines feminism as dead and gone either because it has been
successful and, thus, is no longer necessary or because it was unsuccessful
and, therefore, proves itself to be unnecessary. This may mean that due to
the gains of womens movement there is now greater access to choice; thus,

3
Brillon

the fight for equality is old news. In some postfeminist discourses, men are
on the background as objects of desire, role models or villains (67). This
sudden shift reversed the traditional portrayal where man is on the center
and women on the periphery.
The same social change is reflected in mass media. Women were
given more attentiontheir characters were developed not only in the
context of the home but also in workplace. A study on the history of women
superheroes6 revealed that the noticeable increase in women action heroes
was traced to cult favorite Xena (a spin-off of the show Hercules). Producers,
seeing that the show created a new fan base, started to come up with more
concepts and ideas about female heroes. Suddenly Buffy, Charmed, Alias and
company became in vogue and male action heroes slowly eclipsed.
What attraction do women superheroes hold on the viewers? Why is
it popular not only with the male (the primary target demographic) but also
with the female crowd?
In the Philippines, a country with several strong female figures
ranging from the real-life heroes Gabriela Silang, Gregoria De Jesus, and
Melchora Aquino, to the mythical figures of goddesses like Maria Makiling,
Mariang Sinukuan and a host of other diwatas, to two women presidents,
television had not kept up with the changing times as primetime soap operas
continued to portray women as virgins in search of the ideal, sensitive male;
as damsels in distress needing rescue from their princes; as sidekicks, best
friends, and girlfriends.
According to Tasker (1993), damsel-in-distress roles are based on
the legend of Andromeda tied to a rock, awaiting rescue from Perseus.
Women are also oftentimes the villains.Tolentino (2000) noted that sexually
confident and independent women are treated as villains. Their ambitious
drive and secured status are considered threat to patriarchy. So they are
either co-opted back into the system through conversion as villains or they
are eventually dismissed as a whore and lunatic; hauled off to an asylum
or worst, killed. That was still the scenario in the Philippines in the 90s
despite the apparent gains of feminism. Evasco (1992) had to point out then
that the struggle of many women was still in the semi-feudal/patriarchal
matrix wherein traditional roles and values associated with women and the
traditional ways of fulfilling them were still fixed.
These were before the telefantasyas.

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 Ding ang Bato!

Telefantasya/Fantaserye

In 2004, ABS-CBN 2 launched Marina, a fantaserye (a term coined to

mean the hybrid genre of soap opera and fantasy) about a mermaid (ala
Dyesebel) starring Claudine Barreto. While GMA 7 was already scoring high
in ratings with the reinvented format of the reality series Extra Challenge and
with 24 Oras, a newscast with Mel Tiangco and Mike Enriquez as anchors, it
was not until Mulawin that GMA was finally able to wrestle the top primetime
spot, averaging 49.9% audience share in Mega Manila (Brillon, 2007).
ABS-CBN tried to offset this by topbilling the masses favorite Judy
Ann Santos in the superhero-themed Krystala, back to back with Chito Ronos
Spirits about a group of teenagers with extraordinary powers. However, even
these two were no match for Mulawins (and eventually, Darnas) popularity
which soon spawned a hit song, several merchandised items (most famous
of which were the Mulawin costumes), and the Richard Gutierrez-Angel
Locsin love team. With the premiere of GMAs Darna in April 2005, a full-
blown (woman) telefantasya fest was born and the battle for who will rule
the sky, the land, the seas, and the ratings game intensified (11).
Fantaserye or telefantasya is a genre in Philippine television that mixes
soap opera (more popularly called teleseryes), fantasy, myth, magic, and
enchantment7. Hybridization of genres is considered a tool for maximizing
the earnings of media because it manages to hook a larger audience. A
telefantasyas episode is usually 30 minutes long with a daily slot in the evening
primetime. In Western culture, the superhero genre is considered science
fiction, a sub-genre of fantasy8, and is characterized by its contemporary,
mimetic (realist) setting, and is peopled by regular human beings with
protagonists and antagonists possessing superhuman powers like Superman
and Darna or with heightened or extraordinary human capability like Batman.
This is quite different from the general fantasy genre where Encantadia,
Mulawin, Marina, and Kampanerang Kuba are categorized; although this is not
given much distinction by network executives in the country since branding
of shows has become a trend in the past years as exemplified by terms like
koreanovelas, telenovelas, kwelanovelas, etc. (19).
Telefantasyas success is a good starting point for the academe to study
not only how soap opera and Filipino popular culture shape each other, but
also to better understand how women are represented in what is originally
considered a male genre (Pyle, 1994).

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Brillon

The Superhero Genre

What makes the superhero genre so popular? Discussing what

constitutes the superhero genre is important because the pleasure in
watching them, similar to the pleasure of watching soap operas, lies on
familiarity with its conventions.
Reynolds (1992) listed down the following elements of the superhero
genre:
1. Lost Parents.The hero is marked out from society. He often reaches
maturity without having a relationship with his parents.
2. The man-god. At least some of the superheroes will be like
earthbound gods in their level of powers. Other superheroes of
lesser powers will consort easily with these earthbound deities.
3. Justice. The heros devotion to justice overrides even his devotion
to the law.
4. The normal and the superpowered. The extraordinary nature of
the superhero will be contrasted with the ordinariness of his
surroundings.
5. The secret identity. Likewise, the extraordinary nature of the hero
will be contrasted with the mundane nature of his alter-ego.
6. Superpowers and politics. Although ultimately above the law,
superheroes can be capable of considerable patriotism and moral
loyalty to the state, though not necessarily to the letter of its
laws.
7. Science as magic.The stories are mythical and use science and magic
indiscriminately to create a sense of wonder.
These elements were, however, critiqued by Pyle (1994) citing
that costumes are a disadvantage to female superheroes. Clearly, a female
superhero in costume, while acting as the subject or protagonist, was also
the object of sexual attraction of male readers gaze. When she transforms
from her alter ego, she is viewed (at least potentially) as performing an
uncompleted striptease. Males are seemingly called upon to read her both
as heroine and object of desire.

6
 Ding ang Bato!

Women as (Super) Heroes

Misreading women superheroes continues. Some accuse her of trying

to be like men, using her body as selling point, and encouraging violence
against another (Beaucar, 2001). This raises the question: is there really such
a thing as female superheroes?
In Mens Genres for Women, Brundson (1997) discussed the marked
difference between the portrayal of male and female hero, this time through
the genre of TV crime series as exemplified by Widows I and Widows II. She
observed that the male hero was usually against the law, which is typical of
the characteristics of our Filipino action heroes where the male leads turned
into heroes by exacting revenge due to the failure of state apparatuses to
protect the weak9. Female heroes, on the other hand, were considered
protectors of patriarchal authority for almost always fighting alongside
the law. Female heroes were, thus, considered as the phallic woman for
assuming the powerful and life-threatening role usually accorded to males.
The difference in status of male and female superheroes was also
highlighted. Male heros body was emphasized through his activity while the
female hero found the need to compensate her activity by emphasizing her
sexuality, her availability within traditional feminine terms (19). The goal
was to portray her as non-threatening to existing patriarchal order while
retaining her marketability as the sex object.
Tasker (1993) significantly joined the discourse on how the super
heroines identity has been constructed. The role of a warrior was given to
women courtesy of the gains of feminism and womens movement. This was
considered as an improvement from previous roles in the action genre, for
example, as victims of rape or murder in contrast with the male character
who always came to her rescue. She was then the trigger by which the male
character can regain his manhood.
This contrast is further elaborated by Earlys (2001) article Staking Her
Claim: Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Transgressive Woman Warrior. She observed that
in Western history, war always served as the dominant narrative of exalting
the male warrior/hero. He was the father of all things in the words of
ancient Greek scholar Heraclitus, or the just warrior who fought and died
for the greater good. The female was considered the beautiful soul who
epitomized the maternal war-support figure in need of male protection. Few
women who achieved warrior status in this hegemonic war chronicle were

7
Brillon

portrayed as exceptional with the title of armed maidens of righteousness

as illustrated in the mythology stories of the Celtic Queen Boadicea and the
famous Joan of Arc.
This shows that the concept of a woman warrior is not a new
phenomenon as its root can be traced to the ancient times through Heraclitus
description. However, it was less noticeable because deeply rooted patriarchal
structure regarded the role of a woman warrior as temporary and deviant
even if she was obviously exceptional. Worse, feats of woman warriors were
also deleted from history (Tasker, 1993). Consequently, negative images of
women warriors were purveyed like the man-hating Amazon who served as
a foil to the male just warrior tradition (Early, 2001).
Tasker (1993) added that women warriors were borrowed from
comic strip traditions known for their parodic exaggerated characterizations
of gendered identity where superhero-themed shows placed woman at the
center of the narrative. They were still portrayed as barely clad heroes/
heroines as part of the mythological or fantasy context where exaggerated
physique was a common practice. Thus, the super heroine was offered as
a sexual spectacle or was still represented exclusively within the codes of
femininity.
Believed to be disruptive and transgressive, the role of a female
superhero had to be contained. Taskers (1998) In Working Girls: Gender and
Sexuality in Popular Cinema (1998) observed that even if action heroines
represented a departure from the usual roles and images for women, they
were still framed within the following:
1. The maternal that protects her children whether biological or
adoptive.
2. She is always identified with the father. Female heroes are always
in search of a father figure or attempting reconciliation with it.
Her heroism is legitimated in relation to a lost or love father.
3. A fetishistic figure fantasy derived from comic books and soft
porn involving an exaggerated statement of sexuality.
Tasker (1998) noted that female action heroes offered a fantasy image
of (proletarian) physical strength showcased within the narratives that
repeatedly sought to explain her. There was always a tension between the
images of strength of the female hero and the narratives within which they
were contained (69).
The image of Darna as a female superhero by projecting her as

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 Ding ang Bato!

extraordinary and by labeling her as the most famous Pinay10 (italics supplied)
superhero hinged on the aforesaid. Why does Darna, or any superhero
for that matter, have alter egos? Does their human disguise represent the
feminine side while their superhero identity function as fantasy/pleasure
for patriarchy? If there is a space for the male superhero, is there a space for
the female hero? Would any representation made be compared and studied
against the conception of the male hero?
Locally, Luceros (2001) article entitled Fish, Goddess, Superwoman, and
Forest Nymph: Women in Fantasy Films looked at several fantasy films produced.
Darna: Ang Pagbabalik (1994) that starred former beauty queen and sexy star
Anjanette Abayari was studied. Lucero used gender analysis (feminist) to
deconstruct womens function as shown in fantasy films. According to her,
within a patriarchal discourse every female character in a film of any genre
whether realistic, melodramatic, comic or fantasticis always simply the
object of mans fantasy (2001: 12). Her fantasy stories start when she leaves
her natural, Eden-like habitat and ventures into urban wilderness.
According to Lucero, in Darna:Ang Pagbabalik, there was a role reversal
of conventional male and female position with the female as hero and the
male as damsel in distress. It also pointed out how the conflation of woman
and place was repeatedly reaffirmed. Places like home, landscape, sea, and
forest nature were feminized. Womans greatest virtue was topophilia, the
affectionate attachment to places, the urge to settle down and keep home
fires burning. In effect, having this attachment to places associated with
women dilutes the power of female superheroes as they are offered to
patriarchy as non-threatening and harmless. This is the reason why narrative
plotlines like love story/romance and nurturing the family are prevalent.
Tasker (1998) notes that these women superheroes can be traced back to the
tradition of Pygmalion: All are created for the male fantasy.

Darna as a Superhero(ine)

In the context of telefantasyas as exemplified in Darna, it is now

appropriate to describe the genre of the super heroine:

1. Fantasy = Reality
The superhero genre lies in the border of fantasy and reality. Owing to
the trend that started in the 1960s, these programs incorporate characters

9
Brillon

culled from literature, mythology, folklore, and even from the writers own
imagination with a contemporary setting to appeal to the viewers. Darna,
even with its futuristic vision11 as apparent in the first episode (April 4,
2005), still has, as enemies, manananggal12 (half-bodied vampires) and
mambabarang13 (male witches), both mythical local creatures.

2. Power as Birthright
In many western and local movies, male protagonists are thrown
into circumstances that force them to take up arms and fight back. Males
decision to rid the world of evil is theirs alone.This rarely happens, however,
in women programs, as their powers are some kind of a birthrighta
destiny. In Darna, only Narda (the alter ego) can harness the power of the
puting bato (white stone) even when she refused the responsibility as Darna.
It seems that her destiny to save the world is the only reason why she was
brought into the world of action. Free will only comes next.

3. Weapons of Choice
Male action heroes have commonly chosen guns, knives, and swords
(considered as phallic symbols) as weapons. Female superheroes are not to
be left behind as they too have their own weapons, which can be interpreted
as a turning of the tables. The woman is now in control of these instruments
of destruction. However, one noticeable trend in Darna is the limited use
of actual weapons to either kill or maim the enemy. Unlike in male action
heroes where the highlight is in their prowess with guns and knives and
the number of bullets they pump into the bodies of their enemies, Darna,
because of the puting batos power, had no reason to carry any sort of weapon.
Indeed, the thrill is in seeing her kick butt by literally punching, kicking,
and engaging her enemies in stunts. Usual encounters include several
minutes of kickboxing, acrobatics, and choreographed stunts.

4. Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?

The cowboy refers to the female superheros love interest and the
absence or lack of it. It is not that men have suddenly become so extinct in
their worlds, but rather as a superhero, Darnas love interest and even her
personal life is sacrificed to save the world. Like in any other superhero
stories, Darna is better alone in order to concentrate on her vocation to

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protect the world, not to mention that any of her love interest may be
seriously at risk given the extreme dangers of her duty. On the contrary,
what these shows have is the presence of a female support group acting as
co-workers, friends, and family members. At initial glance, these programs
have given way to the rise in representing matrilineal societies.

5. The Usual Suspects

Where there is a protagonist, there must also be an antagonist that
will make the heroines day miserable. The table below compares the male
and female villains in Darna.

Table 1. Darnas villains

Female Villains Male Villains
Braguda Mambabarang
Played by veteran actress Celia Rodriguez Played by Eddie Garcia
Valentina Nosforamus
Played by Alessandra de Rossi Played by Tonton Gutierrez
Sulfura
Played by Carmina Villaroel
Molecula
Played by Cristine Reyes
Manananggal
Played by Ryza Cenon
Prospera
The only villain with no exceptional
power, except to make Nardas (Darnas
human alter ego) life miserable. Played
by Sandy Andolong
Total: 6 Total: 2
Source: Based on observation

The table illustrates that women villains still figure prominently even
in telefantasyas. The reason may be due to the fact that having both women as
a hero and villain put them on equal ground and veer away from alienating
male viewers when they engage in fight scenes.This is important so that they
will not be construed a threat to patriarchy.

11
Brillon

6. Violence for A Higher Purpose

Violence in all genres is deemed justified if it is for a higher purpose,
like saving the community, the people, and the world. Force becomes a
legal means by which justice can be attained. This also shows how social
institutions have failed to address social problems that impel the hero to use
violence as the last option.

Violence: What is all the hype about?

Violence and aggression have always been an issue leveled at mass

media particularly television. The ubiquitous nature of the medium makes
it the most obvious suspect in fueling violence and aggression among its
viewers. True enough, television has become influential in peoples lives that
it is not an exaggeration to say that television is even treated as part of the
family.
This nature of television as a cultural and social influence has been
the subject of countless studies exploring its every aspect, program, and
sociopolitical implications. This especially holds true with the issue of
television violence. How many times has television been blamed for killings,
crimes, and sexual exploitation? Many studies have pinpointed televisions
ability to exert such influence on its viewers. However, this issue has been
highly debatable up to now as no concrete proof correlates television and
real-life violence.
Rise of female superheroes has also made violence its contentious
issue. With a society used to seeing women in traditional roles, it is not hard
to imagine why these kinds of shows stir not only the publics mind but also
countless media critics and academic scholars. The sight of women who win
over bad guys they kicked and punched is not something people will readily
accept as normal.
In this regard, due to the ambiguous and ever changing concept and
definition of violence, there is a need to define violence and analyze it in the
context of the superhero genre. In Popular Culture, Crime and Justice, violence
is defined as a series of events, the course of which or the outcomes of
which, cause injury or damage to persons or property (Bailey & Hale, 1998:
42). This is a very broad definition that disagrees with the idea that violence
is intentional. The definition encompasses both human violent actions as
well as events that might not have an immediate human element or cause,

12
 Ding ang Bato!

such as natural disasters (42). According to this definition, any action that
can cause or inflict harm is considered violent regardless of genre (cartoons
and so-childrens shows can even fall into this category). Bailey and Hale
(1998) further defined violence by differentiating its types:
1. Instrumental violence - violent behavior used by individuals
(sometimes by groups) to achieve a particular goal or end.
It assumes that violence is generally a rational and cognitive
process.
2. Expressive violence- violence is largely an expressive phenomenon
that erupts as an expression of deep emotional forces and feelings
such as rage, anger, and frustration.
Focusing on instrumental violence, superheroes are, therefore, all
about saving the world. The means and social context may differ, but these
heroes do not lose focus in their goal of ridding the world of evil by using
force as primary weapon. Violence is then justified as highly necessary to
attain an end goal that is of a higher purpose.

Violence?...Where?

Pervasive violence in television is encoded such that viewers tend

to think of it as normal. Years and years of seeing violence on television
desensitizes viewers and makes them readily accept this as a normal, if not
cathartic, part of their lives.
Encoding instrumental violence in telefantasyas is distinguished through
several devices (45):
1. Rebellion Against Injustice. The concept of good and bad is
prominently displayed in this kind of encoding device. Darnas
raison d etre is to save the world from injustice whether caused by
a supernatural force (with fictitious villains like Braguda, Sulfura,
Valentina, etc.) or caused by natural circumstances (saving
children from kidnappers).
2. Establish Order. One of the most common devices in encoding
instrumental violence. The superhero genre (whether female or
male centered) operates on the basic premise that society is in
chaos (both explicit and implicit) and using violence is the only
way to restore order. In episode 55, Bragudas reign of terror is
such that Ding, an iconic character in the Darna universe, died.

13
Brillon

This forced Narda, who already renounced her powers as Darna,

to carry once again the cudgels for the oppressed.
3. Conflict Resolution. When conflicts or disagreements are not
settled by using other means, our heroes usually turn to violence
as the last option. In episodes 9-10, violence became Darnas last
option in her fight against Mambabarang after her attempts to
appeal to him through his family members failed.

Exploiting Violence

The impact of TV violence is enhanced through various (physical)

techniques (Bailey & Hale, 1998):
1. The Shock Scene. With the aid of such techniques as slow motion
and ultra close-ups, violence is amplified.Television has employed
on rare occasions this technique which is widely used in movies.
2. Revelation of the Body. The horror genre especially depends
on the shock and fascination value of showing as realistically as
possible detailed close-ups of maimed or severed parts of the body.
In telefantasyas, due to the fact that it caters to all demographics
especially the children, there are less close ups of dead bodies. No
more lingering shots of the enemies the moment they fell to the
ground.
3. Fire. Psychoanalysts argue that fire appeals to the most primitive
part of the human psyche. Special effects have contributed greatly
to fire use in recent years. This is the most common technique
used to symbolize destruction and chaos. In Darna, exploding
laser beams in episode 1 and 2 (April 4-5, 2005) and special
effects that leave cars on fire and damaged properties, as shown
from episodes 55 to 58 (May 17, 20-22, 2005) along the way
signaled the arrival of villains.
4. Music. Whether diegetic or non-diegetic, music has been used
to amplify or heighten the level of violence. Today, movies
incorporate a cool soundtrack to match the action happening
onscreen. In Darna, fight scenes are always accompanied by techno
music. Music is now associated with fighting and eventually with
violence.

14
 Ding ang Bato!

5. Ritual Predictability. Viewers always collectively expect rituals

from these kinds of shows, which include car chases, explosives,
and numerous fistfights derived from male action heroes. The
same techniques can also be found in Darna with its ritual fight
scenes, exciting chases, and special effects.

Superhero(ine) and Violence

The increasing number of shows that feature female superheroes has

sent some critics, most of them feminists, warning against the danger of this
new breed of action heroes. According to Margaret Finnegan (2001) in her
article Sold:The Illusion of Independence, published in Los Angeles Times, butt-
kicking babes are much harder for feminists to ght, since it breeds an illusion of
equality between men and women and may eventually lead to complacency.
Further, male-dominated conflict leading to violence is celebrated and
has spilled over to the realm of female stars, thus, encouraging women to
address conflicts in a violent way.
Critics further argue that female superheroes strength is superficial
because these superheroines are ultimately concerned with finding a man to
complete their lives and eventually settle down, which are hardly feminist
advocacies. In the conventions outlined above, the lack of a fulfilling personal
life for women superheroes is symptomatic of a larger patriarchal oppression:
Women have to choose between career or family or risk losing both. Strong
women risk mens alienation precisely because they are physically and
emotionally strong, which do not augur well for male ego. In effect, the
male love interest keeps a safe distance from her to save his masculinity.

Conclusion

This researcher has always been a fan of female superheroes way back
when Wonder Woman and Darna were the icons who could scare and weaken
mens knees.Those female superheroes have been absent for quite sometime
before making a comeback via the telefantasyas. The researchers admiration
for these characters was borne out of her need to see women in more than
damsel-in-distress roles. For a while, the researcher has had enough of crying
women suffering in misery. For once, she wants women to fight back.

15
Brillon

Admittedly, if placed against this articles definition of violence, Darna

is considered violent. However, what is important to understand is that
even if female superheroes operate on the premise of the action genre14,
there is a recurrent theme that may surprise and serve to differentiate
these women superheroes from the male warrior tradition and that is
the tendency to eschew killing when possible and to solve problems non-
violently. This may seem a contradiction but upon closer look telefantasyas
weave a pacifist thread.
At one level, female superheroes strength and power may affirm
rather than subvert patriarchal mores, but on a more subtle level the non-
combat strategies that they use to defeat evil serves as a method to re-vision
or reconstitute what may be an otherwise violent warrior hero material.
This is apparent in episodes 9-10 (April 14-15, 2005) of Darna when, during
her battle with Mambabarang, she made a peaceful attempt to convince
him to turn his back on evil by letting him talk to his estranged family.
Another instance of how female superheroes eschew the use of violence
occurred in episode 6 (April 11, 2005) when Narda told her family that she
saw Valentina in the building where she was working. In the course of the
conversation, Ding (played by CJ Muere) expressed her hatred to Prospera
and Valentina telling Narda and Lola (Gina Pareo) that he would not forget
the cruelty that they had experienced in their hands. Narda told Ding that
she has already forgiven Valentina and Lola even advised him to be civil when
they cross paths because he had nothing to be ashamed of since they did
nothing wrong to Valentina and Prospera.
Research on women warriors has not entirely been successful because
of lack of data. In addition to problems of finding sufficient information
on historical women warriors, another danger lurks once this tale comes
to play. Art historian and critic Marina Warner, contends that (in Brillon
2003),
Women in contemporary society are drawn to and
thereby trapped in a phallocentric warriors world: the
armed maidens of righteousness and their present day
dramatizers remain prisoners of the fantasy of the male
warrior hero even in the midst of trying to turn it upside
down.
Moreover, since the nature of television is to maintain the status quo,
women are still allowed to be violent within certain parameters largely

16
 Ding ang Bato!

proscribed by what men are willing to tolerate (Mencimer, 2001). Violence

is still sterilized because of the audience demographics. They rarely get dirty
and they almost always get out of situation with just an inch of scratch. In
this regard, violence is still on the level of fantasy so that people will still get
to watch it and think that it is, after all, just a show; once again reducing the
female superhero to the non-threatening, harmless, pleasant, ideal female
that patriarchy wants its women to be. On this end, the empowerment
potential of female superheroes is relegated to the level of television fantasy,
far removed from the everyday reality of real women.
But regardless of the justifications on the use and non-use of violence,
what is noteworthy is that these programs still provide a welcome change
in womens representation in Philippine entertainment media. Women are
able to get out of the margins and gain the space that is denied to them by
an oppressive patriarchal system. Because of this, the battle becomes more
meaningful; every exchange of kicks and punches is thrown with significance.
It now becomes easier for us to appreciate womens achievement within a
system that makes things tougher for them.

Notes

1
According to AGB Neilsen, the ratings of Mulawins final episode was 49.9%.
2
According to AGB Neilsen, Darnas fourth episode aired last April 7, 2005,
registered a record breaking 52.2%.
3
According to AGB Neilsen, Encantadias first week rating reached 47.3%.
4
Beaucar, K. (2001). Spike in female juvenile violence prompts multitude of
explanations. Retrieved August 14, 2003 from http://www.foxnews.com/
story/0,2933,31665,00.html
5
Darna-related information taken from the official Mars Ravelo Darna website
http://www.marsravelodarna.com/id3.html.
6
This paper is a reworking of the authors previous study on women superheroes.
See Brillon, C. (2003). Beauty, brains, and brawn: Violence and the rise of televisions
action heroines. Unpublished study, University of the Philippines, Diliman.
7
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantaserye
8
http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/14/fredericks14art.htm
9
For further discussion of male action heroes, please see Gealogo, F. (2000).
Nardong putik in the genealogy of Tagalog folk heroes. In R. Tolentino (Ed.),
Geopolitics of the visible. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press and
Sotto, A. (1989). Christ gures in a troubled land. Manila: Cultural Center of the
Philippines.
17
Brillon

10
According to the two part Darna primer aired March 31-April 1, 2005.
11
This is especially apparent in the first episode of the series as it showed the
futuristic battle between the forces of Adranikan and Anomalkan.
12
Manananggal comes from the Tagalog, tanggal (cognate of Malay and Indonesian
tanggal) which means to remove or to separate.
13
Male witch or warlock. In the TV series, he is the king of insects.
14
For further discussion of what constitutes the action genre for Filipinos, please
see Sotto, A. (1989). Christ gures in a troubled land. Manila: Cultural Center of the
Philippines.

References

Beaucar, K. (2001). Spike in female juvenile violence prompts multitude of

explanations. Retrieved August 14, 2003 from, http://www.foxnews.
com/story/0,2933,31665,00.html
Brillon, C. (2003). Beauty, brains, and brawn: Violence and the rise of televisions
action heroines. Unpublished paper, University of the Philippines, Diliman.
Brillon, C. (2007). Manufacturing a GMA telefantasya: A political economy case
study of Darna. Masteral thesis, University of the Philippines, Diliman.
Brundson, C. (1997). Screen tastes: Soap opera to satellite dishes. London: Routledge.
Brundson, C. (2000).The feminist, the housewife, and the soap opera. NewYork: Oxford
University Press.
Bailey, F. & Hale, D. (1998). Popular culture, crime, and justice. Belmont, CA: West/
Wadsworth.
Early, F. (2001). Staking her claim: Buff the vampire slayer as transgressive woman
warrior. Journal of Popular Culture.
Evasco, M. (1992). The writer and her roots. In T. Kintanar (Ed.), Women reading:
Feminist perspectives on Philippine literary texts. (pp. 9-25). Quezon City: UP
Press and Center for Womens Studies.
Helford, E. (2000). Fantasy Girls: Gender in the new universe of science ction and fantasy
television. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Lucero, R.C. (2001, March-August). Fish, goddess, superwoman and forest
nymph: Women in fantasy films. Pelikula: A Journal of Philippine Cinema, 3
(1), 10-12.
Mencimer, S. (2001).Violent femmes. Retrieved September 3, 2003, from http://
www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0109.mencimer.html.
McGill, N. (n.d.). Supergirl! When you gonna be a superwoman? Retrieved
September 3, 2003, from http://www.nicholemcgill.com/lit/journ-
supergirl.htm.

18
 Ding ang Bato!

Projansky, S. (2001). Watching rape: Film and television in postfeminist culture. New
York: New York University Press.
Pyle, C. (1994). The superhero meets the culture critic. Retrieved October
15, 2005, from http://infomotions.com/serials/pmc/pmc-v5n1-pyle-
superhero.txt
Tasker, Y. (1993). Spectacular bodies: Gender, genre, and the action cinema. New York:
Routledge.
Tasker, Y. (1998). Working girls: Gender and sexuality in popular cinema. New York:
Routledge.
Tolentino, R. (2000). Richard Gomez at ang mito ng pagkalalake, Sharon Cuneta at
perpetwal na birhen at iba pang sanaysay ukol sa bida sa pelikula bilang kultural na
teksto. Pasig City: Anvil.

_____________________
Cherish Aileen A. Brillon is currently teaching film criticism, broadcast writing,
and research at Far Eastern University while struggling to become a filmmaker,
writer, and events organizer for Banned Movies Pilipinas. She is also the adviser of
the FEU Film Society. She finished her M.A. in Media Studies major in Broadcasting
at University of the Philippines, Diliman.

19
Nosebleed! Untangling
the String of Inday Jokes
in Computer-Mediated
Communication

Arvin William H. DAUZ

Computer-mediated technologies like SMS (Short Messaging Service) and the Internet
have constructed an identity for the Filipina housemaid in the form of Inday jokes.
Inday is depicted as knowledgeable, with a good command of the English language
and a fondness for highfalutin expressions, thus befuddling people of seemingly higher
social status.Through the lens of Kramaraes Muted Group Theory, the string of jokes
reects social perceptions about Filipina housemaids and how they can overcome
them. Sherry Turkles Subject Theory, on the other hand, showed the role of computer-
mediated technology in re-shaping Indays persona.Textual analysis revealed that the
jokes have provided a discourse that seeks to liberate Inday from traditional domestic
roles and stereotypes even if the liberation happens only within the persona of an
avatar.

ONE of our quirky traits as Filipinos is our ability to laugh at ourselves even
about things that are normally hurtful. We turn irritating and disgusting
incidents into comical tirades that lunge at the egos jugular, yet tickle
the funny bone as well. We are naturally easily amused. One root of our
humor is self-deprecation (Reyes, n.d.) or insulting others. Residents of
Metro Manila, for instance, spend hours in the laugh-a-minute comedy
bars where gay performers specialize on what others have come to call as

COMMUNICATION JOURNAL 2007: 20-32

 Nosebleed!

theater of cruelty: they insult not only each other but even those bold
enough to perform in the sing-along portion of the nights entertainment
fare. Others make-do with reading the jokes about the countrys deposed
chief executive1 who has always been (in?)famous for his so-called carabao
English and malapropisms.
Recently, Inday Jokes reverberated on cellular phones, through
Short Messaging Service (SMS), more popularly known as text. The string
of jokes has become as widespread as the chain texts, the ERAPtions (jokes
about former President Joseph Estrada), and Boy Bastos2.
Joey Lopez, a Philippine Studies professor at Far Eastern University,
says that Inday is a common name for a woman in the Visayas, one of the
three major islands in the Philippines. It is actually a term of endearment,
even of respect. The Visayans address as Inday any girl or woman whose
name they do not know. They also attach it before a womans name as in
Inday Rosa as a sign of respect. Unfortunately, in the big cities and through
the years, the term Inday has deteriorated to mean a female domestic
help as there are, indeed, a big number of young and old women from
the Visayas who migrate to urban areas to work as housemaids. Stereotypes
on Inday include her distinct Visayan accent, one who is a dim-wit largely
due to lack of formal education, and subservient to her employer or amo
(personal communication, October 19, 2007).
This paper is a textual analysis of randomly selected 10 Inday jokes
spread in the SMS. It also includes analysis of some jokes in www.blogniinday.
com, the web blog for Inday, which also deserve analysis for getting 7000
visits per day and placing sixth among the daily top 10 English blogs hosted
by the California-based free blog provider WordPress.com (Asian Journal
Online, 2007).
The sad plight of domestic helps in the Philippines is not debatable;
thus, it is a constant in this article. But through Inday jokes, these poor
conditions are improved through Cheris Kramaraes Muted Group Theory
(in Griffin, 2000) by unraveling the connotative meanings of the personality
that creators of Inday jokes have intended for Inday.This article also examines
the role of computer-mediated technology in re-shaping Indays persona by
anchoring it on Sherry Turkles Subject Theory (in Holmes, 2005).

21
Dauz

Characterizing Inday Jokes

The humor of Inday jokes does not lie in the command and use of
highfalutin English language, but in how she is knowledgeable, expository,
and able to show off her intellect that befuddles people of seemingly higher
social status. To imagine the stereotypical housemaid showing as much
pizzazz as Inday in her exploits conditions the readers and sets the stage for
the pun of Indays intellectual affluence.
Many SMS users popularized the term nagdugo ang ilong (nosebleed)
to connote the complexity of Indays responses to her employer, which
purportedly, could cause the nose to bleed. The jokes staying power
and relevance, though, is contentious. These jokes are reflective of the
long-standing low regard for our domestic workers, said Visayas Forum
Foundation deputy executive director Rolando Pacis (in Aning, October 10,
2007). Pacis further said, While humor is appreciated once in a while, we
must realize that it can also be an insidious medium for normalizing certain
negative stereotypesIs it really unusual and amusing when domestic
workers are [portrayed as] smart in those jokes? Is there a presupposition
that they are ignorant? Are maids that inconsequential and incapable of any
intelligent discussion?
Nenita Ka Nitz Gonzaga, vice president for womens affairs of the
group Kilusang Mayo Uno, also raised her concern about the jokes: We think
its funny because we believe a maid like Inday is impossible. But then, is
there such a real person as Indays employer, who can tolerate her ways? In
bourgeois households, a maid who isor tries to bemore intelligent than
the employer is sure to get fired (in Aning, October 10, 2007).
On the other hand, Indays creator, the blogger who put up www.
blogniinday.com, said, Im just a fan of Inday who thinks that she can be
a Filipino icon portraying the modern Juan dela Cruz in the urban world
(Asian Journal Online, 2007).
For a text string to be publicized, debated in national dailies, and
even featured in ABS-CBNs Probe, one of the countrys leading investigative
journalism television shows, last October 17, 2007 indicates that the string
has meanings and effects worthy of serious thought. It has implications on
the image of the Filipino domestic help, of the Visayan people in general, of
Filipinas. Inday jokes, thus, have ceased to be sheer jokes. They are probably
to be enjoyed but their subtleties, albeit unintentional, have touched a cord

22
 Nosebleed!

we are very sensitive aboutour prejudices as a people.

According to Sayres (2005) in her report to the International Labor
Organization entitled An Analysis of the Situation of Filipino Domestic Worker:
Domestic workers are expected to work continually and for long hours,
but must be as unseen as possible. Domestic work is considered neither a
formal nor an informal occupation, and many people regard it as unskilled,
womens work (5). Further, the report disclosed that even if domestic
workers perform all strenuous household chores, they experience non-
payment or late payment of wages (usually low because of outdated minimum
wage standard), no social security or health benefits, verbal, physical, and
sexual abuse, worst forms of child labor, lack of opportunity for education
or improvement, lack of accommodation (22).
Discussion on Inday jokes is, thus, crucial to assess the goals of putting
humor in Inday. Renowned film director Jose Javier Reyes (n.d) cited that
humor is a leveler that places in equal footing all men and women; it is used
to circumvent taboos; and it serves as a soft rebellion. The social relevance
of Inday jokes, whether they empower or further malign her, and the use
of mediated communication to achieve these goals are salient areas of
investigation.

Muting a Lesser Being

The Filipino maid has numerous struggles in relating interpersonally

with others. Her stature as a lesser member of the society is a major
component in communication as perfectly depicted in Cheris Kramaraes
Muted Group Theory: The language of particular culture does not serve all
its speakers equally, for not all speakers contribute in an equal fashion to its
formulation. Women (and members of other subordinate groups) are not as
free or as able as men are to say what they wish, when and where they wish,
because the words and the norms for their use have been formulated by the
dominant group, men (in Griffin, 2000: 459).
Shirley Ardener (in Griffin, 2000) supported this by saying that in
order for women and any member of a subordinate group to gain acceptance
of their messages, they had to re-encode their thoughts to make them
understood in the public domain. Inday, then, had to speak using highfalutin
words and to deliver with aggression, wit, and panache. Had Inday in those
jokes spoken in simpler, gentler, and less poignant language, they would

23
Dauz

have not become as popular as they are today.

The message style is a fresh twist for an underdog in Philippine
society. The string is generated with the participation of Filipino SMS and
Internet users who tend to support underdogs (Prof. Lopez, personal
communication, October 19, 2007). The message style and maximized
alternative use of private or personal mode of communication like SMS and
the interactivity of the Internet correspond to the strategy of any muted
group, according to Kramarae, that is, to find ways to articulate needs
outside the dominant mainstream mass media (in Griffin, 2000). Hence,
public sentiment to support the underdog through alternative modes of
communication has allowed users to participate in message production,
giving them the uninterrupted freedom to construct Indays identity.

The String of Jokes

Below are some strings of SMS jokes and the authors understanding
of their latent meanings:
A change in the weather patterns might have occurred,
wreaking havoc to the surroundings. The way the debris
are scattered indicates that the gust of wind was going
northeast causing damage to the path it was heading for.
[Sagot ni Inday sa amo nung tinanong kung bakit nagkalat and
basura sa likod ng bahay (Indays response to her employer
when the latter asked why garbage is littered at the
backyard)].
This creates an image of calm and able knowledge. Faced with a
normally irate question, Indays response is methodical, giving mind to
causal factors, indicating well-structured thought patterns, instead of a shy
person bowing to chastisement.
Its absurd! It was never a fact that he will figure in a
fight. I can handle schizophrenic kids in this educational
institution. Revise your policies because it sucks. [Inday
kasama si Junior sa principals officeang principal
natulala! (Inday with Junior at the principals officethe
principal was tongue-tied!)]
The following joke was taken from www.blogniinday.com:
[Sumali si Junior sa isang Science Fair sa school nila at

24
 Nosebleed!

di naiwasang tulungan sya ni Inday sa kanyang project.

Pagdating ng araw, sinamahan sya ni Inday sa fair (Junior
joined the Science Fair in his school and Inday had to
help him in his project. On the day of the fair, Inday
accompanied him)].
Teacher: Junior, please explain your work.
[Nanahimik si Junior habang kinakalabit ang manggas ng
blouse ni Inday (Junior was silent while pulling at the
sleeves of Indays blouse)].
Inday: This is a newly researched contraption in which
the mechanical energy exuded upon the camshaft by a
series of centrifugal circles with weights that cause inertia
and differentials that make the contraption tend to move
perpetually with a touch of a fingertip.The force produced
then overcomes the magnetic resistance of the alternating
electric motor which I used as a dynamo. Once the
pinion shaft of this dynamo starts its curvilinear motion
that brings about torque and momentum, an alternating
current, more popularly termed as AC, is formed. This
current then passes through the forward-biased diode,
thus, light energy is formed from mechanical energy
Teacher: [Laglag panga] (Dropped her jaw)
Representing Junior in school affairs in the absence of parents shows
Inday as the master of one-upmanship, berating even the principal, the
highest and revered official in the campus. It is an uncommon twist since the
social norms are bastardized, ending in the befuddlement of the ultimate
symbol of education: the schoolmaster. Subtly, it suggests Indays affection
for Junior, a mirror of how compassionate and attached the household helps
are of their employers, treating them as second families, fiercely defending
them when in trouble. These texts celebrate how housemaids assume the
nurturing role of parents especially in families with dual earners.
Much as I want to indulge in the proliferation of such
indecent and malicious information, I want to lift
the stigma and alleviate societys perception of our
profession [Inday, tumatangging makipagtsismisan sa
katulong sa kabilang bahay(Inday, refusing to gossip

25
Dauz

with the housemaid of neighbor)].

Here, a negative trait is bluntly negated. Inday changes the negative
perception about her class by not participating in a favorite afternoon
pastime among household help: rumor-mongering. The joke diverts from
the degenerated image of a maid who neglects her duties in favor of the
pointless verbal activity usually played up on television and film.
Maam: Inday, bakit ang daming rashes ni Junjun? (Inday,
why does Junjun have plenty of rashes?)
Inday: Because the allergens triggered the immune
response. Eosinophillic migration occurs at the reaction
site and theres a sudden release of chemo taxis &
anaphylotoxin, including histamine & prostaglandins.
These substances result to increased circulation at the
site, thus, promoting redness
[As usual, duguan na naman ilong ng maam ni Inday! (As
usual, Indays female boss had a nosebleed)].
Indays vast knowledge include expertise in architecture, physics, and
accounting, as evidenced by the following string of jokes (www.blogniinday.
com):
[Nagpaplanong magtatag ng bagong business ang amo ni
Inday (Indays employer is planning to establish a new
business)]
Realty Agent: Sir, ito na po yung 20 sq.m na warehouse na
ibebenta ko sa inyo at a reasonable price 2.6 M lang po
sir...(Sir, this is the 20 sq.m. warehouse that I am selling
to you at a reasonable price2.6 million only, Sir)
Amo: Hmm, it seems like a good deal Wait lang ha,
tanong ko lang sa maid namin. (Wait, Ill just ask my maid.)
What can you say Ms. Binayubay?
Inday: Enough with the senseless blabbering you
unscrupulous scoundrel. I have findings that you have not
provided us with a 20 sq.m warehouse, rather a smaller
one, at only 18.4 sq.m. I have surveyed by pacing the lot
and the use of this theodolite and that stadia rod erected
by my Rodman.

26
 Nosebleed!

[Napatunganga na lang ang amo, pati ang agent] (Both

employer and agent were stunned into silence)].
Inday: Moreover, the truss patterns are pretty conspicuous.
As the principles and theories of steel design states, the
most stable and suitable shape for a truss is a triangle, yet
I have seen this topsy-turvy pattern of squares littered in-
between these trusses. I even witnessed several cantilever
type booms that dont even have guy wires to hold them
in place. In addition to this, you have not used an anti-
rust agent, or even an activated carbon wash to prevent
and remove rust from the vertical truss members.
[Tuluyang nang dumugo ang ilong ng realty agent(The
realty agent went on to have a nosebleed)]
A fundamental question of longstanding theoretical
interest is to prove lower bounds on the complexity and
exact operation counts of Fast Fourier transforms, and
many open problems remain. It is not even rigorously
proved whether DFTs truly require (NlogN) (i.e.,
order NlogN or greater) operations, even for the simple
case of power of two sizes, although no algorithms with
lower complexity are known.
[Tinu-tutor ni Inday sa digital signal processing ang
kapatid ng kanyang amo na si Mark na nagma-masters sa La
Salle. (Inday, tutoring her boss brother, who is taking his
masters in La Salle, on digital signal processing.)
This illustrates a common plot in these jokes: a simple answer is met by
a meticulously precise response, followed by the inability of the addressee to
comprehend Inday and to respond to her. The above jokes emphasize Indays
exaggeratedly impressive grasp of principles and complexities of a particular
discipline. She is able to site provisions, formulas and restrictions on the
merest provocation and deliver them in a manner astute academicians would
be envious of. These jokes are beyond oratorical flattery, we are not simply
seeing an excessively smart maid, but a prodigious one. The humor would
have been diluted in all the jargon, but what keeps these jokes going is the
essence of Inday jokes: she surpasses professionals. An underdog mentality
wholly accepted to be a part of the Filipino psyche.

27
Dauz

[Inday & Ederlyn nung grade 2]:

Ederlyn: Oy, anong ulam mo? (Hey, whats your viand?)
Inday: Fillet ala el Nio
Ederlyn: Wow, sosyal. Mukhang masarap, ano yun? (Wow,
sophisticated. It looks tasteful, whats that?)
Inday: Stupid (expletive deleted)! Tuyo! (Dried salted
fish!)
Ederlyn, another SMS-borne character, is assimilated into the Inday
lore as a secondary character whose wits are paltry compared to Indays.
Ederlyn provides a foil to Indays superiority. This, however, also returns
Inday to her realities: she is underprivileged yet proud. Mingling with
Ederlyn again characterizes Indays social milieu that is one knot higher
due to the added sophistication. Within her social milieu, Inday has dared
to be different by painting a rosier picture for what is usually construed
as miserable. Dried salted fish is associated with poverty but Indays label
euphemized it making her condition appear better.
She thinks that shes the only homo sapiens that can utter
such euphonic statements? She might want to think again!
(Rosing, katulong sa kabilang bahay na galit kay Inday!)
[Rosing, housemaid from next-door who is so mad at
Inday.]
The plot now evolves and brings in new characters and spin-offs.
Inday develops an adversary, another fluent maid, riding the string of Indays
singularity and delving on the idea that many of the household helps she
represents are not the illiterates as society paints them to be. More than the
rising of an anti-hero, the inclusion of Rosing breaks from the prejudices
that push the strings forward.

Using Computer-mediated Technology in Constructing Inday

Sherry Turkle (in Holmes, 2005) expostulates what she calls the
Subject Theory : the avatar or fictive identity. She postulates: From
the point of view of the medium itself, to seek to understand the avatars
behavior by establishing a link between that avatar and (a real) identity will
tell us very little compared to understanding the way identity is formed
within the medium itself (142). Inday departs from any real household

28
 Nosebleed!

help, but becomes an icon an avatar for them.The iconic Inday transcends
reality in various ways compared to real-life domestic helps. The iconic
Indays relationship and commonalities with a real household help need not
be delved on since the real subject of discussion is how she was created in
such an anonymous and interactive medium.
Through computer-mediated communication, an identity is formed
that serves as a great way of (re)constructing the identity even within
the level of virtual reality only. While subject theory and medium theory
do not concern themselves with the relationship between the avatar and
real identity, the avatar is necessary to promote public discourse that can
help further the causes of housemaids who are muted not only during
interpersonal communication because of the control wielded by superiors
who pay for their labor, but probably also in forwarding their labor rights.
This juxtaposes with the strategy of women (and subordinates) as muted
groups where as a consequence of being silenced, women often make
efforts to change the dominant rules of communication in order to get
around or resist conventional rules (Littlejohn, 1999: 245).
The SMS, as a faceless and voiceless medium ruled by words, indirectly
if also vicariously allows housemaids to challenge conventional rules of
those in power. Cheap access to this medium, as evidenced by the continuous
lowering of charges by telecommunications companies, and the anonymous
personality of almost every social class that uses the medium has become the
empowering tools of Inday.
Anonymous users can create whatever image they want, devoid of
visual or even auditory markers. They exchange messages and widen social
circles, which formed a virtual socialization process. Real identities of
participants have become more and more vague giving the Inday icon the
chance to liberate herself from stereotypes.
The liberation starts with the creation of multiple identities with a
set of roles that can be mixed and matched, whose diverse demands need
to be negotiated (Turkle in Holmes, 2005: 142). Inday jokes present how
housemaids can be perceived differently and more positively instead of the
usual dim-witted image.
The re-created identity in the alternative medium goes against the
stereotypes purveyed in traditional mass media. It is a new social relation
that challenges the status quo.

29
Dauz

Synthesis

More than the indignation to current suppositions towards

marginalized sectors, the relevance of the string lies on the fact that it has
sparked national attention to a neglected and denied truth that is gender
and class bias. The assumptions toward maids and women in general are not
being replaced, merely contested and challenged.
Negotiated meanings as a result of the different interpretations about
the string of Inday jokes provide continuous curiosity on why the avatar was
created in the first place. The fact that the jokes have persisted and are even
evolving into specific stories with loose plots and characters is not only a
confirmation of Indays social impact, but also of how the stereotype is deeply
rooted in our psyches; thus, its continuing humor and social relevance.
While others fear that the jokes mock what housemaids can probably
never achieve in real life, it promotes on the other hand the idea that
housemaids are competently capable of fulfilling tasks apart from housework
if only they are given access to opportunities.
Humor as the tool to enable Inday can be effective more so that it is
purveyed in a highly interactive medium.The medium has a faster and wider
reach that can constantly acquaint users to the subject. Given the increasing
access to SMS and Internet, it is a major challenge that perceptions about
Inday will transcend the spectrum of the avatar and really empower her in
real life. Inday jokes pervasiveness, however, is already a good starting point
to discuss how the society has so far pictured Inday and how the society
dreams for Inday by characterizing her as someone who is also intelligent
and witty while still maintaining her important role as a key support system
of the family.
The jokes, more likely, do not intend to malign Filipina housemaids
primarily because according to Reyes (n.d), Innate Filipino humor is rarely
mean. Because of their strong sense of hiya (shame), Filipinos go to great
lengths to be polite. Just as a problem should never be discussed directly,
humor, likewise, should never be confrontational (para. 9). The Inday jokes,
whether positive or negative, has more benefits than detriments because it
allows Filipinos to think and rethink about Inday. The active involvement
of the Visayan Forum, a nongovernmental organization that protects the
welfare of the kasambahay (household help), in opining about Inday Jokes

30
 Nosebleed!

and the growing awareness of users or readers of SMS and blogs about Inday
are proofs of the concern for the Filipina housemaid.
The anonymous creators of Inday jokes have also significantly
contributed to the discourse because they have encouraged fellow creators
and users to become bolder in the way they would like Inday to be depicted.
They express a certain degree of care by trying to empower someone who
at this point is incapacitated to empower herself. Having control in pressing
the keypads of cellular phones and computers, no one can stop the users
from taking advantage of the alternative medium.
Eventually, the laughter will die down. But in the final analysis,
humor in all its guises and uses, binds Filipinos together, transforming an
experience into an event that can be shared by all. When Filipinos laugh at
something that is unique to them, their laughter becomes an assertion of
their unity as a people (Reyes, n.d., para. 15).
In closing, allow this researcher to share this one last Inday joke:
[Nilabas ni Inday ang bulletin na ito para sagutin ang mga
nagrereklamo sa kanyang pagiging sikat: (Inday sent out this
bulletin to respond to the complaints on her popularity)]
(www.blogniinday):
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
I would like to take exception to the unwanted and
unsolicited opinions that my popularity is not good to the
name and standing of all Pinay maids, in particular, and
the whole Filipino people, in general. To my detractors,
I say stop your derogatory, if not envious, bent. Im
proud of being a maid. The work may be menial but it is
honorable. I urge my idol and Manay Miriam to call for
a bicameral investigation in aid of legislation regarding
this matter.
Sincerely,
Inday
Needless to say, this researcher is for the proliferation of Inday jokes
throughout the country and even in countries where Filipinas work as
domestic helps.

31
Dauz

Notes

1
Former President Joseph Erap Estrada is the subject of the string of Erap jokes
that usually pun on what is perceived as his low intelligence quotient. Erap was a
college dropout, thus, the assumption that he has poor IQ.
2
Boy Bastos was a text chain featuring a male character in elementary who antagonizes
elders, mostly teachers, with lewd jokes and retorts.

References

Aning, J. (2007, October 10). Inday jokes in English, smarter than Eraptions.
Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved October 20, 2007, from http://newsinfo.
inquirer.net/ breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=93558.
Asian Journal Online. (2007, November 15). Inday now has a blog.
Retrieved November 24, 2007 from http://www.asianjournal.com/
?c=187&a=24319.
Blog ni Inday! Ang sosyal na katulong. (2007, September 27). Retrieved November
24, 2007, from http://blogniinday.com.
Griffin, E. (2000). A rst look at communication theory. USA: McGraw-Hill.
Holmes, D. (2005). Communication theory: Media, technology, and society. London:
SAGE.
Littlejohn, S. (1999). Theories of human communication (6th ed). Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth.
Probe Productions, Inc. (2007). Komedya o Trahedya? Retrieved October 22,
2007, from http://www.probetv.com/view_video.php?viewkey=64bfb9
0db9e32851ebf9.
Reyes, J. (n.d.) Power of language. Living in the Philippines Website. Retrieved
November 15, 2007, from http://www.livinginthephilippines.com/
philippine_articles/sense_being_filipino/power_laughter.html.
Sayres, N. (2005). An analysis of the situation of Filipino domestic worker. Manila:
International Labour Organization.

_____________________
Arvin William H. Dauz, an AB Mass Communication graduate, was the former
Editor-in-Chief of The Advocate, the official student publication of Far Eastern
University in 2005-2006. He is a young entrepreneur while working in a Business
Process Outsourcing office.

32
Womans Body Power
in Philippine Sex Melodramas

Jamal Ashley ABBAS

Sex lms are sites for power discourse. This article reviews some lms that show the
power of sex workers, especially female sex workers, one of the most maligned people
in Philippine society. It discusses Philippine sex melodramas as a lm genre and the
power discourses depicted in these lms.
This article traces the beginning of the genre and enumerates its characteristics. For
theoretical framework, it goes beyond Mulveys male gaze and voyeuristic daydreams.
It is based on Webers three dimensions of differenceclass, status and powerand on
Wilhelm Reichs thoughts on sexuality but focuses on Michel Foucaults technologies
of the Self concept.
The article concludes that based on the particular lms studied, a political technology
of the body exists in the sub-culture of the sex workers and the protagonists use such
political technology to their advantage.

BORROWING concepts from Freudian and Lacanian psychology, Laura

Mulvey (1975) turned film-going activity into a scopophilic event where
the voyeurs project their desires and fantasies onto the big screen. Men are
the peeping toms (hence, the male gaze) while female stars are the objects
of desire.
While many have already criticized Mulveys theories, these ideas
remain the cornerstone of some feminists and many moralists contention
that in sex-themed films, women are regarded as mere sex objects and
totally powerless.

COMMUNICATION JOURNAL 2007: 33-52

Abbas

Richard Dyer (1982) says, The idea of looking (staring) as power and
being looked at as powerlessness overlaps with ideas of activity/passivity.
Thus, to look is thought of as active while to be looked at is passive. In reality,
this is not true. This power structure is not just in pin-up photography
or movies but also in real life. Powerful people like stars, politicians, and
tycoons desire to be looked at when they enter a movie set, a gala premiere,
a party, a boardroom, and presumably even a bedroom.

Sex and Power in Films

The thesis of this article is sex films are sites for power discourse. Its
specific objective is to determine how women characters are portrayed in
certain types of films in terms of sexuality and power.
Patrick Flores (2000) noted: Sex in Philippine cinema has to be seen
as always enmeshed in power: the power to suffer pleasure, the power to
address desire, the power of agents to resist both craving and conscription as
sexual labor and capital (68). Thus, this article analyzes the different power
discourses in specific sex melodramas with sex workers as their filmic
theme.

The Sex Melodrama Genre

In the world of cinema, sexuality is coded by film genre. Except for

hardcore pornographic films, sex-themed films do not constitute a genre of
their own. However, in the Philippines, a category of film centered on sex
can be said to constitute its own genre.
Philippine sex films have the following characteristics: First, they are
melodramatic, so it can be said that the local sex films belong to a sub-genre
under melodrama. Like all Philippine (Asian) melodramas, the sex films
are characterized by excess: strong actions, emotional intensities, rhetorical
excesses, and a flood of suffering for the family as a unit (Dissayanake, 1993).
They most usually foreground womens experiences.
But while Philippine sex films are melodramas, they differ from
other melodramas due to the fact that sex is their central theme. On the
other hand, while some action or comedy films can be sexual, they are not
melodramatic. Perhaps, it would be better to describe the Philippine sex film
genre as sex melodrama.These films deserve to be categorized as a separate

34
 Womans Body Power

genre because they have similar, familiar or instantly-recognizable patterns,

techniques or conventions that include one or more of the following: setting,
content, themes, plot, motifs, styles, structures, situations, characters (or
characterizations), and stars.
Audiences also have different expectations when they go see a sex
melodrama. For instance, audiences expect to see more skin from a sex
star like Rosanna Roces in a sex melodrama rather than in a sexy comedy.
Thus, a director who would want to make a comedy or a horror movie with
a sex star could not hope to attract all the public who normally patronize
that particular star in sex melodrama films. Or, to put it in another way,
a director of a sex melodrama cannot just turn the film into a comedy
or a horror film without antagonizing its viewing public. The director is,
therefore, constrained by the limitations of the genre.
While there are several themes in sex melodramas rites of passage,
rape stories, domestic relationships, and AIDS this article focuses on the
theme of sex workers, particularly women sex workers, and their milieu.
The reason for this is obvious for a sex worker, sex is the focus in her
socio-economic-political life. Sex-worker themed sex melodramas highlight
the sociologist Max Webers three dimensions of difference class, status,
and power.

Beginnings of the Genre

Sexual revolution in the United States and Europe in the late 1960s had
its repercussions in the Philippines.The change in Hollywood as indicated by
the demise of the Hays Code affected Philippine cinema, which is almost an
extension of Hollywood. James Kenny (1995) in his essay Tagalog Movies and
Identity: Portrayals of the Filipino Self writes: The American film industry has
left a lasting impression on Philippine cinema motifs, mythology, storylines,
and characterizations. It has also influenced the way Filipinos see themselves
portrayed on screens in darkened movie houses across the archipelago.
Tiongson (2000: 22) says, Throughout the American colonial era and
the period of the Philippine Republic, Hollywood exercised the strongest
influence and pressure on the Filipino film.
The era was politically volatile. Getting the cue from the Civil Rights
movement in the US, the Vietnam War protests and the Paris student riots
in 1968, the Philippine student populace suddenly showed an activism

35
Abbas

unknown since then. The youth had the hippie movement with the slogan
make love not war. Womens liberation movement (Ban the Bra!) was
on the upswing. Philippine politics was filled with rumors or threats of the
suspension of the writ of habeas corpus or the declaration of Martial Law.
There was a clamor to change the Constitution. Amidst all these events,
nobody seemed to have time for censorship.

The Bomba

The political scene was full of bomba (literally, bomb or explosion).

Students battled the police in the streets with bomba Molotov bombs and
pillboxes. Radio commentators bombarded the airwaves with their bombas
or vitriolic attacks on the government. Politicians tried to attract voters
with their bombas or explosive exposs.
Not to be outdone, Philippine cinema produced its own bomba, which
turned the industry topsy-turvy. Bomba films with titles such as Uhaw and
Hayok reigned supreme. These films portrayed nudity and passionate sex
acts. Traditional actors/actresses found themselves unemployed. The new
screen goddesses were those willing to bare Merle Fernandez, Rosanna
Ortiz, Rosanna Marquez, Yvonne, etc. The field of actors was left to very
few daring ones Lito Legaspi, Vic Vargas, and George Estregan. Thus, a
new genre in Philippine cinema was born: the sex melodrama.
While American and European societies had never been the same
again since the riotous 60s and the liberated 70s, the Philippines social
revolution was stopped on its tracks by the declaration of Martial Law by
President Ferdinand Marcos on Sept. 21, 1972. Perhaps, the lasting legacy
of the late 60s to early 70s to the Philippines was the development of the
sex film genre.
Philippine melodramas centered on love and family relationships up
to the late 60s. In the countless love triangle films of the 50s and 60s, the
filmic codes insisted on the non-consummation of the adulterous affair and
the eventual reconciliation/re-strengthening of the matrimonial or filial
bonds, or as Flores (2000) says, melodramatic genre almost always finds
solace in filial and patriarchal compliance (57).
As an example, in Tunay na Ina (True Mother, 1939), for one sexual
indiscretion, the lead character Magdalena was punished grievously betrayal
by the lover, her child taken away from her, condemned by the father, death

36
 Womans Body Power

of the father, death of the second child, blackmailed by the ex-lover, thrown
out of the house by the husband, etc. She lived in constant fear and shame. In
Tunay na Ina, the woman is absolutely powerless in the world ruled by men
(Del Mundo, 1998).
In 1970, the movie Uhaw revolutionized the film industry by going
against prevailing cinematic codes. In this film, the adulterous affair was
consummated. Sex became the empowering mode for the liberated woman.
The audience, mostly male, was fed with 10 sex scenes. Plus, there was a
naked run along the main Manila thoroughfare (Avenida Rizal) by its lead
actress, Merle Fernandez.
Understandably, Philippine movie industry was never the same again
after this filmic experience.

Film and the Sexual Revolution

Many writers assert that films, like other mass media, can or do in
fact construct future realities. Douglas Kellner (2000) says: Hollywood
films, like US society, should be seen as a contested terrain and films could
be interpreted as a struggle of representation of how to construct a social
world and everyday life. This, of course, comes from the Marxist theorists
like Louis Althusser who in particular says that the states superstructure
(social organization) creates ideology and what the citizens believe in. Film,
as part of mass media, is one of the ideological state apparatuses (Littlejohn,
1999). Beller (2000: 14) writes: The films are machines which can be
utilized to bring that alternate future into being. It cannot be denied that the
Sexual Revolution of the late 60s to early 70s brought progressive changes in
the West and the death of censorship. Films were arguably the most effective
tools in the sexual revolution.
In the US, the fight against censorship went hand in hand with the
fight against racial discrimination, against involvement in Vietnam, the
struggle for consumer rights, the womens equal rights, and eventually
human rights. Seemingly innocuous films like Valley of the Dolls (1967) and
the Lady Chatterleys Lover (1955) started the fight against censorship. The
Sexual Revolution was quite long-drawn with numerous court battles.
In France, life after the 1968 Paris riots was drastically changed.
French conservatism, as exemplified by Gen. Charles de Gaulle, eventually
gave way to more progressive ideas, which paved the way for a Socialist

37
Abbas

president, Franois Mitterrand, to be elected for several terms1. The soft

porn Emmanuelle topped the 607 new films shown in France in 1974,
outgrossing the worldwide monster hits The Sting (1973) and The Exorcist
(1973) (Gronemeyer, 1998).
In Spain, the dictator Francisco Franco kept a tight rein on censorship2.
But after Franco, censorship was abolished. Nowadays, it is very rare for a
Spanish film not to include nudity and sex scenes.
In Germany, a state-sponsored sex education film, Helga, produced in
1967, paved the way for sexually explicit sex education films in Europe,
the US, and Japan. Denmark legalized pornography in 1968, and soon,
other European states followed. Deep Throat was shown in the US in 1972.
Sexually explicit films like Nagisa Oshimas In the Realm of the Senses (1976)
were hailed as works of art in international film festivals (Gronemeyer,
1998: 154-155).
The Philippine film experience simply reflected the Zeitgeist. Uhaws
example brought in a slew of norm-challenging films like Celso Ad
Castillios Nympha, whose lead actress, Rizza, got a Best Actress nomination
from FAMAS, supposedly the Philippine equivalent of the Oscars. Done in
a social realist mode, Nympha depicted an abortion by the lead character.
This is a huge jump from the 1960 film Huwag Mo Akong Limutin, one of the
earliest films to delve seriously and realistically into questions of adultery
and sexuality (Pareja, 1994: 164). The then Board of Censors demanded
that certain modifications be made in the film so as to remove suggestions of
abortion. Even kissing scenes between the lead protagonists were deleted.
Flores (2000) points out that the emergence of bomba in the
Philippines had to a great extent succeeded the tensions of the era, with
film constituting a locus of contradiction in terms of its ability to implicitly
question the norms of an emergent regime of progress, discipline, and
cultural identity (58). Some bomba films were indeed experiments in
freedom in content as well as in form. Perhaps, this was the reason why
then-President Marcos immediately forbade its continuation.
Bomba films broke the most sacred taboo: sex. It would take only a
matter of time before all sacrosanct ideals would also be broken, just as what
happened in Europe and America. Also, bomba films exhorted everyone to
make love, not war literally. This went against Marcos reason for Martial
Law, i.e., to wage a more effective war against the enemies of the State
the Communists and the Moros.

38
 Womans Body Power

A week after the declaration of Martial Law, Marcos signed Letter of

Instruction No. 13 on Sept. 29, 1972 which partly states:
Pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081 dated September
21, 1972, and in order to safeguard the morality of
our society, particularly the youth, against the negative
influence of certain motion pictures, you (the Chair of the
Board of Censors) are hereby directed to ban forthwith
the following films for public exhibition in any theater in
the Philippines;
4) Films which serve no other purpose but to satisfy
the market for violence or pornography;
7) Films contrary to law, public order, morals, good
customs, established policies, lawful orders, decrees or
edicts; and any or all films which in the judgment of the
Board are similarly objectionable and contrary to the
letter and spirit of Proclamation No. 1082.
Any violation of this Order shall mean the outright
cancellation, withdrawal, and revocation of the permits of
the films, the closure of the theater or theaters involved,
as well as the arrest and prosecution of any persons
concerned. (emphasis mine)
Faced with such a harsh law, bomba films died, only to resurrect
later in various forms: the Wet Look (1974-76), the Bold (1976-81), the
Experimental Cinema of the Philippines era films (1982-85), the PENEkula,
the ST (Sex Trip) (1986-1991), and the TF (Titillating Films) (1992-96)
(Flores, 2000). The genre continued through 2000 and was called after the
Tom Jones hit song, Sex Bomb (1997-2005).

Theoretical Background

In the 1970s, Wilhelm Reich, a former student of Freud, and whose

books U. S. authorities publicly burned in the 1950s, became a posthumous
guru to a generation of flower people. Reich taught that to conserve ones
mental health, one needed to liberate ones sexual energy. The past was seen
as a dark age where sexuality had been something forbidden.
Poster (1984) asserts that Reich had actually combined Marx and

39
Abbas

Freud to come up with a theory of sexual revolution:

If Marx provided a radical critique of the organization
of labor, Reich argued, so Freud invented a radical
critique of the organization of love. Work and sex, he
contended, needed to be freed from their capitalist and
patriarchal prisons. The synthesis of Marx and Freud
proposed by Reich was in his eyes a blissful union.
Both thinkers were pronounced thoroughly dialectical.
In addition, the history of the mode of production and
mode of reproduction (or sexuality) were parallel and
harmonious. Knowledge about one increased knowledge
about the other. Changes in the economy and changes in
sexual organization occurred simultaneously and in the
same direction
For Reich, labor and sexuality could be reduced to bodily
needs. Socialism could be understood as an improved
dietary regimen, and psycho-analysis was a method of
attaining more pleasureful orgasms. Marx and Freud were
theorists of health the former of nutrition, the latter of
sex and social criticism was rooted in the natural needs
of the body. Since capitalism failed to provide good food
for the working class and patriarchy failed to provide
good sex for the working class, these social arrangements
required basic transformation (122-123).
It was also in the 70s that Michel Foucault began to publish his works,
launching off with History of Sexuality. Foucault, echoing Freud, maintained
that Western society has long been fixated on sexuality, calling it a repression.
Foucault claimed that sexuality and sexual conduct are not natural categories
but are social constructions. For Foucault, the body becomes a metaphor
for individual freedom. Technologies of the self are the specific practices
by which subjects constitute themselves as subjects within and through
systems of power, and which often seem to be either natural or imposed
from above.
The care of the self is the ethical principle that leads people to
cultivate themselves, i.e., to work to improve themselves. This cultivation
of the self can be briefly characterized by the fact that one must take care of
oneself. It is this principle of the care of the self that establishes its necessity,
40
 Womans Body Power

presides over its development, and organizes its practice (Foucault, 1986:
43). In ancient times this was often understood to involve a cultivation of
the soul (45). In earlier times this was a matter of self-mastery, but over the
course of history it became more a matter of learning to shape ones own
inner character (67).
The following sex melodrama films, with sex workers as central
characters, are selected to analyze power discourses and how the protagonists
practice Foucaults technologies or care of the self .

Burlesk Queen, Ngayon

Burlesk Queen, Ngayon (1999) is adapted from the Vilma Santos-starred

Burlesk Queen (1977). The ngayon (now) suggests that it is an updated version
of the original film. There is, however, not much similarity between the two
movies.
In the late 70s, practically every actress who wanted to be a star had
to go through the bold film route as blazed by Gloria Diaz (the countrys
first Miss Universe winner, no less!) Elizabeth Oropesa, Chanda Romero,
and Daria Ramirez. The bold films made stars out of Alma Moreno, Lorna
Tolentino, Rio Locsin, Amy Austria, Dina Bonnevie, Gina Alajar, and Cherie
Gil. Even song-and-dance pop idol Vilma Santos had to reinvent herself
through bold roles in films like Rosas sa Putikan (1976) and Burlesk Queen.
Ina Raymundo, wanting to make her stamp on the film industry as
the Sex Bomb Queen, gave or bared her all in Burlesk Queen, Ngayon. The
opening scene is a long strip tease routine a scene that caters to Laura
Mulveys (1975) male gaze theory. Raymundo is shown in all her naked
splendor woman displayed as sexual object, the leit-motif of the erotic
spectacle (Mulvey 1975: 10).
The sex workers in this film like their jobs. Angela (Raymundo) gave
her heart and soul (buong puso at kaluluwa, as the character herself declared
in one scene) to the job. Even with all the hardships she encountered, she
takes it all in stride. She avers that what is important is to be good at her
work (as a stripper). Her best friend, Eliza, another exotic dancer, has no
illusions about romantic love. She immediately dumped her taxi driver lover
when a rich man made her his mistress.
Using the technologies of self to her best advantage, Angela
graduated from being a stripper of a small joint to become the Burlesk

41
Abbas

Queen of a big club. Although she agreed to be a mistress, she faced squarely
the rich mans wife when they (Angela and her sugar daddy) were caught
together in the beach. Raymundos Angela does not suffer from inferiority
complex or self-pity. This sex worker has self-respect.
For leaving the rich man (portrayed by Ricky Belmonte), she was
punished. Angela was shot by the bodyguard. But she did not die. The one
who died was her convict ex-boyfriend and father of her child who escaped
from prison in order to kill her. He ended up killing the man who shot
Angela and was shot in turn by the gunmans companion. The authorities,
upon the confession of the surviving bodyguard, arrested the sugar daddy.
To celebrate her freedom, she returns to stripdancing. She practically
swears: Sasayaw ako hanggang kaya pa ng katawan ko. (I will dance as long
as my strength allows.) The last scene shows her again in a striptease
routine, with the last scene freezing her naked body for the viewers erotic
contemplation (Mulvey, 1975).

Woman Power

Although this film serves the scopophilic tendencies of the male

gaze, Angela is certainly exhibitionistic. She wants to be looked at. On the
surface, feminists like Mulvey might label this film chauvinistic. But on a
deeper reading, one can see clearly that the lead female character is not
subservient to the male characters at all. She is the one that moves the story.
She which is practically the same as her body is the real representative
of power. All her male lovers have come and gone the father of her child,
the rich boyfriend, and the sugar daddy. She survived. She stood her ground.
The only male character who remained was her friend, the taxi driver, who
was certainly passive.
Films used as vehicles for female stars (like Erin Brokovich (2000),
Thelma and Louise (1991), etc.) usually inscribe women as subjects and
agents of the narrative, give authentic voice to their desires, and mute the
discourses of the male characters. Angela is the subject and agent of this film
narrative. Her desire is to care for her Self and her child. She practically
sent her poor lover to jail, perfected her skills at dancing to be on top of
the heap (the Burlesk Queen), went with her sugar daddy when it suited her
and left when it did not anymore. Although she was shot (punished), she
survived, but the men did not.

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 Womans Body Power

The only character left that the male audience could identify with was
the passive taxi driver character, a harmless Everyman who would be a poor
candidate for a male audiences fantasy hero.

Red Diaries

Red Diaries (2001) is a take-off from Zalman Kings Red Shoe Diaries
series, which were themselves spin-offs from the Wild Orchid films. This
Maryo J. de los Reyes film is a trilogy with sex as the central theme. The
various filmic themes of the sex melodrama genre are explored here. The
first story, Susana, is about a sex worker or more specifically, a callgirl who
became a mistress. The second, Cara, is about the loss of sexual innocence,
while the third, Lucila, is about rape and domestic abuse. All three stories
starred Assunta de Rossi.
This article is concerned only with the first story in the trilogy. Susana
is a callgirl. Practically all sex workers dream of being a mistress or as what is
known in Manilas street language as ginagarahe (parked [like a car]). Unlike
in Burlesk Queen, Ngayon and in most sex worker-themed films, Susana is not
concerned with pecuniary matters. She is more concerned about giving
love. Shes a femme fatale with a heart. Her power over men is that she
knows that as a mistress, she must be a different woman for different men.
She is so confident in her sexual prowess that she thought she could cure an
old mans impotence through sex. The old man (played by Dante Rivero)
nearly died.
In this film, the wives, too, have extra-marital affairs. They do it with
their chauffeurs. In fact, they have sex (with the chauffeurs) right in their
cars just like teenagers. The film centers on a foursome a rich couple
(played by Dante Rivero and Pilar Pilapil), their driver (played by Anton
Bernardo) and Dantes recently dead brothers mistress (played by Assunta).
Assunta soon became Dantes querida (mistress) and at the same time Antons
girlfriend. Anton is the querido (lover boy) of Pilar. But, then, this foursome
sexual paradise could not last forever.
In the binaries of bio-power, sex is either licit or illicit, permitted
or forbidden. (Foucault 1978: 83) Once the forbidden relationships are
discovered, they have to be disciplined. It is quite unfortunate that in the
history of sexuality, the authoritys power is negative, i.e., the power that
says no (Gordon, 1981: 139). It is a power that says something cannot be

43
Abbas

done and it acts to enforce this law. Adultery and concubinage are crimes
punishable by law.
Again, sexual power relations are deeply connected to monetary
power relations the power of the rich over the poor. Even an invalid like
rich man Dante Rivero can have sexual power over Assunta, a professional
querida.
Assunta and Anton know that the only way to have power over the
rich folks is through their bodies. But they are not despondent about it.
On the contrary, they like their bodies and their sexuality. And they use the
technologies of the Self to better themselves.

Tikim

Tikim (2001) was written and directed by Jose Javier Reyes. All the
actors/actresses Rodel Velayo, Leonardo Litton, Allan Paule, Paula Gomez,
and even Maureen Mauricio are staples of sex film genre. The title Tikim is
also one of the badges of a sex film naughty, with sexual connotations. But
the film is only a light melodrama, with a dose of action.
Tikim opens with a jaded narrator, omniscient, and only as voice-over.
The female lead character is a sex worker (portrayed by Barbara Milano),
girlfriend of the lead male character (played by Rodel Velayo). Here, sex
is fun. The first scenes had Paula Gomez doing fellatio on her boyfriend,
Litton, while Milano was having sex with a client even as the telephone was
ringing.
The body is acknowledged as an instrument of power. Milano, the
sex worker, is proud of her body. She says, Malinis ang katawan ko. Maski
anong parte puwede mong simutin (My body is clean. You can even taste every
part of it). Her boyfriend says, Dapat lang. Yan ang pinagkakikitaan mo (It
should be. Thats where you make a living). No recriminations there, just
statements of fact. The women (Milano and Gomez) are even shown as
having more libidinal urges than the men (Velayo and Litton).
Maureen Mauricio, one of the most popular PENEkula stars, was
featured in a cameo role. (PENEkula is coined from penetration and the
Tagalog word for film, pelikula. Movies classified as penekula had actual sex
scenes, not simulated ones for the camera.) In Tikim, Mauricio looks like
an ordinary matron, already plump and retired from the profession. Yet
she is proud of her expertise. She blames men for preferring young girls

44
 Womans Body Power

rather than the more experienced ones like her. Milano, her inaanak (god
daughter), tells her that she too wants to be magaling (good) in her work and
that she remains her (Milanos) idol. Mauricio and Milano give the image of
people happy with their decision of using their bodies for the good of the
Self.

Boatman

In 1984, the eras top movie sex symbol, Sarsi Emanuelle, played
opposite a newcomer, Ronnie Lazaro in the movie Boatman. Again, power
is depicted through the difference in social classes. The male protagonist,
Felipe (played by Lazaro), comes from the peasantry and works as a canoe
steersman in the Pagsanjan rapids, a famous tourist spot. He dreams of
becoming a movie star.
When a movie company comes to town to shoot a film, the Japanese
leading lady picks him out among the movie extras for a one-night stand.
The lady also gives him a walkman as a token of her appreciation and
as a reward for his sexual prowess. He goes to Manila to seek greener
pasture. The only job available for him is that of a torero, a performer in a live
sex show. Toro is the local euphemism for live sex show (the word actually
refers to wild bulls). Here, he meets his partner in the act, Gigi (Sarsi
Emanuelle), a tough, no-nonsense woman.
Unlike ordinary Filipinos steeped in Catholic sexual angst, Felipe
and Gigi are not ashamed of their work. They think of it as a profession,
with their bodies as the instruments. Sex may be the original sin for their
countrymen, but for them, sex is their way out of Hell (poverty) and on to
Redemption (wealth).
Gigi, the veteran torera, teaches Felipe how to perform the toro, leading
him through the various sexual positions. Through their bodies, Felipe and
Gigi, started making good money via the live shows and betamax (video)
productions. But in their sexual paradise comes the Snake-Temptress in the
form of an American producer, querida (mistress) of a powerful Filipino don.
Our provincial Adam (Felipe) is naturally tempted by the white rich lady
who gives him strict rules to follow so as not to incur the wrath of the
Master (portrayed by Eddie Arenas). The American makes it very clear that
their sexual relationship is forbidden (by the powers that be) and, therefore,
should remain a secret.

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Abbas

But Felipe is drunk with his sexual power. He keeps repeating to his
Eve (Gigi) and to the Temptress that he can take care of himself. Alas, mere
mortal peasants are no match for the Olympian elites. And so, for the sin
of flaunting an unholy sexual relationship between a peasant man and a lady
of the elite class, an American at that, there can only be one punishment:
castration. The individual body may be an instrument of power, but the body
politic insures that the dominant class will remain dominant.
Having read the film contextually, we must now situate the film
historically. It was produced in 1984 during the final years of the Marcos
dictatorship. Senator Beningno Ninoy Aquino had been assassinated and a
large sector of the urban populace was demonstrating in the streets against
the regime. Majority of the Filipinos woke up from the slumber brought
about by the fear of martial rule. The millions who came to Ninoys funeral
realized they were not as weak as they thought.They, too, have power body
power, warm bodies, power in numbers.
Sexually, the government had a change of heart. Martial Law was
declared (in 1972) not only to fight the Moro and communist rebels but
also to fight pornography. Ten years later, the government hosted the Manila
International Film Festival which showed explicit films like Oshimas In the
Realm of the Senses. The Experimental Cinema of the Philippines (ECP) was
established in 1982 through Executive Order No. 770. This law guaranteed
the ECP freedom from censorship.
From 1972 until 1982, Filipino films were constrained in their
sexuality. The successors to the Bomba tradition had to content themselves
with the Parental Guidance (PG)-rated wet look or bold variety. Then
all of a sudden, the paternalistic dictatorship declared that sex was okay.
In fact, the government itself produced sex films like Virgin People (1984),
Naiibang Hayop (1984), and even Boatman. Perhaps the prevailing situation
at the time convinced the filmmakers that the characters in Boatman should
also feel comfortable and even proud of their sexuality. Sex, instead of being
censored, was now being peddled by the government. Time, certainly, was
a-changing.
The dictatorship might have changed its mind about sex, but there was
now a clamor for censorship among the Church, the old elite (the oligarchy
supplanted by the Marcos cronies), and even the political opposition which
included the Leftists and the Liberals. Although it could be argued that the
Leftists and the Liberals clamored for Censorship at that time only for the

46
 Womans Body Power

sake of opposing the Dictatorship, the milieu must have been confusing to
many Filipinos.
Perhaps because of this situation, plus the fact that the film producer
was the State itself, which expected obedience and did not tolerate
autonomous bodies, Boatmans protagonists had to be punished.
Gigi, the torera was punished for his relationship with Felipe. The
American querida was punished for transgressing the rules, for crossing the
divide between the ruling class and the ruled. For Felipe, who challenged
the social order, the harshest of the disciplinary technologies is called to
action. And what better way to punish a phallocentric individual than to
remove his phallus?

Other Sex Melodrama

Not all Philippine sex melodramas, with sex workers as the main
protagonists, show empowered male and female sex workers. While
illegitimate children and mistresses have risen to the highest echelons
of Philippine society, the majority of the films still portrays illicit sex as
disempowering, morally wrong and disapproved by society. In Philippine
mainstream films, sex workers are usually women who are portrayed as
weak, and who hate their jobs.
Perhaps the most controversial Philippine sex melodrama film is Toro
(Live Show). Toro is almost the exact opposite of Boatman. While Boatman
was State-produced and promoted, Toro (2000) was State-persecuted. Both
dealt with the lives of sex workers who live in the margins of society. Both
contained graphic sex scenes. Both were shown in international film festivals
Boatman in London where it won the Best Film Award and Toro in Berlin.
But they are as different as heaven and hell.
In Boatman, there is a sense of optimism. Protagonists apply the
technologies of the Self (Foucault, 1978) and try to make the best possible
world within societal constraints. Of course, in the end, Felipe, Gigi and
the American querida were punished but not because of empowering
themselves but because of transgressing rules of the social order. As sex
workers, Felipe and Gigi had hope, self-respect, and aspirations and had the
capacity to empower themselves through their sexuality.
On the other hand, in Toro, the protagonists were doomed from the
start. The narrator/lead protagonist was full of pessimism. Because of his

47
Abbas

job a torero the Toro protagonist was full of shame and considered himself
bad. He kept on defending himself by saying, Whats the point of being
good? He is the exact opposite of Felipe and Gigi, who did not consider
themselves bad.
Toros director, Jose Javier Reyes, spoke at the 50th Berlin International
Film Festival where his film was shown. He said that Toro was a statement
about human beings trapped by circumstance not of their own making and
powers not of their choice (Demetrio III, 2001).
Filipino sex melodramas usually have this framework sex workers,
especially females, are victims of circumstance and totally powerless.
Foucaults technology of the Self says otherwise and the four films analyzed
above reflect this Foucauldian thesis.
Ironically, Boatman was produced by an authoritarian State but gives
the message that the marginalized individuals can improve themselves, as
long as they do not go too far. On the other hand, the privately produced
Toro dis-empowers the marginalized folks. They cannot even use their only
resource with a marketable demand their bodies sexuality, because that
would be, in the words of the Toro director, the ultimate human degradation
(Demetrio III, 2001). They are, therefore, condemned to their lot (poverty)
without any hope for Redemption.

Conclusion

From the sex melodramas studied, women characters are not mere
objects of desire of both the male characters and male audience. Women
characters are active and are the movers of the narrative. They are not mere
victims of circumstance; they take advantage of whatever resources they
have in order to better themselves and their circumstance.
Foucault (1984) said that there may be a knowledge of the body that
is not exactly the science of its functioning, and a mastery of its forces that
is more than the ability to conquer them:
This knowledge and this mastery constitute what might
be called the political technology of the body. Of
course, this technology is diffuse, rarely formulated in
continuous, systematic discourse; it is often made up
of bits and pieces; it implements a disparate set of tools
or methods. In spite of the coherence of its results, it

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 Womans Body Power

is generally no more than a multiform instrumentation

(172).
As gleaned from Philippine sex melodramas, it appears that in the
sub-culture of the sex workers, a political technology of the body exists.
Being impoverished, the sex workers only capital is their bodies. They need
to cultivate these bodies to cater to the sexual appetites of the clients.
And being in an illicit trade, the workers need to understand the political
economy surrounding the profession (percentage of the pimp, the prevailing
rates for different forms of relationship per hour, one-night stands or
long-term relationships, the clout of the madam over the police and other
authorities, the tongs [bribe] paid for police protection, etc.)
The various sex melodrama films studied depicted the different ways
the protagonists/sex workers adapted the technologies of the self in order
to survive in their environments. Since their bodies are their capital, taking
care of them is paramount.
Protagonists of the films seem to celebrate their sexuality and realize
the value of their bodies. While the ancients tell us mens sana in corpore sano
(healthy mind in healthy body), sex workers in these films seemed to have
never heard of the adage. Education is good for others, but has not much
value for them. Although they realized the importance of their bodies, they
do not invest in their bodies in terms of gym exercises, muscle-building and
muscle-toning. They do not have the money for that.
They celebrate their bodies through nudism and glorify their beautiful
bodies through dancing and love-making. They affirm the power of their
bodies through giving pleasure. They attack the societys powerful by
seducing them with pleasure through their bodiespleasures outside the
moral norms of sexuality, marriage, decency (Lingis, 1994: 72).
Sex workers are outside the norms of society. They have their own
sub-culture, their own mores. They have developed their own technologies
of the Self centered on the idea of giving sexual pleasure. Susana in Red
Diaries says, What I know is, I love giving pleasure. Angela in Burlesk Queen,
Ngayon says, What is important is to be good at ones vocation.
The messages carried by these films are indeed threatening to
conventional society. The moral protectors of societythe Church, State,
Schools, etc. are always vigilant against this film genre. Time and again,
the moral guardians of Philippine society have called for the banning of
such films.

49
Abbas

But the Filipino audiences demand for sex melodramas continues.

Many critically acclaimed Filipino films belong to this genre: Scorpio
Nights (Peque Gallaga, 1985), Init sa Magdamag (Midnight Passion, Laurice
Guillen, 1983), Babae sa Bubungang Lata (Woman on a Tin Roof; Mario OHara,
1998) and Manila By Night (Ishmael Bernal, 1980), among others.
Instead of banning or censoring such films, perhaps it would be better
if the societys leaders would try instead to learn what these films are trying
to portray. Films are one way that could bridge awareness and understanding
of the different classes or sectors of a society.
The countrys film industry is dying. From its heyday in the 1970s and
80s, local film production slowed down to an average of 200 films a year in
the 1990s. But in the following decade, the number of films dwindled to 85
in 2000, 55 in 2004, and 30 in 2006 (Capatayan, 2007). There may come a
time when only foreign cultures can be seen exhibited in Philippine screens
because of the death of Philippine cinema.
The banning of sex melodramas Sutla (1999) and Toro (2000) and the
policy of SM Malls, which has a network of hundreds of cinema houses, of
banning R-rated films (meaning, for adults only) from its theaters has helped
in the impending demise of Philippine sex melodrama, if not of Philippine
cinema itself.
In the original Burlesk Queen, the theater owner poignantly rued the
dying of the Filipino burlesque or bod-a-bil. Philippine sex melodramas
might soon go the way of the bod-a-bil.

Notes

1
For those interested in the 1968 riots, read Daniel Singers essay 1968 Revisited:
Be Realistic, Ask for the Impossible in New Politics (Summer 2000) or his book
Prelude to Revolution: France in May 1968 (1970, 2000) Cambridge: South End Press
2
Keratsa (2005) quotes Crespo Itziar (1999) who described Francos relationship
with censorship succinctly: Cultural censorship played a vital role in Francos
regime. It was perhaps the most effective element of the dictatorship, without
which Franco would not have been able to control Spanish society.

References

Beller, J. (2000). Orapronobis against Philippine totalitarianism. In R. Tolentino

(Ed.), Geopolitics of the visible: Essays on Philippine lm cultures. Manila: Ateneo

50
 Womans Body Power

de Manila University Press.

Capatayan, I. (2007) Philippines: Film and video industry overview. Retrieved November
10, 2007, from http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:7cPAbgKCh7w
J:commercecan.ic.gc.ca/scdt/bizmap/interface2.nsf/vDownload/IMI_
8126/%24file/X_697287.DOC+number+of+Philippine+movies+prod
uced&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=38&client=firefox-a
Del Mundo, C. (1998). Native resistance: Philippine cinema and colonialism 1898-1941
Manila: De La Salle University Press.
Demeterio III, F.P. A. (2001). Critical aesthetics and the social significance of Jose
Javier Reyes film Toro (Live Show). Diwatao, 1 (1), Retrieved December 1,
2007, from http://www.geocities.com/philodept/diwatao/toro_social_
significance.htm.
Dissanayake, W. (1993). Melodrama and Asian cinema. New York: Cambridge
University Press.
Dyer, R. (1982, September October). Dont look now. SCREEN, 23 (3-4), 61-
73.
Flores, P. (2000, January June). Bodies of work: Sexual circulations in Philippine
cinema. Humanities Diliman, 1 (1), 54-68.
Foucault, M. (1978). The history of sexuality, vol. 1, an introduction. (trans. Robert
Hurley) New York: Pantheon.
Foucault, M. (1986) Care of the self: Volume 3 of the history of sexuality. (trans Robert
Hurley) New York: Random House
____________ .(1984). The body of condemned (from discipline and punish).
In P. Rabinow (Ed.), The Foucault reader (pp. 170-179). New York: Pantheon
Books.
Gordon, C. (Ed.). (1981). Power/Knowledge: Selected interviews & other writings 1972-
1977 by Michel Foucault. New York: Random House.
Gronemeyer, A. (1998). Film: An illustrated historical overview. New York: Barrons.
Kenny, J. (1995, December). Tagalog movies and identity: Portrayals of the Filipino
self. The Humanities Bulletin, 4, pp. 108-117. Retrieved December 16, 2007,
from Hong Kong Journals Online.
Keratsa, A. (2005, July). Translation and censorship in European environments.
Translation Journal, 9 (3), Retrieved Dec. 10, 2007, from http://www.
accurapid.com/journal/33censorship.htm
Lingis, A. (1994). Foreign bodies. London: Routledge.
Littlejohn, S. (1999). Theories of human communication (6th ed.). Albuquerque, NM:
Wadsworth.
Macionis, J. (1996). Society:The basics. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Mulvey, L. (1975). Visual pleasure and narrative cinema. SCREEN, 16 (3), 6-18.
Pareja, L. (1994). Cultural center of the Philippines encyclopedia of Philippine art,V-VIII.

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Manila: CCP Press.

Pease, A. (2000). Modernism, mass culture, and aesthetics of obscenity. Cambridge:
Cambridge Univ. Press.
Poster, M. (1984). Foucault, Marxism, and history: Modes of production versus modes of
information. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Sarup, M. (1992). Modern cultural theorists: Jacques Lacan. Hertfordshire: Harvester
Wheatsheaf.
Tiongson, N. (2000, March - August). The imitation and indigenization of
Hollywood. PELIKULA, 2 (1), 22-30.
Turner, G. (1993). Film as social practice. London: Routledge.

Motion Pictures

Abalos, R. (Producer and Director). (1970). Uhaw. [Motion Picture]. Manila

Philipines: Adroit Productions.
Aguiluz, K. (Executive Producer) & Aguiluz, A. (Director). (1984). Boatman.
[Motion Picture], Manila, Philippines: ECP.
Ching, R (Producer) & Castillo, C. A. (Director). (1977). Burlesk queen. [Motion
Picture]. Manila, Philippines: Ian Films.
Flaminiano, R. (Producer) & Carreon, J. (Director). (1999). Burlesque queen, ngayon.
[Motion Picture]. Manila, Philippines: FLT Films.
Monteverde, L. (Producer) & de los Reyes, M. J. (Director). (2001). Red Diaries.
[Motion Picture]. Manila, Philippines: Regal Films.
Monteverde, L. (Producer) & Reyes, J. J. (Director). (2000). Toro (Live show).
[Motion Picture]. Manila, Philippines: Regal Films.
Tan, R. (Producer) & Reyes, J. J. (Director). (2001). Tikim. [Motion Picture].
Manila, Philippines: Seiko Films.

_____________________
Jamal Ashley Abbas has an M.A. in Media Studies (Film), and is a former
lecturer at the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication
on Communication and Film and at Kalayaan College (Communication and
Journalism). He is a Media Studies / Communications consultant, a freelance
writer, has a film column (Quantum Cinema) in Mr. & Ms. Magazine and one of the
winners of the Gawad Kalinangan Journalism Award 2001 of the Manila Rotary
Club.

52
Tear the Box: Deconstructing
Sexualized Portrayals of Women
in Idol Ko si Kap and Lagot Ka
Isusumbong Kita!1

Joeven R. CASTRO

Television situational comedies (more popularly known as sitcoms) have become a

venue for blatant portrayal of women as sex objects. This article provides indicators
of sexualized portrayals that can help in understanding the extent of womens
subordination to males on matters pertaining to sex and sexuality in the context
of a genre that relies on repetition of plots to constantly glue the attention of its
audience. It critiques, using a feminist reading, the patriarchal practice of creating a
box of womens identity in media texts to keep control of them. Advocated by a male
researcher, this article values the need to recognize womens other nonphysical and
non-stereotypical traits.

DESPITE the popularity of the feminist movement and our countrys having
had two women presidents (Ms. Corazon Aquino and the incumbent Ms.
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo), the treatment of women as sex objects goes
on blatantly on Philippine Television, specifically on the television genre
situational comedies or sitcoms. Hence, critical eyes must zoom in, so to
speak, on such shows so that a discourse on deconstructing its infamous
examples of sexualized portrayals may be reframed.
This article analyzes the apparently indissoluble marriage between
comedy and sexualized portrayals in the sitcoms Idol Ko Si Kap2 (from June
19 to September 18, 2004) and Lagot KaIsusumbong Kita!3 (from April 19

COMMUNICATION JOURNAL 2007: 53-65

Castro

to September 6, 2004), two popular shows on GMA-74, one of the largest

TV networks in the Philippines. These sitcoms, even if already off-air, must
be studied because they had episodes containing sexualized portrayals that
might recur in the future given the nature of the program genre and the
tendencies of TV networks.
Comedy and sex as tandems on TV are worth studying because this
context may have contributed to the silence or subservience of women.

Situational Comedy as a Genre

Neale and Krutnik (1990) describe situational comedy as a short

episodic narrative-series comedy with regular or repeatable characters and
setting. It intends to re-familiarize the recurring situation and attempts to
protect it from changes. Its goal is to draw and maintain a regular audience
suited to the broadcast media as a business industry.
Further, they cited the communizing role of TV sitcom as a program
genre by reaffirming among viewers cultural values that are socially acceptable
(or the inside) and restricting anything contrary to these cultural values (or
the outside). However, this genre is not immune to change. Developments
in commercial broadcasting and evolving cultural standards could prompt
sitcoms to become a site of negotiation and, thus, accommodate changes in
content or theme. This flexibility is needed to sustain the programs success
(242).
The goal of re-familiarizing regular viewers with the sitcoms is
an impelling cause for their producerswho cannot afford to alienate
the audienceto incorporate constantly sexualized portrayals, which
the Philippine patriarchal society recognizes as part of culture. While
improvements in any genre are inevitable, it cannot take place overnight.
For the meantime, these sexualized portrayals still serve as sitcoms staple.
Women have been negatively depicted in sitcoms as giggly dumb
blondes, predatory vamps and mistresses (Dela Cruz, 1988); materialistic
who would use their bodies to attain mundane needs (Cruz, 1990); and weak
or dependent on resourceful male counterparts (Diego, 1997). Sitcoms
have also been accused of encouraging women to focus on their physical
appearance to attract eligible bachelors to marry them later, and, thus, be
able to fulfill traditional roles as home manager and nurturer of the family.
Purveyed in a ubiquitous and influential medium like television,

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these constant representations tend to conventionalize a boxed identity of

women, which is unfair and dangerous given the successes of women in
different disciplines nowadays. As Fiske (1987) has stressed: Television is
replete with potential meanings, and that it attempts to control and focus
this meaningfulness into a more singular preferred meaning that performs
the work of the dominant ideology. Hence, it is imperative to maintain a
scrutinizing eye so that restrictive and negative typecasting of women can
be discontinued.

Indicators of Sexualized Portrayals

Dyers (2002) defines sex object as a person just there to be gazed

upon and should not be taken seriously. The definition implies the presence
of an active doer creating the objectification. Hence, this researcher
has expanded Dyers definition to include the following indicators that
consistently appeared in the episodes of the two aforementioned sitcoms to
describe how the active doer carried out the sexualized portrayals:
(1) Males gaze upon female characters breasts;
(2) Sexual advances by male on female characters;
(3) Jokes with sexual innuendoes; and
(4) Passive reply of female characters.
The first indication of sexualized portrayals was the sexy outfits of
female characters. Plunging necklines, tight-fit clothes, and short skirts
constantly provoked male characters to gaze upon their breasts and do
sexual advances.
Sexualized portrayals were even easily done through a scaffold of
contexts or situations favorable to males. They deceived dejected female
characters by doing sexual advances or peeping into their breasts while
pretending to comfort or protect them (Idols July 24 and Lagot Kas May 17,
July 12, & September 6 episodes). Males also constantly and intentionally
bumped the females just so they could touch them (Idols June 26 & July 24;
Lagot Kas May 3 episodes). Males even blamed the female characters large
breasts as the cause of collision.
There was also sexual competition among males (Idols June 26 &
August 7; Lagot Kas May 3, May 17 & September 6 episodes) that paved
the way for sexualized portrayals. They either elbowed each other to rush
towards the female or outwitted another to prove who best consoled her.

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Their goal was to have physical contact with her. Although an unspoken rule,
who hugged her best seemed to have won the competition.
Males also exerted authority or power over another person perceived
as inferior to them to consummate sexual advances. For example, the male
characters of Lagot Ka (August 16) kissed and hugged the female character
playing the role of a housemaid applicant, which is a strange act for employers
to commit.
There was also a double standard showing that males and sexual
advances were mutually exclusive. Males unquestioningly allowed themselves
to be hugged by pretty females. However, when less attractive females
tried to do sexual advances on them they grimaced to show displeasure or
they ran away from what was depicted as aggression or harassment (Idols
September 18). The less attractive female appeared so desperate evinced by
her statement, Gusto ko ngang bastusin nya ako! (I want him to take advantage
of me!)
Although an isolated instance in Lagot Kas August 2 episode, the idea
of women as possession warrants analysis due to its negative implications.
Aleck Bovick, guest wife in the episode, infuriated her husband and mainstay
character Joey Marquez for leaving him after falling in love with Wendell
Ramos, another guest. Joey hounded them like crazed Roman warriors who
were running after Helen and Paris up to the lands of Troy.When Joey finally
caught them, he said, Sige payag na akong mapunta ka kay Paris pero pwede ba
sa akin ka muna ng isang gabi? (All right, I will allow you to be with Paris but
can you be mine for one night?)
True, the extramarital affair of Aleck Bovick was somehow suggested
as unacceptable, but when Joey Marquez was in simultaneous romance with
two guests Phoemela Barranda and Alma Moreno (Lagot Kas July 12), he was
not nailed for his promiscuity. The women even waited for Joey to choose
who deserved him. It was a stark demonstration of the overriding double
standard privileging males.
Sexualized jokes dominantly acted out by male characters in sitcoms
reinforce the stereotype that women have only superficial physical beauty. In
the two sitcoms of GMA 7, jokes usually diverted the gag from the situation
or story itself to the females breasts. The pun could arouse curiosity by
inducing the audience or male characters in the scene to gaze upon the jokers
object or referent (Idols June 19, June 26, July 17, July 24, September 18;
Lagot Kas May 10, June 21, June 28, & July 12 episodes). In effect, this

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focus on females body parts could sidetrack womens other non-physical

but outstanding traits. Other gags unrelated to the sexualized jokes were
also overwhelmed by the punch line on breasts.
Some jokes always pointed out the importance of having large breasts
or well-toned body (Lagot Kas May 10, June 21 & August 9 episodes).
Female characters brazenly expressed pride in having big breasts. Maureene
Larrazabal, who plays a supporting character in Lagot Ka, openly admitted
the need to visit cosmetic surgeons so she could have a curvaceous figure
and large breasts.
Female characters had the chance to become the jokers in both
sitcoms (Idols July 3 and Lagot Kas April 19 episodes) but men were not
their objects. The female joker punned on another females physique. For
example, supporting character Miss Vangie told guest Julia Lopez, Kapag
nakita ni Ric yan, matutuwa siya diyan (Ric will be happy when he sees that)
while pointing at Julias breasts.
Most sexualized jokes were coated with euphemisms. Breasts were
compared to a wall (pader), bomb (sabog), hunchback, pineapple, papaya,
among others. Sex organs and sexual acts were given metaphors like ibuka
(open up), ores (flowers), tusukin (spear), kalikot (play with), naglalaway
(salivating), itlog (egg), pag-aari (assets), among others.
These euphemisms, uttered maliciously and coupled with gaze upon
breasts, conveyed a double entendre. The adjective anlaki-laki (so big) to
describe a wall was inappropriate (Idols June 26 episode). Walls are usually
described as tall, not big.
Some less indirect lines could be easily alluded as sexual urge and
private parts. For example, main character Raymart Santiago said (Lagot Kas
June 21 episode), Itlog mo (Your egg). Then Joey Marquez told a young
female character, Huwag, huwag mong hawakan yan (Dont, dont hold it).
Raymart also said, Napakadalas mo namang tumawag, kating-kati ka na siguro.
(You are frequently calling, you must be very itchy.) The statement was
addressed to Joey Marquez while talking to a woman over the phone.
Using indirect words or euphemisms are deemed acceptable because
according to Filipino linguists Paz, Hernandez, and Peneyra (2003) these are
substitutes for words that are mahalay (vulgar), bastos (lascivious), or walang
galang (disrespectful). Prof. Jorge Cuibillas of Far Eastern Universitys
Department of Languages and Literature shared that Filipinos developed
euphemistic language as indirect expressions of grievances against Spanish

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colonizers for over 300 years (personal communication, April 28, 2005).
Overthrowing Spanish regime was initially difficult and prohibited; hence,
some Filipinos penned patriotic literatures as indirect communication
tools to avoid persecution. Similarly, since public discussion of sex is taboo
(Montenegro, 1996) more especially on national television, an indirect
approach (euphemism) seemed to be the best way to prevent prompt
censorship.
A passive female character completes the stereotyped image of a sex
object. Eleven out of 13 episodes in Idol, while nine out of 17 episodes in
Lagot Ka did not give female characters a chance to reply significantly.
Even if the male characters gaze made its object look uncomfortable, and
despite the unnecessary sexual advances and deprecating humor, the female
characters reacted passively by (1) keeping quiet, or being indifferent to
the malicious gaze cast at her and not even attempting to cover her exposed
cleavage; and (2) by smiling or laughing.
In almost all of the two sitcoms episodes, there was an absence of
penalty on malicious male gazers, thus, prompting them to become bolder
in repeating the sexualized offense.
While some female characters actively replied (Idols June 26,
August 7, August 14, September 18 episodes; Lagot Kas May 10 and August
16 episodes), their retorts were weak and had no impact.
Award-winning actress Ara Mina, for example, was irritated (Lagot Kas
August 16 episode) when the males kissed her immediately upon entry to the
scene. She knitted her eyebrows and folded her arms to protect her breasts
but she did not utter a single word of disgust or censure. Her nonverbal
opposition must have been hardly noticeable to uncritical viewers.
Sexy starlet Cherry Lou, a guest in Idols August 7 episode, strongly
expressed restraint when mainstay character Leo Martinez roughly grabbed
her when she refused to seduce him. She immediately replied, Huwag mo
nga akong hawakan! (Dont hold me!) then slapped Leo before leaving. Leo
saved himself from embarrassment, proceeded to hold the back of a chair
and made a push-pull movement that implied the sexual act.
Even the main character portrayed by Rufa Mae Quinto was incapable
of explicitly opposing a sexualized portrayal (Idols June 19 episode). Joey
Marquez, playing the role of an electrician, gazed upon her breasts and
blurted: Kaya kong kalikutin iyan! (I can fix that!). She replied, Nagtanggal
ka pa ng salamin, ha! (You even removed your eyeglasses, huh!). Rufa Maes

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feedback did not stop Joey but even goaded him to gaze at her breast harder.
Instead of responding, Bakit mo tinitingnan ang dibdib ko? (Why are you
looking at my breast?), she simply described Joeys action. She legitimized
the gaze, in a way, by failing to question the act.
On June 26, when Leo Martinez, Jimmy Santos, and AntonioAcquitania
bumped Rufa Mae to achieve physical contact, she replied, Binangga nyo,
ah! (You bumped it). She merely restated the males action. There was no
explicit objection. She could have said, Bakit nyo ako binangga?!(Why did
you bump me?) to require explanation from the males. As a result, they
repeated the bumping scene. Her subsequent response was a smile.
Supporting character Alicia Mayer also replied less passively (Lagot
Kas May 10 episode) when Raymart Santiago requested her to massage him
and promised to give her an increase. Alicia declined and said, I dont need
an increase! while gesturing a chest-out position. Here, it was the female
character that rattled off the sexualized joke by putting a different color to
the word increase to mean bust size augmentation.

The Feminist Standpoint

Beautiful women enticing men complete the allurer-capturer

relationship.Without the allurer, there will be no capturer. In the Philippines,
the Filipino expression ang palay na ang lumalapit sa manok (literally
translated in English as the rice grains accosting the chicken) supports these
designated roles. There would be no sexualized portrayals if the rice grains
would not approach the chicken. Men cling to this privilege due to their
interest in satiating their visual and sexual desires, which when questioned
goad them to censure the women whom they believe seduced them in the
first place. Moreover, mens socially constructed greater sexual freedom
has licensed them to be always aggressive (Medina, 1991). Some even justify
that mens sexual aggressiveness is inherently biological.
This inherent male aggression is highlighted by contrasting it with an
expectation that women should be passive on matters pertaining to sex and
sexuality. It is one among a myriad of dichotomies that differentiates men
from women. However, the dichotomy is detrimental when men use it to
take advantage of women who cannot defend themselves due to the same
dualism.
For example, Tannen (in Griffin, 2000) cited that women seek

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connection while men are concerned mainly with status. However, Wetzel
et al (1993) pointed out, It is the females inherently interpersonal,
interdependent, affiliative natureher affectionateness and her orientation
toward other peoplethat underlies her greater vulnerability. During
conflicts, females can become very emotional that they think less critically
and alertly. In the sitcoms, this emotional state was an opportunity for
the male characters to take advantage of their female counterparts. Men
cheered up the depressed women while visually feasting on their breasts
or consummating other sexual advances.
There is also a strong-weak dichotomy that has legitimized men to
wield the power to protect women from harm. Susan Griffin (in Eisenstein,
1983) termed this male heroism as the male protection racket or the
supposed safety net against rape. Usually perpetrated by some male rapists,
it is a sexual assault that violates femininity to the highest degree. Rape,
thus, is a dreaded threat that justifies female dependence on men to avert
the fear.
Unfortunately, female fear is a state of mind manipulated by men so
they can commit sexual advances on women. Guest Juliana Palermo in Lagot
Kas May 17 episode, for example, trusted her bodyguards but they eventually
did sexual advances by tossing her like a ball from one lap to another. No
sequence or dialogue punished these protectors-turned-violators. The only
excuse for this breach of trust is the idea that males are anyway socialized as
sexually liberated and aggressive.
Several episodes showed a group of male characters racing towards
a female to actualize a sexualized portrayal. The rush is a form of sexual
competition among them because (1) there are competitors, (2) there is a
common goal, and (3) there is a prize.
Physical contact is the prize. Males compete among themselves with
the orchestrated goal of having sexual attempts not really because the woman
is desirable but because of peer pressure to prove mens heterosexuality.
From this experience emerged another definition of sex objects as pursuits
of male conquest who are not to be taken seriously (Stockhard, 1992). Men
may not necessarily desire a woman but they simply want to horse around
her. Horsing around someone connotes that the woman is not to be taken
seriously, which again strengthens the description of a sex object. It reveals
how men can devalue the sexy or visually desirable prize. A man who values
a woman disallows other men to act like her predators. He will heighten

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defense around her and abandon the orchestrated goal.

Lagot Kas August 2 episode treated women as properties and objects.
Sexualized portrayal occurs when men ignore womens emotions and
instead treat them as properties, something to own in life, not someone to
share life with.
David (2002) documented that the term paggamit (using a womans
body) as in gusto akong gamitin kagabi (he wanted to use me last night)
vividly illustrates Filipino men and womens perception on women.
Why are men obsessed with controlling women? Eisenstein (1983)
says men always seek to control women to ensure that their offspring come
from their own genetic lines and to guarantee that the familys properties do
not go to illegitimate heirs However, that kind of reasoning totally overlooks
the possibility that several women are disinterested in wealth or inheritance.
A woman may just choose to live with someone she really loves. Property
argument to avoid illegitimate heirs, therefore, does not always apply.
Treating a woman like a property disrespects and enslaves her as a
detached being. Just like in Lagot Kas August 2 episode, the woman was
devalued when the man was willing to give her up for sex. She was construed
only as a physical entity ready to be disowned after exhaustive use. It
discounted her emotions and her right to choose or refuse sex. It cheapened
the female character because of the stereotyped notion that offering sexual
service is her one and only function.
Stereotypes trap women to suit particular cultural molds. Stockhard
(1992) contributes to this discourse by discussing women as acionadas of
what she dubbed as a false object. Women struggle to suit the prescribed
beauty; thus, becoming a means to attain the role as sex objects.To maintain
her beauty and looks, she must always wear tight and revealing outfits of the
latest fashion, apply makeup, and get herself a curvaceous body even if it
entails availing cosmetic surgery.
In Lagot Ka, Maureen Larrazabal openly admitted her cosmetic
surgeries for breast and hip augmentation. To highlight her assets, male
characters usually dropped jokes about her breasts that accentuated both the
cosmetic surgery and the preferred body figure.
Why couldnt the shows male characters simply appreciate her effort
to attain the prescribed beauty? Why do their jokes unceasingly pun on
enlarged breasts when these are intended for men?
Funneling women to become a false object is mens way of keeping

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control of them. It is also a chance to promote the growing business of

cosmetic surgery. By pandering on her breasts and the surgery, the audiences
attention ricochets to the womans traditional role as a passive, sexy object.
It also re-inculcates among women TV characters and likewise on viewers
the need to prioritize physical beauty in order to be alluring.
Finally, the textual analysis revealed that males are the jokers. Women
have no significant power to reply, no power to crack jokes that pun on males.
As Purdie (1993) stressed, the woman is labeled as an inferior speaker
in comedy. She is only expected to be the males sex object whose reply
is made incompetent by tagging her as a nagger or a gossip. Thus, even
popular actresses in the sitcoms analyzed in this study only had nonverbal
responses. It is possible, though, that female stars accept their stereotyping as
sex objects in sitcoms as part of their career strategy. They probably believe
that it is more profitable for them to be remembered as sexy rather than as
a nagger ranting like a woman gone mad.
Horowitz (1997) held that laughter and orgasm or comics and
strippers are steady partners in comedy. Strippers take off their clothes
while comics bare their souls, stresses Horowitz. Further, she avers that a
funny and aggressive woman is unfeminine who might turn off the audience
with stereotypical expectations. Hence, in comedy she must not be more
than anything but sexy.
If power to reply is also a luxury that even popular actresses could
not afford, then female starlets are unsurprisingly more gagged. In the
sitcoms, the clich actions speak louder than words did not also work
because the sequence with their nonverbal response was ended by another
overwhelming male response. Female response was a powerless reaction
to prevent ensuing sexualized portrayals because it had no corrective
mechanism. In effect, males could repeat the sexual advances because the
females did not articulate that the sexual advance was unacceptable.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Sexualized portrayals clearly indicate gender hierarchy with men at

the helm to sustain their dominance. TV sitcom is lorded over by ideologies
that support patriarchal interests. Women are portrayed as sex objects to
gratify mens visual and sexual desires while consciously or unconsciously
suppressing womens other competencies.

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Women do not deserve the sexualized portrayals. Men are at fault

for this disservice. It is false that women can only substantially play the
role of a sex object. This is not to say that the physical body is trivial. But
boxed imageries reinforced by sexualized portrayals prevent women from
scaling the optimal development of their other important cultural and social
functions.
Deeply embedded patriarchy is difficult to challenge. Role reversal
with men becoming the sex objects is not also a potent solution towards
equality. It only promotes the vicious cycle of disrespect.
Men should realize that amidst the perceived male privileges are
greater dilemmas. Men are also victims of patriarchy. They must also fit
a traditional cultural mold like exhibiting a certain degree of machismo
even if it leads to womens sexualized portrayals. Male nonconformists are
stigmatized as sissy, queer, inutile, etc.
Certain male privileges have to be given up to weaken or even totally
avoid gender tension or battle of the sexes fueled by the dichotomies. Men
must begin to recognize the value of women who possess inherent traits
and functions that men cannot live without. Men must empathize with any
woman in any media text as replicas of their own mother, wife, sister, and
daughter whom they will most likely protect and respect, not objectify or
be given sexualized portrayals.
A male researcher doing a feminist reading of media texts contributes
to the consciousness on respecting women. While feminist males are not yet
widely accepted, the involvement is already a positive development for men
to have a better understanding of how women feel. As Patrick D. Hopkins in
his essay How Feminism Made a Man Out of Me points out, In fact what seems
to be important about being a feminist is not that someone perceives and
understands as a woman, but they perceive and understand as a feminist (in
Digby, 1998).
Television sitcom as a genre, given the possibility of accommodating
change, can also be used to discuss and subvert stereotypes to raise the
number of sitcoms without sexualized portrayals. Continued vigilance by
deconstructing texts with latent meanings can serve as the initial step in
empowering women to recognize the detriments of stereotyping. Hopefully,
this type of vigilance can likewise promote a renewed consciousness initiated
by both men and women and by capitalists who tend to pander on sexualized
portrayals in the name of profit.

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Notes

1
The article is an excerpt of the first level of analysis of the authors masters thesis
Political Economic Analysis of the Visual Prostitution of Women in Idol Ko si Kap and Lagot
KaIsusumbong Kita!
2
Idol Ko si Kap was a defunct situational comedy aired every Saturday on GMA 7,
one of the leading networks in the country. The male lead character in the sitcom
was portrayed by Ramon Bong Revilla who happens to be one of the elected
senators of the country. His love interest in the sitcom was Rufa Mae Quinto
(Vivian). Every episode, Kap (Bong Revilla) settles disputes, misunderstandings
or any unscrupulous act usually perpetrated by Leo Martinez (Attorney) and
his cohorts. The supporting cast was Antonio Aquitania (Tonying), Jimmy Santos
(Laki) and German Moreno (Kagawad Moreno) as members of the barangay police.
Kap was idolized in the sitcom because of his honesty and for being a responsible
brother of Goyong and Katarina Perez and son of Luz Valdez (Nanay Idang). K
Brosas played the role of Vivians best friend and Tonyings avid suitor. Bryan
Revilla was Attorneys son. In this article, Idol was used for brevity.
3
Lagot KaIsusumbong Kita! is another defunct GMA sitcom, and it had a male-
dominated cast led by Richard Gomez (Ric), Joey Marquez (Tsong), Benjie Paras
(Junior) and Raymart Santiago (Toto). On each Monday episode, the show tackled
one personal problem of one male character. The all-male siblings had singer Pilita
Corales as their mother (Mamita) who always reminded the boys about character
and values. The supporting cast was an affluent family headed by Miss Vangie
(Madam Tusha) and her sexy and beautiful female children, namely, Alicia Mayer
(Sussy), Maureene Larrazabal (Tisay), and Nancy Castiliogne, all of whom acted as
the males love interests. For brevity, the sitcom is referred to as Lagot Ka in this
article.
4
The GMA Network, Inc. (2004) claims to be the leading broadcast company in the
Philippines given its wide reach actualized by its 46 fully owned satellite stations,
and other advanced facilities costing US$4 million.

References

Cruz, M. M. (1990). Comparative study of the role and image of the Filipino
woman as portrayed in our local television sitcoms and the Filipinas
perception of her role and image in Philippine society. Unpublished thesis,
University of the Philippines, Diliman.
David, R. S. (2002). Nation, self and citizenship: An invitation to Philippine sociology.
Quezon City: Department of Sociology, College of Social Sciences and
Philosophy, University of the Philippines, Diliman.

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 Tear the Box

Dela Cruz, P. S. (1988). Images of women in Philippine media: From virgin to vamp.
Malate: Asia Social Institute.
Diego, C. (1997). Palibhasa lalake: A close textual analysis. Unpublished thesis,
University of the Philippines, Diliman.
Digby, T. (Ed.). (1998). Men doing feminism. London: Routledge.
Dyer, R. (2002). Only entertainment (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.
Eisenstein, H. (1983). Contemporary feminist thought. Boston: G.K. Hall and
Company.
Fiske, J. (1987). Television culture. London: Routledge.
GMA Network, Inc. (2004). About GMA Network. Retrieved August 20, 2005,
from http://www.igma.tv.corp about.php.
Griffin, E. (2000). A rst look at communication theory. USA: McGraw-Hill.
Horowitz, S. (1997). Queens of comedy: Lucille Ball, Phyllis Diller, Carol Burnett, Joan
Rivers, and the new generation of funny women. Netherlands: Gordon and Breach
Science Publishers.
Medina, B. (1991). The Filipino family. Quezon City: UP Press.
Montenegro, C. F. (1996). An exploratory study of male and female language
in Pilipino. In M. L. S. Bautista (Ed.), Readings in Philippine sociolinguistics.
Manila: DLSU Press.
Paz, C., Hernandez, V. & Peneyra, I. (2003). Ang pag-aaral ng wika. Quezon City:
UP Press.
Stockhard, J. (1992). Sex and gender in society (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, New
Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Wetzel, J. et al. (1993). Womens Studies:Thinking women. Iowa: Kendall/Hunt.

_____________________
Joeven Rosario Castro is an Associate Professor in the FEU Department of
Communication while working as freelance writer in management and financial
consultancy firms and communication competence trainer in various academic
and corporate settings. He finished his bachelors degree in FEU (magna cum
laude) and his MA in Broadcast Communication in University of the Philippines,
Diliman. He has traveled in Southeast Asia as an adjudicator, debater, and coach of
the Oratorical and Debate Council (ORADEC), where he was awarded as one of
the Best Adjudicators in the 2nd Asian Universities Debate Championships. Currently,
he is the National Secretary of the Speech Communication Organization of the
Philippines (SCOP).

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Filipino Women on the Cover
of Cosmopolitan Magazine

Gino GO, Jellyn MAXION,

Joanna SY, & Edlenn RACOMA

Cosmopolitan Philippines mutes women through the distorted portrayals it

publishes every month on its cover. The magazine preserves the patriarchal system by
conforming to the notion that women and sex sell.The Filipino woman has become
another version of the phenomenal Barbie Doll, a clearWestern standard of beauty. In
effect, women are commodied, objectied, and standardized.

IT SEEMS NATURAL that there are two genders in this world: male and
female. What is unnatural about it though is that through the years the
gender dichotomy has become hierarchical. Between the two genders exist
a dominant-subordinate relationship with men at the top.
Womens subordination can be found in a public space, such as the
media. Mananzan (1998: 170) elucidates that during the introduction of
Catholicism by the Spaniards, laws and mores were imposed and those
impositions restricted women from choosing the roles they would like to
play. Instead, women were confined to observe a religious fervor bordering
on fanaticism. This focus on religion made patriarchy succeed in alienating
the woman from her public life, public decisions, and public significance.
She should henceforth be a delicate ornament of the home or the victim of
the convent.
The new role was contrary to what women had in the pre-colonial
era: they served as the principal instrument of the native culture and
power, more or less hidden, which moves and directs the man in his public
life and is the one who really controls domestic society (158).

COMMUNICATION JOURNAL 2007: 66-79

 Filipino Women on the Cover

Women represent 60 percent of the world population, They perform

nearly two-thirds of all working hours but receive only one-tenth of the
world income, and own less than one percent of the world property
(Renzetti, 1992). These statistics reflect that men and women are indeed
living in a patriarchal world.
Wood (1997) defines patriarchy as a rule by the fathers. It is a system
in which men dominate women or anything considered masculine is
more highly valued than what is considered feminine (Renzetti, 1992). This
definition highlights the central idea that patriarchal values, institutions, and
practices reflect the experiences, values, and interests of men as a group
and protect their privileges while simultaneously denying, dismissing, and
devaluing the experiences, values, and interests of women as a group (Miller,
2002).
One strategic avenue used to maintain dominance is the media. Media
have an important impact on peoples everyday lives (Stockard, 1992). They
are the chief sources of information for most people, as well as their focus of
leisure activity. Mass media convey messages that are infused with particular
values and norms, including gender. Ergo, media serve as gender socializers
(Renzetti, 1992).
Stuart Hall (in Griffin, 1991: 310) critically describes how the haves
used mass media to promote and propagate power and their interests in
society and gain the willing support of the have-nots to maintain the status
quo. Men or the haves even collaborate with capitalists to sustain their
power at the expense of women as the have-nots.
Thus, within any society in which asymmetrical power relationships
are maintained, a muted-group framework exists (Orbe, 1998). The female
voice is muted leading to their inability to express themselves articulately
in the male parlance (Miller, 2002).
Cheris Kramarae (in Griffin, 1991) posited that women perceive
the world differently from men. But because of mens dominance and
accordingly the dominance of their perceptions, women must transform
their own modes of expression according to the males system just so they
can participate in society.
Unfortunately, womens alternative modes of expression are still
impeded. Men claim that they cannot understand women or their modes of
expression.This is because the gender system in society functions as a system
of social stratification which allows the unequal valuation of women and

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men and their respective traits and behaviors in society (Renzetti, 1992:
2-3).
Mass media mirror this social stratification and its consequential
practices over the years have become favorable to men. Loevingers (1996)
Reflective-Projective Theory postulated that mass media reflect various
ambiguous images, which each observer projects or relates to his/her own
vision of self. Either accurate or distorted, these images are censored to
satisfy a large segment of the public. Mass media attempt to avoid becoming
too offensive or uninteresting to avoid losing their influential status.
The audience is composed of individuals with individual views of
media. The common denominator is their invariable flattery and fascination
over pictures or images where they see or hear themselves represented
(Loevinger, 1996). The preferred representations are also socially
embedded.

Researching Filipino Women

The thrust of this study is to evaluate the front covers of Cosmopolitan

Philippines from October to December 2006 to prove that men and capitalists
use the media to force Filipino women to fit into a social role and to
maintain the status quo by perpetuating stereotyped images that restrict
their opportunities and potentials.
The covers, which can initially attract readers to buy the magazine,
were selected based on the popularity of the cover celebrities in 2005.
Through textual analysis using Stuart Halls Cultural Studies (in Griffin,
1991), Cheris Kramaraes Muted Group Theory (in Griffin, 1991), and
Reflective-Projective Theory of Lee Loevinger (1996), the study decodes
the subliminal messages of the portrayal.
Kristine Hermosa (October issue) is seen daily in the soap operas of
ABS-CBN 2 and is much written about in the entertainment sections of
newspapers and in showbiz publications. The same goes for Angel Locsin
(November issue) who use to reign on the primetime slot of GMA 7 before
moving to rival network ABS-CBN 2. Toni Gonzaga (December issue), on
the other hand, hosts several ABS-CBN 2 shows. Furthermore, the three
celebrities also make movies that most of the time become box office
hits. These women, therefore, meet the main criterion for a cover girl:
unquestionable popularity.

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 Filipino Women on the Cover

This study focused on the photographs on the cover. It excludes the

blurbs and texts. The analysis centered on these indicators:
1) Physical appearance (skin type, eyes, nose, hair, and body
type);
2) Bodily poses and angles (angling of the chest, torso, and
legs of the cover girls); and
3) Clothes or wardrobe (outfit, make-up, and accessories)
Focus group discussion (FGD) with self-confessed female fans of
Cosmopolitan Philippines was conducted. These fans are college students
from the University of the Philippines in Los Baos, taking up Economics
or Communication Arts. Focus interview was also conducted with the
magazines associate editor, Claire Betita-Samson and art director, Red de
Leon to compare the images of Filipino women as portrayed by female cover
celebrities vis--vis women in society.
According to Summit Media (2006), Cosmopolitan Philippines is the
local edition of the largest young womens magazine in the world. Cosmo,
as it is more popularly named, is the fun, fearless female magazine with
the message: live big, be the best you can be in every area of your life.
Its editorial content focuses on personal growth, relationships, and careers
with in-depth reporting and imaginative and relevant features on fashion
and beauty, health and fitness, celebrities, and pop culture. It is aimed at
women in major urban cities aged 18 to 35, from classes A, B, C.
According to Betita-Samson, a magazine targets an audience with
specialized interests. It is a permanent, printed, tangible medium that
readers can keep. It usually has a glossy, colorful cover to attract buyers who
benefit from the information that caters to their specific needs.
Littlejohn (1999) stresses that mass media are an important social
institution. Given the popularity of Cosmo as an international magazine with
a local franchise, there is an urgent impetus to expose how the magazine
portrays Filipino women.

Filipino Women on the Covers

Angel Locsin

Physical Appearance. Many people say that Angel Locsins beauty

represents the true beauty of a Filipino woman because she has long black

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Go, Maxion, Sy & Racoma

hair, medium-toned skin, and average height.

However, Cosmo changed that look when
it had Locsin on the cover. Her long, straight,
black hair suddenly became brown and wavy.
Her eye color resembled that of her dyed
hair. Her skin appeared several tones fairer.
The typical Dalagang Pilipina (conservative
Filipina) suddenly looked like a gorgeous and
sophisticated Latina on the cover.
Latina women nowadays captivate the
international mainstream media. Jennifer
Lopez, Salma Hayek, and Elizabeth Pea
are very popular in Hollywood due to their talent and, not to mention,
distinct beauty. Locsins repackaged Latina look intended to make her more
appealing, following the current trend in Hollywood.
Body Poses. Her action scenes in most of her television series brought
out her masculine side. Her characters in Darna and Asian Treasures on GMA
7 depicted a womans strong sidefearless, confident, and determined,
yet sexy and feminine. Her TV image matched how the magazine describes
women today: Fun, Fearless Woman in You.
Wardrobe. Locsins outfit was an interesting combination of
sleeveless blouse with blue hipster jeans and fashionable accessories that
completed the outgoing persona of a modern woman. The entire outfit
suggested fearlessness and confidence. The skin
exposure also implied buoyancy or the
ability to move freely.

Kristine Hermosa

Physical Appearance. Her

excessively light skin, well-chiseled nose,
naturally deep-set eyes, and very sharp
features do not typify Filipina beauty.
Her physical attributes were made more
distinctively Caucasian on the cover because
of several enhancements: burgundy-colored
hair, use of colored contact lenses, and makeup-

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 Filipino Women on the Cover

enhanced eyes, lips, and nose.

The generic term Caucasian as one racial category in Europe
is commonly referred to as the white people largely due to fair skin.
Caucasians are always taken to be tall and have a wide variety of hair and eye
color, of slim body built with broad shoulders.
Caucasian beauty has easily become the universal standard due to the
pervasive use of Caucasian women in advertising and film. It is justifiable
to presume that Cosmopolitan made Hermosa look like a Caucasian so that
she will satisfy the target audiences preference for the universal standard
of beauty.
Body Poses. Hermosa was unrealistically sexy on the cover. She
had a less-aggressive body position that suggested sexiness, confidence, and
sophistication resembling a foreign supermodel.
The way she was made to stand emphasized her bodys sexy curve,
supported by the well-planned placement of hands that made her look
intimidating yet glamorously attractive because of the colorful clothing and
accessories.
Wardrobe. The initial impression was how the colorful pastels made
her appear like a Barbie Doll: possessing the face and body of an American
woman and dressed in bright, colorful, but tight-fit clothing. Hermosas
overall look was noticeably enhanced through make-up and accessories. She
also looked confident and sexy due to the cleavage exposure.

Toni Gonzaga

Physical Appearance. Gonzagas

Chinese descent and medium-toned skin did not
prevent her from looking like the celebrities we
often see on cable channels: Doe-eyed, thin lips,
colored hair with big curls, and a confident smile
that completed the look of a Caucasian star. Her
look was undeniably a product of extensive
enhancements and digital technology.
Body Poses. Her left hand that pulled up
her dress and revealed her left leg transformed
Gonzaga into a sexy and aggressive lady from
her typical sweet and wholesome image.

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Go, Maxion, Sy & Racoma

Wardrobe. She appeared like a modern-day party girl because of

her spaghetti-strapped, bronze dress. Exposing the skin on her shoulder,
chest area, and the leg suggested a more mature, fearless, sexy woman that
contradicted the feminine and gentle, Filipino woman.

Through the Eyes of Filipino Women

Physical Appearance. The participants in the FGD agreed that

the eyes of the three front cover celebrities had either been manipulated
through the use of Photoshop software or by making them wear colored
contact lenses. One participant pointed out that the noticeable difference
in the eye color was a form of Americanization or conformity to western
standards. Pammy, one discussant, remarked:
Look at her pupils, they dont dilate. Im sure with the
excessively strong lights they use in studio shootsthey
must dilate! Otherwise those arent real eyes, or they are
all blind, or perhaps, wearing contact lenses.
Raica, another discussant, affirmed that the pupil dilation principle is
a Caucasian projection. She also argued that the alteration of the eye color
to have a hazel/light brown effect is the closest Filipinos could get to have
the colored eyes of the Caucasians.
The discussants noticed the common denominator among the cover
celebrities hair: they were all fluffy, especially Hermosas hair, which was
the biggest among them. God, I wish I had hair as fluffy as theirs! How do
they make their hair appear so fluffy? They look like headdresses to me!
remarked Pammy.
Asked what the big and fluffy hairs meant to them, Camille believed
that these big and blown-away hair style is a sign of boldness, dominion, and
strength. Pammy added that having big, fluffy hair is deemed as perfect by
many and it is enough for a woman to be classified under the sexy and sultry
category. Pamy believed that a fluffy hair is enough to disarm men.
In terms of skin color, the girls believed that Gonzagas was a little
enhanced. Hermosas skin was a little too porcelain-ish, too fake, especially
the cheeks, which they asserted had too much make-up.
The discussants all divulged that at one time or another in their young
lives, they wished they had fairer skin. But then they also all conceded that
it is impossible for them to have such a complexion due to their Oriental

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 Filipino Women on the Cover

genes. Asked why they were practically obsessed with having fairer skin,
they unanimously replied that they had come to believe that to be maputi
(fair-skinned) is beautiful.
In terms of facial features, they particularly criticized Kristines
perfectly chiseled nose due to excessive computer manipulation.
Discussant Raica said that perhaps, the Filipinos desire for Caucasian
image is one of the Filipinos legacies from Spain and the United States
America. On the other hand, Camille blurted out: Anything of Western
spirit sells in the Philippines!
Body Poses. Pammy, a part-time model herself, said that the
actresses stances were a signature Cosmo stance. The hands always placed
either at the waist or the hip area connoted a daring character.
Raica, on the other hand, concluded that Locsins pose was a typical
male stance. Claire commented on Gonzagas leg skin exposure: Well,
thats an attempt to make her appear sexy!
All four discussants agreed that the almost similar stances varied only
in the angular direction and hand placement, but they all connoted an image
of boldness or firmness.Their stance exuded confidence according to Camille
while Raica believed it was more alluring. Pammy added, Indeed, body
language speaks louder than words, as if screaming, Come and get me!
The discussants questioned the accuracy of the portrayals. Claire
argued:
Its like theyre setting a standard to be followedThey
capitalize on the fact that such a portrayal could never
be achieved and that impossibility is what makes those
people behind that magazine filthy rich! Logically, the
quest for achieving that look will never end, it will never
get saturated, so girls will always buy make-up, fancy
clothes, and go under the knife just to get as close as
possible to those images.
Camille agreed that the front-cover portrayals were standardizing
tools that direct their audience to imitate the look, following the principles
of commercialism, colonialism, and sex.
Raica asserted that these women were just mental creations that aimed
to view women under the lenses of perfection. She believed that the women
were too good to be true. She quipped, Actually, theyre all looking like
plastic dolls! Soon a line of plastic dolls shall be named after them!

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Go, Maxion, Sy & Racoma

Point of View of Cosmos Creative Team

Representing the creative team, the associate editor and art director
said that Filipino women today are stressed by variants of womens images.
Betita-Samson pointed out that the world has become more dynamic; thus,
several options are presented to women. The options placed Filipinas in a
situation in which her traditional world conflicts with the modern world.
According to the magazines associate editor, the traditional perspective
based on an FGD with several female Filipino readers of Cosmo is that women
still concern themselves with family issues while maintaining interest at
the same time on international and local fashion designers. Betita-Samson
elaborated:
Filipino women want to be modern but theyre still
stuck to this traditional culture, so I think they are very
ambivalent today. The Filipino woman doesnt know
where to really position herself. She wants to have sex
freely without judgment and she knows she can. But, at
the same time she cant because of what her mom would
say, her friends would say, what her lola (grandmother)
would say.
Both the associate editor and the art director admitted that the
traditional perspective on Filipinas is a result of the patriarchal society. They
admitted having a reader who emailed them to ask what she should do after
her boyfriend disallowed her to wear mini-skirt. De Leon said she has been
receiving letters of the same theme for five years already. Ideally, a guy
doesnt have shouldnt have the right to tell you what to wear and not to
wear, but the fact that our readers actually ask, means its happening... its a
concern, she further explained.
Within this socio-cultural context and the presence of many womens
magazines, they said that Cosmo strived to emerge by having a relevant
personality that readers can learn and share first-hand experiences from.
According to De Leon, the target audiences psychographic profile is a
person who is still in the age of developing self, finding out aspirations,
improving self, and still trying out certain things.
Given Cosmos tagline, fun, fearless, females, its creative team
promotes Filipino women who love to have fun with friends, boyfriend, and
family. According to De Leon, it also encourages fearless Filipino women to

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 Filipino Women on the Cover

try out things even if it is taboo. A Cosmo woman also has enough courage
to do something you might not be comfortable with or you might not be
completely good at.
What makes Cosmo succeed worldwide, according to Betita-Samson,
is its discussion on relationships, acting as a big sister or friend of its readers
on issues like career, sex, health, men, and love.
To complete the total package of success, the front cover is also
carefully created. According to them, a weekly discussion is devoted to
determine the cover celeb as they called it. She could not just be anyone
else, but someone that readers could easily identify with. Ideally, she is very
popular, has a good image, and an example of a fun, fearless female. She
could be an upcoming star and Cosmo will introduce her to the world.
The magazines creative team decides practically every aspect of the
cover celebrity, from the clothes, make-up, accessories, facial expressions,
and even to her poses.They present the female celebrity so that she becomes
more marketable and she matches the branding of Cosmo. Betita-Samson
shared that cover celebs are known worldwide for the following standard
look:
Its really three-fourths a little below the crotch, shot
above the knee, and always as much as possible frontal
The woman always looks at the reader because this is the
strongest stance. The stance is always sexy and strong.
The arm, basta hindi yung nakaka-abala (doesnt get in the
way) in viewing the clothes. We try to make sure that the
readers see everything.
Another standard is the big hair, hair that you can touch.
Hindi nakatali, hindi naka-spray net (Not tied, not made
stiff by hair spray). No hats, no headbands. It is meant
to be soft, sexy hair. And then, the cleavage. Lastly, that
sexy stance.
The chosen cover photo is sent for approval to the United States,
which tells the local franchise the needed adjustments. The image branding
is maintained by 56 franchises all over the world because it has been tried
and tested, according to De Leon. If youre not afraid to show some skin,
theres a certain confidence and fearlessness, she elaborated. Moreover, she
said it conveys realness, a real girl wearing real clothes except the cover
celebrities eyes, which were made lighter by the computer because Filipino

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Go, Maxion, Sy & Racoma

eyes are too dark. Finally, De Leon emphasized,

More than anything, its really our selling point. The
reason why Cosmo doesnt have any competitor here in
the Philippines is were the only magazine that talks about
sex and men. Were the only ones who talk about those
topics. Ideally, according to our mother ship, it has to
be every month. Its always sex, its always on men.

Synthesis

Studying Filipino women always goes hand-in-hand with studying

their status in Philippine society where men are dominant. Although sexism
is intrinsic in any society, gender is still socially created. Thus, female and
male genders also created and maintained these sexual biases especially in
the mass media.
Cosmo magazine mutes the voice of Filipino women by dictating what a
woman should be based on societys structure. It mutes women by mirroring
a distorted image of a Filipino woman on its front covers. It preserves the
patriarchal system by conforming to the notion that women and sex
sell, as divulged by the creative team. In effect, women are commodified,
objectified, and standardized as a whole.
The standards used to portray womens outfit, bodily pose, and physical
appearance are derived from the male perspective, especially if the editor
is a male. Given the social hierarchal system, the ideal woman featured
in Cosmo magazine is someone who attracts men. Although the magazine
studied did not target male readers, the featured women were chosen based
on the male perspective of what is attractive and what is not attractive.
After all, many beliefs and values in a given society came from mens world,
notwithstanding the foreign influences. However, having women at the top
editorial positions is no guarantee against sexism (Renzetti, 1992: 109)
because women also create sexist content similar to mens, perpetuating the
same stereotypes as evidenced by the insights of Cosmos creative team.
The inability of cover celebrities to decide what clothes to wear and
make-up and accessories to put on has literally muted them. The standards
set by the creative team, which is also guided by the foreign franchise owner
in the United States, have served as a muting tool. Promoting the Western
standard of beautymestiza or Caucasian-looking, well-chiseled nose, dole

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 Filipino Women on the Cover

eyes, long hair, thin lips, jutted-out chests, and slim body garbed in sexy,
provocative, and glamorous outfitin the front covers of a magazine with
a growing circulation tends to ignore the beauty of a Filipino woman. By
looking like a Barbie Doll, the image of a Filipino woman is distorted, all in
the name of sales.
These Westernized women in terms of physical and psychological
profiles are used to attract a large number of magazine readers. The
commodification strengthens the capitalist interest as readers might
constantly spend money to look like the cover celebrity. As Naomi Wolf
(in Schuster & Van Pelt, 1996: 354) stressed, Society imposes an idealistic,
unreasonable standard of beauty on all women, a standard that leads women
to starve themselves, wear unhealthy shoes and impractical clothing, buy
millions of dollars of cosmetics, and even submit themselves to unnecessary
surgery
Based on the focus group discussion, the four discussants unanimously
believed that majority of the photo details were distorted, unrealistic, and
unattainable. They reaffirmed that such photos with smiling, all made-up,
and beautiful women, although seemingly benign and nonchalantly real,
were actually filled with malevolent anomalies.The manufactured inaccurate
and deceitful portrayals will become an elusive dream of women in real life.
According to them, it suggested a concept of beauty for the Filipino female
audience to copy.
This practice supports Halls idea of hegemony defined as a
preponderant influence or authority, especially one nation over another
(in Griffin, 1991: 315). Cosmo readers may see and even imbibe over time
the magazines attitudes and perspectives. This is made possible through
the reinforcement of these attitudes and perspectives on the readers.
Conceding to Halls claim, Hegemony isnt merely reflected in the media,
its reinforced there... the real role of the media is production of consent
rather than reflection of consensus (in Griffin, 1991). The ideologies
attached to Cosmo can be reinforced when readers internalize its contents
and acknowledge them as realities. Viewpoints of Cosmo on Filipino women
are fun and fearless. This outlook may later on be taken in by readers as what
a Filipina is.
Women are objectified in the process. They are treated as objects
or mere designs that further beautify the magazines cover, which parallel
one stereotypical role assumed by the female gender: To decorate the male-

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Go, Maxion, Sy & Racoma

dominated homes of the Filipino community.

Despite the reawakening initiated by numerous feminist movements
in the society, the woman is still victimized by a social consensusa
resignation and acceptance that the natural order is, indeed, male over female.
Magazine consumers uncritically accept this as a fact of life. Otherwise, it
would not have become Cosmos branding image.
According to Loevinger (1996), mass media will only reflect what is
seen in the society, thus, magazines will only project the societys reflected
image of women. The people behind the magazine have chosen the models
clothes, make-up, and accessories according to what is vogue in the society
or what they deem appropriate. Therefore, the magazines portrayal of the
Filipino woman is ambiguous for the elements involved are derived from
different sources (the brainstorming within the creative team, the Western
standard, the social preference, etc), which does not necessarily complement
womens reality in the society.
All featured women are attractive. They specifically have a white or
fair complexion; their body types range from skinny, slim, or sexy; their
faces are all pretty and incredibly perfect. This is what the public wants and
the creative team is more than happy to give it to them. As Loevinger (1996)
pointed out, an individual is frustrated if she sees herself in the mirror as
an unattractive or unappealing person. The person wants to have a beautiful
reflection when looking at the mirror. Magazines being one image reflector
of society must project this beautiful image.
But Hall stresses that the audience is obstinate, has the ability to resist
assimilation. Just because the media present a preferred interpretation of
human events is no reason to assume that the audience will correctly take
in the offered ideology (in Griffin, 1991). Although Cosmo will reinforce
its standpoint on Filipino women to its readers, it is no guarantee that these
readers will also have this sedimented view.
What is a real Filipina, then? Based on the focus group discussion,
Filipino women are still traditional and conservative who still uphold
their traditional values and beliefs. Filipino women do not believe they
have to change themselves just so they could get men. These realities were
completely different from the projected realities in the three issues of
Cosmopolitan magazine considered in this study.The portrayals only endorsed
the Philippine patriarchal system, making the magazine a preserver of the
status quo, and a muter of Filipino women, in general.

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 Filipino Women on the Cover

References
Griffin, E. (1991). A rst look at communication theory. USA: McGraw-Hill.
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Jenkins, H. (2000). Reception theory and audience research: The mystery of the
vampires kiss. Retrieved September 26, 2006 http://web.mit.edu/cms/
people/henry3/vampkiss.html
Littlejohn, S. (1999). Theories of human communication (6th Ed). USA: Wadsworth.
Loevinger, L. (1996). The ambiguous mirror:The reective projective theory of broadcasting
and mass communications. Retrieved September 26, 2006, from http://learn-
gs.org/library/etc/26-3-loevinger.pdf
Mananzan, M. (1998). Challenges to the inner room: Selected essays and speeches by women
on women. Manila: Institute of Womens Studies, St. Scholasticas College.
Miller, K. (2002). Communication theories: Perspectives, processes, and contexts. Boston:
McGraw-Hill.
Nicolas, F., De Leon, J. & Luna, M.J. (Eds.). (1990). Women and media in the Asian
context: A collection of country reports and other presentations during the Asian sub-
regional conference on women and media. Quezon City: World Association for
Christian Communication.
Orbe, M. (1998). Constructing co-cultural theory: An explication of culture, power, and
communication. US: SAGE.
Radway, J. (1984). Reading the romance: Women, patriarchy, and popular literature.
Chapel Hill: University of North California Press.
Renzetti, D. (1992). Women, men, and society (2nd ed). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Schuster, C. and Van Pelt, W. Speculations: Readings in culture, identity, and values, (2nd
ed). NJ: Prentice Hall.
Stockard, J. (1992). Sex and gender in society. NJ: Prentice Hall.
Summit Media. (2006). Cosmopolitan Magazine. Retrieved October 7, 2006,
www.summitmedia.com.ph/magazines/cosmopolitan.php
Wood, J. (1997). Communication in our lives. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Young, A. (n.d.).The negative portrayal of women. Retrieved September 30, 2006,
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_____________________
This article is an excerpt of the 1st Communication Research Colloquiums Best Thesis
held in March 2007 at Far Eastern Universitys Department of Communication.
Gino Go (magna cum laude) is currently a domestic flight attendant of the Philippine
Airlines. He was an exchange student in Zhejiang Gongshang University, China
in 2006 together with Jellyn Maxion who is now based in the United States.
Joanna Sy and Edlenn Racoma are now working in a call center company.

79
Wives Voices: The Social
Construction of Wifehood
among Selected Muslim
and Christian Wives in Quiapo,
Manila

Reggy C. FIGER and Ruly Lee B. CAGADAS

This interpersonal communication study probes on how Muslim and Christian wives
create, express, interpret, and negotiate their communicative interactions with their
husbands. It looks at how these wives came to construct the concept of being a wife
and how they felt it changed their lives. Grounded on Symbolic Interactionism, Social
Construction Theory, and Hermeneutics, the study reveals that Muslim and Christian
wives have various aspects of convergence using verbal communication, concept and
understanding of their roles as wives, and attitude towards and management of conict.
Husbands and wives dene their power positions in marital partnerships through
interaction and communication. Thus, a wife who negotiates gets more inuences,
although the issue of religion still dominates connubial affairs.

GENDER, today, is an issue that constantly comes to the fore between the
conflict of Muslims and Catholics. The dialectic does not rest on religious
wars or ideological conflicts between Muslims and Catholics. It centers on
politics of the home that cuts across both religions.
While society has changed and traditional gender roles have been
challenged, particularly in the West, questions concerning the role of
Muslim and Catholic women are being articulated as never before. In other

COMMUNICATION JOURNAL 2007: 80-97

 Wives Voices

words, much controversy is usually attached to discussions on the role and

status of women. In many societies, these controversies are due to the belief
that womens roles appear to be determined mainly by their biological and
physical characteristics.
Undeniably, men and women are biologically different (Knox &
Schacht, 2002). However, each has abilities that may not necessarily be
associated with being a man or being a woman; hence, gender should not
limit expressions of personality.
Social roles assigned to women and men can be described as the
private/domestic sphere (otherwise called the world of women) or
the public sphere (the world of men) (Stinnett, 1991). Private sphere
constitutes nurturing (mothering) roles, including childbearing and its
attendant activities like child rearing and care and management of the family
and the home. Public sphere embraces activities in the economic, political,
social, and other extra-familial areas (Illo and Palo, 1993).
These roles are greatly influenced by patriarchal assumptions and
attitudes that are deeply entrenched and universally present in both Muslim
and Catholic societies. Thus, notions of being female or male become more
a function of culture and religion than of biology.
With the onslaught of ceaseless changes in the society and the world
at large, in the course of innovation and newfangled ideas, womens and
gays demand for equal rights and recognition, society needs to reconsider
thoughtfully the role of women as wives for a more meaningful and
purposeful co-existence between sexes.
Thus, the role of Muslim and Catholic women as wives is given
prominence. Using Hermeneutics, Symbolic Interactionism, and Social
Construction of Reality as theoretical bases, this article probes how wives
create, express, interpret, and negotiate communicative interactions with
their husbands. It looks at how these wives came to construct the concept of
being wife and how they felt their wifehood has changed them. The study
explores the different meanings that wives have created and the rewards
and costs of being married that they have experienced. It also analyzes the
impact of wifehood on womens identities.
This study had idiographic1 and phenomenological2 methods in
data construction and analyses. It used naturalistic inquiry, employing a
combination of focus group discussion of Christian wives and Muslim wives,
focus interviews with religious leaders (one Christian and one Muslim), and

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Figer & Cagadas

face-to-face interviews with husbands.

Wifehood is often presumed as largely personal and private; hence,
the researchers accepted the fact that there is no single meaning or given
experience of being a wife. However, the researchers noted the trends
in conceptualizing the meaning of wifehood and wives communication
patterns. Given the researchs qualitative nature, purposely sampling
(Patton, 1990) was used to select as participants for this study ten working
wives in Quiapo, Manila, 24 to 30 years old, in their first to second years
of marriage, with a college degree, and with wifehood as their primary
responsibility as they have no offspring yet.
Quiapo district is in the heart of Manila.The vicinity suggests religious
freedom in the country since the place is known not only for Quiapo Church,
which has an annual procession of the Black Nazarene participated by tens
of thousands of devotees, but also for its Muslim mosque. Theres a Muslim
community in Quiapo. There are other Christian and non-Christian sects
that have their little worshipping places in Quiapo or meet in some parts of
Quiapo regularly at a certain time of the year. The place, therefore, presents
a continuum of faith among Filipinos. Its being a melting pot of religious
affiliations and a complete juncture of different convictions prompted the
researchers in choosing Quiapo as their studys site. Among the different
religious organizations, Catholic Womens League (CWL) and Muslim
Womens League (MWL) were identified as groups for units of analyses.
The social construction of these two groups in Quiapo on wifehood
is an important step forward since there has been no study yet on the topic.
The few published materials about it that exist are mostly feature articles
and personal essays. Therefore, the move to allot research time and space to
understand the concept of wifehood is indispensable and substantive.
How do wives of Catholic Womens League and Muslim Womens
League in Quiapo reconstruct and understand the concept of being a wife?
What communication patterns do these wives employ to better their marital
relationships?

Reconstructing and Understanding the Concept of Wifehood

Symbolic Interactionism, Social Construction of Reality, and

Hermeneutics comprised the theoretical foundation of this article.
In Symbolic Interactionism, social members identify the concept of the

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constructed wife based on symbols that bear meanings in communication,

interpretation, and experience along with their understanding of interactive
accounts. George Herbert Mead expounded the theorys three cardinal
conceptsthe society, the self, and the mind (Littlejohn, 1999). Society,
or group life, consists of the cooperative behaviors of societys members.
Human cooperation requires that an individual understands others
intentions, which also entails figuring out their actions in the future. Thus,
cooperation consists of reading other peoples actions and intentions and
responding appropriately (Littlejohn, 1999).
Meaning is an important outcome of communication. Concepts of
things and events are the result of interaction. Further, people use meanings
when they interpret the events that happen around them. Interpretation is
like an internal conversation: The actor selects, checks, suspends, regroups,
and transforms the meanings in the light of the situation in which he is placed
and the direction of his actions (Littlejohn, 1999).
People have a Self because they can respond to themselves as an
object. They sometimes react favorably to themselves and feel pride,
happiness, and encouragement. They sometimes become angry or disgusted
with themselves. The primary way to have an understanding of people is
through role-taking or assuming the perspective of others or generalized
other, which would then lead to ones self-concept (Littlejohn, 1999).
The Mind is not a thing, but a process, a reaction, and an ability
that develops along with the self that is crucial to human life for it is part of
every act. Minding involves hesitating (postponing overt action while one
is interpreting the situation). Here, one thinks the situation through and
plans future actions. One imagines various outcomes and selects possible
alternatives.
The meaning of a phenomenon, therefore, is not intrinsic to the
phenomenon itself; rather, it is more of an agreement among actors in the
social world made possible via communication.
This social world or system that shapes how communication or
interaction transpires is succinctly explained in the Social Construction
of Reality. Constructs of wifehood are, thus, shaped by social systems and
realities.
Gerber and Luckmann (1967) defined reality as the quality
appertaining to phenomenon that we recognize as a being independent
of our own volition. Reality is the order of things that is set before us.

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Consequently, other people also treat everyday life as real. In fact, one
cannot exist in the everyday life without continually interacting and
communicating with others (Berger, 1967).
Berger and Luckmann (1967) held that reality is humanly produced
and constructed. But when realities have solidified in the social system, we
cannot easily recognize that they are human-made. People look at them
as natural and given, which are accepted as logical. Constructing realities
happens because people need to explain and justify social phenomena.
According to Gronbeck (1988), social construction of reality does not
only intend to rationalize the power of culture, but more on the mechanisms
of such power such as the processes of objectivation, institutionalization,
reification, legitimation, internationalization, and dialectic between self and
society.
Objectivation is the process by which external products of human
activity attain the character of objectivity (Berger, 1967). This is the period
when ideas gain autonomy and are no longer attributed to the persons or
party where they originate. Ideas, then, become an accepted reality, a social
fact, or simply, a commonsense.
Institutionalization occurs out of habitual actions. Berger and
Luckmann (1967) qualify that in order for an action to be institutionalized,
it must have existed for a long period of time. They also note that once
crystallized, institutions tend to become coercive to realities that impose
control over people.
Reification is the process by which people treat the ideas as tangible.
On the other hand, legitimation is the way people justify the ideas as correct
and practical.
Internalization is the phase in which human beings take realities as
their own when these realities become part of their consciousness. It is the
time when people practically breathe the ideas and feel that they may not
be able to survive in the social world without them.
Finally, when the social system and meaning-making process are in
place, the dialectic between the self and society occurs when an individual
ascribes a particular meaning to a social phenomenon through the use of
language. Hermeneutics, thus, elucidates how words and language have a
bearing on how people perceive the world. It is in language that all things
come into reality.
Martin Heidegger (in Littlejohn, 1999) believe that the reality of

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something is not known by careful analysis or reduction but by natural

experience, which is created by the use of language in everyday life. Reality
is what is experienced through the natural use of language. Crabtree and
Miller (1992: 17) elaborated this perspective through five suppositions of
the Grounded Hermeneutic Research Approach, namely:
1.) Participants are meaning-giving beings, that is, they
give meaning to their actions, and these meanings are
important in understanding human behavior;
2.) To understand human behavior, it is important to look at
everyday practices, not just beliefs about practices;
3.) The meaning-giving process is not entirely free; meanings
are made possible by background condition such as
immediate contexts, social structures, personal histories,
shared practices and language. When something wrong
or problematic arises, illuminating this background can
allow change to occur.
4.) The meaning and significance of human action is rarely
fixed, clear and unambiguous. Meanings are not limited
to pre-established categories. Meaning is negotiated
constantly in on-going interaction. Meaning changes
over time, in different contexts for different individuals;
and
5.) Interpretation is necessary to understand human
action. Truth is not determined by how closely beliefs
correspond to some fixed reality. It is never possible to
achieve, value-free position from which to evaluate the
truth of the matter.
In Hermeneutics, social members perceive what a wife is according to
their experience as they give meanings to their actions and as they understand
language and its significance to human behavior.
In essence, the meaning of wifehood is constructed and lived according
to the habitual interaction and communication of wives with their husbands
and with other members of the society who have expectations on how they
should perform their roles as wives.While a wife has the capacity to negotiate
roles during personal and natural experiences of wifehood, her interaction
or communication with others that leads to understanding of self as wife is
shaped by deeply embedded social prescriptions on her behavior as wife.

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Wife in Patriarchy

In the Philippine patriarchal society, roles of husband and wife are

clearly differentiated. The man holds the dominant position: the head,
breadwinner, and decision-maker. The wife, or mother, plays a supportive
role as nurturer or home manager.
Filipinos have accepted this kind of setup because they believe in the
theory of biological determinism; for example, that women, being child
bearers, are logically the nurturers. Thus, their functions are to stay at home
and take care of children. This thinking has been set in the consciousness
of Filipinos and reinforced by various institutions like the church, school,
education, media, among others. Sevilles (1989: 36) The Filipino Women and
the Family, agreed to this. To strengthen her claim she cited the research of
De Jesus in 1976 that revealed, unmarried college students of both sexes
perceive child rearing and housekeeping as the wifes major responsibilities.
She also mentioned Guerreros research in 1965 that stated, Even where
wives seek employment outside the home, this situation is perceived by
husbands and wives themselves to be mainly a result of economic pressures,
the ideal being for the wife to stay at home. In essence, Seville (1989)
showed that Filipino women get satisfaction in performing household chores
and in caring for their children and husbands.
Medinas (1991) study, on the other hand, underscored that women
who help their husbands earn a living had to adjust their schedule or wake
up earlier in order to perform their responsibilities in the house. They could
not, or would not, expect their husbands to help them on a regular basis
because household tasks are identified as womens work.

Womans Role According to the Bible and Quran

The Bible mentions that God, after creating Adam presented him with
all the creatures in Eden. We are told that He asked him to name them and
that Adam did but among all creatures there was none like him. He was
saddened by this reality. This prompted God to give him the most beautiful
gift: Eve. The role of women came subsequently as a fulfillment of a deep-
seated, existential necessity for man. This then has become the function of
woman: to complete man, walk with, and cling to him to the end.
The Bible also orders women to obey their husbands and to submit

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to them in an honorable manner, making reference to and recalling those

godly women of old who had obeyed their men with all dignity and honor.
Apostle Peter spoke:
Wives, in the same way, be submissive to your husbands
so that if any of them do not believe the word, they maybe
won over without talk by behavior of their wives, when
they see the purity and the reverence of your lives. Your
beauty should not come from outward adornment, such
as braided hair and wearing of gold jewelry, fine clothes.
Instead, it should be that of your inner self; the unfading
beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth
in Gods sight. For this is the way the holy women of the
past who put their hope in God used to make themselves
beautiful. They were submissive to their husbands, like
Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master
(I Peter 3:1).
Among Muslims, the Quran is the primary source of laws in Islam.
Riff at Hassan (2007), in her book After Patriarchy the Muslim and Post Patriarchal
Islam: In Summation wrote:
While the Quran does not discriminate against women,
the cumulative cultural biases that existed in the Arab-
Islamic culture of the early centuries of Islam infiltrated
the Islamic tradition and undermined the intent of
Quran to liberate women from the status of chattel or
inferior creatures and make them free and equal to men.
Not only does the Quran emphasize that righteousness
is identical in the case of men and women, but it affirms,
clearly and constantly, womens equality with men.
However, this kind of views was not in any way congruent to Muslim
theologian Al Hakims conception of wifehood. In Islam, the Quran allows
a Muslim to marry four wives. However, if he believes he cannot treat these
wives equally then he is recommended to marry only one. The actual text
reads: If you fear that you will not act justly towards the orphans, marry
such woman as seem good to you, two, three, four; but if you fear you
will not be equitable, then only one, or what your right hand owns; so it is
likelier you will not be partial (Surah An-Nisa (4:3)).

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Results of the Study

Womens Interpersonal Communication Styles at Home

Communication is the process by which one understands others

and in turn seeks to be understood by them. It is two people contacting
each other, a communion, and union of thoughts, feelings and meanings
(Swear, 1985). This is, perhaps, the ultimate goal of communication within
an intimate relationship for true communication includes mutual trust,
respect, understanding, and empathy. Communication in families involves
sharing and companionship, everyday and in many ways.
Communication includes both verbal and nonverbal cues used by
individuals in giving and receiving messages. People communicate not only
via spoken words (verbal) but also by the spirit, attitude, and intention
underlying the literal content of the message being sent. Feelings are more
clearly revealed by the tone of voice and facial expressions that accompany
the message than by verbatim content of the message only.
In this study, majority of the Catholic wives agreed that communication
is really vital for the success of the marriage. The finding corresponds
Swihartss (1985) point that communication is an essential component for
the success of the marriage. As one participant said:
Communication is very important in our family because
it binds people and bridges gaps among family members.
It gives us (wife and husband) the opportunity to express
our feelings and emotions (Aurora, August 23, 2004).
The responses revealed that verbal communication was mostly used.
They believed it is important that wives verbalize or put into words their
sentiments or thoughts to their husbands. Nonverbal communication like
facial expressions, gestures or hand movements only aided or reinforced the
spoken language, not the primary language for communication.
I usually say my thoughts to my husband. I discuss things
with him. I am very expressive. I talk it out with him
because I dont want misunderstanding (May, August 23,
2004).
I still believe that nothing beats verbal communication.
With verbal, you can explain your intended information
to the maximum without fear of being misinterpreted

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of course, nonverbal communication accompanies it, but

is only supplemental (Lala, August 23, 2004).
Oo naman. Usap talaga ang ginawa ko. Ayoko ng nonverbal.
Gusto ko talaga sinasabi ko para clear sa amin talaga. (Yeah, I
really talk, thats what I do. I dont like nonverbal. I want
that I say it so that everything is clear.) (Edith, August 23,
2004).
Despite the fact that verbal communication is the usual mode for
interaction, Catholic wives are still bounded by indirect communication.
Mary, for example, said that it is still best that we shun away from direct
communication because this somehow violates countless cultural and
religious norms that cause both the sender and the receiver of the message
to lose face.
Father June Crisostomo of the Catholic Church substantiated this. He
said that Catholic women in general are still very ashamed in voicing out
their opinions. Surely things have changed but there is still that dalagang
Pilipina (conservative) attitude of our new wives today. He, however,
emphasized that compared to the mothers of these wives, wives now are
more liberal but still conservative in a way. He attributed to media the
change in the perspective of wives today.
Rommel, husband of Edith, one of the participants, had the same
point of view:
My wife is an intelligent woman. Wala akong masabi.
Sinasabi nya sa akin ang mga gusto nya. And to a certain
degree, gusto ko ng ganung setup na open siya sa akin. Pero
pag alam niya na medyo masasaktan ako, di na niya sasabihin
sa akin. (She says whatever she wants to say. And to a
certain degree, I like that set-up that she is open. But
if she thinks that I will get hurt she rather keeps silent
about it.) (August, 30, 2004).
Rommel also added that sometimes he gets shock because his wife is
very vocal unlike his mother who has always been sunud-sunuran (just follows
everything) to his father.
In terms of the language used, Filipino and Taglish (mixed English and
Tagalog within a sentence) were the usual languages used at home. They
believed that by using this language their husbands would easily understand

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them. Lala (August 23, 2004), one participant said, It is like home.
Muslim wives, on the other hand, considered verbal communication
ideal at home because of the following advantages and characterizations:
a. It does not tend to express several possible meanings when one
has expressed his or her ideas truthfully and factually.
b. When emotions like disgust, anger, and discontentment are
concerned, it is much better to verbalize it. However, they
do not discount the fact that they show emotions by nonverbal
means too, before they verbally express their sentiments to their
husbands.
c. Muslim way of verbal communication is distinct because it is
characterized by loudness and pabagsak na tono (jerky pace and
sudden volume and melody drop) in speaking. Wives said if you
are not familiar with their culture, you might think that the couple
is quarrelling or arguing.
d. Wives agreed that nonverbal cues must only be used as a support
to the conveyed message. They said it must never be used as
the main communication medium between husbands and wives.
However, a wife claimed she shudders every time her husband
asks for sex because he verbalizes it. She believes it is best to
express it nonverbally.
Both Hajji and Leo, husbands, agreed that verbal communication
has distinct qualities that can be advantageous compared to nonverbal
communication. In the case of Hajji, maintaining his four wives needed
constant verbal communication with them. Although he admitted that he
too employed nonverbal communication since he also had to observe his
wives nonverbal communication. At times, using nonverbal communication
was beneficial to him since he could easily detect if there were some
misunderstanding among his wives. Leo did not have similar need because
he has only one wife.
These husbands also confirmed that using nonverbal cues, most often
than not, was misinterpreted. They believed it is always best to express
important ideas verbally.
Dapat talaga kausapin ang asawa. Mahirap na baka humantong
pa 'yan sa masama. (It is really best that you talk it out
with your wife. It might lead to something bad.) (Leo,
August 30, 2004)

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Attitudes towards and Managing Marital Conict

Muslim and Catholic wives considered marital conflicts as normal

occurrences in married life. They all agreed that conflicts are challenges
to be overcome. Wives always acknowledged the importance of bonding
with spouse as intimated by religious and social expectation. However,
addressing marital conflicts varied.
Catholic wives unanimously described the experience of their very
first marital conflict as terrible. They even wanted to just let go of the
marriage. A wife said her mother even constantly reminded her that conflict
is but part and parcel of marriage. It strengthens the bond of husband and
wife.
However, Fr. Crisostomo was a bit taken aback that Catholic wives
initial reaction was to leave their husbands. He said it should not be the
initial thinking of wives because in the Bible, the wife should stick with her
husband through thick and thin, so to speak.
The participants generally recognized the role of their husbands in
managing marital conflict. Using we or my husband and I indicated
this presence of co-responsibility in solving problems. Christian wives
were conscious not to dominate their husbands. In fact, the participants
responses suggested that both of them should equally contribute to the
exigent solutions.
One prominent factor in the management of marital problems is
timethe immediacy of finding an utmost and rational solution to avoid
complication. One participant said, one has to state the problem right
away, while another one showed urgency by, we finish things and we dont
leave problems unsettledif theres a problem, we talk about it most often
late in the evening or the next morning as early as five. Husbands and wives
must work hand in hand and recognize each others importance in managing
conflict. Fr. Crisostomo encouraged husbands and wives to get away from
pride and marital contest and remember their vows at the altar.
Muslim wives believed it is better to act on marital conflict at once.
However, they pointed out that acting on it at once does not mean you
have to act on impulse. In every conflict, one has to weigh the positive and
negative effects of the action to be undertaken.
The participants also confessed that a third party intervention was
needed. One Christian participant said that they consulted a counselor even

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during less complicated problems. Muslim wives, meanwhile, said that

seeking the help of elders is part of culture. At times, the couples problem
becomes the problem of the entire clan.
Regardless of religion and culture, all couples said they seek divine
intervention when marital challenges beset them. Participants emphasized
that in order to manage conflicts, God must be made as the center of the
relationship. Muslim wives pray to Allah for strength and perseverance.
When one has become too emotional, one participant said she would
just go to the corner in her room and cry. Others simply shrugged it off and
smiled, but they confessed they were thinking of solutions.
Most marital conflicts arise when financial status is unstable. They said
that money matters played a significant role in building a family. However,
they disclaimed it is everything.
A Muslim husband, Hajji, identified jealousy as the usual source of
marital conflicts among his four wives. Unlike Catholics, Muslim men are
culturally and legally polygamous. A wife saw polygamy as a complication
especially when the husbands finances are unstable. Another wife admitted
that it is another marital conflict she could not and would never solve.
Although she knew it is part of the culture, she said she would never adhere
to live with the second, third, and fourth wives of her husband. If ever
her husband decides to marry again, she would rather break the "ties that
bind".
Both Catholic and Muslim husbands attested that verbal communication
is the best way to settle marital problems right away. In Philippine society,
Filipino wives are not usually vocal in their emotional pains (Medina, 1991).
The present milieu gives wives and husbands the opportunity to consciously
recognize the weakening of the bond due to unresolved conflicts.

Superwoman - Wifehood as a Role, Duty, and Obligation

Inarguably, the participants are fully aware of the tasks and duties that
are expected of them by stressing: seeing to it that I attend to my husbands
needs.
Muslim and Catholic wives take their responsibilities wholeheartedly
by recognizing the ups and downs of the relationship and their limitations in
serving their husbands and future children. Essentially, this is Sevillas (1989)
finding in her work The Filipino Women and the Family. Taking the role as an

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obligation suggests conditioning of femininity and submission to and giving

importance and honor to the marriage vow even in the littlest way.
Sexual tasks, according to the participants, needed to be performed.
A wife confessed she had to suffice her husbands pent-up libido. Despite
that, she could still sense that her womanhood and body were respected.
The wives were aware of the possibility of their husbands' involvement with
sex workers to feed their fantasies; thus, given the strong chance to prevent
this from happening, they said they are willing to perform sexual acts even
if he does not ask for it. A Muslim wife emphasized, that in her tribe in
Maguindanao, a wife must be at home all the time to satisfy her husbands
needs food, household chores, and as a bed partner. She must be a full-
time wife.
Husbands also easily accepted that their wives were very admirable
for taking on their new tasks and responsibilities as wives. They said that
their wives are like superwomen because they managed to balance time for
them and work. Husbands appreciated the effort of their wives in taking
good care of household chores and at the same time pampering them with
love and care.
While Catholic wives considered their wifehood as multi-tasking,
Muslim wives looked at it as a full-time commitment. This picture of a
Filipino wife leans on the opposites of the continuum constructed by social
contextthe Catholic wives identify their wifehood as just one of the
many roles they perform as a woman while the Muslim wives take it as the
entirety of their womanhood. One Muslim wife declared, malaking bagay
ang pagsunod sa lalaki (It is a big thing to follow the husband) since by doing
so, the wife is filling in pride to her husbands ego.
Muslim husbands interviewed in this study commended their wives
roles. However, Hajjis case was again different. He decided, on a rotation
basis, what tasks and responsibilities his four wives should accomplish to
avoid showing favoritism. Hajji scheduled his wives according to who should
attend his needs ranging from food to eat, clothes to wear, and even his
partner in bed for the night.

On Decision-Making

It is evident in the responses of Muslim and Christian wives that

they have high regard for their husbands in decision-making at home. They

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usually assist or support whatever their husbands decision because as one

participant elucidated, men think rationally while women are very emotional
and oftentimes, biased.
However, Catholic women did not disregard their decision-making
roles at home. Despite the fact that they just supported their husbands in
decision-making, they too have a say when their husbands called for it.
They could also speak up and articulate their ideas and feelings especially
if they think they are more knowledgeable about the topic or issue being
decided on. Catholic wives admitted that even if they have a fifty percent
contribution to the decisions, the husband still had the last say.
Muslim wives, on the other hand, except for one participant,
admitted they are very submissive to their husbands to the point they
describe their submission as under his cloak. (During data gathering, the
researchers observed that Muslim wives asked permission first from their
husbands before the researchers were able to interview them. Some wives
refused interview because their husbands did not allow them. Those wives
interviewed were seated beside their husbands.)
The practice, according to Fr. Crisostomo, could be attributed to
the patriarchal society and the teachings of religion. Muslim husbands
considered themselves as the strongest member in the household and this
practice boosts his being a man and role as head of the family.

Conclusion

Just like any relationship, married couples face inevitable conflicts,

which have to be resolved before these become irreparable or irreconcilable.
Verbal communication is the preferred way of settling the marital problem
because it has the capacity to clarify the bottleneck, the gray areas, or the
bones of contention between the husband and wife.
The pursuit of maintaining the relationship is a mutual commitment
between the husband and wife. However, this responsibility is primarily
assumed by the wife. Wives sacrifice more than the husbands. For example,
wives choose to be silent, watch their language, or refrain from becoming
more vocal despite the emotional baggage to prevent any offense to the
husbands ego. Wives yield to avoid disagreements with their spouses. They
find satisfaction or happiness by fulfilling the needs of their husbands.
It is evident that Muslim and Catholic wives have many commonalities:

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the primary use of verbal communication, their understanding of their roles

as wives, their attitude towards conflict, and how they manage it. The only
divergent view is how the wives make decisions. Catholic wives are given
more participation in taking part of the decision-making. The decision of
Muslim wives, on the other hand, is always dependent on their husbands.
This only shows that Muslim culture puts men, in general, on a high
pedestal. It also validates that Muslim women are second-class citizen in
their setup.
Husbands and wives define their power positions in marital partnerships
through interaction and communication. Although as wives they sometimes
feel the power to resist autocratic husband domination, the way they are
socially constructed is so ingrained in their social fabric that they can hardly
consider themselves as independent. Habitually allowing their husbands to
dominate them has become part of the wives consciousness, which has
become second nature to them. The dominance of Muslim husbands is so
deeply institutionalized, legitimated, and unquestioningly internalized that
it has defined the self-concept of wives and the mould that society wants
women to tailor-fit their actions and thoughts in.
According to the key informants, the idea and practice of wifehood
is largely influenced by both Catholic teachings in the Bible and Muslim
teachings in the Quran. These religious texts place women next to men,
indicating women as someone to serve and assist men. Given the almost
selfless service rendered by the wives to their husbands, the most important
affirmation made by the husbands is their appreciation of their wives as
superwomen. Inarguably, the selected Catholic and Muslim wives in
Quiapo, Manila rightly deserve the commendation.

Notes

1
Alan Bryman (1992) defines idiographic research as those research conducted in a
specific milieuwhere representativeness is unknown and probably unknowable,
so that the generalizability of such findings is also unknown.
2
James Anderson (1987) defines phenomenology as the study of the manner
in which experience is made meaningful within the mind. Phenomenological
methods are processes that deal with the social construction of reality as based on
the individual or collective definitions of the situation.

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_____________________
Reggy C. Figer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication,
FEU. He obtained his BA (cum laude) and MA in Communication Research from
the University of the Philippines, Diliman. He is at present a Monbukagakusho
Research Fellow at the University of Tsukuba, Japan.

Ruly B. Cagadas is currently the Chair of the Arts and Communication

Department, FEATI University. He finished his AB and MA in Communication
(with high distinction) at FEU. His years of teaching in the academe are coupled
with invaluable experience in broadcasting writing, producing, and directing
dramatic and non-dramatic programs for MIT Radio and Television Network in
Ozamiz City. He is pursuing his doctoral studies in Communication at the College
of Mass Communication in UP Diliman.

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Feminizing Television
Programming

Jaypril B. JARING

This paper reports about nine programs on women featured on QTV 11, the only
channel on the free TV networks in the Philippines that devotes itself mainly to
programs primarily for women. Using George Gerbners Cultivation theory, the review
looks at how the network seeks to contribute to women empowerment by presenting
positive portrayals of them. This prevailing type of programs in a powerful medium
like television gives QTV the leverage to assume the social responsibility of promoting
and protecting womens welfare.

PHILIPPINE television is several decades old. However, for many years, no

network bothered to devote itself primarily to womens concern despite
the fact that women are household decision makers and the value-shapers at
home. Two years ago, though, GMA Network1 decided to operate another
network and target its programming mainly to women. It was named QTV
11.
The network is actually not new, it used to be known as ZOE 112 which
showed mostly religious programs on a very limited airtime. Its franchise
remains to be owned by two religious groups. GMA Network though is fully
in charge of QTVs programming and operations. The franchise-owning
religious organizations maintain very late night programs on the network
on certain days. QTV 11 has been serving as the extension of entertainment
and information platform of GMA 7.
While giant networks cater to the entire family, GMA 7 media
researchers found out that more females watch television (Santiago-Lara,
personal communication, October 16, 2007); hence, QTV 11 decided to

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 Feminizing Television Programming

target women as primary audience. Moreover, GMA 7 has an agreement

with ZOE Broadcasting Corporation, that it would not air advertisements
on cigarette and liquor. Men are the usual consumers of these products and
by banning their advertisements, women, who will less likely consume these
products, become the fitting primary audience (Santiago-Lara).
Since its first broadcast on November 11, 2005 QTV has been airing
self-produced and syndicated programs of different genres. It has given
its target competitors a good fight in ratings. According to AGB Nielsen
Philippines3, in 2006, QTV landed in the number three spot next to GMA 7
and ABS-CBN 24 in 2006. It gained a few good points ahead of ABC 55 which
took the fourth spot, while Studio 236 and RPN 97 took the fifth and sixth
place, respectively.
Sound media business, however, can be realized and sustained only
with strategic planning especially in the television industry that is already
cluttered with so many programs. QTV has to create its niche or marketable
identity in order to survive. The network is into feminized programming.

Feminized Programming

Feminized programming is beyond having female hosts. It requires

texts that represent the various significant roles of women, not the negative
stereotype as passive sex objects. It intends to engender recognition,
understanding, and respect for womanhood, womens achievements, and
womens rights. The practical aspect
or the programs capacity to actually
touch the lives of women in real life
and, hopefully even men, is imperative
in order to transcend the principle
level of female empowerment. The
networks programming thrust covers
the following:

Motherhood

The significance of women as mothers is

one advocacy of QTV 11. This is reflected in
the programs Moms (Mondays to Fridays, 5:30 to

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Jaring

6:30pm), Sanay Muling Makapiling (Reunions) (Tuesdays, 10pm to 11pm),

and the upcoming program, One Proud Mama.
Hosted by mothers themselves (Lani Mercado, Sherilyn Reyes and
Manilyn Reynes), Moms discusses parenting, relationship with husband and
in-laws, budgeting, household, and others. Female viewers mothers and
the soon-to-be can relate to the experiences of the talk show hosts and
guests. The show reminds viewers of the challenges to mothers as nurturers
of the family. Taking care of children and husband in a traditional family is
generally accepted as a difficult task. The programs pieces of advice and
discussions, thus, can guide women in fulfilling this social role.
Sanay Muling Makapiling, hosted by Jessica Soho, a multi-awarded
journalist and current vice president for News and Public Affairs of GMA
7, aims to strengthen the affectionate nature of women (Eisenstein, 1983)
and the value of the family. The program reunites family members who
have been physically separated from each other. Its video footages present a
paradoxthe pain of separation and the happiness of reunion. It highlights
the priority of women in general and mothers in particular: Keeping the
family intact. Bulatao (in Aleta & Eleazar, 1977) stresses that, women are
highly valued for their qualities as mothers and housekeepers. They are the
ones primarily expected to keep the family close together Preserving the
family, whether a socialized role or an instinctive calling, is an indispensable
function of women in our society. For without women as mothers to raise
families, no citizens will build the society.
In February 2008, the networks thrust of praising mothers continues.
One Proud Mama, to be hosted by Jaya, known as the countrys Soul Diva,
will feature mothers who act as the wind beneath the wings of successful
celebrities. It will tackle how mothers have influenced the lives of men
and women in their pursuit of success and how mothers find fulfillment in
witnessing the glories of their own sons and daughters. This forthcoming
program again demonstrates the input of
women, mothers in particular, to our lives.

Tough Achievers

Women as achievers in their respective

fields complement the programs that center
on motherhood. Proudly Filipina (Thursdays,

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8:30 9:30pm), hosted by Daphne

Osea-Paez, is a profile show of
successful Filipino women where they
share their success stories to inspire
viewers. The program also highlights
how they hurdled the hardships on
their way to the top. Featured women
included Loren Legarda (a senator),
Liza Macuja-Elizalde (prima ballerina),
Christine Jacob (first Filipina who
won in the Olympic Games), Regine
Velasquez (Asias Songbird), Sari Yap
(Publisher of Mega magazine), Darlene
Antonino-Custodio (one of the youngest
representatives in the Philippine House
of Congress), Pilita Corales (Asias
Queen of Songs), to name a few.
Proudly Filipina shows how Filipino women have expanded their
traditional roles. Sen. Loren Legarda and Representative Darlene Custodio,
for example, have attested that politics is not only a male domain. They
are exemplars of women who excelled in their chosen fields amid many
challenges and, thus, be worthy of emulation.
Their success stories are not without regard for their families. Most
of them expressed delight in looking after their families. Anna Bayle, first
Filipina Supermodel, for example, said, Love is not about having someone
to love, but having someone to love you, referring to the joy of having her
child (September 6, 2007 episode).
Achieving success requires sacrifices. Love Life (Fridays, 10 11pm)
is a defunct program hosted by Love Aover who, in the show, personified
toughness and sacrifice for doing different types of jobs and taking on varying
lifestyles. For a day, Aover became a laundry woman, cook, entertainer,
gymnast, beautician, household help, traffic enforcer, driver, heavy machine
operator, to mention some. The show, in this sense, created an image of a
resourceful, courageous woman who tried unfamiliar things; someone who
forced herself to acquire the needed job competence in order to complete
the task even if it entailed changing her lifestyle. The hosts flexibility is a
form of toughness and achievement just like how women in real life tend to

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Jaring

assume various responsibilities just so the familys needs are met.

The challenges of nurturing a family are also demonstrated in the
reality game show Last Woman Standing (Fridays, 8:30 pm 9:30 pm). It
challenges the patience of 12 women to literally stand up for their dream
condominium unit. They have limited number of sleep hours, rest, and
bathroom time, but are expected to accomplish the games or tasks while
standing.
Women in this program are presented as tough and determined. In
a country where owning a house becomes more and more expensive, the
prize is worth the hardship. But why are women the participants of the
show? This is where QTVs slant in programming is articulated.The program
implicitly links the nurturing role of women and the tough challenge of
building a family. The female participants compete for the condo unit or
house because it gives them the opportunity to jumpstart the role as
nurturer of the family by having its symbolthe house. The reality shows
tests resemble the hardships of home management and care.

Women as Fighter

Despite their essential role in

society, violence against women (VAW)
in the Philippines still persists. The
Philippine National Police reported that
cases of VAW from January to October
2007 reached 4,687 while in 2006, a total
of 5,758 cases were reported (National
Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, 2007). According to Monares
(in Ofreneo et al, 1996), the definition of violence against women includes
all forms of violence inflicted on women on account of their gender. In the
broadest sense, VAW is any violation of a womans personhood, mental and
physical integrity or freedom of movement (141).
QTV 11 helps respond to this problem through Womens Desk
(Thursdays, 10 11pm ). It is the only television public affairs program
that addresses the cruelty and abuse to women and children. It also informs
women of their privileges and rights. Hosted by Rhea Santos, the program
coordinates with social welfare groups and the police to assist their case
studies in attaining justice. As of December 2007, according to Margery

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Carino, the shows production administrator, Womens Desk has rescued

more than 320 women and children from the abuse of husbands or fathers
(personal communication, December 20, 2007).
Undoubtedly, the program has a social value.That it saves women from
further abuse demonstrates its advocacy of respect for women. Moreover,
the show fulfills a proactive role by educating viewers about their rights so
that the same violation of womanhood can be prevented.

Feminisms Next Step

The programs on motherhood, women achievers, and womens

rights tend to veer away from the feminist perspective that the biological
characteristics of women cause their subjugation (Elizabeth Janeway in
Eisenstein, 1983). Instead, they support what Betty Friedan (1983) considers
as Feminisms Next Step where the true potential of womens power
can be realized only by transcending the false polarization between feminism
and the family. It is an abstract polarization that does not exist in real life
(594). Among the women interviewed in the United States in a poll, no one
answered that the individuality of a woman has to be separated from the
family. Instead, they stressed that the individual needs of mothers as a person
are not incongruous with the familys needs. In fact, they are reconcilable
(Friedan, 1983). Further, according to Friedan,
All the women believed in equality and all of them
believed in the familyfrom the same or converging
needs for security, identity, and some control over
their lives. Whether or not they supported a particular
issue depended on how they perceived its affecting
them. No appeal would be acceptable, even to the
most individualistic, if it denied or conflicted with their
commitment to the family, which they all shared (596).
Relating these feminized programs to the family is very essential. The
society and its complex systems are reproduced because of women who
sustain the family where children learn how to become men and women and
women learn how to become mothers (Eisenstein, 1983). The programs,
therefore, serve as the bridge of successful women in their individual fields
while at the same time they extol the importance of the family and the
committed women who keep it intact.

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Jaring

Role of Television in Womens Empowerment

George Gerbner (in Baran and Davis, 1995) believed that television
cultivates or creates a worldview that, although possibly inaccurate,
becomes the reality simply because we, as a people, believe it to be the reality
and base our judgments about our own, everyday worlds on that reality.
Being accessible and available in most homes, the medium is the central
cultural arm (304). Television has a great ability to mold viewers attitudes
and opinions. Thus, whatever TV portrays highly affects the perception of
social reality.
Through mainstreaming and resonance, the cultivation of a social
reality is realized. As Baran and Davis put it:
Televisions symbols monopolize and dominate other
sources of information and ideas about the world. Peoples
internalized social realities eventually move toward the
mainstream, not mainstream in any political sense, but
a culturally dominant reality that is more closely aligned
with televisions reality than with any objective reality
(308-309).
Constant exposure to these feminized television programs via
the mainstream media gives viewers dominant, common perspectives or
portrayals of women, which condition them to believe that these actually exist
in real life.Through resonance the belief is deeply embedded when viewers
see that the television text is also most congruent with their own everyday
realities (309). Resonance serves as intensifier of the images and facts that
viewers learn by watching television. As a result, real world experiences,
combined with the TV texts, create a perception of the world.
In essence, television has the power to strengthen and create a common
belief by instilling and confirming current beliefs of people while changing
and modifying previous thoughts about the world.
The feminization process is further cultivated by what feminists
call consciousness raising (CR). Consciousness-raising was a means
of sharing reliable information about the female experienceraising or
bringing up into consciousness things previously known or understood
only at an unconscious level (Eisenstein, 1983). This process is a way to
relate the female world to others, clarify details, and create a sense of reality
about them. A crucial function of CR was to enable women to connect

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the personal with the political (37). Female experiences, once shared,
transform to a common idea or belief that leads to understanding a social
reality about them.
Through this, women can find strength. The heart of CR was the
discovery that one was not alone, that other women had comparable feelings
and experiences (37). No other person can share a womans sense of reality
than woman alone. This reality can be deepened if women are seen and
portrayed through them and amplified through the power of television.
Cultivating through television the process of consciousness-raising
through its feminized programs serves as a forum to emphasize gradients
of womens identities and strengths, which in effect can enhance female
viewers consciousness. The programs can also provide women with more
positive perceptions about themselves. The programs make women aware
that womens needs and concerns have to be recognized, appreciated, and
comprehended. QTVs programming also ennobles a particular womans
role that is so important in todays pluralistic society where advocacies on
multi-perspectives are in voguemothers. Subsequently, as the other half
of the world, they are empowered.
The coming of QTV has crafted a significant mark of and for women
in television. It has promoted the vital discourse on social issues that concern
women via mainstream television. As Gigi Santiago-Lara articulated, Our
thrust is to provide entertainment and information about women. We try
to provide inspiration to our viewers and make them feel the importance
of women that everythings possible for women to accomplish, that women
should be treated with respect and dignity.

Notes

1
GMA 7 claims to be the leading broadcast company in the Philippines. For
company profile, visit http://www.igma.tv.corp_about.php
2
The original license holder of Channel 11. It is co-owned by religious groups
Jesus is Lord Movement and El Shaddai before GMA-7 provided the programs.
3
ABS-CBN Channel 2 is the first Filipino channel owned by the Lopez Group of
Companies. ABS-CBN is the largest integrated media and entertainment company
in the Philippines with an asset base of Php24 billion (USD503 million) (ABS-
CBN Website).
4
RPN 9 or Radio Philippines Network is a semiprivate broadcasting network.
5
ABC 5 is owned by businessman Antonio Cojuangco. It is the third oldest network

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in the country.
6
Studio 23 is a UHF channel, fully-owned subsidiary of ABS-CBN.
7
Please see http://aysstarpower.blogspot.com/2005/11/qtv-11-is-new-
preferred-alternative.html
8
Title cards courtesy of Ms. Jehan Sualog, production administrator of QTV 11.

References

Baran, J. & Davis, D. (1995). Mass communication theory: Foundations, ferment, and
future. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Eisenstein, H. (1983). Contemporary feminist thought. Boston: G.K. Hall and
Company.
Friedan, B. (1983). Feminisms next step. In P. Eschholz & A. Rosa (Eds.), Outlooks
and insights: A reader for writers. New York: St. Martins Press.
Jaring, J. (2007). Kwento natin to: A study on the advent of QTV11 in
Philippine television industry. Unpublished thesis, FEU Department of
Communication.
National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women. (2007). Violence Against
Women. Retrieved December 8, 2007, from http://www.ncrfw.gov.ph/
insidepages/18_day_campaign/public_vs_vaw.htm.

_____________________
Jaypril B. Jaring is an AB Mass Communication graduate (magna cum laude) of
Far Eastern University last April 2007. He currently works as full-time program
researcher in different shows in the News and Public Affairs Department of GMA
Network, Inc. and QTV 11. At present, he is also a sales writer for medical
products in Increase Media Support Systems, a freelance essay writer for Writers.
ph, and contributor of academic magazines to Vibal Publishing, Inc.

106
From Page to Stage:
A Review on William
Shakespeares AsYou Like It

Joey B. TING

IN CELEBRATION of the University of the Philippines Centennial, the

duly recognized academic theater organization in Diliman, Dulaang UP,
presented in September 2007 English and Filipino versions of As You Like It
(Paano Man Ang Ibig), a romantic comedy written by the eminent playwright
of the Elizabethan stage, William Shakespeare. The Filipino version was the
translation of the late National Artist for Theater and Literature Rolando
Tinio. The play was presented at the Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theater, Palma
Hall Building.
As You Like It is considered by many to be
one of Shakespeares greatest comedies, and the
heroine, Rosalind, is praised as one of his most
inspiring characters and has more lines than any
of Shakespeares female characters. Rosalind, the
daughter of a banished duke, falls in love with
Orlando, the disinherited son of one of the dukes
friends. When she is banished from the court by her
usurping uncle, Duke Frederick, Rosalind switches
gender and as Ganymede travels with her loyal
cousin Celia and the jester Touchstone to the Forest
of Arden, where her father and his friends live in
exile. Observations on life and love follow (including
Program cover of As You Like It

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Ting

love, aging, the natural world, and death), friends are made, and families
are reunited. By the plays end Ganymede, once again Rosalind, marries
her Orlando. Two other sets of lovers are also wed, one of them Celia and
Orlandos mean older brother Oliver. As Oliver becomes a gentler, kinder
young man so the Duke conveniently changes his ways and turns to religion
so that the exiled Duke, father of Rosalind, can rule once again.
At the helm of the UP production was Prof. Josefina Estrella (who
bills herself as Jose Estrella), currently the artistic director of Dulaang
UP. Estrella is an associate professor of the Department of Speech
Communication and Theater Arts, College of Arts and Letters in Diliman.
She finished her Master of Fine Arts in Directing in Columbia University as
a Fulbright scholar.
Her artistic team was composed of Dexter Santos (choreographer),
Amiel Leonardia (lighting designer), Lex Marcos (set designer), and J.Victor
Villareal (music/sound designer).
This theater review touches in part on feministic images used
by Estrella in her postmodern day interpretation of Shakespeares As You
Like It and juxtaposes the debatable issue on the representation of female
characters in Elizabethan Theater.

Estrellas Theater Elements

Set. One of the most influential elements in the history of theater

performance is the set. It functions dramatically as conveyor of images
of the physical environment and the magic it purports. In the fantastical
modes of Shakespeares setting, the set symbolizes numerous meanings and
representations. Chief among them are the forests that always transcend
the imagery of fantasy and mystery and a castle that perennially connotes
hierarchy and bureaucracy.
The set was like the work of art of Saldy Calder1 (an American artist
during the 1930s), known in the visual arts for using aerial space in his
abstract art. Marcos put hanging dried twigs and branches to perpetuate
images of the forest Arden where many significant scenes transpired. In
addition to the texture of the same scenario, a see-saw was used.
Marcos sceneries evoke intuitive feelings. The concept of balance,
geometrical shapes, imaging colors, and sculptured installations as studied
in Humanities, Physics, and Engineering were executed as one major idea

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 From Page to Stage

in the set. However, the mechanical illusions had some errors. The see-saw,
for example, did not function as intended.
Costumes.The costumes had a contemporary look, which proved the
usefulness of ready-to-wear outfits. Though the major characters costumes
were represented by color, they somehow lacked powers of solidity and
elegance.The costume statement was aesthetically weak. Even the significant
part where Rosalind (played by Nathasia Garrucha) cross-dressed did not
succeed politically. The scene called for a ritual supposedly aided by the
costumes; however, the director created a mishap. Jacques, one of the male
characters, experienced the same fate on the choice of his costume, which
was deliberately transposed into a female role-play.
It was difficult for the director and designer to achieve the costuming
and transposing of the two different genders played by one actor.
Conceptually, there was an attempt to manage with intelligence the role-
play as perceived through the directors aesthetic decision. But the costumes
were inadequate and sloppy to purport gender transposition. It could have
been better if the director and designer teamed up to achieve practical ways
for the audience to better understand the play. The wonders of the costumes
got lost in the way.
Music/Sound. Music plays a major role in any production. The
music put together by Villareal was forgettable. The music did not create
any emphatic impact on most scenes. In theater design, Villareals choice
of music was quite incompatible with Estrellas conceptual staging. This
pastoral play should focus on fundamental music and soundscape. Any
designer should ultimately aim for simplifying tests and experimentations
in music especially if it is a Shakespearean play.
With Villareals execution, an atmosphere of uncertainty was felt that
contributed several unnaturalness and irritability in the production.
Lighting. Most scenes in the play were intentionally darkened.
Lighting problem had more to do with the intensity. Romantic comedies
are always staged with a lighter design. A director may still achieve the
illusory mood effect provided by a designer, but to intensify darkness on
stage may result to eye irritation and unconscious negative reactions from
some people in the audience.
Rhythmic lighting was the loophole in the production. The intensity
was totally different from the rhythm. The scenes of the play had a struggle,
which were manifested sophomorically in the production. Leonardia,

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Ting

compared to his numerous engagements as a lighting designer, did not

succeed in this production. In effect, some choreographic movements of
Santos were a failure due to the dark lighting. Theatrical elements must
create a mis-en-scene for the stage play to succeed and lighting has a special
function as it unifies almost all elements seen on stage. Lighting destroyed
the overall technical composition of all elements of the production.
Acting. Shakespearean plays are usually an actors piece because
lines are dramatically lengthy and usually hard to deliver. The ensemble style
of acting was quite ordinary except for actresses Mailes Kanapi (Jacques)
and Dolly Gutierrez (Celia). Both created exciting, visual acting styles and
effective internal nuances. Kanapi, with her well-enunciated delivery of
words and eloquent portrayal, precisely uttered the famous monologue All
the worlds a stage, and all the men and women merely players Gutierrez
established herself as Celia effortlessly and candidly. At some point, with
her wit in understanding the essence of Shakespeares subtexts, Gutierrez
seemed to be one of the greatest actresses in Philippine contemporary
theater. Mike Manotoc (Orlando), JC Santos (Silvius), Natasha Garrucha
(Rosalind), and Mara Marasigan (Phoebe), though quite new on stage,
memorably articulated a clearer character interpretation and intention.

Feminist Images

Estrellas decision to make a woman play the role of Jacques indicates

an imagery of women power. Putting Kanapi into the role of Jacques was
dangerous but challenging. In the classic periods of Greek and Elizabethan
theatre, women were absent from the stage, an absence that has been the
object of feminist deconstructive activity (Aston, 1995: 16-17).This evolved
with Estrellas interpretation of Jacques character, which connoted a strong
female persona.
The play has similarities with the film Stage Beauty directed by Richard
Eyre and starred by Claire Danes and Billy Crudup. Set in 1660, Edward
Ned Kynaston (played by Crudup) was Englands most celebrated leading
lady as women were forbidden to appear on stage. But Charles II forbade
actors to play female roles and the prohibition ended Kynastons fateful
career on stage. He then reinvented himself by doing male roles on the
Elizabethan stage.

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 From Page to Stage

Somehow, Estrellas use of role reversal was a crucial decision that

resembled Kynastons. Decision to change is a form of empowerment on
the part of Estrella since it is a form of experimentation or thinking out of
the box that is needed in Philippine theater to induce more audience and
entertainment and to apply certain theories in performance studies. The
role reversal is also empowering and challenging because it is difficult to act
out the role of the opposite sex.
As You Like It showed the complex plot of Shakespeare. Estrella made
it more complex, if not confusing. Rosalinds change of role to Ganymede
can be considered as another image of strong feministic force, which Estrella
successfully attained due to the strong nuances of her actresses Gutierrez
(Celia) and Garrucha (Rosalind-Ganymede).
Howard (2001) in Norton Shakespeare explained that Rosalind cross-
dressed to become Ganymede whom Orlando wooed. The alias
Ganymede, however, commonly signified a young boy who was the
lover of another (usually older) manProvocatively, Shakespeare uses
Orlando and Rosalinds encounters to overlay a story of a male-female
desire with traces of another tale of a mans love for a boy (1591-1598).
This Ganymede-Orlando homoerotic relationship was given a contemporary
version through the homoerotic or lesbian movements of Celia and Rosalind.
In fact, contexts of homoerotic readings in the roles of Celia and Rosalind
were felt more than the supposedly Ganymede-Orlando tandem. It reflected
the radical feminist perspective of lesbianism.
Santoss choreographic movements, as conceptualized by Estrella,
explored the use of neck, arms, lips, hips, and legs to symbolize sensuality and
vulnerability in Celia-Rosalinds intimate relationship in the forest of Arden.
In another scene, Rosalind was almost nude while Celia seductively helped
change her identity into Ganymede using theatric dance movements.
Gutierrez (Celia) used her sensitivity perfectly as her eyes, breathing, and
hands caressed Garrucha (Rosalind) who reacted as if she had an orgasm
with a male through a dance ritual of cross-dressing.

Synthesis

Up to now, exclusion of women in the Elizabethan Theater tradition

is questionable and oppressive. Feminism is a compelling issue that theater

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Ting

historians have not resolved until now. Wilson and Goldfarb (2000: 197-
198) explained that the absence of women in Elizabethan theater has led to
interesting discussions regarding the representation of female characters.
Cross-dressing (that is, dressing as the opposite sex)which in todays
drama has become a popular way to point out sexual stereotypinghad
many reverberations in Shakespeares plays We should note that cross-
dressing in Elizabethan drama usually did dramatize negative ideas about
women.
Estrella was able to oppose the sexual stereotyping by using role
reversal and injecting homoerotic interpretations. The attempt to have a
feminist approach is a welcome development in this Elizabethan theater.
Estrella had Anne Bogart as mentor, one of the pioneers of postmodern
viewpoints in theater and whose performance theory applies specifically for
all theater artists working for a collaborative end product. As an educator-
artist, Estrella reflected Bogarts viewpoint that an actors craft lies in the
differentiation of one moment from the next. A great actor seems dangerous,
unpredictable, and full of life and differentiation. Thus, moments are highly
differentiated (in Dixon & Smith, 1995: 11).
This idea was clearly demonstrated in Estrellas AsYou Like It as veteran
Philippine actors and actresses underwent the process of disorientation,
difficulty, and terror. Bogart emphasized changes in the process and
production of a new culture in theater by shaking the culture of every
production (in Dixon & Smith, 1995: 5). Estrellas stage direction, instead
of using traditional staging, bravely attempted to rediscover the vision of
Shakespeare when he was writing romantic pastoral comedy and applied
Bogarts viewpoints. Even if weak in theatrical elements, Estrella was able to
pull through with the strong alliance of feminist actresses physical qualities
that made her staging quite interesting.
Bogarts influences on Estrella might have also created several
confusion and disorientation among fellow Filipino artists. Are Philippine
theater actors and actresses, designers, technicians, and managers ready for
this Americanized version of Russian Stanislavskis theater methodology? A
closing thought for fellow artists and scholars.

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 From Page to Stage

Notes

1
To view Saldy Calders art, visit www.chrysler.org/collections/calder.jpg

References

Aston, E. (1995). An introduction to feminism and theatre. London: Routledge.

Dixon, M. and Smith, J. (1995). Anne Bogart: Viewpoints. Lyme, NH: Smith and
Kraus, Inc.
Dulaang UP Program (2007). As you like it. Quezon City: DUP Company.
Eyre, R. (Director). (2003). Stage beauty (Motion picture). United Kingdom: Lions
Gate Film and Qwerty Films.
Howard, J. (2001). The Norton Shakespeare. New York: W.W. Norton & Company
Ltd.
Wilson, E. and Goldfarb, A. (2000). Living theater: A history. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

_____________________
Joey B. Ting is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication, Far
Eastern University (FEU). He is one of the more established theater, television,
and film directors in the country today. He obtained his BA in Theater Arts in UP
Diliman and MA in Education (with distinction) from FEU. His name is listed in the
International Movie Data Base and has represented the country in an international
arts conference at Han Nam University, Korea. He serves as Artistic Director of
FEU Art Theatre Clinique (ATC), which he founded along with student theater
artists and Communication majors in FEU. He is currently writing his thesis for his
MA in Theater Arts at UP and holds two major positions at present: FEU Faculty
Association (FEUFA) President (2008-2013) and National Commission on Culture
and the Arts (NCCA) Executive Council on Cinema Assistant Secretary (2008-
2011).

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Wind, Water, Fire:
Faces of Feminism in Kaleldo

Ingrid K. VELASQUEZ and Arby Mari B. LARAO

THIS REVIEW of Brillante Mendozas

2006 digital film, Kaleldo1 (a Pampango
term for Summer Heat) presents
images of empowered women in a
society that is replete with patriarchal
ideologies. As a form of mass media,
the film carried with it, deliberately
or unwittingly, higher expectations of
ideology in discussing the dialectics
between patriarchy and feminism.
Set in the town of Guagua in
Pampanga, Kaleldo is a story about a
family of three daughters and their
father, the woodcarver Mang Rudy
(Johnny Delgado). The daughters are:
Jesusa (portrayed by Cherry Pie Picache), the eldest; Lourdes (Angel Aquino);
and Grace (Juliana Palermo).The story dwells on women and their struggles,
loves, and the men in their lives. The film uses images of nature as symbolism
of the three: Jesusa as water, Lourdes as fire, and Grace as wind.

Two Sides of a Coin: Patriarchy and Feminism

Central to this review is the discussion of patriarchal and feminist

images in the film. Owing to centuries of mens repression of women, the

COMMUNICATION JOURNAL 2007: 114-120

 Wind, Water, Fire

first signs of women fighting for their rights brought a disturbance in the
status quo; hence, some stereotypes of feminism endure: man-hating, bra-
burning, radicals (Wood, 1997). Often, though, the images are associated
with lesbianism.
To understand where the very negative connotations of feminism came
from, it is important to understand the term vis--vis patriarchy. Literally,
patriarchy means rule by fathers. It refers to the overall system of structures
and practices that sustain inequities between the experiences, responsibilities,
status, and opportunities of different social groups especially women and
men. Moreover, patriarchy does not refer to the views, values, or behaviors
of individual men. Feminist criticisms of patriarchy and patriarchal values,
therefore, are not attacks against men but against a system that reflects the
views and interests of men as a group (Wood, 1997: 314).
A very basic definition of feminism is an organized activity that
addresses the political, social, cultural and economic inequality between
women and men. Sister Mary John Mananzan (1997) defines feminism as
the belief that women are oppressed, that there is gender inequality and the
commitment to put an end to gender inequality (35).

Thy Will be Done

Kaleldo abounds with patriarchal images. Some shots are, almost

unarguably, memorable. For instance, the shot of imposing church faade
(considered a patriarchal institution), where Graces wedding was be held.
The images of the crucified Jesus Christ, (whose crucifixion, as all Catholics
are familiar with, is imposed upon the Son by the Father) are likewise
patriarchal. To top it all, there is Mang Rudys invading presence on the
lives of his daughters. Throughout the film, Mang Rudy is undoubtedly the
patriarch to whom everybody defers. His daughters continue to live with
him even if they already have families and he constantly lets his daughters
know what he thinks and feels. His daughters, especially Lourdes, continue
to look up to him for approval. Jesusa always seek love and acceptance from
him. Grace, the youngest and the rebel in the family, is the only one who
dared voice out her disagreements with the way their father handles the
family.
To (re)assert his position as the patriarch and whenever a female
character threatens to overcome that power, Mang Rudy resorts to the

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Velasquez & Larao

occasional slap in the face, never mind if all his daughters are old enough,
to try and keep them in line. Mang Rudy is especially harsh to Grace and to
Jesusa who happens to be (butch) lesbian and. At the wedding, Mang Rudy
orders Jesusa to stop drinking, which she meekly obeys. However, as soon
as he turns his back, she breaks a bottle in defiance. He immediately returns
to strike her even as Lourdes and Grace tried in vain to restrain him. When
Grace comes home from running off impulsively, Mang Rudy greets her
with nary a word but a blow on her face, which seemingly surprised no
one. According to Tan (2003), In a conflict situation, the Filipino male is
allowedeven expected, to rage when something goes wrong. Problems
are solved, it is presumed, by male authority, male force. If the male finally
strikes a woman in anger, she is the one blamed.

Subverting Patriarchy

Kaleldo presentend each daughters story using the elements of the

earth as symbols. And it is through symbolic imagery and metaphors that the
film subtly subverts patriarchy.
Grace is symbolized by wind as an aggressive element. She is not the
typical dreamy-eyed, blushing, and nervous bride. En route to the church,
she takes time to stop by a mausoleum with a friend to pose for pictures.
Grace further builds up her feisty character by holding the grooms head and
kissing him, instead of the reverse. She takes the more aggressive role as she
rolls on top of her husband during their bed scene.
Graces aggressiveness and feistiness are symptomatic of how much she
dislikes to be trapped in marital duties, something that patriarchy imposes
on a woman. Much like the wind, she desires freedom to fly and to blow
wherever she desires to go. Again, patriarchy tried to downplay her free spirit
by contrasting her to patriarchys ideal woman through her mother-in-law
who continues to be the caring mother to Graces husband and a doting
grandmother to their child. Even her father took notice of her stubbornness
by equating her paglalayas (running away) as a sign of immaturity, not as a
way for Grace to escape the constraints that society placed upon her as a
woman. But, as everyone knows, no one can control the wind.
On the other hand, the story of Graces older sister, Lourdes, was
seen through the element of fire. Lourdes is the picture of calm and level-

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 Wind, Water, Fire

headed reason. She is the de facto wedding coordinator, a role she seems to
take as easily and as naturally as she breathes. In her family, she is the more
effective business manager, compared to her fussy, soft-spoken husband
(played by Allan Paule). It is she, in fact, who takes charge of the whole
familys finances. Her husband had tried a business venture in the past and
failed, so Lourdes unflinchingly questions his abilities when he suggests
trying another.
Among the three sisters, Lourdes representation as a woman is the
most complicated. While she seems to be the one in charge of the entire
household, as well as being dominant in her marriage, things are completely
different in the bedroom. She reluctantly lets her husband caress her, while
flashbacks show a disturbing scene where her husband appears to be raping
her. He was very aggressive, oblivious to her painfully contorted face and
body. Eisenstein (1983) discusses Susan Brownmillers theory of rape as a
means of keeping men in control over women. Lourdes was raped and the
acts embedded notion of coercion reinforced it as an instrument which a
man can use to instill fear in a woman and, thus, keep her under his control
and possession. Her husband dominates her in this way to keep her in her
proper place, tempering her financial and managerial prowess that threatens
his masculinity.
But if sex (in this case, rape) was the tool that patriarchy used to impose
control on Lourdes, she also turned to sex for salvation. Fire has always been
associated with passion, which is commonly associated with sex. Ironically,
there is no passion involved in any of Lourdes sex scenes. In Kaleldo, sex is
not a romanticized concept. It is not something that patriarchy dangles like
a sword of Damocles over a womans head. Sex is not romanticized because
it is not associated with virginity. Sex in Kaleldo is a tool to either control a
woman or to subvert patriarchy. Lourdes used sex to defy patriarchys hold
over her: her femininity through sexual intercourse. She unflinchingly sleeps
with a bank officer to get a loan. Her action was merely meant to manipulate
the officer, to provide a quick solution to her immediate financial problem.
In the end, it served her another purpose, although unintentionally: It
ultimately provided a solution to her fundamental problem. Her marriage is
irreparably damaged, setting her free from her husband/abuser.
Meanwhile, the story of the eldest daughter, Jesusa (or Jess, as she
prefers to be addressed as a lesbian) is told through the element of water.

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Velasquez & Larao

Jess puts up a front as the ideal daughter in a male-dominated world: passive,

productive (she earns from driving a pedicab and from selling pickled unripe
papaya), except for one huge problem: she is a butch lesbian with a female
partner whom she openly flaunts. Being a lesbian may be considered by
some militant feminists to be the ultimate expression of feminism. Imagine
not needing men to live, to protect her, and even to have sexual intercourse
with.
To some, there is a glaring inconsistency with Jess butch lesbian
image. In effect, Jess is like watershe nurtures the family by lovingly
providing them their needs. Among the three daughters, she is the one who
assumes most of the roles of the female. She takes care of their father, her
earnings go directly to him, she answers directly to him, she serves him
food, and she gives him his medicine. Yet, she does not seem to command
the same love and respect that their father gives her sisters. She is constantly
trying to get out of her fathers way lest she incurs his wrath just by existing.
Part of Jess submissiveness stemmed from the fact that her father makes
her feel less of a person because of her gender preference. She wears mens
clothing, cuts her hair unflatteringly short, and swaggers like a man.
In the Philippines, the notions that come with her being a lesbian is
problematic. While Jill Johnston (in Eisenstein, 1983) defined lesbianism as
autonomy from gender-related limitations, which is one essence of Womens
Liberation, lesbians -- or women wanting to be men -- are seen as abnormal.
Freuds theory of penis envy would be more to the point in this case. At the
films end, Jess partner leaves her for a real man. This seems as a stab at
feminism: a real man is superior to a butch lesbian, even if it is the ultimate
defiance to male authority. But this action was done freely. Jess character,
beyond gender issues, magnanimously accepted that some things are inevitable.
She did not question the authenticity of their relationship; it was real, it just
did not work in the end. This attests to the legitimacy of her particular brand
of femininity: She is no less than those accepted as normal.
Looking at todays gender politics, there is an increasing call for the
breaking down of traditional codes associated with femininity and masculinity.
According to sociologist Michael Kimmel (in Rosenberg, 2007), The old
categories that everybodys either biologically male or female, that there
are two distinct categories and theres no overlap, thats beginning to break
down. All of those categories seem to be more fluid. In Kaleldo, patriarchy is

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 Wind, Water, Fire

trying to contain the butch lesbian by looking down on her and making her
appear more womanly by assigning her chores traditionally associated with
females, but this is also where her strength for empowerment liesJess
character is a way of breaking down gender stereotypes. It does not matter
whether we are wearing pink or blue; in the end, her character teaches us
that we are not defined by rigid gender conventions.

Conclusion

The oppression of women is an inarguable reality in the Philippines,

even if our society is far removed from cultures that drown unwanted
female babies. Female subjugation is actually even more frightening as it is
insidious and largely unchallenged, judging by popular culture: Shampoo
ads that exploit female sexuality, touting the false ideologies of girl power
as being able to attract men with the use of beautiful hair; the quintessential
suffering heroines in teleseryes (television series); the gyrating female dancers
on noontime shows, in varying states of undress; and the sexy, if useless,
leading ladies. This is a reality even in other countries, although in different
ways. In this regard, mass media has a greater role to play to challenge
common misconceptions and misrepresentations of gender in society.
In our country, even if we congratulate ourselves for electing two
women presidents, patriarchy is still a lingering affliction. Gender equality
and the gains of feminism will remain an abstract concept if we let our
guards down. Kaleldo, while being a story of a fathers relationship with his
three daughters, is actually a discourse on gender politics. It tells us that
even when patriarchy tries to impose its will upon us, women will always
try to find waysgaps and spaces that existwhere they can struggle and
be heard.

Notes

1
Produced by Center Stage Productions. Co-produced and distributed byViva Films.
Available in video formats. The film has been exhibited at the Jeonju International
Film Festival in Korea, where it won the critics prize from the Network for the
Promotion of Asian Cinema (Netpac), as well as in the 28th Durban International
Film Festival in South Africa, 2007, where Picache won as best actress for her
performance as the butch lesbian daughter.

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Velasquez & Larao

References

Eisenstein, H. (1983). Contemporary feminist thought. Boston: G.K. Hall and

Company.
Rosenberg, D. (2007, May 28). Rethinking gender. Newsweek, 44-48.
Tan, M. (2003, September 30). Male privilege and violence. Retrieved January
5, 2008, from http://geocities.com/benign0/agr-disagr/14-1-pinoymale.
html.
Wood, J. (1997). Communication theories in action. USA: Wadsworth.

_____________________
Ingrid K.Velasquez and Arby Mari B. Larao, senior AB Mass Communication
students, are officers of the FEU Film Society. Velasquez is also a playwright of
the FEU Art Theatre Clinique, the student theater arm of the Department of
Communication. She had training at the Public Information Office of Camp Crame.
Larao, on the other hand, worked as documentation head for Summer Cinema
Workshop of the Mowelfund Film Institute.

120
Beyond Bias and Barriers:
An Interview with a Passionate
Speech Communication Teacher

Walter H. YUDELMO

IT STARTED with a high five and a rambling

talk on politics at the fifth floor of posh EDSA
Shangri-La Hotel on January 7, 2008. We
talked about Hilary Clintons presidential
bid, Corazon Aquino, the movie Elizabeth,
and her name Isabel, which was taken from
the Queen of Spain. She proudly said that
like Queen Elizabeth, she is resolute in facing
whatever challenges in life: she handles
everything with a passion.
But before I knew it, she had led me
to my assigned task with her: Talk to her
formally about Speech Communication in the Philippines. But then what
was purportedly a formal interview also became a free-flowing conversation
about life.
From Shangri-la Hotel, I went to Shanghai for a business meeting and
during breaks I carefully penned her story of over four decades of speech
communication education in academic and corporate settings, hoping not to
miss out key details. I am most elated to share the wisdom of whom I call,
The Empress of Speech Communication Education.
Prof. Isabel Sevilla Soriano or Bebeng was among the awardees
in the 1990 Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Teachers (college level).

COMMUNICATION JOURNAL 2007: 121-127

Yudelmo

She left the University of the Philippines-Diliman with a BA in English

Literature (cum laude) and returned after a few years with an MA in Speech
Arts earned from Columbia University, New York. She taught English
Literature, acting, and directing in UP. In 1957, she moved to Far Eastern
Universitys Department of Speech and Drama, now the Department of
Communication, and stayed on for nearly four decades.
She also taught at De La Salle University and Philippine Womens
University. From the academe, she turned to the business world of
managementin private, government, non-government, and peoples
organization, becoming one of the most sought-after consultants or trainers
of professionals in business communication, high-impact presentations,
negotiation skills, and persuasion fluency.
As a teacher, she became familiar with the Filipino students difficulties
in articulation and was seriously disturbed by it. This was her springboard
to author a textbook with her sister entitled English Pronunciation for Filipino
College Students, which seems to be the only practical guidebook on speech
rhythm and phonetics in the Philippines.

The FEU Experience

At FEU, she actively involved herself in speech, rhetoric, oral

interpretation, acting, directing, dance, and stage choreography of
performances of students and faculty. Among others, she was the dance and
stage director of FEUs Portrait of the Filipino as Seen through Folk Dance
and winner of two international contests the Caceres and Palma Mallorca.
She also gained recognition in professional theater, including critic Rosalinda
Orosas one-time description of her as Outstanding Stage Actress of the
Year.
Her entry to FEU was not a serene event, though.
I distinctly remember one statement I made when I first entered
FEU. I was then seated before a very fair lady who was not only the chair of
the Department of Speech and Drama, but also the wife of the son of the
founder of the University. She had just finished explaining the history of
the Department when she paused. I blurted, May I flunk as many students
as I wish? The faculty member beside me stiffened, surprised at my blunt
inquiry. Fortunately, that faculty member was my sister. Otherwise, Im
sure she would have urged the Department head not to hire me, Soriano

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 Beyond Bias and Barriers

recounted.
She went on to reveal that she actually did not want to leave UP and
was disgusted at the thought of having to please her parents who were in
turn displeased with her dreadful, overworked, and underpaid hours in the
government university.
But, then, the obedient daughter that I was, I agreed to transfer to
FEU where I was promised I would be asked to teach only just-so number of
hours and get, in turn, quite a number of pesos. This reads like a confession.
But I must confess, and very gladly, that after the first six months of teaching
in Manila, ever since that, I have never regretted my decision to transfer and
more to remain in FEU, Soriano confided.
While already in FEU she was invited twice by Prof. Consuelo Fonacier
of UP. First was to request her to be the first chair of UPs Department
of Speech and Drama and second to be second chair of the department.
Despite the insistence of her parents that she return to UP, I very meekly
refused. I know that in UP, there is the honor, the privilege, the prestige, and
the opportunity.
But in UP, I was a dictator:You didnt understand? Stupid! You didnt
cover it? Lazy! You dont like me? Drop! she recalled.
At FEU, however, Soriano discovered on her own the opportunity
that led to her fulfillment as a teacher. The University transformed her
perceptions and teaching idealism.
One day, I observed and wondered: how come one student always
came in leisurely late, yet once seated, he was heaving, sweating. Another
one would come early, rushing in to sit, then put up his feet, and leave
one dirty shoe slipping out the cubicle of the speech laboratory. There was
one chewing a gum throughout the sound and sentence drills; two last-
rowers snickering often. One sitting in front wore the same short red skirt
with uniform top, while the other in the tightest see-through blouse with a
long side-slit skirt. These were the kind of students that challenged me and
needed to be understood and guided for a reason.

Transformed Idealism

Soriano, thus, reflected one day about the attendance and behavior
of her students. She reminisced: Pacing around the classroom, through the
cubicles, inquiring, I learned that one came all the way from Angeles City

123
Yudelmo

every morning, another walked through rice fields for two hours. Others
were coming from all night stand as security guards, two were in bars, one as
bartender. I also had a student who worked as newsboy, trying ever so hard
to keep awake. One sold cigarettes in a night club, her friend a chorus girl.
These were my students, all of them working their way through college.
Then she realized: It was not their fault if they did not have the means
to attend the school, the university that would have revealed to them the
best. But it was my chance now to be of usetry a new approach, a different
group, a different prop, a phrase, a thought. And no more droning out my
wisdom, for theres oil underneath them and I must allow it to gush forth;
theres a match with me and I must light their individual candles. It was I
who must go to them for I desired them strongly and intensely.
She, thus, provided additional consulting hours to explain further to
tired minds different sets of questions to suit lifestyles and attitudes. She
admitted that she was known in the University as the professor with the
most number of incompletes. She demanded quality performances as she
gave her students more time to take in what they were suffering so hard to
acquire. In the end, she happily shared, Learning was full, I from each, each
from me, and decades later, both of us remember and live on.
It was in FEU where she found a deeper meaning of teaching.
Why so? As I look back, I must state that I believe it made my years at
FEU special. It is communication competence as the focus of the philosophy
of speech education. Not articulation proficiency. Not linguistic mastery, but
humane interaction among all: A philosophy that reflects the Universitys
concern for both the working class and less privileged members of the
Philippine society. It was concern for the humanity of speech communication.
All in the Department were bound by one conviction: That the skill and the
art of speech must be shared with and mastered by the studentry.

The Articulate Vs. The Fluent Speaker

In an international conference, she presented a paper on Persuasion

Fluency for Filipino Professionals, now published in the journal of the
Speech Communication Organization of the Philippines (SCOP), where she
currently serves as treasurer.
I asked, What is persuasion fluency? She answered, Let us not
consider articulation a synonym of fluency. Neither should we perceive the

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 Beyond Bias and Barriers

lack of articulation resulting in the absence of fluency. In fact, at times, it is

the very presence of articulation that accounts for neglect of fluency.
She elaborated, The articulate speaker is the preferred guest for
scientific conventions; the fluent speaker, for political rallies. The articulate
speaker is calm, composed, factual; the fluent speaker is winning, strong,
intelligent, telling, and compelling. The articulate speaker you are prone
to accept. The fluent speaker, you confirm or deny. So, when you are an
articulate speaker you are telling your audience: take it or leave it. Not when
you are a fluent speaker, you are telling your audience: believe it or not.
Better still, believe it or else!
Persuasion fluency, according to Soriano, means presenting a
complete substance with the fullness of our personality and depth of our
passion. Any gap, any break, any reason for thinking away from our message
means weak, persuasive fluency. Three words: complete, full, passionate
comprise the framework of our paradigm shift in speech communication.
To achieve persuasion fluency, she explained, Let us start identifying
the needs of our particular audiences, which needs are felt, which needs
are real. Some of us clarifying first, others readily agreeing and disagreeing.
Then, arranging these needs into prime, secondary, tertiary needs; and
finally moving on to discover, to create the approaches that shall surface the
real needs. So that, believe me, as you speak, you will impact your listeners,
and after you speak, you have impacted them. Then they will hang on to
you, follow you, and swear by you. They are committed, and changeda
life change.

Changes and Challenges of Speech Communication

Today, the Philippines is experiencing the emergence of a new

socio-political, technological, and economic environment. Mediated
communication through ICT (information and communications technology)
has become ubiquitous, linking all peoples around the globe.
When asked about the threat of digital age in speech communication,
she strongly argued, It is, in fact, due to this scenario that speech is becoming
extremely more important. Computer is machine and human is different.
Speech is not like that. Speech is immediately showing how you would differ
from each other.

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Yudelmo

However, Soriano stressed, There is also the major challenge of

finding qualified teachers who are interested in maintaining their skills in
a dynamic and competitive environment, a difficult task for universities in
the Philippines and perhaps in Asia. Further, she posited that it is equally
challenging to identify women lecturers who can serve as role models for
students who have a less attentive learning style and different attitudes.
Using English language and issues of nationalism are always an
oxymoron in many debates in todays globalized world. Soriano, however,
clarified, It is not an argument that when you speak English fluently you
do not love your first language. You do not love your country. By heart,
I am still a proud Filipino; I still promote Filipino literatures as materials
for the speech performances of my students and trainees. But I also need
to be global. We need to be global. We need to become more competitive
by aiming perfection in speaking the English language. Otherwise, that is
mediocrity.

Lessons and Reflections

Soriano, despite her educated American accent and passion to promote

speech communication using the English language, has expressed her strong
sense of nationalism. Her parents were American citizens, but she preferred
to remain Filipinoa proud one.
She really has a passion for learning and imbibing the spirit of the
English language without forgetting her national roots. She is very much
aware that there is a need to have a more open mind and heart when dealing
with students from different milieus and the need to have persuasion
fluency or what she calls the responsibility of surfacing the real needs of
the particular listener in a particular week, whatever the format: one-on-
one, negotiations, pep talk, orientations, fora, presentations, and public
speeches.
There was no dull moment during the conversation. She was
tremendously agile and smart. She has the sophistication of a speech
professional, truly an empress, but I never felt alienated; instead, I felt the
warmth of a close peer. Her high standards in speech communication are
coupled with her strong fervor about the real essence of communication.

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 Beyond Bias and Barriers

Communication is a process of changing behavior, not just ideas. And

thats what is lacking in so many people.They have ideas.Yes.They state their
ideas.Yes. Do their ideas result in change? No. Soriano stressed as she brings
the interview to a close.

_____________________
Walter H. Yudelmo is a faculty member of the Department of Communication
of FEU, an adjunct Political Affairs Officer in the Philippine House of Congress,
and a Costumer Service Auditor of the Radio Communications of the Philippines,
Inc. In South Korea, he completed his Master of Public Administration through
the University of San Agustin-Offshore Education (2003) and Diploma in Foreign
Language from the University of Seoul (2001). He was conferred the national
award, 2005 Huwarang Pilipino for Education by the Parangal sa Pamilyang
Pilipino Foundation at the Irwin Theater Hall of the Ateneo de Manila University
for his depiction of Problems Related to the Alien Training Systems of Filipino in
South Korea. He is currently completing his Doctor of Public Administration at
the University of the Philippines, Diliman.

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NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS

The Communication Journal is a semi-refereed, annual journal published

by the Department of Communication, Far Eastern University. Original
contributions may be research-based articles and papers delivered as
lectures in conferences and other academic settings, but must have never
been published. Articles may focus on any aspect of communication and
media. Review of book, film, theatrical performance, website, TV or radio
program may also be submitted.

All contributions should have a high degree of scholarship. They will have to
be approved by the editorial board and by selected referees for publication.

Contributors are expected to employ proper research procedures and

documentation (including the responsibility to ask permission for any
copyrighted materials used) and follow the rules prescribed by APA style.
Articles must have a maximum of 6,000 words while reviews must have
a maximum of 2,000 words. They should be submitted in English, typed
double-space in 12-point Arial font.

In addition manuscripts should be accompanied by an abstract of not more

than 150 words. Authors should also provide a bionote along with their
contributions. A brief statement assuring the Communication Journal that the
manuscript has not been submitted to other publications is also required.
Articles and reviews must also be supplied on disk.

Please submit all manuscripts and disks to the Department of Communication,

Arts Building Room 205, Far Eastern University, Nicanor Reyes Street,
Manila or send as an email attachment to jorocast@yahoo.com. For further
information, call (632) 7355621 loc. 236