Scanning through the pages of history, it is apparent that women have long been a symbol of power and independence. It is only in recent history that the role of women in our society has been caged into mere stereotypes. Inferior to the likes of men, women are seen to be conservative, emotional, fearful, and weak.
Despite this, the struggles that women face cannot be separated from the oppressive and exploitative nature of our society in its entirety.
In the country, almost half of the labor force is composed of women which belong to the various sectors in the society.
From the peasants, workers, indigenous peoples, and of the basic masses in general. As oppression makes people more militant, women become twice militant because they are twice oppressed.
First by their gender and second by their position in the class hierarchy. More so, the semi-colonial and semi-feudal Philippine society is like a roaring storm, and the existing systems inside it at their decaying peak.
We witness as women are, like products, being commercialized. Their bodies objectified and exploited for the pleasure and dominance of, mainly, men.
Prostitution, in which women are traded like commodities, is seen by others as a way to promote body positivity and even to an extent women’s empowerment.
When in reality, this kind of labor roots in a system that enables gender-based violence and class exploitation. A system that forces women to sell their bodies, wherein they experience abuse and violence.
We should decriminalize prostitution but at the same not legalize the industry. Today the macho-feudal and misogynist culture is further perpetuated by President Duterte who has openly objectified and even harassed women.
Smashing the patriarchy and bourgeois-liberal culture means extracting it from the roots, the country’s semi-feudal and semi-colonial society.
The likes of Reina Mae Nasino and Amanda Echanis have proven that the militant spirit of women lives on centuries after Gabriela Silang and decades after Maria Lorena Barrios.
The women who selflessly dedicate their lives to the masses. We should be reminded that it is not a clash between genders, the ruling class pits the oppressed against each other.
The youth must immerse with the peasants, workers, and other marginalized sectors to rise against all forms of discrimination and attacks on our fundamental human rights.
No matter what gender, we must collectivize and participate in the people’s revolution.