TO BE a woman today is such a good fortune, I was told and I believe so.
Hillary Clinton tried to break that glass ceiling and though she failed, she proved it was possible. Then there’s GMA, Leni Robredo, and yes, Sara Duterte.
There are laws to protect women now like the VAWC (Violence Against Women And Their Children Act of 2004), the sexual harassment act, and in Davao City, the women’s development code. This year, the lone Olympic medal was brought to the country by a woman from Zamboanga, Hidylyn Diaz.
In other sports, women’s volleyball games now occupy a prime spot on two Philippine TV channels. And of course, there’s the political party list, Gabriela.
Yet, behind this celebration of the female’s victory, another message on the TV screen flashed and it came with a name: Leila de Lima.
I took her side when there were attempts to show an alleged sex video of De Lima and Ronnie Dayan, her driver and lover at the senate hearing.
After months of denying and having hysterical fits in her press cons, Leila De Lima finally admitted in Solita Monsod’s talk show that Dayan was her lover. When asked why she, as secretary of justice then, nursed such relationship, in her signature sibilance-emphasizing tone she replied: ooh the frailties of a woman.
I could have pulled her hair if she were near. Playing-with-the-gender card is not new. Years ago, a young wannabe claimed being raped by a popular TV host only to be foiled by CCTV (close-circuit television) footage in her condo building that showed her smiling inside the elevator just a few seconds after the alleged rape. Her CCTV “performance” was in stark contrast to the TV interviews where she would appear distraught. When that rape card failed, she started citing bible verses while in detention.
To cite being a woman (or the frailties thereof) as a cause to be corrupt is an insult to every woman. There are many women in positions of power who have not succumbed to abuse of authority.
But is the Filipina frail?
The Philippines ranks as one of the gender equal countries in Asia. For example, no college or university course remains exclusively male or female. Even the Philippine Military Academy has long accepted female cadets.
Owwa (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration) reports that there are more female overseas Filipino workers and these are not limited to teachers, nurses, and domestic helpers but includes ship welders, engineers and cruise ship employees, etc.
What makes the Filipina frail is the weak macho mind who still advertises alcoholic drinks with female models dressed in skimpy or uber tight body contouring clothes. It is also that feminine wash tv ad implying that women wish to smell good “down there” mainly for men. Or that TV show where the male host keeps on giving jackets to its guests yet clothes its female dancers like there is a textile shortage. What about that cologne spray ad where the male model seduces all the women he encounters after he sprays it on? I have tried smelling that at a department store and it only attracted my allergic rhinitis and a week’s medication which was costlier than the cologne.
It is also that macho mind that deflects anger by paying attention to the porcelain-knees (or legs?) of VP Robredo. Or worse, it is that bemoustached character who thinks that scrutinizing the intensity of the Delima/Dayan relationship is an important “aid in legislation.”
The Filipina, much less the woman, is no longer frail. What remains weak is the macho mind still stuck in the Cro-magnon period or in the Dark Ages when a woman who can think, choose, and decide for herself is called a witch and burned at the stake.
What the macho male continually fails to realize is that when he slut shames women, he only shows one frailty--- his. It is symptomatic of a macho cerebrum being equally proportionate to the scrotum which are usually diminutive. Add to this, the cerebrum/scrotum proportion is also inversely proportional to the size of the male ego. That is why when one thinks with his balls, it fails.
But when a woman uses frailty as a lame excuse, she has pulled herself back to the dregs where the macho mind wants her to stay. She then repudiates what women have achieved through time or that the glass ceiling has somehow chipped. But should Leila De Lima be found guilty of abuse of authority (and whatever else), it is not about being a woman but about character unfit for human consumption. Ooohhhh.