The need to change mindsets and cure the flu of Women’s Month
Sickness strikes in the Philippines during the rainy season from May to November, sometimes, extending to December to February. March has its own type of coughing disaster, spreading disgusting green-minded remarks of what men think about women, even during Women’s Month.
Starting from Quezon City 4th District Rep. Jesus “Bong” Suntay’s viral outbreak, telling everyone how he gets a boner when imagining actress-host Anne Curtis was utterly disgusting and bold. Acting like the impeachment hearing of Vice President Sara Duterte was a night out at a bar with friends, where he can simply use it as an “analogy” to defend the VP’s threat against President Marcos. I would have made an analogy between Suntay and an animal, but they have more morals than him.
While Suntay had to “acknowledge” his mistakes and could have used a better analogy—lawyer Ferdinand Topacio stepped in to defend the representative, saying that such an analogy is “relevant” and we should not kid ourselves since they are men who have sexual desires. Suntay was trying to stitch the wound by apologizing, and yet the lawyer had to open it up again. These are the people who portray rape victims as the bad guys because of their clothes and pamper rapists and assaulters, claiming it is nature’s call.
Yes, everyone gets aroused, and no, March is not a limit like “No Nut November” (if you even follow this crazy tradition), but we should set boundaries and be professional. Imagine coauthoring the Gender and Development Code and Bawal Bastos ordinance of your own city, yet here you are blabbering your fantasies. Not different from a lawyer who spent years studying and still used his stupidity anyway.
Sen. Jinggoy Estrada’s question to American basketball player and Gilas Women prospect Elizabeth Means—asking the basketball player if she had a Filipino boyfriend and recommending Sen. Kiko Pangilinan—was disrespectful. Women are not objects that can be thrown out and replaced by another as they please. But, a senator can always be replaced in the next election.
I’m a student on a gap year. My family is poor and conservative; they think college is a waste of time, as I will just settle as a housewife. I love my family, but how they think of me hurts.
A viral plague of beliefs, I still understand my family, because a lot of people believe that a woman’s destiny only leads to the household. The recent survey of the Social Weather Stations shows that 83 percent of participants believe in traditional roles where men work outside, and women work inside the home. Understandable, but should not be supported. Because women should be given the freedom to be independent and have their own income, plus imagine one partner working in this economy when inflation is high. I bet such a family is either sick in debt or is barely surviving in such an economy.
How people treat women makes me sick to my stomach, especially when it comes from the government, who are supposed to protect them. It is time to change our mindset, and be more respectful to women—if all these maniacs came from higher ground, eliminate them. Avoid supporting them, stand up against them, and watch their downfall. Because if we don’t, we fall with them—die with them.
Sometimes, I wonder what the point of Women’s Month is, but then I realize: It’s the progress of healing, despite the symptoms of misogyny and male dominance still showing. It’s the fight against the fever, while looking for a cure.
Almira Cereno,
ac.almiracereno@gmail.com
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