03/04/2022
hear me out: vocab 101 by aimimai
we’re already a few days past women’s month but i believe the celebration shouldn’t end there. every month should be women’s month, every day women should be celebrated.
the month of march, known as the women’s month, inspired me to do this series. a series focused on correcting misinformation and sharing significant information.
the words worthy of sharing are feminism, patriarchy, sexism, and misogyny.
the manifestations of these terminologies are slowly becoming a phenomena in what seems to be a male-dominating world and it’s alarming how words degrading women are used so casually, people no longer hold back before letting it out of their mouths. class, race, gender identity and sexual orientation operate in tandem with these terms producing more dangerous variations of oppression and prejudice.
a selection of people root for women empowerment but that does not mean we want to strip men out of power. one of bianca’s podcasts entitled “abante babae does not mean atras lalake” explains intensively the reason for the outcry for women empowerment. to quote ceej tantengco “why distinguish that women are winning these medals? (talking about filipino female athletes making history) because in a society where women are often excluded and underrepresented, centering women who succeed is necessary. until women are equally represented, we will always need to distinguish.”
ever since, the society has always made being a “woman” an issue, bianca shared that one big misconception in fighting for women’s rights is it’s getting in the way of men’s rights which is just building up that wall that shouldn’t even be there in the first place. more rights for women or the lgbtq+ does not mean less rights for men.
the “fight” attitude of women and even men is empowering in its own right. to quote sen. risa hontiveros, we should start teaching men and young boys how to be allies of women. we are not trying to discriminate men in any way, we are simply fighting to be seen as an equal. women empowerment is about equality— it is changing the narrative that women are strong too, that women can achieve the same things as men, that women has been silenced for so long and now needs their voices to be heard.
it’s 2022, character development is a must for everyone. we should start learning from the past, listening to the present, and fighting for the future, so that young girls and boys wouldn’t have to fight twice as hard as we are fighting right now.
with love, a.
✊🏻