The feminist movement (also known as the Women's Movement, Women's Liberation, or Women's Lib) refers to a series of

campaigns for reforms on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, voting rights, sexual
harassment, and sexual violence. The priorities of the movement tend to vary among nations and communities, e.g., opposition to
female genital cutting in one or to the glass ceiling in another.
The movement's history has gone through three waves, beginning in the late 18th century. The first wave was oriented around the
station of middle or upper-class white women, and involved suffrage and political equality. Second-wave feminism attempted to
further combat social and cultural inequalities. Third-wave feminism, starting in 1980 [Doubtful. See talk topic: third wave started later and not ended.] to the
early 1990s[Doubtful. See talk topic: third wave started later and not ended.] (cited from Open Boundaries University text book),[Full citation needed] includes renewed
campaigning for womens greater influence in politics. In the UK on September 18, 1980, the all-Party 300 Group campaign for
women in Politics/Public Life was created by a group of 14 women activists. It was the brainchild of Lesley Abdela, a former
Parliamentary researcher and Parliamentary candidate in response to the 1979 general election results where, despite the arrival of the
UKs first woman Prime Minister, the new House of Commons only had 19 women out of 635 Members an early 300 Group quiz
question was Why does 97% of the House of Commons smell of aftershave?[citation needed]
Third-wave feminism was a reaction to and continuation of the second wave, taking a post-structuralist analysis of femininity to argue
that there is in fact no all-encompassing single feminist idea. It set itself against essentialist definitions of femininity, which assume a
universal female identity, instead emphasizing discursive power and the ambiguity of gender. Third-wave theory incorporates elements
of queer theory, anti-racism, and other hallmarks of modern progressivism.
The feminist movement has brought a sweeping variety of social and cultural change, its impact touching familial relations, religion,
the place of women in society, gendered language, and relationships between men and women.
Social changes
The feminist movement effected change in Western society, including women's suffrage, the right to initiate divorce proceedings and
"no fault" divorce, the right of women to make individual decisions regarding pregnancy (including access to contraceptives and
abortion), and the right to own property.[19][20] It has also led to broad employment for women at more equitable wages, and access to
university education.
The United Nations Human Development Report 2004 estimated that when both paid employment and unpaid household tasks are
accounted for, on average women work more than men. In rural areas of selected developing countries women performed an average
of 20% more work than men, or an additional 102 minutes per day. In the OECD countries surveyed, on average women performed
5% more work than men, or 20 minutes per day.[21] At the UN's Pan Pacific Southeast Asia Women's Association 21st International
Conference in 2001 it was stated that "in the world as a whole, women comprise 51 percent of the population, do 66 percent of the
work, receive 10 percent of the income and own less than one percent of the property". [22]
The social climate in America has definitely evolved throughout history. The definitions of feminism, feminist, and feminist theory are
no longer a monolithic term. There are multiple dimensions to the movement that encompass all different aspects of American culture.
In America "most people are socialized to think in terms of opposition rather than compatibility". [3] Social changes have not only
included the right to vote, greater equality in the workforce, as well as reproductive rights, but also the recognition of injustices and
the ways in which both men and women can work to change them. According to bell hooks, in order to create change it is essential to
recognize that "exploited and oppressed groups of women are usually encouraged by those in power to feel that their situation is
hopeless, that they can do nothing to break the pattern of domination"
The role of women in the Philippines is explained based on the context of Filipino culture, standards, and mindsets. The Philippines
is described to be a nation of strong women, who directly and indirectly run the family unit, businesses, government agencies and
haciendas.
Although they generally define themselves in the milieu of a masculine dominated post-colonial Asian Catholic society, Filipino
women live in a culture that is focused on the community, with the family as the main unit of society. It is in this framework of
Philippine hierarchical structure, class differences, religious justifications, and living in a globally developing nation wherein Filipino
women struggle for respect. Compared to other parts of Southeast Asia, women in Philippine society have always enjoyed a greater
share of legal equality

Contemporary roles
Modern-day Philippine women play a decisive role in Filipino families. They handle the money, act as religious mentors, and could
also arrange the marriages of sons and daughters, striving to improve the familys dynastic connections. The emergence of Corazon
Aquino, Imelda Marcos and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as political figures shows that Filipino society have high regard on Filipino
women, in spite of its male chauvinism.
[edit] Urban setting
In the past, firms and businesses generally hire Filipino women for less pay and secretarial functions. But at present, Filipino women
are given the same opportunities as their male counterparts in the business realm. Most CEO positions are given to men, but there has
been several vice presidents, managers, and other jobs where Filipino women are given equal opportunities with men. In some cases,
Filipino women also run successful businesses and become CEO's.
In school, boys are often elected to organizational positions such as president and vice-president, while the girls are either members or
holding treasurer positions. However, the trend has changed and girls more tend to be or even sometimes the only ones elected or
nominated in all positions. This has been due to a change of mindset towards the female gender who are now regarded as more
hardworking, well-versed, and dedicated than their male counterparts.
Since Filipino wife holds the money in the family, she has the access to the family's finances. Therefore, she has the ability to help her
family when the needs arise. In most cases, her own family has a better chance of financial access rather than her husband's family.
Generally, the husband do not really care about how his wife spends the money. His obligation is to bring money in the family, and it
is the wife's obligation to budget the money. In few cases, the Filipino husbands may also give financial help to his family.
[edit] Rural and tribal clan setting
In rural areas, the Filipino woman belongs in the home. The children approach her for money and help. She is the family's treasurer.
She supports the childrens educational needs. For non-family members who require support, the wife is the person to be approached.
However, the wife is neither the person who makes the final decision or the person who hands out the money.[1][10]
In contrast, however, Juan Flavier, a physician, an authority on community development, and a former Philippine senator, described in
his book, Doctor to the Barrios, that "whether some (Filipino) men are willing to admit it or not"... "rural women in the Philippines
wield consideratble authority," the housewife in particular. This is especially if the housewife, who is often referred to as the Reyna ng
Tahanan (Queen of the Home), is convinced of the benefits that will be gained from a certain practice such as the concept of family
planning in the barrios. Flavier also mentioned that "In the Philippine barrio, the one responsible for the home" and its management "is
the wife... she holds the key to... household... development."[11]
[edit] Marriage and relationships
Generally, the Filipino wife is the treasurer in the family. She has the power of the purse. She makes crucial decisions that involves her
family, her home, and her children. Filipino husband's responsibility is to provide for the family, while the Filipino wife ensures that
their home and family are well taken care of. Filipino women takes pleasure in ensuring that her husband and children are well taken
care off, not because she is obligated to do so, but because of her selfless love and devotion to her family.
Despite the western influence, courtship and relationship in the Philippines is considered conservative. The man will have to court the
woman and prove his love for her before he can win her heart. Sometimes the courtship period would last for years. Parents prefer
their daughter to be courted in their home, so they can have a chance to know the man. It is during the courtship period that the man
would put his best foot forward to create a good impression on the woman and her family. Generally, the man is being measured on his
being a gentleman, ability to respect the woman's family, and servitude (the extent of what he was willing to do to prove his love for
the woman). Usually, the woman is courted by several men and will have to chose the best from among her suitors.Courtship and
relationship remain the same for rural and urban areas despite the modern western influence. [12][13][14][15]
Culturally, divorce is viewed as negative and destructive in the Philippines, because of a tradition that stipulates and emphasizes that
the family is the core social unit, especially for the Filipino wife. Divorce is not perceived as a solution to any matrimonial-related
problem because it hinders the development or progress of the basic community unit. Therefore, husband and wife are obligated to fix
problems within the boundaries of marriage.[1]

It should always be noted, though, that pre-colonial women in the Philippines enjoyed equal status with men. Prior to colonization,
both men and women could get a divorce for the following reasons: failure to meet family obligations, childlessness, and infidelity.
Children regardless of sex and properties were equally divided. Since a man needed to pay a dowry to the woman's family, she was
required to give it back should she be found at fault. If the man was at fault, he then lost the right to get back his dowry.
In the Philippines, society valued offspring regardless of sex. Female children were as valuable as male ones, mainly because they
recognized that women are as important as men. Parents provide equal opportunities to their children regardless of sex. Filipino
daughters can also go to school as Filipino sons, Filipino daughters can also inherit properties as Filipino sons, and Filipino daughters
can also become chief villages as Filipino sons.
In 1994, the John and Lorena Bobbitt case, in which a wife cut off the penis of her sleeping husband, seized the attention of media in
the Philippines, which reported that a similar incident had occurred in Cebu the previous November. The Bobbitt case was reported at
a time when Filipino feminist groups were protesting against prostitution, the practice of mail order brides, and marital rape. [16] In
2003 in Shihlin, Taipei, Taiwan, a woman, Virginia Chun, aged 46, cut off the penis of her Chinese husband while he was asleep in
their house. After flushing his penis down the toilet, she fled back to the Philippines. After being stitched up at a hospital, Tsai was left
with a 2.5 cm stump of a penis and is unable to have sex. The government of Taiwan requested that Virginia Chun be extradited to
Taiwan to be put on trial but, due to the lack of an extradition treaty, it was unclear whether the Filipino police would agree to
extradite her.[17][18] In 2008, similar case in Pasig City was reported.[19]
[edit] Change, influences and interventions
In urban areas, single Filipinas have become liberal due to western influences. Although it is still culturally unacceptable for a single
Filipino woman to ask a man on a date or to show interest in a man, Filipinas have learned to use body language to show their interest
and openness to a relationship.
In rural communities, Filipinas are still not allowed to be too liberal. They are required to stifle their personality and sexuality, and
should show a total lack of interest in intimacy with men to maintain reputation and self-respect.
[edit] Filipino women and work
Traditionally, rural and tribal women do all the household related chores, but the heavy works that require more strength is done by the
husband. The scope of their functions include cooking, cleaning, teaching the children, washing clothes, repairs, budgeting, and
helping in the farm. The husband is the one who makes sure the farm would yield quality crops, so he does all the maintenance works.
In some cases, where the husband needs help from other men, the wife would make sure that the men are fed, so she cooks food and
bring it to the farm. The Filipino women, ensures that everyone is well fed, and this characteristics extends to the workers, relatives, or
visitors.
In general, Filipino women find pride in their work. They do not find themselves alienated from their chores because they work with,
around, and for their families. This family-oriented mindset gives them a sense of dignity and responsibility. The family and the
children are the primary priority in a Filipina's life.
Psyche and value system
There are three particular cultural norms imbedded and expected to be in the psyche of Filipino men: the ability to make love to a
woman (which is equated to his virility and the number of offspring he has), the absence of restrictions in his activities as a person,
and the capacity to become a "good provider", father, and breadwinner for his spouse and kids. As a son, a Filipino man has to show
loyalty and provide unselfish caring to his parents, and assist his younger brothers and sisters. He is a member of a society that
respects elders and women.[1] In the Philippine society, a manhood is not measured on the way he verbally or physically express
himself but on the way he conducts himself appropriately under different social interactions. A Filipino man is trained to be
gentleman, calm, giving, and sensitive to others. As a husband, the Filipino man generally respects that the household belongs to his
wife and thus typically provides opinions regarding household issues only if consulted by his spouse. [1] A Filipino man takes pride of
his success as a husband and a father based on his ability to provide comfort and financial support to his wife and his children. Since
family is an important segment in the Philippine society, a Filipino man also takes pride in his ability to raise good mannered,
educated, and successful children. A Filipino man is expected to be the father figure and the personification of emotional and physical
strength[3] because he is considered as the haligi ng tahanan or the "post of the house" or "pillar of the dwelling", figuratively meaning

"father of the home", the partner of the Filipino woman who takes the role of being the mother of his children and the ilaw ng tahanan
or the "light of the home".[4][5]
In relation to the ego of Filipino males, Dr. Lapis describes a Filipino man to be stereotypically "cool, cautious, inoffensive, pleasant",
relaxed (almost easygoing), and slow to or incapable of anger. However, if his self-esteem, a narcissistic quality known locally as
amor-propio (a term with Spanish origins), is provoked he is susceptible to anger.[1] In general, Filipino men tend to be pleasant, calm,
soft spoken, and likable in nature. However, they would not hesitate to engage in any battle if it would mean to protect their loved
ones, or their country.
With regards to social communication, a Filipino man has the tendency to be quiet, speaks with very few words, tries to be
unobjectionable, shows less movement, and is not open to immediately asserting his identity and opinions while in a conversation,
particularly if among "strangers and unfamiliar situations". [1]
Based on a 1999 study conducted by UNICEF and Ateneo de Manila entitled How We Raise Our Daughters and Sons: Child-Rearing
and Gender Socialization in the Philippines, Filipino men are indeed expected to show Filipino values such as the following: to
become the "primary source of financial support" of their individual families, to be able to defend themselves during physical fights,
to be able to endure physical pain, to be able not to cry or show their emotions, and should know how to suffer emotional pain in
silence.[3]
Indeed, Philippine society has assigned more freedom, power, and privileges to Filipino men than women with regards to participating
in social affairs and activities.[3]
Gender roles
Main article: Gender roles in Islam
The Koran expresses two main views on the role of women. It both stresses the equality of women and men before God in terms of
their religious duties (i.e. belief in God and his messenger, praying, fasting, paying zakat (charity), making hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca/
Medina)) and places them "under" the care of men (i.e. men are financially responsible for their wives). In one place it states: "Men
are the maintainers and protectors of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of
their property (for the support of women)." The Qur'an explains that men and women are equal in creation and in the afterlife. Surah
an-Nisa' 4:1 states that men and women are created from a single soul (nafs wahidah). One person does not come before the other, one
is not superior to the other, and one is not the derivative of the other. A woman is not created for the purpose of a man. Rather, they are
both created for the mutual benefit of each other.
The next highest Hofstede Dimension is Masculinity (MAS) with a ranking of 62, compared with a world
average of 50. This indicates the country experiences a higher degree of gender differentiation of roles.
The male dominates a significant portion of the society and power structure. This situation generates a
female population that becomes more assertive and competitive, with women shifting toward the male role
model and away from their female role.

Masculinity (MAS) versus its opposite, femininity, refers to the distribution of roles between the genders
which is another fundamental issue for any society to which a range of solutions are found. The IBM
studies revealed that (a) women's values differ less among societies than men's values; (b) men's values
from one country to another contain a dimension from very assertive and competitive and maximally
different from women's values on the one side, to modest and caring and similar to women's values on the
other. The assertive pole has been called 'masculine' and the modest, caring pole 'feminine'. The women in
feminine countries have the same modest, caring values as the men; in the masculine countries they are
somewhat assertive and competitive, but not as much as the men, so that these countries show a gap
between men's values and women's values.