Deconstructing Maria Clara PDF

DECONSTRUCTING MARIA CLARA  Ang tunay na BABAE ay… Image Source: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ae/75/c2/ae75c2b7f1c7ecbd0082471b844a2c7a.png “All forms of femininity in this society are con...

DECONSTRUCTING MARIA CLARA  Ang tunay na BABAE ay… Image Source: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ae/75/c2/ae75c2b7f1c7ecbd0082471b844a2c7a.png “All forms of femininity in this society are constructed in the context of the overall subordination of women to men. For this reason, there is no femininity that holds among women the position held by hegemonic masculinity among men.” -Raewyn Connell, 1987  Masculinity and Femininity Hegemonic Masculinity Hegemonic Femininity qualities defined as manly that establish characteristics defined as womanly that and legitimate a hierarchical and establish and legitimate a hierarchical complementary relationship to and complementary relationship to femininity, which guarantees the hegemonic masculinity, which dominant position of men and guarantees the dominant position of subordination of women men and the subordination of women (R. Connell) (M. Schippers)  Femininity Emphasized Femininity Pariah Femininity compliance with Characteristics and practices subordination of women and that are stigmatized and oriented to accommodating feminized when embodied by interests and desires of men women in the setting (Connell) (Schippers)  Who is Maria Clara? Image Source: https://t4.ftcdn.net/jpg/01/00/99/77/360_F_100997757_8GYG02S8DVDLyqLPJe9ZjLB1Keg3tejs.jpg “The Filipino culture, for all the increasing signs and protests to the contrary, still has a large hangover from its ego-idea for women of many bygone years. This is the so-called Maria Clara image of a woman who is shy, demure, modest, self-effacing, and loyal to the end.” -Lourdes V. Lapuz  Filipino Women in the Pre-colonial Society catolonan or babaylan bilateral kinship sexual discipline bride-price system Image Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Cagayan_Woman.png  Under the Spanish colonization, “The position of women in society was improved” as they were “respected and honored by men” and “did not mix freely with men […] Many young women entered the nunnery and became nuns. The beautiful Maria Clara in the novels of Rizal is a good example of womanhood in Spanish times”. -Gregorio and Sonia Zaide, 2004  Filipino Women in the 19th Century ▪ De los Reyes: A woman is superior to man, more intelligent; the husband stays at home dealing with domestic tasks, proper to the woman. ▪ Women from the provinces worked in the exportation industry in Manila. ▪ Female proletariats emerged to fight for their rights. Image Source: https://www.seekpng.com/png/detail/99-999555_png-file-png-woman-icon-white-work.png ▪ Public schools, on a sex segregated system, provided trainings for women teachers (maestras). ▪ Midwifery was professionalized (by UST School of Midwives). ▪ There was a launching of Marian reviews and association of Catholic maidens, spouses, and women workers. Image Source: https://cdn4.iconfinder.com/data/icons/mono-education/100/Artboard_16-512.png  ▪ La mestiza en su tocador by Juan Luna in 1887 ▪ A mixed-blood of a Filipina in the appearance of a tantalizing young woman gazing at herself in the mirror ▪ La Bulaqueña by Juan Luna in 1895 ▪ A mestiza woman in a Maria Clara outfit Image Source: https://en- academic.com/pictures/enwiki/50/220px- Una_Mestiza_by_Juan_Luna.jpg Image Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/Una_Bulaque%C3%B1a.jpg/330px- Una_Bulaque%C3%B1a.jpg Jose Rizal’s Maria Clara ▪ A romantic figure, following a European literary model ▪ A woman from the Philippines, the idealized teenage love of Rizal ▪ A representation of women who were supposed to maintain their suffering roles of loving mothers, sisters, and wives; and to be inspirers and caring providers Image Source: https://t4.ftcdn.net/jpg/01/00/99/77/360_F_100997757_8GYG02S8DVDL yqLPJe9ZjLB1Keg3tejs.jpg  Jose Rizal’s Maria Clara In Rizal’s novel, Noli Me Tangere: ▪ religious ▪ demure ▪ self-effacing ▪ beautiful ▪ charming Image Source: https://t4.ftcdn.net/jpg/01/00/99/77/360_F_100997757_8GYG02S8DVDLyqLPJe9ZjLB1Keg3tejs.jpg  Characteristics Associated with ‘Maria Clara’ (from some studies) ▪ Modesty, docility, and submissiveness (Tan, et.al., 2001) ▪ Repression of feelings of physical attraction towards a man (Torres, 2002) ▪ Pure, virginal, and grand ladies (Blanc-Szanton, 1990) ▪ Reserved, soft, yielding, and loyal (Church, 1986) Image Source: https://t4.ftcdn.net/jpg/01/00/99/77/360_F_100997757_8GYG02S8DVDLyqLPJe9ZjLB1Keg3tejs.jpg  Under the American “Filipino women made history […] The first Asian women to vote were the Filipinas”. But “People prayed the rosary and the angelus less […] Young people could now go out without a chaperone”. -Gregorio and Sonia Zaide, 2004  Filipino Women During the American Colonization ▪ Clubs and associations of women became a crucial part in the intellectual life of the country (e.g. studying and graduating from UP or US). ▪ Women’s beauty was acknowledged in the Manila Carnival/ Miss Philippines event. ▪ There was a formation of young women to become nurses for the local demand and the demand abroad.  The Fight of, for, and with Maria Clara ▪ The first builders (e.g. Emma Sarepta Yule) of ‘modern Filipino woman’ struggled against national and American biases regarding Filipino women. ▪ The second generation (e.g. Sofia de Veyra) struggled in the battlefield of the women’s vote fight. https://nw.epls.org/digital/api/singleitem/image/People/33/default.jpg Image source: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/508da03be4b0d28844ddf21c/1375856502842- CI946G2BCGUKDTENJHOZ/Sofia%E2%80%85Reyes%E2%80%85de%E2%80%85Veyra?format=1000w The Fight of, for, and with Maria Clara ▪ Literary works about women were published like Maria Clara, a play in two acts (1927), A Patriot and a Mother (1930), Our Hero’s Mother (1939), The Widow of Rizal (1939), Rizal’s Better Half, and Rizal’s First Love (c. 1930), Dalaga magazine, and the book, Ang Malinis na Susana (1926). ▪ Women’s dress, traje de mestiza or mixed-blood woman dress or Maria Clara dress became the model of Filipino woman attire. ▪ Feminine or all-public magazines (e.g. Sunday Time) published articles dedicated to Maria Clara.  Filipino Women and Marcos Administration ▪ The policy of birth control was opposed by the Catholic Church and its vision of women’s sexuality. ▪ There were women involved in resistance to violent and dictatorial regime who could integrate political activism. ▪ This period gave rise to: Malayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan (MAKIBAKA) in 1970, with feminist agenda Katipunan ng Bagong Pilipina (KABAPA) in 1975, which sought political and socio-economic empowerment Kilusan ng Kababaihang Pilipina (PILIPINA) in 1981 to mainstream gender issues Katipunan ng Kababaihan para sa Kalayaan (KALAYAAN) in 1985, to advance feminist discourse within the national liberation movement Filipino Women in 1990s ▪ Carmen Guerrero Nakpil changed the word mestiza to Filipina in her essay, Woman Enough (1990). “The greatest misfortune that has befallen Filipino women in the last one hundred years is Maria Clara. I mean this in a very real sense for, in trying to live up to the pattern set by Rizal’s beautiful heroine, millions of Filipinas became something other than their real selves. They forced their persons into the narrow mold of Maria Clara’s maidenly charms and became effete and exceedingly genteel caricatures. They affected modesty to an absurd degree and became martyrs to duty and familial love” The Modern Maria Clara ▪ Nicola Sebastian (Meet the Modern Maria Clara, 2012): Repressed, controlled and traditional of the past vs. better, happier, and freeir modern version ▪ Tamara Benitez (Maria Clara Who, 2002): Clothing as evidence of modernization of young Filipino women to adapt the styles and looks of pop culture icons (e.g. Britney Spears, Madonna) ▪ Lexi Schulze ( Will the Real Maria Clara Please Stand Up?, 2007): Maria Clara as innocent but intelligent, attractive but prudent, attentive to her sexuality but reserved enough to deserve a marriage proposal “For decades since Maria Clara was created by the genius of the great patriot, we have heard the name of this heroine spoken, now in reverent whispers, now in a gush of romantic idealism. She has been celebrated in song and oratory as the paragon of Filipino womanhood. Whenever it seemed that the modern Filipino girl was becoming too vital, too progressive, or too daring, prophets of execration and doom were not lacking to hold up the figure of Maria Clara anew and to whisper her name as if it were an incantation to drive away an evil spirit.” -Salvador Lopez, Maria Clara: Paragon or Caricature? References: Ellwood‐Clayton, Bella. (2006). Maria Clara, Manila Girl & the other Mary. Premarital Sex in the Catholic Philippines: Constructions of Seduction. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d9801da6b643b365b374218/t/5dc034477743ac695275 17ab/1572877393736/Premarital.sex.pdf Maguddayao, Ma. Charnina Victoria Z. (2016). The Feminine Nation: A Postcolonial Feminist Analysis of the Iconographies of Marianne and Maria Clara in the French and Philippine Online Press. https://papers.iafor.org/wp-content/uploads/papers/accs2016/ACCS2016_27212.pdf Sanchez, Jean-Noël. (n.d.). Construction and Deconstruction of Maria Clara: History of an Imagined Care-oriented Model of Gender in the Philippines. https://www.kuasu.cpier.kyoto-u.ac.jp/wp- content/uploads/2015/12/JN-Sanchez-Paper.pdf Schippers, Mimi. (2007). Recovering the Feminine Other: Masculinity, Femininity, and Gender Hegemony.Theor Soc, 36, 85-102. DOI 10.1007/s11186-007-9022-4. http://www2.kobe- u.ac.jp/~alexroni/IPD2020/IPD2020%20No.2/Recovering%20the%20feminine%20other_gender% 20hegemonies.pdf http://library.fes.de/fulltext/iez/01109004.htm https://factsanddetails.com/southeast-asia/Philippines/sub5_6c/entry-3876.html https://slidesgo.com/