Gifts For Complementarity

A Written Work on Cap 15: Reciprocity between Men and Women

During the Spanish times, the woman has been the family treasurer, which, at least to some degree, gave her the power of the purse. Nevertheless, the Spanish also established a tradition of subordinating women, which is manifested in women's generally submissive attitudes and in a double standard of sexual conduct. The woman's role as family treasurer, along with a woman's maintenance of a generally submissive demeanor, has changed little, but the double standard of sexual morality is being challenged. Male dominance also has been challenged, to some extent, in the 1987 constitution which contains an equal rights clause.
(http://countrystudies.us/philippines/44.htm)

True. Even before this decree was promulgated, the view of women as partner, if not equal, to men is getting its hold in the society. Women start to be recognized. Some women have asserted their rights; even at a young age, I have been encountering women sitting in public offices. We had women politicians (foremost are presidents Cory Aquino and Gloria Arroyo). At home, mothers hold the money earned by the fathers and manage all their expenses. In the public elementary and secondary private schools I went to, I had always been under the administration of female principals. In the parishes I grew in, I saw women not just preparing food for the priest, but who were really active in the catechetical apostolate and in the Parish ministries/councils; in fact, their number is greater than that of men. Truly, women are asserting themselves. But is their asserting of themselves enough to say that there is a reciprocal partnership between them and men in the society and in the Church? Men are usually greater in number in public offices. Our past presidents were dominantly male. At home, the father is usually the breadwinner; the boys are tasked to do the heavier manual errands. In schools, the technical subjects are a no-womans land. In the Church, well, no woman can become a priest, much less a parish priest, and so even if a parish may not be dominated by men it is still led by a male Pastor which holds through for the whole world. Will it suffice to say that there is reciprocity in the relationship between men and women in our society and local Church? In terms of number, a survey claims that men in our country are slightly greater than women; but it does not show much the status of relationship between them. Some realities will tell us the real score.
1. At home, usually the father works and the mother stays to take care of the house. Right now, due to high cost of living, both parents welcome the idea of working. Some men would still relegate household tasks to women making employed women carry a double burden. But right now, due to gender equality consciousness and women asserting themselves, this is not so true anymore. To do household chores is perceived now as the duty of the family. Many decisions in the house are made by both parents and sometimes with their children. If the old mentality still exists, it may be practiced in areas so remote maybe still tribal in culture and system. 2. A survey regarding gender inequality shows that women are gaining higher achievement than men in the three dimensions of human development: gender health, gender education index and gender income. (http://www.nscb.gov.ph/headlines/StatsSpeak/2009/020909_cja_gdi.asp) Given all these gender statistics, it only shows that men

are being left behind. Also in the realm of studies, even if there is a very small rate of graduates from colleges, women are greater in number than men. Women seem to be more gifted; men just seem to care less. Women begin to enjoy more opportunities for job and so, somehow, it is becoming a reality that women start to become the breadwinner more than men. They may no longer be commodified in the old sense; but if this giftedness is abused by men, then the commodification of women has just mutated into a new form. 3. On account of globalization, women are asserting themselves more: not because they want to dominate men but for equality (equal rights and status in the society) and for self-realization. Many educated women become more career-oriented. And a lot of men start to recognize this whether they are taken aback or are really open to it. This comes into tension with the view that women must become good mothers; how can they become good mothers if their time for children is consumed in work? This becomes worse to mothers who are very much career-oriented; their job takes priority rather than their family. Well, in this very sophisticated life, you cannot but depend much on money. They forget to balance things. But how shall they put it? 4. Gender consciousness has also penetrated religion. Having attended some Catholic and even ecumenical gatherings, God is addressed not just as Father, but also as God, our mother. It struck me a bit but it is true since God has no gender (except in Jesus). Gender consciousness has penetrated even our symbols of prayer, but it has to happen hopefully not as a reaction but in order to enhance spirituality and communion. 5. People now become conscious of using terms. Midali is right; before the word man is referred to all men and women in general. But now, they either add woman or rather use person or people to refer to all. Even in our national language and in some dialects, the consciousness of equality is gaining grounds. Some encyclopedias would really have to be revised in order to become gender-sensitive and acceptable to all. Since the world has become a global village and the access to anything is possible, a common culture is observed. A culture may be in the form of consciousness of equality between man and woman, and their relationship is that of partnership rather than that of leader-follower, or worse, master-slave. If not for the wrong mindset, men will really find it easy to accept the reality of women asserting themselves. For a harmonious relationship and for ones good and the good of the society, men need to be open to the claim of women for equality. However, women must be cautious not to go beyond what they ask for because, like Adam and Eve, they might think that they are already gods, and so would just reverse the past mentality instead of correcting it. People have to think of their gifts. God has given us the gift of our sexuality; it has its contribution for selfactualization and the building of the society, the Church and the Kingdom. Man must not forget his vocation as man, gifted with manhood; he may be tunnel-visioned as psychology claims but his focus can give direction to society. Woman is gifted with womanhood; only they have the right to become mothers, begetting and nurturing children. If only they would focus on their particular gifts for the building of their selves, family, society and the Church, there will not be so much depression and violence in this world. Above all, they must anchor their gift in our dignity as man and woman created by God, redeemed by His Son and sanctified by the Spirit. If this basic thing is given prominence above the material/consumerist perceptions of man, then relationships will be a venue for nurturance. God has given us our gifts to contribute in the fulfillment of his plan. One must think that the gift he/she received is one of the vital gifts and not the greatest of all gifts. Ones gift is useless if it is not related to those of others; gifts are for complementarity. I believe God has given us our diversity with the view of making a united whole, and not isolated parts. With this mindset, I believe the

reciprocity in relationship between man and woman will enhance and be enhanced the gifts and personhood of each one.

In terms of number, a survey claims that men in our country are slightly greater than women (http://www.census.gov.ph/data/pressrelease/2002/pr02178tx.html); but it does not show much the status of relationship between them. Some realities will tell us the real score.
commitment to effective and sustained freedom from oppressive and discriminatory situations clear opposition to the commodification of women critical attention to feminism, social systems and their justifications Update Project personalistic commitment to society Update Project personalistic commitment to family commitment to the full utilization of maternity and paternity commitment to the humanization of the world of work and professions awareness and support for women involved in politics 2. long-term goals within the ecclesial a church renewed for effective reciprocity between men and women Priority formation of consciences sincere recognition of ecclesial ministries of women access of women to management positions in decision-making bodies serious comparison of consecrated men and women with this problem deep and comprehensive theological renewal of the Encyclopedia complex and enlightened commitment critical to inclusive language

Strategic factors in society and the church 1. operators exchange Men and women protagonist change set Specific tasks of women Specific tasks of men 2. Referrals gear 3. mode exchange attitudes and critical interventions attitudes and actions preferable 4. focal points 5. MTOs At the level of local churches A national and international shipping 6. design, testing, verification, correction, customization

Long term goals in society and the church 1. Long-term goals in society formation of consciences commitment to effective and sustained freedom from oppressive and discriminatory situations clear opposition to the commodification of women critical attention to feminism, social systems and their justifications Update Project personalistic commitment to society Update Project personalistic commitment to family commitment to the full utilization of maternity and paternity commitment to the humanization of the world of work and professions awareness and support for women involved in politics 2. long-term goals within the ecclesial a church renewed for effective reciprocity between men and women Priority formation of consciences sincere recognition of ecclesial ministries of women access of women to management positions in decision-making bodies serious comparison of consecrated men and women with this problem deep and comprehensive theological renewal of the Encyclopedia complex and enlightened commitment critical to inclusive language Strategic factors in society and the church 1. operators exchange Men and women protagonist change set Specific tasks of women Specific tasks of men 2. Referrals gear 3. mode exchange attitudes and critical interventions attitudes and actions preferable 4. focal points 5. MTOs At the level of local churches A national and international shipping 6. design, testing, verification, correction, customization
The Philippines is a signatory to the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. It is also committed to the implementation of the 1985 Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, the 1993 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted during the 4th World Conference on Women in 1995. In addition, the government has institutionalized various mechanisms in recognition of the role of women in

nation-building. Foremost of these is the creation of the NCRFW in 1975, the formulation of the Framework Plan for Women and the 1995-2025 Philippine Plan for Gender and Development, the passage of the Women in Development and Nation-Building Act, the creation of Gender and Development (GAD) focal points in government agencies including the LGUs, and the mandatory provision of at least five percent of the agencys or local governments total budget for the implementation of its GAD plan. Just recently, Senate Bill No. 2396, more popularly known as the Magna Carta of Women, which aims to protect Filipino women from all forms of gender discrimination and abuse, was ratified by the Senate with 18 senators supporting its passage. It is expected that the President will sign the bill into law this March 8 in time for the celebration of the Womens Month and the International Womens Day. With all these efforts geared towards enhancing the status of women, wouldnt Pepe feel jealous that Pilar is getting all the attention? And refer to Pilar as ang babaeng humugot ng aking tadyang? Should there be a Magna Carta of Men too? In 2008, the NSCB implemented a project on the Development of a Methodology and Estimation of Gender Development Index (GDI) at the Local Level, which was funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through its Achieving the MDGs and Reducing Human Poverty program. The Project developed a methodology, which produced estimates of GDI for all provinces of the country as well as for cities and municipalities of five pilot provinces, covering the years 2000 and 2003. A National Dissemination Forum was conducted in October 2008. GDI is defined by the UNDP as a measure of human development that adjusts the Human Development Index (HDI)3 for disparities between women and men. Loosely stated, the GDI penalizes countries for gender inequalities, adjusting the HDI downwards to account for differences in the levels of development between women and men. Hence, the value of the GDI is always lower than the corresponding HDI. It must be stressed, however, that the GDI is not a measure of gender inequality, rather, it measures the average achievement that is adjusted for gender disparity. Patterned after the HDI framework, the GDI has the following components: gender health index (GHI), gender education index (GEI), and gender income index (GII), which separately accounts for inequality between women and men in three dimensions. However, the GDI does not answer the question, Who benefits more from development? Mga babae ba o mga lalake? To address this, the NSCB Technical Staff formulated another indicator, the Gender Equality Ratio (GER), which aims to determine who between women and men are faring better. A GER with value greater than 1 indicates that women have an advantage over men4. So what do the GDI and GER tell us? Gender inequality indeed exists! While the countrys HDI was estimated at 0.6435 in 2003, GDI was estimated at 0.6087 indicating that there is gender inequality in overall achievements in health, education, and income (Table 1). From 2000 to 2003, the difference between the HDI and the GDI has narrowed from 0.0659 to 0.0348 indicating that there are positive gains towards achieving gender equality (Table 1). Adopting the UNDP HDI classification5, the 2000 as well as 2003 GDI for the Philippines is rated medium. Health and income situation becoming more equal! But definitive deterioration in disparity in education between women and men! Achievements in health and income are getting less unequal between women and men as GHI increased from 0.6842 to 0.7018 and GII increased from 0.2542 to 0.3254, from 2000 to 2003. However, achievements in education became more unequal as GEI decreased from 0.8310 to 0.7989. In general, gains in health and income were negated by the deterioration in education (Table 2). Calling on our Department of Education (DepEd) as this is only one of many statistics6 indicating deterioration in our education! Inequality between women and men is more pronounced in income than in education and health.

Women outperformed men in all the three dimensions of development in both 2000 and 2003! Women gained higher achievements than men in all three dimensions as indicated by the higher than one levels of GER for health (1.0248), education (1.0583) and income (1.2299) in 2003. In fact, the advantage of women in the income7 dimension grew bigger as the GER in income increased from 1.1170 to 1.2299 (Table 3). (Possibly one of the reasons why this years Womens Month theme is Babae, Yaman ka ng Bayan!?) However, womens relative advantage over men in health and education has decreased from 2000 and 2003 as the GER decreased from 1.0329 to 1.0248 in health and from 1.0979 to 1.0583 in education (Table 3). (I guess this makes Pepe, Mario and Juan less financially dependent on their wives.) Women attained higher development than men in most provinces in 2003! 70 of 79 provinces in 2003 show that women have an advantage over men in terms of development: whole of Luzon (except for Benguet and Masbate) and Visayas (except for Siquijor), and 19 in Mindanao (Figure 1). Women in Zamboanga del Norte have the biggest advantage In 2003, women in Zamboanga del Norte enjoyed higher achievement than men than in any other province as the province had the highest GER at 2.1735 (Table 4). Other provinces in the top five list where women have higher achievement in human development are in Biliran (2.0644), Surigao del Sur (1.8111), Apayao (1.7066) and Abra (1.6894). But Maguindanao women have the biggest disadvantage! Women were outperformed by men in achieving human development with the biggest margin in Maguindanao as the province posted the lowest GER of 0.0206 (Table 5). Other provinces where the disparity in favor of men over women was highest are in Siquijor (0.0222), Basilan (0.3935), Sulu (0.8491) and Benguet (0.9202). The GER can also be analyzed by dimension. This is helpful in identifying provinces where development programs in health, education, and income have been equitable for women and men, or where disparity occurs (Tables 6 and 7). The biggest disparity in health was in Ilocos Sur in favor of women and in Tawi-tawi in favor of men! In education, the biggest disparity was in Ifugao in favor of women and in Sulu in favor of men! In terms of income, the biggest disparity was in Zamboanga del Norte in favor of women and in Basilan in favor of men!

This favorable occupational distribution does not mean that women were without economic problems. Although women were eligible for high positions, these were more often obtained by men. In 1990 women represented 64 percent of graduate students but held only 159 of 982 career top executive positions in the civil service. In the private sector, only about 15 percent of top-level positions were held by women. Even now, men would usually relegate household tasks to women; therefore, employed women carry a double burden. But right now, because of consciousness of equality and women assert themselves, this is not so true anymore. Household chores perceived as the duty of the family, and not just of the women in the house, is gaining grounds.
http://countrystudies.us/philippines/44.htm