Vision for women in the next decades
What a fitting way to close women’s month 2013 on Easter Sunday! Though I missed the Women’s Congress, I participated in the Roundtable Discussion on Women’s Role in Transformative Politics on March 21 organized by the UP Cebu GAD Office and SIDLAK. It was their version of the national theme “Kababaihan: Gabay sa Pagsulong sa Daang Matuwid.” I was asked to share my study on the experiences and articulations of selected women leaders from the Dictatorship up to the Post-EDSA Period which I did after the Beijing Conference, 1997. I chose the portion where the ten women expressed their hopes and vision for women in the coming decades. This also serves as an assessment of what has been done and still to be done by women and for women two decades after Beijing.
For the women’s movement in the next decades there was the urgency of evolving a feminist theory based on the experiences of women all over the country, a feminist theory anchored on organizational change for gender equity. To promote and popularize the women’s agenda, it was also their wish that all universities and colleges establish their own Women’s Studies Program. They stressed that the women’s movement should continue with leaders from the grassroots, not from the academe. Women’s organizations should continue their advocacy on women’s concerns. However, there is a need for sustained zeal in developing institutions. There are attempts for women’s groups to reach a level of maturity: to be self-sufficient and not be dependent on outside funding. There is a call for more advocacy on women’s agenda which includes involvement of all sectors in the campaign against AIDS, elimination of sexist media, and a program to eliminate gender-related violence. They also envisioned women fighting the economic and political system that oppresses and exploits them. With the involvement of more women in politics it is hoped that a women’s vote in the barangays will emerge.
From the experiences and articulations of the women leaders, some characteristics of feminist leadership surfaced. Feminist leadership should be assertive but not aggressive; should not be afraid of power but should use power for enabling rather than controlling. It is accountable and aware of it own responsibility but does not try to abdicate its accountability and responsibility. Feminist leadership is participatory, and should have spirituality and a sense of humor, a social context that advocates women’s empowerment and social transformation. A feminist leader does not demand from a woman more than she can give. In everything she does, she always wants to get people into a level where they can take care of themselves. A feminist leader is guided by an agenda so that there is direction in her leadership and that there is clarity in her goals. Viewing from the grassroots perspective, a feminist leader should be attentive to the needs of members who belong to people’s organizations. She knows how to balance her being a Filipina, as a member of a sector and at the same time a woman, attuned to and responding to the needs of the times.
In empowering women and handling the culture of silence, as she interacts with women she would like to empower, she is more patient, has greater stamina, and waits until the inhibited person is able to come out of her shell. With regard to empowerment, she works for the political empowerment of women. This advocacy includes giving trainings and workshops for women holding positions in the local government and encouraging more women to join local governance, preparing women for leadership by training women who may not necessarily do training or never had any opportunity for training, and taking responsibility to prepare women to take over leadership roles. Feminist leadership combines community experiences and academic work, working on the Filipino values system in mobilizing people for collective action.
Based on the experiences and articulations of the selected women leaders, leadership is feminist if: it puts women in the center of analysis of things; it introduces the gender issue in the institution and work for the recognition ad acceptance of feminism as a valid political and development agenda; it enables women of different orientations to articulate and accommodate their preferences in promoting the women’s agenda; it links the struggle for liberation and the struggle for economic survival, the efforts of women empowering women, the present feminist leaders and the next generation of feminist leaders; it gives others a chance by pulling out when the institution is stable. It intends to create continuity in leaderhip not a dynasty.
