Filipina As Other

When Simone De Beauvoir wrote “Woman as Other” she spoke of the long and ahistoric contention encumbering women all around the world. Brown, yellow, white, or black, it did not matter, for as long as she possesses the conditions of what makes a woman, she is forever bound to be the incidental, the inessential, and the other. This is the cold truth that becomes of most women, and that include Filipinas. Under this system of relegation, a Filipina, as a woman, is categorically the second sex. Like her fellow sisters, she is the immaterial and the inconsequential, or simply the other. However, unlike the rest of them, her story does not end here for her imprisonment is twofold. In the eyes of her fellow sisters, the others, she is once again given the status of the inessential, the incidental, and the other, thus, becoming the other amongst the other.

In today’s globalized world, Filipina has become synonymous to housemaids, nurses, escorts… labels, most often than not, identified and differentiated with reference to “the” subject or “The” one. Not that there is something inherently wrong with being a housemaid, nurse, and escort, but the mere fact that her identity and personhood is simply reduced as all that renders her status more obvious. To a foreign man, she is known as the excellent prey to spend the night with. In that instant, she becomes a beauty satisfying his fading senses, a tender nymph soothing his aching flesh, and a sweet respite restoring his numbing soul. But then, all ends there. To her Filipino brother, she is branded as the trophy wife. She becomes, as he had wanted, the compassionate half conforming to his unreasonable demands, the excellent chef feeding his bottomless stomach, the understanding companion tolerating his whimsical needs, and the supportive mother nurturing his pompous ego. But then, again, it ends there. To her foreign comrade as others, she is identified as the sought after helper. The Filipina, as described by the foreign woman, is the studious worker who picks up job she doesn’t want, the reliable staff who never fails to carry out her instructions accordingly, and the honest subordinate who remains truthful towards her. But then, like before, their encounter stops there. Finally, to her friend and sister, the fellow Filipina, she is acknowledged as the nameless adventurer. The Filipina, the other, is reduced as another explorer finding her own way in this already crowded world, the unwanted traveler journeying life alongside millions of others, and the tenacious survivor holding on to her hope. As if these examples are not clear enough, the Filipina today, as a woman, as a person, and as a psyche has become a substitute for a mere reduction. Filipina has become the common parlance for Beauvoir’s “the other”.

In reality, however, the Filipina, as herself, is much more than all these. She is the beauty that is exalted all around the globe. She is the perfect catch that is wanted by husbands to be. She is the ideal employee that is valued by people. She is the relentless wanderer that is respected by many. The Filipina is not just one of these but she is the fusion of them all. She is not just a fraction but a whole —a mixture of all her experiences. The Filipina may also be the opposite of all that has been said yet she still is a Filipina. She may have a broken heart yet it beats along the pearl of the orient. She may have a wrinkled face yet on it etched the history of Rizal and his brave compatriots. She may have tainted blood yet it still paints the brownness of her land. Yes, she is, without a doubt, a Filipina. Her past, present, and future becomes her and not a fraction less. She is her own woman, she is her own person, and she is her own— Filipina—. By bringing her own story, she becomes the essential, the significant, and the one.

The story of a Filipina is simple yet complex, demoralizing yet inspiring, frightening yet soothing. The multiple nature of her world, like herself, is what defines her. She cannot be boxed into a single category. And not unless her story is told as “The One” she will remain a mystery beneath a public expose.


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