These are some excerpts from Jose Rizal’s letter to his sister Trining during the former’s stay in Heidelberg:
“The German woman is serious, studious, and diligent, and as their clothes do not have plenty of color, and generally they have only three or four, they do not pay much attention to their clothes nor to jewels.´´
“They go everywhere walking so nimbly or faster than men, carrying their books, their baskets, without minding anyone and only their own business. ´´
“…because German women are active and somewhat masculine. They are not afraid of men. They are more concerned with the substance than with appearances. ´´
Let me say that I truly admire a woman who is capable of independence. I might write again my observations in this European country I am in, but let us not tackle about that.. I want to write about women. Women who are called Bitches when they express themselves, when they compete with men, and when they beat men.
I do not think that it is about subduing men or competing with men. I think that it is about self sustenance and liberation to be able to learn, to practice one’s craft, to simply map her own purpose. This might sound like from the Women’s Lib, a reality which we thought already happening. If that is the case, then stop calling me a Bitch.
I might point out the women in my Heimat (fatherland). And the women here where I am staying. It is still customary that a Filipina stays at home, attends to the kids and waits for her husband’s salary, and in between, she will watch noontime shows and telenovelas as her endowed entertainment. Thanks to the so called Women’s Rights, women attend schools and even universities, even being able to pursue Engineering, Law or Medicine. Yet, in between, she will succumb to a man, put on expensive make up and clothes, watch t.v., wait for the man, and daydream. Because, in such education, women are isolated to learn only the theories and praxis of the discipline they choose. Outside the degree and the career, they still need to have those multiple facial creams and they need to stay at home, because she is a wife and a worker (careerwoman). She will still have that fragile emotions and she will still be conscious at what others may say, she will still be conforming and will not have her own disposition over matters.
Where I am staying right now, to which, I might also suggest (but not necessarily impose) to the women in my Heimat, women are considered strong. Rizal has the accurate definition of them which is valid up to now. Women don’t waste time, they, in fact make the most of their time. Women read, a common household bookshelf here is filled with books, no matter if she is the Mechanical Engineer of a metal company or the cashier of a bakery, she collects books of her own interest be it about geography or Ernest Hemingway or marine life. Women indulge themselves into sports, some women even drive to cliffs to cycle, or even climb mountains. During their free time, they study new sports, at 40, they attend arnis lessons or rowing lessons. Women go to museums, opera and cultural festivals, mostly affordable and not expensive during festivals as they are being upholded by the government as well. Women express themselves, they have their opinions and not afraid to be heard out. Women think, they use logic and techniques for convenience, even from cooking, to driving, to mostly anything. They don’ linger long moments in front of the mirror because they want to be punctual. They don’t say, “Pwede na ito´´, they execute things to the best way they can and they expect efficiency also.
Being a woman is not about being a bitch to men, but being a bitch because a woman satisfies herself. And that satisfaction comes from the things we try to discover as humans here on earth who appreciate beauty and art, who use rationality bestowed upon us, who develop ideas and skills for the betterment of our own selves and who have goals to be fulfilled.
Tags: women
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