“A steam of delicious aroma rising from the breakfast table of sinangag, fried tinapa, skinless longanisa and hot coffee puts the children under a morning spell, the husband looking sharp in a teal polo-barong clutching a neatly folded newspaper in one hand and the other cuddling his wife for a morning kiss. The wife wearing an apron of hearts and sunflowers beams while pouring a cup of coffee for her husband…”
Tessie Thomas and the Picturesque Housewife
The usual depictions of women in the mass media are submissive wives, dutiful mothers and household keepers. These imageries are often seen in movies, TV programs, Filipino soap operas (Telenovelas) and advertisements. The popular television talk show of Tessie Thomas in the early 1990s, “Tessie ng Tahanan” underlines the imposed normalcy of the situation wherein the wife stays at home taking care of her family and the household. The show revolves around the concept of women sharing stories and best practices of being a mother, wife and keeper of the house thus “…ng tahanan” (of the home).
According to Linda P. Perez in her article “The Filipino Woman in the Humanization of Social Life”, the most typical role of a Filipino woman is being a mother and/or a pure housewife. She stays at home most of the time and as a mother her primary responsibility is the care of her children- feeding them, bathing them and preparing them for school to supervising them with their homework. This may be true to some extent since the Philippine culture and religion dictates such role of women especially in the household.
Since the propagation of the Spanish religious doctrine in the 1500s, women in the Philippines were expected by the friars and missionaries to be caring and nurturing mothers for their own children and take care most of the household chores. This arbitrary idea of a submissive woman has subsisted for hundreds of years and has confined women in so many ways they never imagined, as feminist writer Ama Ata Aidoo brilliantly puts it in addressing the status of women in Africa, “…colonized by the colonizer, then by our men with their new found power”.
Judy Ann Santos and the Rise of the Househusbands
The modern world of arts, literature and mass media show relevant transitions in portraying women from meek housewives to confident mothers, from sexy secretaries to respectable managers, from helpless damsels to strong superheroes. The new imagery of women in literature and the visual arts was brought about by the notable change in the actual roles of women in our societies.
Filipino actress and television icon Judy Ann Santos is known for her usual characters of an obedient daughter who fends for the family (Mara-Clara), a wistful young girl looking for a male companion (Kay Tagal Kang Hinintay) and a wife who patiently waits for her husband’s return (Ploning).
With the emergence of new breed of women, the characters of Judy Ann Santos in her recent movies have likewise shifted to a strong and confident woman such as her roles in the films Aishite Imasu (2004), Kasal, Kasali Kasalo (2006), Sakal Sakali Saklolo (2007), Hating-Kapatid (2010) and My Househusband (2012).
Sherrie Inness in her book “Action Chicks” explained such similar change in popular imagery is due to changes in women’s real lives. She pointed out that no longer could women be represented in the same stereotypical ways as they had been in the past and the rise of the female action heroine was a sign of the different roles available to women in real life. In Judy Ann’s case, the transition to a confident career women character was due to the undeniable dominance of women in the corporate and business communities.
The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) stated in their article, “A Reconfigured Filipino Family” that a major development in the country is the increasing feminization of labor, and at home more women are joining the labor force both in the formal and informal sectors.
One can expect that with the absence of women in the family comes the inevitable change in gender roles in the household. We see the increasing number of grandparents taking care of the children and the most popular if not the prevalent trend is the emergence of the househusbands or stay-at-home-dads (SAHD).
Juan[a] dela Cruz and the New Gender Roles
In the Philippines, with the boom of the Business Process Outsourcing or Call Centers many women in the country were given the chance to be employed, including of course the housewives and mothers. Sixty percent (60%) of call centre employees are women according to the report of the National Statistics Office in 2009, in which large percentage of middle to senior management positions are held by women with children. This presents the possibility of husbands being at home and taking care of the family and the household.
Mary Rose Anuran, 26 and a resident of Brgy. Dalandanan, Valenzuela works as a Team Leader in a call centre in Quezon City- her husband stays at home taking care of the family and household. According to her, she chose to work because she does not want to rely on her husband’s parents to financially support her son.
She said that the traditional role of women is to take care of their husband and children and that she needs to be very sensitive to avoid emasculating her husband because of the switch of their roles in the household. The conservative ideals of a woman in the country is apparent, growing up within the four corners of religion, Rose cannot deny the feeling of guilt stemming from the idea of wives submitting to their husbands as reinforced by various religious clerics and sectors.
It is no different with the househusbands, Eduardo Ison IV of Makati City and Alben Narit of Marilao, Bulacan share the same sentiments on being househusbands- they do not want to be househusbands forever for the fear of being tagged as “Andres de Saya”. This is the concept of men being dominated by their wives when it comes to income, thus making them the object of fun and ridicule. Indeed, this may be attributed to the society’s predisposed mindset of what the men should do and the women shouldn’t. Eduardo also believed that his wife, Maricar, is better in taking care of their baby, cooking and doing the laundry. He pointed out the women do the household chores better because they are meticulous and detailed and that being a househusband is not really his expertise.
One woman said in a focused group discussion on women in call centres, that, “it is good that we- women- had the chance to work, but it is better that we –wife and husband- both work so that we can strongly support our growing families.”
The social stigma of being a househusband and even of being a career woman is still creeping in the dark crevices of our conservative society. Despite the fact that there is an increasing trend of shifts happening to the gender roles in Philippine household, husbands and wives see this not as a form of liberation but as a product of necessity.
The househusbands do not want to be househusbands for a long time and their working wives still has the meekness of tiptoeing around their husband’s ego because of the shifting of household roles. The number of working moms and stay-at-home-dads may increase proportionally given the constancy of the socio-economic factors, however this does not necessarily equate to women empowerment. Until then that these working wives and mothers realize the liberation and power that comes with their new roles, validation and fulfilment will only be with the chosen few.
RYAN VILLAREAL 
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