Online, is what I mean. There is this advocacy called Reshaping the Filipina Image Online. It is a noble cause to address the current image and reputation of Filipina women in the internet. It can be a Herculean task given the fact that there are many factors we have to consider and one of them is to spread the word (to Filipinas particularly) that we have to do something to abate, if not eliminate totally, the perception in the internet about Filipinas being bound to domestic helping (not that I have anything against this noble work) and prostituting only.

Before posting this, I am glad to know that when you search and type “Filipina”, the advocacy ranks second. The support must be growing placing them at the top. It’s a good thing. It’s good news. Maybe not a gargantuan task at all.

However, I do hubpages and stumbled upon a hub – Nine Inch Nails and Star Trek. I don’t know the band. Of course, I know about Star Trek. What made me uncomfortable is the line in the hub that says “Mariqueen is not Indian. She is Filipino. A very hot Filipino.” Then I started typing Mariqueen Maandig on the search box and clicked go. Then I saw a lot of ‘revealing’ facts parallel to saying she is a very hot Filipino.

Maybe to some that is just a statement. For the hubber, that is simply stating what he thinks of Mariqueen probably because she is a sensual and a straightforward artist (lead vocalist of the band West Indian Girl). But borrowing a line from Wil – music speaks for itself. It can be for me the same as saying, one’s preferences, beliefs and persona speaks for the person himself.

Being hot can be a good thing but can be another thing, too. The implication of the word is varied but there is danger also that Filipinas are stereotyped as hot in a perverted and twisted sense of the word.

(Also posted at Warmstone.)

1. I’m proud to be Filipino because we always rise to the occasion! Hinding hindi ko pagpapalit ang Pilipinas at yung kultura natin. – Sitti Navarro, Singer

2. We are a race of champions. – Dred David, 21, Team Surf Shop & CTC

3. I’m proud to be Filipino because no matter how bad things get we always seem to find something positive or something to smile about to keep themselves going. – Martin Warren, 26, Marketing Maverick

4. Filipinos work hard for their families and value education and success in the profession. – Dr. Marj Evasco, Poet, DLSU Professor and Palanca winner

5. Filipinos are peace loving and talented – Yves, Physician and Graduate Student in Creative Writing

6. Dahil tayong mga Pilipino, pili na, pino pa. The best talaga and you better believe it!” – JM Lim, 20, architecture student

7. I’m proud to be Pinoy because of our partiality towards the extreme, odd and awkward. But all beautiful. – Maite Salazar, 26, writer

8. Filipinos are willing to go the extra mile, even with hardship, to help someone out – Dette Quizon, 27, entrepreneur

9. Because only in Manila can I go through 2-3 extreme emotions within a span of a minute. – Tamtam Lara

10. I love being Filipino because of all the unique cultural diversity you can find in our tiny little archipelago. I think all of our rich backgrounds play a big part in making us Filipino. – Cat Juan, model and writer

1. We are amazingly sympathetic and cariñoso –that’s why Pinoys make such great nurses and caregivers. – Ana Reyes Abano, 28, proud mommy and J&J Brand Manager

   (more…)

Every now and then I will post emails from FilipinaImages.com. This one is from Lan Tait, an American and married to a Filipina. He has had an amazing life on the cutting edge of computers and the Internet for more than 3 and a half decades

Here is Lan’s story:

To me, when I think of being a Filipina, I think of my deceased wife, Bhabes Gelito Tait.

http://bhabes.t8s.org/

Bhabes was 27 when she married me. The first kiss she ever received from a man was right after the minister said, “You may kiss your bride.” When we dated, we sometimes went as far as to hold hands! (Gosh!) In the presence of her parents, I was allowed to give her a quick hug when I arrived and another when I departed. The reason was that she was saving herself for her “God’s Best” husband! Let’s see, that was me!

Eight years later when Bhabes died in a car crash, she finished the course of her life having only kissed one man… Again, that would be me!

That’s The Filipina!

Bhabes was a real lover, a lover of God, a lover of Country, a lover of People and of course, a lover of me!

(more…)

Every now and then, we receive positive or negative emails from our readers from all over the world but it is not often that a Western man sends us his thoughts about the Filipina. Let me introduce you to Steve Schertzer who provides insights on the image of the modern Filipina.

Part 1

What a privilege and honor it was for me to come across both of your websites, www.filipinaimages.com and www.laurganism.com. What has been upsetting me lately is the very thing that has made you angry in recent years: The image and perception of the contemporary Filipina. Like you said, just google the word “Filipina” and what appears on every computer screen is mail order bride services masquerating as dating or key-pal websites, and more pornographic pictures of Filipinas than anyone can count.

In fact, these websites seem to be leading the charge in promoting today’s Filipina as little more than desperate gold-diggers who would do anything to meet a foreign man more than twice their age. They are often described as “sex kittens” and “coy” or “submissive” who would make good wives for older, Western men. This is insulting to both Filipinas and to myself as a Western man.

But as we are all too aware, many Filipinas today— in fact, too many of them— often portray themselves that way to get a foreign man to support both her and her family. Philippine society is not doing itself any favors by keeping its collective head in the sand by ignoring this issue. With hundreds of thousands of Filipina prostitutes plying their trade in places like Manila and Angeles City, (not to mention in countries like Japan and South Korea on “Entertainment” visas), the modern day Filipina is also a major contributor to the image of the Philippines as an international clearing house for prostitution.

(more…)