Using Technology in Uplifting the Image of the Filipina

The following is a speech I delivered today (written by co-founder Lorna Dietz) at the Helena Benitez Global Forum on Women, Power and Sustainable Development at the Manila Hotel. Together with co-founder Dine Racoma, we talked about the Filipina Images advocacy to local women leaders from different local government units nationwide such as mayors, vice-mayors, vice-governors, Board members etc. The occasion was the 1st International Seminar and Partnership Consultation on Gender Justice and Sustainable Development in celebration of International Women’s Month Celebration.

Good morning to everyone here today who are taking time out from their busy schedules to celebrate this launching of cyberspace tools for success — for Filipinos, about Filipinos, and by Filipinos — wherever they are in the world.

This is what I would like to do today for our topic, “Using Technology in Uplifting the Image of the Filipina.”

First, I will continue relating the story of FilipinaImages.com. Dine Racoma, our co-founder, continues to delight us with her perspectives about her life as “the Filipina Sexy Mom.”

Second, I would like to articulate some of the founders’ hopes and aspirations, as well as the milestones and achievements of this advocacy blog and news portal. I’m proud to announce that we will be celebrating our first anniversary on August 8, 2008. We are pleasantly surprised that wikiPilipinas recognized Filipina Images as one of their “Newsmakers of 2007,” website category.

And third, I will briefly explain how we make this online campaign work. For the non-techies in the audience today, let me reassure you, that this portal is for the creative-minded and the technologically-challenged. Among the three of us, co-founders, I’m the only techie person.

My sister, Lorna Dietz, the co-founder who is here in spirit with us today, resides in San Francisco, California. She is a member of the Filipina Women’s Network — or FWN.

Lorna is also a member of the FWN’s Committee for “Shaping the Filipina Image” Campaign — so one July morning last year, we had an online discussion about the term “Sexy Mom.”

Fortunately, this enlightening chat convinced me that we did not have to adhere to the common-place meanings of the term, “Sexy Mom.” We could reclaim the word — just as our US Filipina sisters had purposely made their group’s name redundant, using “Filipina” and “woman” so that internet searches for these words would somehow find their professional association popping up among the gazillion entries about Filipina dating services, marriages, and others. FWN also wanted mainstream USA to know that the correct term for a woman of Philippine ancestry is “a Filipina.”

Lorna told me, “You have to define if ‘Sexy Mom’ is for the workplace or if ‘Sexy Mom’ is to signify liberation from stereotypical images of mommies.”

So, Dine and I consulted our blogging community as well as some SEO experts. SEO, by the way, means Search Engine Optimization. I’ll explain later why the term SEO is of prime importance to our online campaign.

The three of us, together with many of our blogger friends, launched an informal online campaign in July of 2007. By no means is our group’s efforts a new or unique strategy.

We want to thank the internet leaders who came before us, among the many —

We are blessed to have a supportive community of bloggers who take the time to share their knowledge and experiences with us. We are forever grateful.

The question many of you might have is: “Why does this website exist?” And “Why Filipina Images? Why not Filipina Image?”

Because we want to “take back” the keyword “Filipina” from its usual search results.

Why don’t you do this when you get home today? C’mon, try it. It’s really easy.

Go to the Start Page of your Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox or what-have-you. Look for the Search function, which is usually google or yahoo.

Then, type this word: FILIPINA.

In less than one second, you will see the first page.

Then, what you want to do is count the number of entries that are not about “how beautiful the Filipinas are,” or about “finding the right Filipina to date or marry.”

Guess what? In the first page — which has 20 entries — you might only see TWO non-dating sites. Keep going to the next page. Then, make a tally.

It is safe to conclude then, that any person who does a search for “Filipina” on the internet thinks that the Filipino woman is only about physical attributes, marriage, or dating.

So, you see, the Filipina is not about ONE image. Therefore, the name is FILIPINA IMAGES. A diversity of images.

FilipinaImages.com’s goal is to achieve a balance of these Search Engine Results Pages or SERPS as they are commonly called. We are not out to eliminate the dating or marriage sites.

This means that there needs to be a conscious effort by many bloggers worldwide to direct the keyword, “Filipina” to a non-dating or non-marriage site. In other words, the more people there are who link the keyword “Filipina” to one or two websites that highlight the achievements and dignity of the Filipina, the better our chances are at getting these chosen websites to the top 20 in the SERPS.

When we launched the “google bombing” campaign in July, we used the Filipina Women’s Network website as “the link of choice.” Then, we created FilipinaImages.com so that contributors to the online campaign could use this independent portal to link the keyword “Filipina.”

Our Filipina sisters in the US can continue their own SEO campaign in “Shaping the Filipina Image” by linking the keyword “Filipina” in their blog postings to FWN. During last October’s FWN Summit in Washington DC, Lorna was a member of a panel discussion on “Crafting the Filipina Image.” Among the five panelists, she talked about how blogging can effectively impact social change by explaining exactly how the Filipina Images website operates its online advocacy campaign.

FilipinaImages.com, once again, is the example of an online advocacy campaign that my sister explained to her colleagues to help the non-techies in their e-learning classes. Lorna is now quite a strong blogging advocate in the communities she works in. I’m very pleased to say that she’s a very good student of mine.

When you have the time to browse through our portal, please read our contributors’ stories. If you have a blog and you would like to become a FilipinaImages.com supporter and contributor, please e-mail us.

This online campaign to uplift the dignity of the Filipina can be transposed to whatever goals you have. You can exercise your leadership by consciously complementing your community-organizing or grassroots efforts with an internet presence. All it needs is a blog. You don’t have to be a tech whiz to manage the contents of your blog.

FilipinaImages.com IS a movement to achieve social change. We fulfill a need that we did not know existed. The proof is in the tremendous growth and progress we have made in having more contributors join us. They provide fresh stories and insights for us to reflect on — and to celebrate.

Whatever your interests are — whether it’s a hobby, your family, a political statement, or a talent —

Our message is very clear: Blogging gives voice to your passions, to your ideas, to your opinions. It is easier than you think.

If you can e-mail, you can blog. We can teach you. There are many of us.

After all, blogging is all about conversations and discussions.

It’s that simple.

Thank you.