Women empowerment and the barriers they encounter in the media industry took center stage on PUP BroadCircle’s “FIRST-SPECTIVE: Power of a Woman's Mind,” with esteemed speakers such as journalist Jacque Manabat, Actress Rain Matienzo, and Drag Queen Mrs. Tan at the Bulwagang Bonifacio on March 21.
Aligned with International Women's Month, the event highlighted the significance of women's representation in any aspect, especially in the media industry, which is known as a male-dominated workplace.
In the opening remarks of BroadCircle’s adviser George Vincent Gamayo, he underscores the gender inclusivity inside the Polytechnic University Philippines (PUP), such as Ms. Kim Modelo, the first transwoman student regent, having a Committee on Decorum and Investigation (CODI), and having women’s leadership in the university.
Gamayo shared some of his research tackled the struggles of women, for instance, lactating mothers having no means of necessities, particularly in provinces, due to a lack of government support.
“Marami pa tayong lalabanan. Marami pa tayong aaksyunan. Marami pa ang kakaharaping suliranin. Malayo pa ang ating lalakbayin pero malayo na rin ang ating narating. Sama-sama tayong babangon at aaksyon sa lipunang patuloy na ginigipit ng lipunan… Abante-Babae!” Gamayo expressed to end his remarks.
Outlook on digital space as freedom
For GMA Sparkle Artist and TikTok Content Creator Rain Matienzo, being a woman is two things: options and choice, because she believes that women nowadays have more options and opportunities, unlike before.
Matienzo recalled the story of dating a guy in her college days. She said the guy made her feel less like a woman because everything she did was not enough compared to the guy’s achievements. Later, they broke up, and she made sure she was busy with her new priorities.
“Nag-audition ako bilang courtside reporter, pero hindi ako natanggap. My revenge plan didn't happen [to make the guy ashamed]. I only became a courtside reporter a year later, and I no longer cared about him honestly,” Matienzo explained.
For UAAP Season 82, Matienzo covered games as the resident courtside reporter for the Adamson University Falcons. She also worked as a student DJ for the local radio station Monster 93.1 for three years.
After working in the media, she felt that being a female reporter and a radio DJ was “very tiring,” so she shifted to an online platform as a content creator because she found the digital platforms to be of “freedom.”
“They choose what space they can go into and share their experiences. I feel like it's already a movement in itself to change how the next generation will perceive womanhood that was shown to us by tradition. I just love how having platforms opened up and brought so much more depth and dimension to women,” said Matienzo.
To end her talk, she challenged the audience to utilize their platforms to promote and create well-informed content that can give broader definitions of womanhood.
“I hope that you keep on breaking the world and therefore society [to] no longer just tolerates the different dimensions of womanhood but celebrates it.”
Female journalist's POV beyond the cam
Manabat centered her speech on the struggles of female reporters behind the camera and how traditional journalism progressed to this generation. She began by showing a video of how women were portrayed before, and she resonated it with how female journalists should look to be credible to their audience.
She stated that online bashing, prejudice, judging her physical appearance, and harassment are some of the challenges as a woman journalist in the Philippines. Moreover, she asked the audience about different forms of discrimination they have experienced and aligned them to their struggles as journalists.
“We in the media are also victims ng gano’ng biases and prejudices. We may be that influential, but we are also victims lalo na yung mga babaeng journalists. We get a lot of prejudices from the audience.” Manabat asserted.
Manabat also showed a report from UNESCO in 2021 that seven out of 10 women journalists faced online harassment; and shared she was a victim of it; there were comments on her saying “Ang pogi mo naman, gusto mo ba rape-in kita para maging babae ka na?” and “Mukha kang bakla” because of her short hair.
“Ang tingin kasi sa aming journalists ay strong, authoritative, [and] fierce, but we’re also humans. Ibinababa nito ang confidence namin na natitira because of public scrutiny.”
Furthermore, the transition of media from traditional to modern and digital sparks hope for Manabat to continue empowering women’s voices and young people to break the barriers and stereotypes after resigning from her 17-year work in the media company.
“You challenge the status quo, you question what is happening, and you innovate. So, that’s how I innovated, how I [shift] to digital… I should be teaching online etiquette and content creation for the next generation for you to elevate the online discourse and to inspire you to innovate.” Manabat explained.
Women in the lens of the queer community
To Ian Jaurigue, popularly known as “Mrs. Tan,” Drag Den PH Season 2 first runner-up, women, and the LGBTQIA+ community are illustrated as “weak” because of the patriarchal community in the Philippines. However, in the world of drag, Mrs. Tan stated that most of her supporters are women because “drag is the reflection of who they [women] want to be.”
“Women empower us drag artists, [and] we empower them as well.” Mrs. Tan added.
There is no essence of being a woman for Mrs. Tan because she believes that women should see themselves as the woman they want to be.
She further discussed that a woman can love another woman, a woman can have a choice of being a mother, and in any version of a woman, they could imagine themselves despite their status and gender as long as they see themselves as a woman.
“This event can be an inspiration to every type of women who’s listening out there na huwag matakot ikwento kung ano ang kwento nila bilang isang babae, especially sa larangan na gusto nilang pasukin.”
Mrs. Tan upholds that every story to tell has a sense, no matter the medium, and she will continue maximizing her platform to empower and narrate these stories.
“Patuloy naming iku-kwento ang mga kwento na gusto niyong i-kwento namin. Let’s continuosly empower each other because mas mabilis natin mababasag ang sistema at mas mabilis nating mari-reach ang pagkakapantay-pantay na gusto nating lahat.” Mrs. Tan affirmed at the end of her speech.
To wrap up the event, FIRST-SPECTIVE’s Executive Producer Kesia Bianca Borilla expressed her gratitude to the audience who attended and to the whole team for making the event possible and successful.
“We should not others dictate our perspective of ourselves. Let’s continue fighting for what we deserve, empower ourselves, and break these stereotypes because we, women are the ones who should set the standards for ourselves.” Borilla concluded.
Article: Rhoze Ann Abog
Graphics: Hannah May Manalo
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