I am a constant reminder of my mother’s mistake. There have been many incidents wherein she’d tell me, out of anger, that I am worthless and that I should just pack my bags and live elsewhere. But the most striking times are when she would not have heightened emotions at all. My mother would tell me casually, “You are the root of my suffering. I wish I never had you.” My eyes would lock onto her and I would nod slowly, and walk away as I let the words of rejection fragment the foundation of my childhood, bearing fruit to insecurity and self-hatred.
Read MoreAs I stood precariously on my desk, I reached for my copy of Filipina author Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo’s Catch a Falling Star, which was tucked into the very side of my upper-wall bookshelf. What possessed me to revisit the short story collection from my Grade 7 English class, I’ll never know. Surely it wasn’t for escapism, as the stories are undeniably realistic. When I first read “Beautiful Beth,” (96-110) my memory was already saturated with news of women kidnapped and raped and murdered. A high school sophomore being married off to her rapist after her being abducted was, however, shockingly novel to me.
Read MoreIt was the summer of 2013 and I was 10 years old.
The season was a golden time filled with the sticky sweet syrup of childhood idealism. These days were a peculiar transition, the times before I was thrust into womanhood and the brutal expectations that came along with it. The days of childhood were gone, and the welcoming world as I knew it began to change. Unfortunately, my naivety did not change along with it.
Read MoreThe Philippines was ranked 9th globally and 1st in all of Asia in the Women’s Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report published in 2014. The report was based on women’s participation in the economy, their educational attainment, health, and political empowerment. Despite this, Violence Against Women (VAW) is still considered by the Philippine Commission on Women to be “one of the country’s most pervasive social problems.”
Read More