Hurray!
This is my 28th blogpost! I’ve reached the number of post I had last
year and it’s only July! I promise that there is more Codswallop to come.
Now
onwards with the post!
My
work for the past few weeks has been centered on scouring the Internet to prove
that there is an alarming increase in teenage pregnancy because of lack of
information regarding reproductive health. That one is easy: I’ll just have to
quote NSO’s press releases which state that there is a 65% increase in teenage
pregnancy from 2000 to 2006.[i]
My job also includes listing down the reasons as to why there is a lack of
access to information. We all know that one of the most obvious reasons is that
81% of Filipinos is Catholic,[ii]
but when your bosses include Lizzie Zobel and Alvin Dakis, the reason that
“it’s common knowledge” is a reason crushed by skepticism that rivals an
atheist’s when confronted with the argument of the existence of god.
Hungry
for knowledge (and honestly terrified of not being able to answer questions
thrown during our revision exercises), I channeled Hermione Granger and ate up
several volumes of Philippine Population Review, slept with a magazine on girls
on migration, and scoured the Internet for anything from Papal Encyclicals to
the Jo Imbong’s shiz about sex ed[iii].
And because I’m such a nerd, I’m writing this oh-so-special blogpost to share
the happiness and the trauma I’ve experienced during my rabid online research.
Here
are some crazy data that I found that made me question, react either with awe
or violence, or look out into the horizon and ponder on the meaning of
existence.
1. 83% of
Filipinos are on Facebook, Twitter, and other emerging media.[iv]
That’s
83% of almost 92 million people, ladies and gentlemen, and there are those who
still underestimate the power of the social media to inform and influence. In
this day and age of smart
And
this tells us the reach – the power- of social media. In this day and age where
a significant portion of Filipinos have smart phones, access to internet
through their personal computers or through internet shops, many advocacy
groups, government agencies, and even the Roman Catholic Church have Facebook
and Twitter accounts.
Just
this Tuesday, the oral arguments were held for the Reproductive Health Law at
the Supreme Court. Both pro-RH and anti-RH were Tweeting to keep people in the
know.
2. High cost of
education and – get this – housekeeping
are the top two reasons why girls drop out of school.[v]
I
actually received flak from someone online when I posted this little bit of
info online, saying that I was insinuating that girls should be lazy and not do
housework. It drove me nuts for a couple of seconds, but there you go. I will
no longer speak about the incidence.
The point: Why is it that the GIRLS are
the ones shown to quit school because of housework? Why not boys?
The question: What does the study tell us?
The hypothesis: This stat has something to
do with what’s between the legs. The Filipino culture, known for its
patriarchal ideologies (despite ranking 8 in the world in terms of the Gender
Gap Index) have stereotyped girls as the keepers of the house – despite the
fact that today many women maintain jobs outside the house and are bringing
home the bacon.
One
of the many literature I’ve read talked about the dangers of gender roles. In
the news, we hear about the inequality of those with penises and with vaginas.
The Philippines may be high up in the list of gender equality, but that doesn’t
mean we have to stop working for it.
3. Empowered
mothers tend to rear empowered daughters – and this means talking about sex.[vi]
What
does it mean to be an empowered woman? Several things, according to this study
– having an education and a career, being able to decide what happens around
the house and - surprise, surprise - having the ability to make informed
choices about one’s body. That, and being able to pass that knowledge to one’s
daughter. In the study, it was shown that empowered moms would more likely
advice their daughters to delay sexual initiation and give them the necessary
sex ed to their children.
4. Abstinence
is more frequently talked about during integrated sex ed class than
reproductive anatomy.[vii]
I
shiz you not,dear Reader. Not using your reproductive anatomy is taught more
than WHAT your reproductive anatomy is.
 |
| My desk is a reflection how crazy I've become. |
The
Internet is an awesome reservoir of knowledge, and this past few weeks have
been a learning experience for me. The multitude of data and information I was
able to take in were eye-opening and had elicited a variety of emotions – like I
said, from awe to violence – but most importantly, the job has made me look
closer at what is happening in real life, it has made me question and seek
answers.
If
you’re interested in any of the stuff I talked about here, check out the
linkies below for more cool/infuriating stuff about religion, sexual health,
and young people.
Knock
yourself out.
[i] “Pregnancy among girls under the age of 20
increased by 65 per cent over a 10-year period, from 2000-2010, despite a
reverse trend in teen marriages, which is on the decline, according to the
National Statistics Office (NSO).”
[iii] “Supposing
[a girl] says, ‘I think I love this guy, He’s my crush. He wants to be more
intimate with me,’ and then she gets abused. That was her decision. She entered
into it. There is already consent, therefore you cannot anymore charge the
other person. See how dangerous it is?"
[iv] McCann
International study on social media use: Power to the People Social Media
Tracker Wave 3
[vii] In a study conducted by Merlyne Paunlagui,
et. al. in 2005, abstinence was more commonly discussed than sexual
decision-making (37.86%), reproductive anatomy (35.92%), contraception
(30.10%), and risk reduction, which received the lowest attention at 25.24%.
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