I think about how lucky women—you, me, our mothers, our titas, our sisters, our daughters—are to live in this time and place.
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How lucky we are, not to have to worry about the pasador—the reusable sanitary pad that menstruating women used, washed, sun-dried, ironed, and reused. How lucky today’s mothers are, not to have to have to do the same things for their babies’ diapers. How lucky we are to have been able to go to school and take our pick of courses, learning about the world and its possibilities. How lucky we are to be able to drive a car, watch movies, buy jewelry and real estate—by ourselves, without having to ask money or permission from our fathers, husbands, or boyfriends.
How lucky we are to be here, working outside the home, earning our keep, discovering our potential for goodness and greatness. How lucky we are not to be considered chattel that can be bought or sold or raped, even by our husbands. How lucky we are to be able to vote (even if sometimes it’s slim pickings) and to be able to be voted into office.
We are all so lucky to be enjoying these privileges as rights, when in the past, the standard was for women not to own their lives. We are all so lucky to be expecting these liberties, to have all these choices. We can choose furniture, careers, workplaces, even the men or women who will make our hearts sing.
We are all able make these choices because women before us fought for these rights. Today, March 8, we celebrate International Women’s Day to commemorate the courage and the sacrifices of these women.
Here, in the Philippines, the feminist movement remembers the contributions of Concepcion Felix and Pura Villanueva. More than one hundred years ago, in 1905, these two women founded the feminist movement in the country. Going against the accepted belief of their time, these two women endured indifference, ridicule, and contempt for daring to claim that women were equals of men, and that women deserved the same political and civil rights as men.
Because of them, we are here and now.
