The Office of Gender Concerns (OGC) and Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (OVCAA) held a Research Conversation on Women and Gender Studies to mark the end of the Women’s Month Celebration on 4 April 2024. This is the second installment of the Gender Equality Matters (GEM) Forum Series and was live-streamed on the OGC Facebook page.

This program aims to further shine light on women’s issues and gender equality by providing a platform for the studies conducted by the students and faculty members of UP. The discussion featured four guest speakers, namely :(1) Mx. Ronacel dela Rama, a graduate student taking the Diploma in Women and Development in UPOU who is also a Gender and Development (GAD) advocate, (2) Ms. Dayielle Fidel, who is currently a graduate student taking the Diploma in Women and Development in UPOU as well, and a GAD Coordinator and Faculty in National University (NU) Laguna, (3) Dr. Marie Lourdes Turalde Jarabe, who is the program chair of Diploma in Women and Development and faculty member of FMDS, and she is also a social worker, educator, and activist. Together with Dr. Jarabe is Dr. Finaflor Taylan, who is the director of the OGC and the program chair of the Diploma in and Master of Social Work. She is also currently the president of the Asian Association of Women’s Studies. And lastly, (4) aProf. Roda Tajon, a faculty member from the Faculty of Information and Communication Studies at UPOU, works for different NGOs focusing on the improvement of their gender-inclusive psychosocial programs. This program was hosted by Ms. Denise Therese Anne Palisoc from the OGC.

The discussion started with Dr. Taylan giving the opening remarks. She provided a brief introduction to the program, stating that it hopes to tackle women’s empowerment and gender equality and their emerging issues, and how we can join together to achieve these goals through grounded research for everyone to be correctly informed amidst the proliferation of disinformation. This was then followed by a video presentation which provided in-depth background of the initiatives of the GEM Forum Series.

Mx. Rama then proceeded with her discussion. Her study entitled “Rampa at talak: Mga panayam mula sa bahagharing komunidad” tackled the different facets and elements about the LGBTQIA+ community. She made use of different questions or categories that aimed to identify the different experiences and backgrounds of each respondent. The study was then concluded by Mx. Rama recommending SOGIE to be taught more thoroughly, not only in the classroom but in the outside world, by means of persuasive communication rather than combative.

Ms. Fidel then followed suit with her study entitled “Alaga ni mommy: A content analysis of select video advertisements of baby and childcare products to gauge gender depiction of parenthood”. It aimed to show the image and stereotypes of men and women in terms of parenthood by discussing fifteen advertisements about popular baby and childcare products. She identified several underlying themes within the advertisements, such as the mother being the only parent engaged in household work and the father being absent in child-rearing activities, to which she recommended that men should also be shown participating in care work and to tap advertising agencies to participate in Gender and Development (GAD).

Mx. Rama and Ms. Fidel then answered the questions asked to them in the first part of the open forum. Among the questions are: (1) The possible implications of stereotypes in Mx. Rama’s study, to which she replied that stereotypes stem from society itself, particularly the different individual perspectives of the humans, (2) possible suggestions of the speakers to social institutions to promote respect for people with diverse SOGIE, to which Ms. Fidel replied with being consistent and persistent when talking about SOGIE and gender identity despite facing many criticisms and backlash.

Following this, Dr. Jarabe and Dr. Taylan presented their ongoing study entitled “Research Topic: Breaking the Glass Ceiling: A Narrative Study of Challenges and Successes of Women Leadership Positions in the Philippine Technology Startup Ecosystem (PTSE)”, which was also co-authored by aProf. Lloyd Simporios and Dr. Joane Serrano. This study made use of a narrative analysis in order to identify the different challenges women in leadership positions experience, and what different strategies they use to solve them. Mindset or outlook on motivation and goals, relationships with co-workers, leadership and personal growth, and gender stereotypes in the workplace are among the different challenges and questions tackled by the respondents, which provided a wide range of answers from the experiences and perspectives on the technology start-up.

Assist. Prof Roda held the last discussion with her study entitled Research Topic: “Straight pa rin ako”: Pagtalunton sa Konsepto ng Pagkalalaki, heretosweksuwalidad, at Romantikong Relasyon ng mga Cis at Heterosekswal na Lalaki sa Kababaihang Transgender”. She discussed the importance of gender identity, and aimed to discover the different dynamics of a relationship between heterosexual men and transgender women. She used the different posts of a facebook page named TransDiaries, which features successful aforementioned relationship stories. “Social media din, mayroon siyang malaking tulong, technology itself mayroon siyang malaking tulong, para ipakilala ‘yung iba’t ibang forms ng identity at relationships.” she said.

Dr. Jarabe, Dr. Taylan, and aProf Roda then held the second part of the open forum. Some of the questions that they addressed are: (1) How to respond to transphobic and homophobic remarks, to which aProf Roda replied by stating that there is no template for situations like these, but we must always call them out for such remarks. Dr. Taylan also added by sharing her own experiences with homophobia, and different situations call for different approaches, but it must always be done in an appropriate manner. Another question asked was (2) if there was a proper way to ask people their SOGIE, to which Dr. Jarabe replied by saying we should always think as an advocate. On top of that, we need to know our audience and who we are talking to, and in relation to Dr. Taylan’s previous answer, approach such situations appropriately and calmly.

Before the event was concluded, the winners for the OGC’s photo contest entitled “Babae para sa likas-kaya at inklusibong pag-unlad” were announced. Andrea M. Mendoza’s “Ihawan” won third place, Ren Avrielle Q. Telebrico’s “NAmulat at NAtuto dahil sa‘Yo” won second place, and Karl Alex M. Laurito’s “Breaking Barriers: The Light of the Home and the Society” won first place.

The event was then concluded by Dr. Myra D. Oruga, Assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs on Research and Publications, who delivered the closing remarks on behalf of Dr. Primo G. Garcia, the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs of UPOU.
The UPOU Women’s Month activities were crucial initiatives in promoting gender equality and women empowerment. These activities served as a call to action for all to continue working towards progress, equality, and inclusivity. The month-long celebration highlighted the significance of coming together to support one another and advocate for women and gender rights rights, not just in March, but a year-long commitment.

Written by Samuel Benjamin Zach III Basiao ♦ Edited by Dr. Finaflor Taylan ♦ Contributed by the UPOU Office of Gender Concerns