Happy International Women’s Month, Women’s Day, and Women’s Week to all the women who follow our blog!

March 8 is International Women’s Day. In the Philippines, the first week of March is Women’s Week and March is National Women’s Month.

Thus, I am happy that the series that I just finished watching over the weekend showed the struggles of women and what they did to fight for their rights. It also showed how women should help and support other women instead of pulling each other down because of envy or jealousy.

I don’t usually watch TV or binge-watch episodes of a particular series. My norm is to be focused and determined in working and moving towards my goals.

But, I wasn’t feeling well around two weeks ago and I decided to be kinder to myself and to give myself time to destress and rest from my concerns and worries. I thought, why not watch a good series?

I love all things related to history! I like reading books on history and historical fiction. I also like watching films or movies that are based on real or historical events.

During that time (around the last week of February), one of the things that I noticed on social media was the local show/series titled Maria Clara at Ibarra. I first learned about this show from my fellow homeschool moms. It was mentioned and recommended in one of our homeschool groups. I got curious. I checked out a few clips and after that, I decided to watch the series. I got hooked right away!

The series was based on the novels of Dr. Jose Rizal, namely, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. But they gave the show a twist by making the student who was studying the novels in the show/series time travel or enter the book and experience the story firsthand.

I will write a more detailed review of the show/series in another blog post.

But today, let me share 7 lessons that I was reminded of and which I think were highlighted in the series. These 7 lessons are very timely because we are currently celebrating Women’s Month, International Women’s Day, and Women’s Week.

1. Women are worthy of respect, love, admiration, and recognition. Watching the struggle of women during the Spanish Period in the Philippines is different from simply reading about it in the book written by our National Hero. Watching it on screen stirs emotions far stronger than when you’re simply imagining it. The struggle to rise above the prevailing mentality at that time wherein women were treated like commodities and not equals to men was palpable. Women who demand respect and the right treatment were viewed in a negative light. I’m glad that in the series, although most men looked down on women and were hesitant to give them the respect, love, admiration, and recognition due to them, there were some men who were ahead of their time and treated women the way they should be treated. Although women, generally, are treated much better these days, there are still situations where women of our present time find themselves not receiving the respect, love, admiration, and recognition due to them. To my fellow women, I urge you to assert your rights to be treated as equals and not allow others to deprive you of these.
2. Women have the right to be seen and heard and to express their feelings and thoughts. Women during that time were expected to be quiet and to stay away from important conversations. Women who wanted to express themselves were seen as unholy and rude. I probably would not survive living in that era! I’m not saying that all women these days are able to do this now. There might be some who still find themselves challenged to do these in some situations. My encouragement to my fellow women is this. Don’t let people make us mute or invisible. Our feelings are valid. Our thoughts and opinions matter. Don’t let others make you feel or think otherwise.
3. Women are capable and strong. Women are capable of many things and strong in many ways. This is most evident in the lives of mothers who had to endure many difficulties and sacrifices for the sake of their children. Even during the Spanish Occupation of the Philippines, Filipino women manifested these traits. But people do not look at women long enough to recognize their capabilities and strengths. Childbirth, for example, shows the physical, mental, and emotional capabilities and strength of women. But for many centuries, including now, people have not understood what a great sacrifice and achievement it is for a woman, a mother, to carry and nourish a child inside her own body for 9 months and to give birth to that child, sometimes without the use of painkillers.
4. Women can also contribute and help if we allow them to. There were scenes in the series where some of the women characters were discouraged from being involved or from helping out. This goes back to how people see women. If people see women as capable, they would not hesitate or discourage women to participate and contribute. I remember the episodes where Klay (one of the main characters) saved the lives of two other male characters in the series. In one episode, she helped save the life of someone who was choking by performing the Heimlich maneuver. In another episode, she saved a life by doing CPR with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
5. Women should not be limited to or stereotyped to specific roles or functions. This is also related to the previous two lessons I mentioned. People in the olden times, including the Spanish Period in the Philippines, stereotyped women to perform specific and limited roles only. That’s because they thought that women’s abilities were limited to those areas. But that is not true. We now know that there are so many fields of study and expertise wherein women not only proved that they are capable but that they are also excellent and sometimes better than men. I remember when I was a child. One of my dreams was to become an architect or engineer. But the older people around me then discouraged me because they said those were fields dominated by men. I might not become successful if I choose to pursue those fields. Somehow, I listened to them. We are now in 2023, but there is still discrimination in some companies and fields. Women still struggle to prove themselves capable in fields that were originally dominated and perceived to be for men only. So for the women in these fields, I salute you! I hope that you prove many people wrong by achieving your goals and dreams in your chosen field.
6. Women should be allowed to educate themselves, pursue their own interests and have careers on top of being wives and mothers. It was shocking to watch women prevented from educating themselves through reading. I already knew that in the olden times, women were not allowed to study in universities. But when I watched an episode in the series where Maria Clara was scolded for reading a book simply because it was not about religion, I was taken aback and disgusted. I’m thankful that I married someone who allows me to still pursue my own interests and continue working on my career while being a wife and mother. Doing the things I like or love keeps me sane and helps me have healthier and stronger self-esteem. It also helps my children (who are all boys) to see that women are not only wives and mothers. Women can also be writers, authors, speakers, and business owners.
7. Protect and defend women from those who hurt and abuse them. Do not be among those who hurt, belittle, or insult them. If you are a woman, stand up for yourself and fight. There are many other lessons that I’d like to add but for this blog post, I will limit it to 7. In Dr. Rizal’s novels, the abuses and terrible plight of women will not only make you sad or weep, but also make you mad. No wonder, Filipinos who read it chose to join the revolution and fight Spain eventually. It is sad that in some episodes, it was shown that it was not only men who hurt women. Women were also hurting and abusing their fellow women. However, there were also many scenes wherein Filipino women showed support for other Filipino women. That’s how it should really be. But I think what is most important is that women should also stand up and fight for themselves and refuse to be hurt over and over by those who hurt them. We should fight for our dignity and rights. And when we see other women who are weak and could not fight for themselves, we should help them to be strong and while they are weak, we should fight for them. That is sisterhood!

I highly recommend this series, not just to women, but to men as well. They will learn a lot from the story, not only about women empowerment but also about family, society, and many other things. Click here to watch this show/series.