Filipino People and Rizal Essay

Introduction During Rizals time, he showed us what a received office of a cleaning lady is on those times. He told in wiz of his letter that from his infancy wo human being argon with agreeable manners, beautiful ways, and pocket-sized demeanor. But he in addition told us that thither was in exclusively an admixture of servitude and deference to the words or whims of their so-called spiritual fathers, referable to excessive munificence, modesty, or perhaps ignorance. They seemed faded plants s have and re ared in darkness. The adult female of Rizals time responded to the first appeal in the interest of the well-being of the batch.Rizal said instantaneously that you take hold fortune an example to those who, care you, big to have their eyes opened and be delivered from servitude, new hopes are awaken in us and we instanter even dare to face adversity, be font we have you for our allies and are confident of victory. This term paper go forth cover what are the indis p otguishability of Filipina from the bypast and the women identity today. The significance of woman from the past who followed Rizals bravery to fight down for their cover and their characters, will withal essay to see what kind of woman identity should a Philippine have, the Filipino women in Rizals novel or some of our woman leaders of todays.What is a Filipina? Is she Asian or Western? Is she the reluctant leader Corazon Aquino, or is she the self-proclaimed symbol of beaut for her people Imelda Marcos? Is she the sophisticated-day Gabriela Silang who envisions and works towards cross-sectoral changes, or is she unmatched of the millions of faceless and nameless struggling multitude who does anything just to put strain on the table, the ordinary Juana de la Cruz?The implication of an early paradigm of sexuality character and equality may have, to some extent, begun the process of identity weeation. On the surface, the Philippine myth does non seem to introduce the concept of conflict. What is intercommunicate is compatibility and harmony. scantily when and how, then, did the problems of identity conflict for the Philippine woman come well-nigh? The language of the colonizer is found to not scarcely serve as a vehicle for literary expression, but also for setting onwards the rarefiedized image of a Filipina from a male perspective.A plan glance at literature shows an evolution of sorts of the Filipina from the pre-compound Maganda of indigenous folklore, to the early 1800s Laura who epitomizes beauty and faithful acceptance of her role as prescribed by culture, religion, and corporation and to the fictional characterization of womanhood drawn from two works of historic fiction by Jose Rizal, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. Although Rizals central protagonists in some(prenominal) novels are men, the significance of the women characters lies in their symbolic portrayals of a people of some(prenominal) images, of a verdant torn a part by race, culture, and mannikin.In Rizals attempt to define a nations identity by reference pointing the need for subject reforms and by exposing the evils of colonialism, he may have also encouraged the need to demystify the Filipina. The colonial Spanish periods desire image of a Filipina is embodied in the character of female horse Clarabeautiful, demure, modest, patient, devoutly religious, cultured, submissive, and virginal. The blood that runs through her veins is more European than native. Her ancestry is far-famed since it has a bearing on the idealized model of a Filipina, the roman print Catholics Virgin Mary, and European and foreign. mare Clara belongs to the elite her kindness is not to be equated, however, with social awareness. She is a repressed woman and her failing and despair over a lost love overwhelm her, enable powerful and sinister forces to slowly drive her to death. Perhaps, to a certain degree, this ideal is still upheld today, contributing to t he confusion of identity formation, for the original application of the character Filipino was only for Spaniards and their descendants who lived on the islands the indigenous natives were simply called indios. The nineteenth century saw a character reversal process the last mentioned (indios) who have capitulated, are now called Filipinos while the former, mostly direct descendants of colonizers, now prefer to call them Spanish. The character Dona Victorina is a reflection of the triumph of colonialismthe alteration of behavior and thinking patterned after the characters perception of a superior race. whizz hundred years ago, in that location was a Dona Victorina. Today, the trappings of a colonial mindset persist, and are evince in the attraction to look Western and to consume Western goods.Dona Victorina is a characterization of lost identity. Her frivolity, and that of Paulita Gomez, who is greatly enamored by the trappings of the elite, who loves the man who could maintain the needs of her class, and who is a vain and flighty version of Maria Clara, may be seen today in the persona of Imelda Marcos. The identicals of Imelda Marcos also mirror, ironically, other Rizal character, Dona Consolacion, who can be described as an interesting specimen of colonial deformation. She may serve as an example of the dehumanization of the indio, a eccentric person of total alienation from her original self, or from her potential self.The character Sisa also represents the opposite image of Paulita, a contradiction of the so-called high up status and the liberated label describing the Filipino women today. She is the woman Mary Hollensteiner speaks of in her article, The married woman quietly suffering from subjugation, sacrificing to put food on the table, living only for her sons. Sisa represents the silent victims of an conquering which drove her to madness and death. at that place are millions of Sisas in the Philippines today the unfortunate women who are scavenging for food in the mountains of trash, the degraded women whose bodies are used as commodities, and the abused wives who are repeatedly beaten by their husbands. The other woman, Juli, emerges as the one character that chooses death over a life in shame. She suffers abuse and humiliation working as a servant to pay her familys debt. She brings to mind the women of today who work for famishment wages.Juli refuses to be coerced her death liberates her from oppression. Among these characters, perhaps Juli best characterizes a sense of take aim and identity. In Rizals characters, the women who seem to be able to obtain their desired needs no matter the consequences are Dona Victorina, Paulita Gomez, and Dona Consolacion. On the other hand, ill luck seems to be the fate of the women whose consciousness could be raised to levels higher than that of self- reach. The all-giving military position of Maria Clara, Sisa, and Juli leads them to their deaths.Within their social strata , each character is confronted with varying degrees of oppression which in turn defines the parameters of liberation. In their ambition to hold on to the symbols of the govern class, the former multitude has make themselves seemingly strong and highly clear handmaidens of a system which feeds on varying levels of coercion and subjugation. The latter groups retreat into death or madness carries two co-occurrent descrys 1) the strength to exercise a final liberation as a form of defiance to oppression, and 2) the weakness and inability to confront any form of injustice.Who is more oppressed? Who has really liberated herself? Perhaps, what we are seeing is the notion that oppression has slowed down the process towards a national identity in full general and towards a Filipina identity in particular. The reality is that the Philippines is a country still going through the throes of colonization. Indeed, there are those who have catapulted to the highest ranks, much(prenominal) as Corazon Aquino and Imelda Marcos, who embody differences in substance, style, and character. However, there are contradictions.Corazon Aquinos high visibility, status, and power contradicts the image of a meek and slavish wife trustworthy to the memory of her husband while Imelda Marcos, the Iron Butterfly of unparalleled extravagance, is a drastic contrast to the image of a once dutiful and subservient wife. Despite the fact that both overcame the traditional roles assigned to women of their social class by reaching positions of political power, they remain subservient to the memories of their husbands, but personify the interests of the class they represent.Class interest is perhaps the overriding difference mingled with highly visible women, such as Corazon Aquino and Imelda Marcos, and the fervent militant women carrying the bequest of an intellectualized Gabriela Silang. While women in power and women working for empowerment both affirm a heritage and demand a platform, th e contradiction probably lies in the formers subservience and the latters ability to address issues that cut across class lines.But class again diametrically separates political women from those who suffer in silence, such as the patient and unselfish women who toil to feed their families, work in sweat shops, as vendors, scavengers, and prostitutes. There are also those who come faceless and nameless for they may blow over and slide and go seemingly where the wind blows, all these, indeed a kaleidoscope of conflicting Filipina identities.Not only do Rizals novels provide a matrix for identity and conflict, they also allow a rare view of a peoples past which formed their culture today, and of a social cancer of which, up to the present, the best cure is still to be found. In the process of identity formation or perpetuation of identity conflict, the women in Rizals novels best serve as bridges in the development process, allowing the flow from the early 1800s mythical formation to the current acclivitous identity.The social, cultural and political context of both past and present are mirrored in the novels. The myth of the high status of the Filipina has caused Philippine women, wittingly or unwittingly, to become at times participants in their own oppression. This containment by elevation has allowed the essence of womanhood to be subjected to and dictated by rules and regulations theorise by and for the satisfaction of a colonial society. Philippine women find themselves attempting to wade out of a quagmire of confusion over their identity.Remembrance of Rizal is close disappearing when it ought to be cherished and honored by all Filipinos. It was he who, more effectively than anyone else among his compatriots, unified the disparate inhabitants of our archipelago into one nation. It was he who made them share a common rage against the foreign intruder and a common aspiration for the freedom of their land. Rizal awakened the national conscience from its lethargy not through the force of arms but with the armies of his pen.These were the Noli and El Filibusterismo, his Letter to the Women of Malolos, his juvenile poems for the Motherland, his Mi Ultimo Adios that he secreted in a lamp in Fort Santiago hours before his death, and other irrefutable accusations against the Spaniards. His words were like mighty legions that won for our country the freedom we now enjoy. Summary As we all see, that woman of today are very different from the past. Filipino women today are brave and strong enough just like Rizal to fight for what they think is right.There also some women from the past who fight for their rights like cultivation but as compare today woman are more confident to stand. There are woman activist who really do what a Filipino woman can do to make a stand for their fellow miserable Filipino people especially those people who are uneducated, they take everything to achieve their goals. Nowadays, we are now equal with man in almo st everything most especially in terms of culture, all people in our country, man and woman, rich and poor are now equal in meetting education.Because of it we are now challenge to face the adverse circumstances and continued to fight for changes, not just to limit our roles as housewives but also to continue battle for what is right, and thats what a real Filipino woman identity today. Just like Rizal, he focused on self-improvement, showing to Spain and the rest of the internationalistic community that, given the opportunity to achieve their full potential, Filipinos could stand on base the best in the world and were eligible for self-rule.Then he set out to apply what he had learned as an ophthalmologist, providing a rudimentary service that was badly needed by his impoverished compatriots. In his literature he emphasized the importance of education, seeing it as the path to national progress rather than armed revolt. We all know that prudence does not consist in blindly ob eying any whim of the little tin immortal, but in obeying only that which is reasonable and just, because blind obedience is itself the cause and origin of those whims, and those guilty of it are really to be blamed.Rizal said that God gave each individual reason and a will of his or her own to distinguish the just and the unjust, all were born without shackles and free, and nobody has a right to subjugate the will and the spirit of another. I hope we can bring round the reverent sentiments of gratitude to him for his efforts in releasing us from foreign bondage. Political rhetoric is not enough to keep his submarine sandwichism alive. Let us memorialise that he forsook the enticements of his youthful and gifted life and embraced instead the ultimate sacrifice for the welfare of his country.That is the best homage we can pay the greatest hero of our race. Conclusion The issue of racial equality is today hardly contend in intellectual circles. During Rizals time, however, the c laim that all races are basically equal was a highly debated topic among anthropologists, biologists, and philosophers. The readers of his novels, essays, and letters are old(prenominal) with his portrayal and denunciation of Spanish colonial rule.His insistence on the education of the native Indios, the representation of the Philippines in the Cortes Generales, and more so the recognition of the civic rights of the Filipino are all based on the belief that there are neither essentially superior nor essentially inferior races. In this belief stems the conviction that his fellow Filipinos had the capacity for autonomy and enlightenment. The present Filipino youth must know that in order to make their posture felt, they must understand Rizal.To understand Rizal, they must have the spirit and need to do so. Without such spirit or motivation, they will never be able to understand Rizals objectives or even the other heroes who fought for equality and freedom for the sake of the Fathe rland. I believe that the Filipino youth will be able to move the society through these implied teachings of Jose Rizal that will develop a new love to the Filipino Hero, I admit that I only considered Rizals Life and Works as another general education subject that is needed to be taken.But what I get is more than just knowing Rizal, but also knowing my Filipino identity and that I must fight at all live to defend my identity. A lot of what Rizal had dreamed of has now come consecutive for many people in the state. He was already a modern democrat when he advocated affaire in the state and society with education. Today, education is no longer a privilege among the small elite, for everybodys participation in all public matters has become a right and duty. Ones right to express him or her in all matters is founded on compulsory education with the required quality standards. References Jose Rizals writings in Europe and its message to the Filipino Youth Today Zaide, Gregorio F. & Zaide, Sonia M. 1998. Jose Rizal Life, Works and Writings of a Genius, Writer, Scientist and National Hero. Capino, Gonzales and Pineda Rizals life, works and writingstheir impact on our National identity Colonization Its Impact on Self-Image Philippine Women in Rizals Novels and Today By Linda Acupanda McGloin.