Comments on: Feminism and Porn in the Philippines

By: May Ling Su

May Ling Su — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 07:01:51 +0000

Bea, separation of church and state is really a myth, even here in the US. The truth is that religion is extremely political. I touched upon the roots of patriarchy in a previous blog entry “Whore, Adulteress, Sinner” but I’ll write a bit more about it in a future post. I think it deserves a whole blog entry.

Rocco, you got me thinking about the word “puta.” It’s a Spanish word. Is there a Tagalog counterpart? Wala, di ba? If there is one, I can’t think of it right now. Interesting that a sexually brazen woman is labeled “puta” by our Spanish colonizers, while the pre-colonial Filipinos have no word for her. To pre-colonial Filipino society, a sexually brazen woman must have been normal. We Filipinos have a rich heritage. We need to dig deeper to find our true selves underneath the western influences.

Jay, a friend of mine mentioned there is a sex shop called Pleasure Place at Metro Walk. It might be the only one in the country, though.

By: Jay

Jay — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:21:57 +0000

It’s hard for me to imagine “doggy-style” a kinky thing. I guess I have no idea how strict the thinking is there. I grew up in very uptight Maine New England… and I’m betting “doggy-style” is not all that radical even there. I also think it’s weird that the pedicure place sold cock rings in the first place. Seems like a strange combination niche. Are there no sex shops there? Maybe it’s time to start a biz in Manilla… Sex Toys and Adult Sex Education Center.

By: Rocco Mapua

Rocco Mapua — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:42:08 +0000

Hi, I’m a good friend of Bea’s and she gave me the link to this article on your blog. I’ve read it and I find that the problem isn’t just with the government but also with society. For example, My girlfriend and I were checking out some shops in Metrowalk and we found had manicure and pedicure services, we also found that they had those new premiere cock-rings. While I was buying a pair of those new Premiere “Earthquake” cock-rings to try out, my girlfriend couldn’t help but notice the bad looks she received from the other, older women that were there for their pedicures.

It saddens me to think that majority of this country still sees sex as something filthy and see sex education as a way of poisoning our children’s minds.

Another example would be my mother, who was giving advice to a friend about how to spice up the sex in his marriage. When she suggested the doggy-style position, the guy immediately said “Ay! ayoko nyan, pang puta yan!”

Go figure.

By: Bea

Bea — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:41:16 +0000

Yeah, the RH Bill…we still cannot separate the government from the Church. It’s sad, really. The poor women are the ones getting the brunt of this problem because honestly, the elites have access to artificial contraceptives (also after-abortion care and treatment) — they can afford to have these things. And there are also stupid local policies that keep women in the dark, like the City of Manila’s Executive Order 003, Series of 2000: “The city shall establish programs and activities in City Health Department and its health centers (and city hospitals)… as well as the Department of Social Welfare which promote and offer as an integral part of their functions counseling facilities for natural family planning and responsible parenthood.”

This EO 0003 actually punishes health centers that distribute artificial means of contraception. Freaky. I don’t really know why they allow local governments to do this, when they’re actually violating international treaties and conventions.

Anyway, it’s nice hearing from you. I’ve also subscribed.

By: May Ling Su

May Ling Su — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:46:58 +0000

Hello, Bea. Thank you for introducing yourself to me. I’m really glad to contribute in any way to promoting freedom of expression – sexual or otherwise. I’ve been thinking a lot about the Philippines. I read about the RH bill getting sideswiped. It seems as if there is a lot of work that needs to be done to secure sex/health education for the people who need it the most. Love to hear more from you about what’s going on there.

By: Bea

Bea — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:26:30 +0000

I think that was my classmate. Found your site through her class report. I, on the other hand, reported about the thin line between eroticism and pornography. I was actually shocked when I read the discourse because I had always thought that feminists in the Philippines were against pornography. On the contrary, they aren’t. Though there are groups that believe in vanguardism/protectionism (protecting women from “victimization”), the more progressive feminists believe in freedom of expressing sexuality. I was shocked when I learned the feminists were not the prude man-haters I had first pegged them to be.

Hehe. I actually chose to report this particular topic because I used to run a hentai (Japanese anime porn) review site and since porn, is essentially a media product, it falls under my field of study. I’m a Communication Research PHD student at the University of the Philippines (College of Mass Communication), taking up some masteral electives. This class, WD227: Gender and Sexuality, is what led me to your website.