Inequalities Behind Achievements
Philippines
Column
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Popularity of Beauty Pageants
Beauty Pageants are much loved in the Philippines. In the year 2011 alone, Filipinos rallied around the participation of their country’s representatives in a total of four different global pageants. The results of these contests are as follows:
- 2011 Miss Universe: 4th place (with two additional past victories)
- 2011 Miss World: 2nd place
- 2011 Miss International: Ranking among the top 15 (with four additional past victories)
- 2011 Miss Earth: 3rd place
The
Miss
Universe
pageant,
which
took
place
in
September
2011,
received
a
great
deal
of
attention
in
the
Philippines
due
in
part
to
the
fact
that
the
competition
was
the
first
such
global
contest
to
take
place
that
year.
Domestic
media
focused
closely
upon
the
contest,
whose
Filipino
representative
was
a
talented
graduate
from
the
University
of
the
Philippines
College
of
Architecture.
I
was
on
the
university
campus
on
the
day
of
the
contest,
and
saw
some
students
and
staffs
gathered
around
televisions
to
watch
the
contest.
They
screamed
excitedly
every
time
the
Filipino
contestant
advanced
to
the
next
level,
remaining
extremely
enthusiastic
even
when
she
placed
fourth
rather
than
emerging
as
the
top
winner.
I
would
like
to
add
that
the
reaction
of
the
media
to
this
competition
result
may
have
been
that
of
typical
English
speaking
countries,
wherein
she
was
strongly
praised
for
being
the
only
contestant
among
the
top
five
to
be
able
to
answer
questions
in
English
without
the
aid
of
an
interpreter.
Another
reason
for
the
close
focus
upon
the
Miss
Universe
pageant
in
the
Philippines—as
well
as
the
country’s
excitement
with
regard
to
the
results—was
that
the
Filipino
contestant
had
come
in
fifth
place
the
previous
year
in
2010.
With
one
success
coming
on
the
heels
of
another,
the
2011
contestant
who
placed
fourth
ended
up
coming
home
to
a
welcome
that
would
have
been
befitting
of
a
first-place
winner,
including
an
extremely
showy
parade
in
her
honor.
The
Filipino
contestants
also
placed
within
the
winning
ranks
in
the
Miss
World
and
Miss
International
global
pageants
that
followed,
with
the
country’s
contestant
at
the
Miss
Earth
pageant
(held
at
the
University
of
the
Philippines
Theater)
coming
in
third
place.
She
was
also
a
graduate
from
the
university,
and
the
domestic
Filipino
media—in
addition
to
having
closely
covered
each
of
these
contests—ended
the
year
with
a
splashy
focus
upon
the
“recognition
by
the
rest
of
the
world
for
the
beauty
and
intelligence
of
Filipino
women.”
A Country with a Small Gender Gap
The
Philippines
is
truly
recognized
for
an
additional
distinguished
ranking
with
regard
to
its
women.
According
to
the
Global
Gender
Gap
Index
released
each
year
by
the
World
Economic
Forum
(WEF),
the
country
ranked
8th
in
2011
among
a
total
of
135
nations.
In
other
words,
the
Philippines
had
only
the
eighth
smallest
gender
gap
amongst
all
of
the
nations
surveyed.
The
survey
covers
several
different
areas
including
economic
participation,
political
empowerment,
educational
attainment,
and
health
and
survival.
In
fact,
the
Philippines
placed
9th
in
2009
and
2010,
and
6th
in
2006,
2007
and
2008,
meaning
that
it
ranked
within
the
top
ten
nations
each
of
these
years.
Placing
above
the
Philippines
were
mainly
northern
European
countries,
and
the
Asian
nations
trailing
the
Philippines
were
Sri
Lanka,
which
came
in
31st
place;
and
Mongolia,
at
36th.
For
our
information,
Japan
ranked
98th.
It
goes
without
saying,
then,
that
the
Philippines
is
the
hands-down
Asian
leader
in
this
regard.
It
is
impossible
to
refute
the
fact
that
women
in
the
Philippines
play
an
extremely
active
role.
It
is
a
matter
of
course
for
women
in
the
country
to
assume
managerial
roles
in
governmental
and
business
fields,
and
the
same
holds
true
in
the
political
sphere,
with
two
past
female
presidents.
Anyone
reading
this
piece
who
has
ever
visited
the
Philippines
will
most
certainly
come
away
with
an
impression
regarding
this
matter.
Women
also
lead
within
the
educational
field,
with
2007
population
census
figures
revealing
that
56%
of
academic
degree
holders
in
the
nation
are
female.
Women Supporting Women
in
fact
supported
by
the
labor
of
other
women.
Specifically
speaking,
the
households
of
women
in
the
work
force
are
mostly
maintained
by
the
work
of
female
domestic
workers,
or
helpers.
In
other
words,
women
are
enabled
to
participate
in
business
and
polirics
due
precisely
to
the
existence
of
this
cheap
source
of
labor
that
exists
in
their
country.
With
few
employment
opportunities
in
rural
regions,
many
women
seek
jobs
in
the
larger
cities—many
of
which
involve
precisely
this
type
of
domestic
work.
Many
urban
upper-class
families
employ
several
live-in
employees,
each
of
whom
are
tasked
with
different
functions
including
babysitting,
cleaning,
washing,
cooking,
etc.
Even
middle-class
families
with
stay-at-home
housewives
often
hire
one
or
two
live-in
helpers
to
assist
with
household
tasks.
It
is
no
exaggeration,
then,
to
state
that
homes
with
a
mother
who
regularly
works
outside
are
able
to
function
precisely
due
to
the
existence
of
such
helpers.
With
these
women
assisting
with
cooking
duties
in
addition
to
cleaning
and
washing,
not
only
by
live-in
but
also
by
part-time
basis,
the
reality
in
the
Philippines
represents
a
luxury
that
working
Japanese
women
could
only
dream
of.
This
situation
is
also
reflected
in
the
country’s
labor
statistics.
The
chart
below
shows
the
number
of
workers
by
occupational
field,
which
is
further
broken
down
by
gender.
These
figures
make
it
clear
that
female
workers
are
polarized
into
two
separate
categories:
Officials,
Managers
and
professionals
on
the
one
hand;
and
unskilled
laborers
(including
domestic
workers)
on
the
other.
Surveys
shows,
moreover,
that
most
of
those
in
the
latter
category
are
often
not
even
paid
the
minimum
daily
wages
as
stipulated
by
law.
In
this
way,
then,
we
see
that
the
social
advancement
of
“beautiful
and
intelligent”
Filipino
women
is
in
fact
supported
by
the
labor
of
other
women—and
that
the
country’s
high
gender
equality
rankings
are
most
seemingly
accompanied
by
a
gross
disparity
that
exists
between
women
themselves.
Employed persons by major occupation group and sex in the Philippines (2010)
(both by Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics, Department of Labor and Employment.