Narratives of Male Struggle Against Patriarchy in Select Filipino Literary Works
Keywords:
Patriarchy, Male struggle, Masculinity, Feminism, Philippine Literature
Abstract
This study offers a more nuanced understanding of the impacts of patriarchy by exploring its complexities and effects beyond commonly held beliefs about gender roles. Using an inductive thematic analysis grounded in Braun and Clarke's framework, five Filipino literary works were examined to identify themes related to male struggles within a patriarchal society. The analysis revealed that men who fail to conform to patriarchal norms of masculinity find themselves at odds with the rigid standards of hegemonic masculinity. Their struggles against conformity and the limitations patriarchy imposes extend far beyond personal lives, gradually affecting society at large. These findings suggest that it is imperative for individuals of all genders to unite in collective efforts to dismantle a system that disproportionately privileges only those men narrowly defined as "true." Ultimately, such a system disadvantages those who fail to meet patriarchal standards of masculinity.
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References
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Salazar, J. T. (2019). Rethinking Filipino masculinities: The case of the cosmopolitan tambay. Kritika Kultura, 33/34, 859–882. https://archium.ateneo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=filipino-faculty-pubs
Sivakumar, I., & Manimekalai, K. (2021). Masculinity and challenges for women in Indian culture. Journal of International Women’s Studies, 22(5), 427–436. https://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2461&context=jiws
Sultana, A. (2012). Patriarchy and women’s subordination: A theoretical analysis. Arts Faculty Journal, 4, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.3329/afj.v4i0.12929
Tan, A. L. (1994). Four meanings of fatherhood. Philippine Sociological Review, 42(1/4), 27–39. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41853661
Veronese, G., Cavazzoni, F., Russo, S., & Ayoub, H. (2022). Structural violence and sources of resistance among Palestinian children living under military occupation and political oppression. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 15(4), 391–413. https://doi.org/10.1080/17513057.2022.2102204
Widodo, M., & Mochtar, J. (2023). The construction of masculinity in Layangan Putus [Broken Kite]. k@ta, 25(1), 42–52. https://doi.org/10.9744/kata.25.1.42-52
Bates, L. (2022, November 8). There is no “war on men” – We now know feminism is good for boys. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/08/feminists-war-on-men-misogyny-boys-gender-stereotypes-masculinity
Bennett, D. S., Borczon, E., & Lewis, M. (2019). Does gender nonconforming behavior in early childhood predict adolescents’ depressive symptoms? Sex Roles, 81(7–8), 521–528. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-019-1010-4
Biana, H. T. (2015). The “token” woman on marginalized and underrepresented voices. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 1, 1–18. http://ses-journal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/0_Special-Issue-June-2022-1.pdf
Bowlby, S., Gregory, S., & McKie, L. (1997, May). ‘Doing home’: Patriarchy, caring, and space. Women’s Studies International Forum, 20(3), 343–350. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-5395(97)00018-6
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2013). Successful qualitative research: A practical guide for beginners. SAGE Publications.
Connell, R. (1995). Masculinities. Polity Press.
Dahal, P., Joshi, S. K., & Swahnberg, K. (2022). A qualitative study on gender inequality and gender-based violence in Nepal. BMC Public Health, 22(1), 2005. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14389-x
De Chavez, J. C., & Pacheco, V. (2020). Masculinity in the age of (Philippine) populism: Spectacle, hypermasculinity, and Rodrigo Duterte. Masculinities and Social Change, 9(3), 261–283. https://doi.org/10.17583/mcs.2020.5157
Emslie, C., Ridge, D., Ziebland, S., & Hunt, K. (2006). Men’s accounts of depression: Reconstructing or resisting hegemonic masculinity? Social Science and Medicine, 62(9), 2246–2257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.10.017
Enriquez, E. A. (1981). The doll. In L. Y. Yabes (Ed.), Philippine short stories, 1941–1955: Part II (1950–1955) (pp. 1064–1072). University of the Philippines Press.
Garcia, J. N. C. (2005). The garden of wordlessness: Selected poems. University of the Philippines Press.
Greene, S. (2020). Biological determinism and essentialism. In N. A. Naples (Ed.), Companion to feminist studies (1st ed., pp. 13–34). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119314967.ch2
Guy-Evans, O. (2023, February 26). Patriarchal society according to feminism. Simply Sociology. https://simply
sociology.com/patriarchal-society-feminism-definition.html
Joaquin, N. (2017). Three generations. In The woman who had two navels and tales of the tropical Gothic (pp. 1–16). Penguin Classics.
Levtov, R., van der Gaag, N., Green, M., Kaufman, M., & Barker, G. (2015). State of the world’s fathers: A MenCare advocacy publication. Promundo, Rutgers, Save the Children, Sonke gender justice, and the MenEngage. Alliance Communications. https://www.savethechildren.net/sites/default/files/libraries/state-of-the-worlds-fathers_12-june-2015.pdf
Lipowska, M., Lipowski, M., & Pawlicka, P. (2016). ‘Daughter and son: A completely different story’? Gender as a moderator of the relationship between sexism and parental attitudes. Health Psychology Report, 4(3), 224–236. https://doi.org/10.5114/hpr.2016.62221
McKay, S. (2011). Re-masculinizing the hero: Filipino migrant men and gender privilege. National University of Singapore: Asia Research institute working paper series, 172. https://ari.nus.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/201112-WSP-172.pdf
Messner, M. A. (1998). The limits of “The male sex role”: An analysis of the men’s liberation and men’s rights movements’ discourse. Gender and Society, 12(3), 255–276. http://www.jstor.org/stable/190285. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243298012003002
Morrell, R., Jewkes, R., & Lindegger, G. (2012). Hegemonic masculinity/masculinities in South Africa. Men and Masculinities, 15(1), 11–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X12438001
Mshweshwe, L. (2020). Understanding domestic violence: Masculinity, culture, traditions. Heliyon, 6(10), e05334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05334
Parcon, I. C. R. (2022). Between feminism and masculinity: Understanding the role of men in feminist theorizing. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 2022, 71-86. http://ses-journal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/4_Special-Issue-June-2022-1.pdf.
Prentice, D. A., & Carranza, E. (2002). What women and men should be, shouldn’t be, are allowed to be, and don’t have to be: The contents of prescriptive gender stereotypes. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 26(4), 269–281. https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-6402.t01-1-00066
Ratele, K. (2015). Working through resistance in engaging boys and men towards gender equality and progressive masculinities. Culture, Health and Sexuality, 17(Suppl. 2), S144–S158. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2015.1048527
Renz, S. M., Carrington, J. M., & Badger, T. A. (2018). Two strategies for qualitative content analysis: An intramethod approach to triangulation. Qualitative Health Research, 28(5), 824–831. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732317753586
Rosario, D. A. (2005). Walang panginoon. In BIGKIS III (First, pp. 130–137). REX Book Store, Inc.
Rotor, A. B. (2013). Dahong palay. In language in literature Philippine literature (pp. 180–189). Vibal Publishing House, Inc.
Salazar, J. T. (2019). Rethinking Filipino masculinities: The case of the cosmopolitan tambay. Kritika Kultura, 33/34, 859–882. https://archium.ateneo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=filipino-faculty-pubs
Sivakumar, I., & Manimekalai, K. (2021). Masculinity and challenges for women in Indian culture. Journal of International Women’s Studies, 22(5), 427–436. https://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2461&context=jiws
Sultana, A. (2012). Patriarchy and women’s subordination: A theoretical analysis. Arts Faculty Journal, 4, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.3329/afj.v4i0.12929
Tan, A. L. (1994). Four meanings of fatherhood. Philippine Sociological Review, 42(1/4), 27–39. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41853661
Veronese, G., Cavazzoni, F., Russo, S., & Ayoub, H. (2022). Structural violence and sources of resistance among Palestinian children living under military occupation and political oppression. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 15(4), 391–413. https://doi.org/10.1080/17513057.2022.2102204
Widodo, M., & Mochtar, J. (2023). The construction of masculinity in Layangan Putus [Broken Kite]. k@ta, 25(1), 42–52. https://doi.org/10.9744/kata.25.1.42-52
Published
2024-12-20
How to Cite
Canibel, J. A., Gelbolingo, A. A., & Montañez, M. C. A. (2024). Narratives of Male Struggle Against Patriarchy in Select Filipino Literary Works. K@ta: A Biannual Publication on the Study of Languange and Literature, 26(2), 161-176. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.9744/kata.26.2.161-176
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Articles
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License
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