MARIA CLARA

Maria Clara, Manila Girl and the Other Mary

Maria Clara Women of “Good Virtue” Conservative and “Traditional”,

especially in the realm of sexual activity

“Demure, Self-effacing beauty whose place was on the pedestal of male honour” – Jose Rizal

Ideal feminine behaviour of Filipina women

WOMAN AS GATEKEEPER,MAN AS EXPLORERMaria Clara, Manila Girl and the Other Mary

• Sex Scripts allot different degrees of sexual agency to men and women

Man Woman- Sexual explorer - Gatekeeper- Persistent - Resistant

Women’s retreat from sexual advance is a “Test of Strength and Control”

As a result, the ability to curb male sexual impulse has become culturally constructed female virtues

Women (in Kalibo) are positioned as “gatekeepers” - to manifest the ‘Maria Clara’ femininity

However, still many become the Manila Girl or the Other MaryThey position themselves as

unaccountable, in order to ward off negative evaluation

MODERN VIRGINS:TOWARDS DESIREMaria Clara, Manila Girl and the Other Mary

• Women in Kalibo guard their virginity for many reasons: Femininity norms Religious morés Fears of: (1) pregnancy

(2) having a bad reputation

(3) angering one’s parents

• “Love” – breaches normative codes

Some consider premarital sex as pardonable as long as it is enacted in a committed relationship and can be morally redeemed by Male Approval

However, it is considered morally unacceptable if sex was done out of casual desire (prostitution)

○Women -> the Other Mary

Many respondents experienced tension between the Maria Clara and Manila Girl sides of themselves.

- assertion of Maria Clara behaviour while in public and experimenting their desires in secrecy (Manila Girl/Other Mary)

Possible Factors Influencing Premarital Sexual Activity Women’s low self-esteem Alcohol or Drugs Premarital sex as a “Trend” Adaptation of Foreign Culture Exposure to media Disintegrating family Rural to Urban Migration

Rural to Urban Migration Provides variation in lifestyle

and increases the young woman’s freedom from the body-social and the underworld of gossip

– developing the Manila Girl behaviour.

Rural to Urban Migration Mills’ study of Thai modernity

(1994) concludes that city living allotted young women new forms of self-expression and self-exploration

- still compromised due to emotional ties with rural home and broader cultural ideologies

- similar to the tensions between Maria Clara, Manila Girl and the Other Mary

LIVED EXPERIENCES OF PREMARITAL SEXGateway to Divergent Futures

Participants in Interviews: Differ in economic brackets Differ in attained level of

education Differ in degrees of urban

exposure Differ in church-going behavior Had diverse experiences with men All are Catholics

Participants in Interviews: Over half experienced premarital sex Of all respondents who already kissed

a man, half engaged in premarital sex No respondent terminated sexual

activity after their first-breached the Maria Clara virtue,

‘tainted’ All respondents relied on Coitus

Interruptus as a contraceptive

Participants in Interviews: Almost half that has experienced

premarital sex became pregnant- reflects national health discourses

(influenced by Catholic ideology) and low rates of condom use

Most that already had premarital sex formed a union with their partner

- formal marriage or live-in arrangements

Emerged Themes Picking a marriage partner

- can result to successful intimate relationships

- or to relatively unhappy marriages

Single Mothering - caused by abandonment or

preference to being with the father of the child

The ‘Sexual Explorers’ Situated between those who

united with their partner and single mothers

establish new sexual relationships

Frame their experiences as shameful and try to hide their transgressions –double life.

Succumbing to desires often leads women to have a change in self-identityThe Other Mary - crossed the threshold of morality

Manila Girl – if they somehow accept their actions positively

Unfortunately, women rarely disclose sexual experiences with other women or ask advice from health centres

○Stigmatization○Gossip

Two themes structuring young women’s accounts of

Premarital Sex1. Framing of scenario(s) under

conditions in which women do not consider themselves responsible

2. Surrender to sexual intercourse within the context of romantic love