Gender equality Essay

The role of man and woman in society is influenced by a variety of factors. These factors vary with the religion, culture, historical beliefs, living principles and experiences. Therefore, gender role in society can be defined as the role portrayed by an individual with respect to a combination of factors or any one of them, depending on the living conditions. In the Filipino folklore, Tungkung Langit and Alunsina, Alunsina is a beautiful goddess and was courted by the god, Tungkung Langit for many years. When they got married, they established a home in heaven, a place where everything was perfectly according to the will of these two gods. Alunsina’s hardworking husband wanted to bring order to the confused universe. He was the one who arranged the heavenly bodies and maintained order and regularity in the world. One day, Tungkung Langit went for a long journey to organize time for the world. Alunsina could not help but send the breeze to spy on Tungkung Langit. When the god knew of the spy, sent by his wife, he got mad at his wife and told her a lot of hateful things. For Tungkung Langit, Alunsina’s act was very ungodly by getting jealous since there were no gods in the world except for them. Alunsina did not accept this painful criticism from Tungkung Langit, so she said a lot of hurtful things to him. This led the god to drive his wife away. After this, the beautiful goddess was never seen again. We can say that Alunsina did an unacceptable thing to the pride of Tungkung Langit by spying on his job. Alunsina was a very worrisome person who wanted to do something to stop her worry. She sent a spy so that she would feel relieved of his husband’s situation. It is also possible that Alunsina was so in love with Tungkung Langit that she did not want to be away from him. Since Tungkung Langit did all the work in maintaining order in the world, Alunsina did not have anything to do but be a wife to his husband. A wife’s role is to wait for the husband to go home. This role was expected by all husbands who believe in the fragility of women. However, Alunsina was also a goddess. We can say that all gods have limited patience because of the big amount of power they have. Such power brings pride and confidence to do all things they want. Tungkung Langit found his purpose as a god which was to bring order to the confused world. On the other hand, Alunsina’s role as a patient wife was not enough for this powerful goddess who can command the creations in the world  such as the breeze. Hence, she decided to leave Tungkung Langit. Aside from anger, frustration, there might be other reasons why Alunsina did not return to Tungkung Langit. A god has powers and to appreciate his or her existence, he or she must use it. This analogy is similar to humans’ talents and search for their purpose. The love of Tungkung Langit is not enough. Alinsuna may have decided to look for a way to love her divine being as how Tungkung Langit expressed his se lf-love by maintaining order in the world. A lot of women today are like Alunsina. We are not confident to look for contentment aside from being a lowly wife. Empowered women love themselves not because they meet the expectations of other but they believe in their feminine beauty and capability to be different. In the article, although many stereotypical gender roles have diminished over time, still, men and women may not be equal when it comes down to certain tasks. In today’s society, I believe that it is still hard being a woman rather than being a man. I believe this because, not only do women still have a hard time looking for jobs, and being equal in the workforce, but women are still judged because they are simply women. Although in today’s society women and men are not that different in their roles in life, women can do about all of the jobs that men are able to do like Sarah Elago. She is the current president of the National Union of Students in the Philippines (NUSP), a strong and beautiful woman that values leadership and love for the youth and her fellow countrymen. Gone are the days are where when women only had to stay home and be the house protector. Women are slowly entering many fields that men are usually abundant in such as: lawyers, doctors, mechanics, police, and also military. Whether these facts are acceptable or not in a particular society is an irrelevant question. The bottom line is gender roles in society are no longer a monopoly or an obligation for any individual. In order to sustain a better living, a person’s free will should be the sole determinant of his or her role.