A Study On Family And Social Roles’ Changes Of The Ethnic Chinese Women In The Philippines During 20th Century

Women’s studies haven’t been paid enough attention in overseas Chinese studies, regarding the studies on ethnic Chinese women in the Philippines, the situation is the same. Considering that the achievements are quite rare, the author chose ethnic Chinese women in the Philippines as the subject. Based on literature references and interviews in the Philippines during summer vacations of 2013 and 2014, the paper demonstrates the changes of family and social roles of ethnic Chinese women in the Philippines as the following three periods.1. From early 20 th century to the mid-1940s: The number of Chinese women immigrants was comparative few in the Philippines before 20 th century. As soon as America took over the ruling right of the Philippines from Spain in 1898, “the Chinese Exclusion Act(America)” was applied to the Philippines and thus limited the number of Chinese immigrants, in terms of females, only a few women were allowed to immigrate to the Philippines as family members in this period, however almost all of them could just stay at home as housewives owing to the overwhelming influence of Chinese traditional culture. In 1930 s, when China had been at war, a great number of women as refugees were allowed to enter into Philippines that helped a continued immigration growth, reduced the rate of the Filipino-Chinese intermarriage as a result of the gender imbalance, and the families of Chinese pattern developed into the mainstream. Meanwhile, some women got involved in supporting national wars against invaders, which promoted socialization of the Ethnic Chinese Women in the Philippines.2. From the mid-1940 s to the establishment of the diplomatic relations between China and the Philippines in 1975: in the postwar period, influenced by the changes of Sino-Philippines diplomatic relations and the policy of economic nationalization in the Philippines, the Filipino-Chinese community started its development of localization. During the integrating process, the traditional Chinese values were impacted by the mainstream social values of the Philippines and undertook its transformation from conservative to progressive. At the same time, the Filipino-Chinese started their attempts on diversified development in economy under the pressure of Filipinization(the Filipino First Policy: economy nationalization in the Philippines) and regained success. In this period, the values shift and economic revival provided the Chinese women with positive conditions for their self-development, so that they got more opportunities to take higher education and work out of their homes, thus their families and social roles had been fundamentally changed. However, as a period of transition, the Chinese traditional culture were still well-preserved and prevailing in the Filipino-Chinese community, under the influence of Chinese traditions, the women mainly lived for their families and acted inside their homes, career women were only a small minority in the Filipino-Chinese community.3. From 1975 to the end of 20 th century: on the eve of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between China and the Philippines in June 1975, President Ferdinand Marcos revalued the influence of the Chinese in the Philippines and adjusted the nationality policy, a great number of Chinese applied and acquired the citizenships of the Philippines due to the relaxation of nationality access, the Filipino-Chinese community transferred from “an overseas Chinese community” to “an ethnic Chinese community”, and the integration accelerated. Accordingly, the Chinese women benefited more opportunities of being educated and employed from the social developments, the educational level of Chinese women rose further, career women became popular. Besides, along with the changes of social ideas and the influence of the Philippines’ cultures, the statuses of Chinese women advanced in the families as well as in the society, they were given more rights than before, they got more power or benefit on deciding family matters such as choosing the spouse, inheriting the property and so on. Lots of Chinese women stepped out of the families to participate in social activities not only within the Filipino-Chinese community but also inside the Philippines main-stream society. In this period, the Chinese women adjusted and redefined their roles in the families and society.General speaking, the family and social roles of the Chinese women in the Philippines during 20 th century experienced a transformation from tradition to modernization, the historical changes of their roles’ construction can be simply summarized as the following three images: a traditional housewife from early 20 th century to the mid-1940 s, a dilemma between housewives and career women from the mid-1940 s to 1975, a combination of housewives and career women after 1975.