Multigenerational Roles of Filipino Women by Male Short Story Writers

Abstract

The study scrutinized male short story writers' multigenerational roles of Filipino women. It specifically analyzed six Filipino short stories such as Waywaya by F. Sionil Jose for the Pre-Colonial Period (900-1565); Guardia de Honor by Nick Joaquin for the Spanish Period (1565-1898); The Maid, the Man, and the Wife by Manuel Arguilla, for the Early 20th Century Period (1901-1950); Kara’s Place by Luis Joaquin Katigbak, for the Late 20th Century Period (1951-2000); and Goats 4 Sale by Jose Dalisay, for the 21st Century or Contemporary Period (2001-Present). Moreover, the study employed a descriptive qualitative research design. It utilized two major critical approaches to literature: feminist literary criticism and new criticism. The results revealed that the male writers described Filipino women’s roles in multigenerational periods by modifying the female characters’ behavior characteristics, communication patterns, and sources of power. The male short story writers differentiated women’s roles by adhering to and rejecting diverse gender practices in multigenerational periods. Likewise, they operated imagery in creating vivid mental pictures and aided the readers’ imagination in envisioning the characters and scenes. They employed more imagery to conceptualize the scenes and characters in the story and to create more vivid mental images for their readers. The general portrayals of Filipino women in the selected short stories converged in sensitive and discriminating illustrations of gender roles.