Women's Studies on the Air : (Radio, Television and Women's Movements in the Philippines)

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper will focus on the use of radio and television for feminist advocacy-exploring in particular how women's organizations used radio and television to represent and fashion "the Filipino woman". I argue that the radio and television shows were like classrooms intending to give audiences a basic women's studies course while giving practical 'tips' on how they could empower themselves (through advertising various services available to them-eg counseling for victims of domestic violence , and health clinics for checkups). The new epistemology of the women's movement was introduced to audiences through a talk show format that allowed resource persons to be broughit in as experts to demystify and define complex new feminist vocabularies such as 'trafficking', 'sexuality', 'lesbianism', 'sexual harassment', and 'reproductive health'. The media was primarly used as an educational tool-as 'infotainment' to introduce the radical ideas of the feminist movement. In this case radio and television were used as 'classrooms' to deliver courses on women's studies in the media.
The talk show format was also used to propose alternative role models for women. The term heroine was redefined to include survivors of trafficking, prostitution, exploitation, violence, rape, incest, sexual harassment and partner infidelity. Radio anchors and talk show hosts attempted to remove the negative capital associated with feisty women. Shows broke cultural taboos as topics such as rape, abortion, contraception and sexuality were discussed in public for the very first time.
The women's movements in the Philippines have been extremely savvy in their use of the media as a method of introducing counter-hegemonic discourses on and about women. They succeeded in marrying advocacy with entertainment even though the programs differed from the mainstream commercial programs. By continuing to air these programs in the vernacular language, the women's movements communicated their commitment to becoming a mass movement. But the very premise of "classrooms on the air" had its limitations. The most fundamental problem was that the relationship between the activists and the public (read mass of women of all classes who composed their audiences) remained fixed in a hierarchy of 'teacher-student'. Even the interative segments of the programs required audiences to send in their queries/problems resolved by the resource person who retained the privileged voice. There was of course a minor exception of some radio shows where audiences were invited to participate in the discussion by calling through. Women activists therefore resorted to other methods in order to involve members and potential followers.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Abstract
• The Resource Person as Feminist Teacher
• Introduction to Women's Studies
• Women Sectors
• The Syllabus as Advocacy
• Introducing Alternative Role Models
• Impacts