Lawmaker pokes fun at unpaid domestic work traditionally done by women

Surely, there’s more to being a woman. But there’s also nothing wrong with doing care and domestic work anyway.

During the House of Representatives’ regular press conference on Monday, March 4, Bataan 1st District Representative Geraldine Roman – who chairs the House committee on women and gender equality – was asked about plans for this year’s commemoration of Women’s Month. After she laid out events mapped for the lower chamber, Quezon 2nd District Representative David “Jay-jay” Suarez chimed in with a sexist joke to offer what the men would be doing.

“Handa na ‘yung laundry soap namin, handa na ‘yung mga plantsa namin, handa na ‘yung mantika at kaserola dahil isang buwan kaming maghuhugas, maglalaba, magsasampay, mamamalantsa, at magluluto sa aming mga tahanan,” the deputy speaker said in jest.

(Our laundry soaps are ready, our irons are ready, our cooking oil and saucepans are ready because, for a month, we will be washing the dishes, doing the laundry, hanging and ironing clothes, and cooking in our houses.)

Traditional gender roles put men as providers of the family, while women are left at home to attend to the children and perform household chores such as cooking and cleaning – essentially, what is referred to as unpaid care and domestic work.

Oxfam Philippines has characterized it as both a human rights and gender issue.

“What society sees, understands and promotes as ‘normal’ work of women actually hinders their human rights especially if what they do is not valued, appreciated and recognized as ‘work,’” Oxfam said.

While women have taken up bigger roles in the workplace and there have been advances in workplace gender equality, the same cannot be said for the “work” that is done behind closed doors and in the comfort of their homes. Oxfam’s 2022 study found that the remote work setup made it worse for women as they still took care of the household and the children, on top of doing their jobs, even as everyone else was also home.

This additional burden at home, if not shared among other members of the household, can negatively affect one’s career and well-being.

Changing times

Times are changing though, so there’s hope that women will be unloading some of the stress they experience when running a household.

A separate study done by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in 2022 took note that Filipino millennials now have a different mindset when it comes to childcare and earning for their family, which is leaning more toward sharing responsibilities. This is despite their finding that a lot of people also grew up with the belief that some jobs and chores are for a specific gender.

Changing society’s norms and behavior comes with a conscious effort to unlearn traditions and beliefs engrained within our communities. Sometimes, a simple joke by an elected public official can lead to dire consequences. (READ: TIMELINE: How Duterte normalized sexism in the Philippine presidency)

In his closing statement on Monday, Suarez later emphasized that “we need to respect our women.”

“They have been vital instruments in the development of our nation,” he added, as he paid tribute to his wife, ALONA Partylist Representative Anna Villaraza-Suarez, this Women’s Month.

We can only hope that all his future statements will reflect that call for respect. – Rappler.com