Maria Clara

Originally uploaded by hem sytangco

"The "ideal" image, promoted by no less than Jose Rizal, is that of Maria Clara, a demure, self-effacing beauty whose place was on the pedestal of male honor. Rizal describes this "ideal" of the Philippine woman with words such as these: "an Oriental decoration," "her eyes. . . always downcast," "a pure soul." (chapter 5, Noli Me Tangere). During the first six years of American rule, the noted nationalist, Teodoro Kalaw, deplored the impact of new ideas disseminated with the advent of American education. As he witnessed their reading books in English and "chattering in a strange language" he feared that they were becoming "unconscious victims of modernity." For him it was their degradation. Lost was their "native simplicity." They now preferred to be called "girls" instead of dalagas (maidens). Soon they would abandon their duennas, "walking out alone. . . a handbag under the arm, just like bold little American misses." - Philippine Heroines of the Revolution by Dr. Robert L. Yoder, FAPC