Explorations in Women, Rights, and Religions - Morny Joy
Maria Clara in the Twenty-first Century: The Uneasy Discourse between the Cult of the Virgin Mary and the Filipino Women’s Lived Realities
Explorations in Women, Rights, and Religions - Morny Joy
Jeane C. Peracullo [+]
De La Salle University
Dr. Jeane C. Peracullo is a Full Professor at the Philosophy Department in De La Salle University. She is also the past international coordinator of the Ecclesia of Women in Asia, a forum of Asian Catholic women theologians and pastoral workers. She also serves as a resource person of the Technical Panel for the Master of Arts in Women and Gender Studies for the Commission on Higher Education or CHED. Jeane is the 2019 Research Fellow of the Center for World and Intercultural Theology at DePaul University, Chicago.
Description
The Virgin Mary looms large as the image of a “good” Filipina or Filipino woman in both cultural and religious landscapes in the Philippines. A “good Filipina” imagery points specifically to the weak or passive woman, who is represented by a satirical character named Maria Clara. The Roman Catholic Church reinforces such imagery to highlight the Madonna-Whore dichotomy. However, in the 21st century, Filipino women have come to challenge the image of a good woman as weak and passive person. This paper explores the challenges that Filipinas face in their everyday lives, which call for a re-examination of the role of Catholic faith in their lived experiences.