Review of Related Literature and Studies

Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE and STUDIES

In the local market, Tagalog romance novels are a hot commodity especially among the female teenage readers. Lutgarda Elvina, writing for the Women's Resource and Research Center (WRRC), wrote that, "In the Philippines, people read more komiks and novels (54%) than newspapers (37%)." And since, "Popular media invariably impacts on Filipinos as it creates popular culture and is in turn sustained by this popular demand", the gender roles portrayed in these novels are sure to have some influence on their teenage readers, affecting the way they view gender roles, and reality, in general. In our society, gender roles segregation still does occur and these are written about in Tagalog romance novels.

Heroines in Tagalog romance novels are portrayed as passive, inferior beings, intellectually and physically dependent as wives and mothers. Women portrayals in Tagalog romance novels confine her to the home or family. On the other extreme, heroines are portrayed as the sex siren to titillate men's pleasures. Underlying practically all Tagalog romance novels images of women is a dichotomous motif which defines women as either perfectly good or wholly evil, mother or whore, virgin or call girl, even traditional or ultramodern. Moreover, numerous researches, both local and international, have established the fact that the media shows passive and emotionally dependent women, and these characteristics are generally labeled as "good". And because media helps in creating and shaping human consciousness and roles in this age of media technology, such portrayals promote and reinforce male-dominant ideologies, or global patriarchy which perpetuates and is sustained by such "pictures in the head" about women and their roles and functions in society.

Heroes in Tagalog romance novels are portrayed as the antithesis of the heroines: strong and independent, always ready to save the damsel in distress--a strong manifestation of a patriarchal view. In 1983, Jimenez undertook an extensive study to ascertain concepts of masculinity and femininity in the country. His findings reveal that masculinity, or pagkalalaki, was "generally conceived of in terms of traits connoting strength, and as: malakas, matipuno, malaki ang katawan, maskulado, and malusog." A finding reported by Jurilla in 1986 revealed that men expressed themes with nurturance/affiliation motives more frequently than did women. And finally, wrote Elvina: "In 1980, an interview survey of 109 female and male respondents composed of agricultural workers, industrial workers, the military, and youth sectors, showed that more males than females associated intelligence, responsibility, and independence with "masculinity" or pagiging tunay na lalaki. The youth sector perceived both sexes to be intelligent, but the female generally disguises hers to defer to the male, because it is seen as the only way to attract and hold a man." Thus, she concludes: "With the efficient and effective support of mass media images, little boys grow up to be big, strong men who occasionally, or more often than not, apologize for their weaknesses and little girls are socialized into women who apologize for their strengths, i.e., independence, decisiveness, tenacity, and intelligence.

Certain studies