She who must be obeyed

The nation's most powerful person, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, is a woman. So are her two most potent political foes, Corazon Aquino and Susan Roces. As Filipinos watch this showdown of grandmothers, they might ask themselves: whatever happened to that old saw about the Philippines being a macho country?

Generations of Filipinos were brought up believing that a woman's role was strictly domestic. The Nazis might have said females were good only for Kinder, Kueche und Kirche - children, kitchen and church. Filipinos would probably have looked at that list and added querida - mistress.

For decades, the ideal female was Maria Clara, a fictitious character created by the national hero, Jose Rizal. She was a young, decorous mestiza (racially mixed) airhead who spent much of the time going around singing, tossing her tresses and falling sick. Even now, TV commercials depict women as housewives, cooks, laundry women, fashion models or secretaries. But the idea of a helpless or subordinate Filipina was never more than a myth, concocted perhaps by males who needed to boost their self-esteem. Philippine culture has always been strongly matriarchal: the woman traditionally holds the purse strings and makes the key decisions.

In the average home, the supreme headquarters is located in the kitchen; heaven or hell in the bedroom. A husband who earns the wrath of his spouse is banished to the sofa. In the vernacular, he is 'outside the kulambo' - on the wrong side of the mosquito net. The henpecked Filipino is called ander - which is short for ander de saya, ('under the saya', or dress). There is a story of a former mayor of Manila who had a roving eye. To keep him under control at night, his wife would sequester his wooden leg.

Filipinas have always been more intelligent, efficient and organised than the males. Though there have been female lawyers, Supreme Court judges and company executives for years, it was Mrs Aquino who broke the mould when she ran for president in 1985 and ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Fighting against discrimination and double standards, women have risen high. By comparison, there are still plenty of men who refuse to do house chores and couldn't cook an egg if the second coming depended on it. Mind you, women politicians often seem just like their male counterparts: Mrs Arroyo seems to have shown she can cheat with the best of them.