After living with her Spanish partner for over two decades, Adriana Garibay, now calls herself Filipina, has always given herself the honour of being called “The Filipino Lady.” Born in Cavite with English as her first language, she was brought to the United States under the provisions of an indentured immigrant program and later endured the racism and sexism that marked so many of her forefathers’ names. In her book entitled A Brief History of Philippine Nationality, she identifies herself first as German. Following that move to New York, she finally settled in Manila, where she pursued her academic career and worked as a journalist for the American magazine Wall Street Journal. Although her professional life was full of promise, the couple’s relationship soured, and she later returned to Europe, this time to seek solace in the arms of a man – a Spaniard by the name of Pedro Patera.
A Filipino lady is traditionally defined as someone who is free and independent. The romantic and flamboyant lives of women of the Philippines and other Asian countries have long contributed to the negative image of the Asian female as promiscuous and debauched. Yet, Garibay asserts that all Filipina women are liberated, all Filipinas are proud and all their efforts are geared toward ensuring that they attain equality in the eyes of society and the world. Garibay repeatedly emphasizes that the Filipina’s cultural and intellectual norms oppose the widespread view of the woman as a sexual object, insisting that women are equal in all ways. She firmly believes that men should respect her decision not to seek intimacy with other men, and that women deserve rights equal to men.
She rejects the view that Filipino women are submissive, arguing that their dignity does not depend on how they are treated by men, but rather on their individual choices. Garibay is quick to point out that the Philippine government has not only done nothing to support its women and girls, but in many instances has actively discriminated against them. Her challenge, she contends, is not for the Filipino women themselves, but rather, for the government to acknowledge and respond to the demands of the many women out there who are suffering from gender-based abuse and violence.