Have you never noticed why these phrases are never mentioned the other way around? Despite the so-called equality of the sexes in present popular culture, why does the awkwardness in saying "woman and man- or "wife and husband- still persist?.
The answer lies in our way of thinking. We have been so used to the feudal culture which promotes dominance of men over women and the complete domestication of women that these ideas are consciously (albeit sometimes, subconsciously) inserted into our everyday way of life. Even our language shows remnants of this feudal way of thinking, just like the examples above. Yet many are saying that this way of thinking has already been broken. If that is true, then how de we account for the persistence of this subtle sexism?.
Looking more closely, many women have succeeded in breaking the traditional bonds of domestication. But the greater majority still remains locked up in the house. This is especially true in rural areas. Their culture has groomed them to be housewives and they have been content to play that part because they have known of no other way.
In the poem Wife', Marra PL. Lanot exposes the suffering of woman from childhood up to her adult days as a wife. The subjugation experienced by a woman during her time is very perceptible in this poem.
As a child, a woman is surrounded by fishbowl silence (Line 2) and remained unnoticed by adults. This is very true in the Philippine situation wherein the adults are supposed to remain as the authoritative figure. It seems as though their very words and commands are never to be challenged by the youth, more so by the girls. For a long time, this has been very real. For a long time, the youth has remained confused about their worth as children. Only now is the youth realizing their right to voice out their own concerns. The only role they perceived in the preceding decades was to fulfill the wishes of their parents, their elders.
