One Book at a Time: Share a Page-Turner Highlights Women’s Empowerment thru Literature

by Alliah Mae Banglos


To explore feminism in literature and go far beyond the pages of books, Kataas-taasang Sanggunian ng mga Mag-aaral (KASAMA), in collaboration with the MSU-IIT Gender and Development Center (GADC), CASSayuran, and the Literature, Language and Culture Society (LILACS) hosted Share a Page-Turner: An Interactive Forum for Feminists and Literary Enthusiasts in honor of International Women’s Month on Friday, March 14 at the Institute Mini-Theatre.


Prof. Lourd Greggory Crisol and Prof. Carminia Borja, both faculty members of the MSU-IIT Department of English served as speakers of the event, offering their insights as literary professors and spearheading engaging discussions with the attendees on feminist literature, gender studies, queer theory, and their manifestations in the broader movement of feminism.


Prof. Crisol introduced queer theory, literature and its relation to feminism. He discussed the evolution of queer culture and women’s rights in the past before the establishment of heteronormativity. Mentioning the “Babaylan” in pre-colonial Philippines, respected shamans who led their community and were either women or individuals who crossed gender boundaries.


Citing works from famous gender and feminist theorists such as Judith Butler, Eve Sedgwick, Michel Foucault, Sigmund Freud, and Adrienne Rich, the professor pointed out how the oppression of women and queers comes from the patriarchal homosocial triangle, wherein males desire to bond only with other males, often resulting in the demeaning of women and confining them within a binary.


He encouraged the attendees to not just limit themselves to labels and binary orientation, especially in regard to feminism and feminist literature. “Anything can be read in a queer manner if looked at in a non-normative way,” he said.


Meanwhile, Prof. Borja discussed the differences between first-world, second-world, and third-world feminism, providing an insightful perspective on being a more effective feminist.


She contextualized third-world women with unique issues that first-world feminism does not fully address, such as being exoticized by the West and treated as inferior, even by first-world women


Prof. Borja acknowledged that many people are introduced to feminism through a first-world perspective and recommended exploring works by third-world feminists, such as ‘Can the Subaltern Speak?’ by Indian author Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and ‘We Should All Be Feminists and Dear Ijeawele’, or ‘A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions’ by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.


At the same time, she enjoined students to take their time, have fun learning about feminism, and not worry about being a perfect feminist, citing a quote by Roxane Gay, “I would rather be a bad feminist than none at all.”


Emphasizing how feminism and being a feminist remain an ongoing and evolving movement, asserting that even in her many years of being a feminist, she continues to learn something new every day.


Marking the event’s conclusion was an open discussion about the lectures, where attendees shared recommendations for their favorite feminist and queer literature and medi, such as The Empathy Test, The Poppy War, Da Vinci Code, and Gone Girl, among others.


Prof. Crisol also promoted “Kinaiya: Antolohiya ng mga makabagong tinig mula sa LGBTQIA”, a queer anthology book published by UP Press, which featured some of his works alongside those of other queer writers.