IS THERE A RISE OF FEMINISM IN SOUTHEAST ASIA? / Why Filipinas Aren't Feminists

Pea tackles whether Western-style feminism is gaining traction in Southeast Asia, a topic prompted by hundreds of viewer messages from men worried that "toxic feminism" will follow them to the Philippines. She builds a detailed case for why the movement has no fertile ground in the country, backs it up with World Economic Forum data, and then interviews four Filipinas on the street to test her thesis against real opinions.

What's Covered ​

• Pea's framing of Western feminism

  • Acknowledges the original women's movement served a legitimate purpose when women couldn't vote or enter the workforce
  • Argues that after successive waves, modern feminism now perpetuates a "gender war with no winners," harms the family unit, and tears at society
  • Claims the original goals were achieved long ago but the movement continues, causing problems between the sexes and pushing many men to "look east" for relationships
  • Challenges the "equal rights" slogan directly: "Name one thing a woman doesn't already have the right to do — vote, work, drive? The pay gap was proven to be bogus. So what do they really want? Power — domestic, political, and economic."

• Why feminism won't take root in the Philippines — Pea's four structural reasons

  • No financial incentive: Western feminism has "a very obvious financial component" — seizing wealth when a marriage ends; in the Philippines there's no wealth to grab, no divorce, airtight prenuptial agreements, and courts don't favor either party; "a Filipina dragging her husband to court has better odds of getting blood from a mango"
  • Can't claim women are frozen out of jobs: women already have most of the jobs in the Philippines and bring home most of the paychecks, so telling Filipinas the patriarchy is keeping them down "just sounds silly"
  • Demographics work against it (supply and demand): a large supply of available women reduces bargaining power; Pea jokes: "If I were the last woman on earth, I could ask for whatever I wanted, but with millions of my android clones hitting the market, my bargaining power is greatly reduced"
  • Cultural incompatibility: calling attention to yourself is "a very un-Asian thing to do"; Filipinos prefer to resolve issues without antagonizing each other; women won't be marching in pink hats because the culture discourages public confrontation
  • Already achieved equality organically: the Philippines achieved feminist goals without conflicts, marches, name-calling, or "punishing men along the way"

• World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report data

  • Philippines ranked the top country in all of Asia for women's equality
  • Four categories assessed:
    • Employment participation: women have most of the jobs — "been that way for a long time"
    • Educational attainment: women get most of the college and professional degrees — "been that way for a long time"
    • Health and survival: medical facilities are decent, women have equal access, and women have access to birth control (though most voluntarily choose not to use it — and "isn't feminism about a woman's right to choose?")
    • Political empowerment: the only weak category, but Pea argues it's measured by a "stupid numbers game" quota system that ignores natural differences between men and women
  • Pea's take on equality of outcome vs. equality of opportunity: demanding 50% of engineers be female and 50% of nurses be male is "a fool's errand"; equality of opportunity is the goal, not equality of outcome; "Western feminists smell inequality and sexism on every bed, and that's not the way forward for any happy society"

• Street interviews with four Filipinas

  • Fritzy (22, civil engineering student)

    • Defines feminism as "an approach to women empowerment to get back what they were once deprived of, like the right to vote"
    • When asked what rights men have that women don't: says equality is already here — "we can do the things men do, and men can do the things we do"
    • Calls herself a feminist ("I am a feminist")
    • Scenario: male coworker says "you look pretty today" — Fritzy wouldn't report it or feel creeped out; says she's experienced it and was flattered because genuine compliments "boost your self-confidence and make my day"
    • On microaggressions (men cutting you off when talking): doesn't take it personally if she knows the guy is just talkative — "it's not really an aggression, it's just the way they are"
    • Strongly believes men's rights are equally important: "If we only focus on the women's side, we cannot say we're up to equality — we should weigh both sides"
    • Calls the Western gender wars "shameful" for women who treat men as less than they deserve
    • Satisfied with the Philippine system: "we just need to continue with what we are doing... we deserve equality and if we want equality towards ourselves we should show others that we value them"

  • Unnamed interviewee #2

    • Defines feminism as equality
    • Says there are no rights men have that women don't — women can get degrees, hold positions, make decisions; notes the Philippines has had two female presidents
    • Calls herself "feminine but not feminist"
    • Would feel flattered if a male coworker complimented her appearance — "it's a kind of respect"

  • Yum Yum Kabaran (22, small YouTuber from Negros Oriental)

    • Confirms women have equal rights in terms of leadership, education, and employment
    • Would feel a man opening a door for her is "thoughtful" — "other men wouldn't do this for me"
    • Has never heard of microaggressions — just learned about the concept during the interview; if a man interrupted her, she'd assume he's just talkative and wanting to be part of the conversation
    • Believes men's rights are equally important — cites battered men and men whose rights are violated by their wives

  • Eliza

    • Says both genders have the same rights in the Philippines
    • Calls herself "more feminine" (not feminist)
    • A male coworker's compliment would make her happy — "that's just a compliment"
    • Directly asked if the Philippines needs feminism: "I think no, because Philippines already has the same fair treatment with women and men — we don't need feminism in the Philippines, we're good"

• Pea's synthesis of the interviews

  • Acknowledges four people isn't statistically significant, but says the responses matched what she hears from Filipinas all the time
  • Common themes: we already have equality, we don't feel cheated by men, and unlike many Western women, "we realize when the scales of justice are pretty much level"
  • Filipinas "actually understand that men have issues too and it's just as important to solve their problems as it is our own — after all, equality works both ways, does it not?"
  • Lists men's issues that need addressing: unfair family court systems, male suicide, abused male partners, enforced circumcision
  • Preemptively addresses critics who'd say a woman or Filipina can only see things from her own biased viewpoint — calls that "more than a little insulting and totally false"
  • Final assessment: feminism won't get traction in this part of the world — "I'd like to say it's because we're too smart for that, but the truth is it just has no use for the people here"

• Comedic closing skit

  • A protester demands equal pay; when told the law already prohibits paying one gender more, she pivots to demanding "extra pay" — but only for women; when challenged on fairness, she says "men have had it easy for far too long"; when asked what rights she doesn't have, she insists on the right to protest; Pea tells her "your demands are ridiculous and you look really silly in that hat," and the protester agrees

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