By Sophia Orlanes
A Utopian society, wherein no one is no longer discriminated, is what almost everyone has been longing for. However, the same old story of abuse, harassment, and discrimination happens again and again, only with different characters and setting for each. True enough, gender equality has come a long way in today’s day and age. However, the gender inclusive society that we know today is nowhere near what our ancestors used to live in.
It was an entirely different story for the pre-colonial Philippines, not until Spanish invaders stepped foot in the country. Before any kind of doctors and preachers existed, there were Babaylans, whom our ancestors highly regarded. A Babaylan is “someone who has the ability to mediate with the spirit world, has her own spirit guides, and is given gifts of healing, foretelling, and insight. She may also have knowledge of healing therapies such as hilot, arbularyo. She is a ritualist, a chanter, [and a] diviner,” as defined by the Center for Babaylan Studies.
However, contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t an all-female club. It was a role normally filled in by women, but men were more than welcome to become babaylans themselves. As narrated by The Aswang Project, Francisco Alcina, a Jesuit missionary, described male babaylans as “impotent men and deficient for the practice of matrimony, considered themselves more like women than men in their manner of living or going about, even in their occupations.”
Male babaylans were usually called Asogs instead, which also refers to barren women. They were effeminate men who dressed up and acted like their female counterparts. Despite it being kind of unusual than to the norm back then, the people treated Asogs just as how they would treat Babaylans.
Obviously, pre-colonial Filipinos were not as civilized as the people of today’s generation, but they were certainly more decent compared to the latter. They did not need any kind of anti-discrimination bills to be passed to merely respect human beings. Fast forward to now, prejudice and discrimination are what those who go against the norm have to bear every single day.
It’s not at all times that history teaches us the mistakes we are going to make. Instead, it reminds us of valuable lessons and culture that have been forgotten and buried in the past.
Sources:
https://www.ted.com/talks/france_villarta_the_gender_fluid_history_of_the_philippines/transcript?language=en
https://www.centerforbabaylanstudies.org/history
HiLites ASHS 