Why Men Who Wear Pink Called Tough?

Photo: Google

Why Men Who Wear Pink Called Tough by Jojo Armenta

I wrote this blog because I was inspired by our discussion earlier in Women’s Studies because we talked about Sex and Gender. Honestly, it was just earlier where I noticed that there’s a big difference between sex and gender. We know that they’re sort of the same because of the concept of sexual identity, that’s why we never noticed the difference. But when we discussed it earlier, I realized that there are a lot of issues about sex and gender that wasn't given importance. Everyday we face different issues about gender that we just ignore because it’s already part of what the society brought us to be.

Let me first define what sex and gender means. Sex refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women while Gender, refers to the society constructed roles, behaviour, activities and attributes that a particular society consider appropriate for men and women.  Source: http://www.who.int/gender/whatisgender/en/

Men and women are distinguished through physical appearance and traits. Aside from the fact that physically, women are different from men, women are usually said emotional, sensitive, maarte, magaling sa bahay, while Men are said strong, ma- pride, immature and insensitive. We all tackled these things earlier and our professor asked us, “May mga babae din bang immature? Bakit wala bang lalaking maarte?” And I realized that our professor was right, everything that we just said about men and women were just created by the people and the society due to the changes in time.

Reality check: (Discussions earlier during our Women’s Studies class) a girl who is short- haired is sometimes called lesbian. What if we just like to make our hair short because it’s hot and we’re bored with our long hair? Men who are organized and clean with their things are sometimes being judged as gay. Do men really have to be dirty with their things because they’re men? I don’t think so. I think there are also men who are cleaner and more systematic than girls but it doesn’t mean they’re gay.

Photo: Google

Sometimes I see shirts with a statement saying Tough Men Wear Pink. Now, I agree with this statement because men who wear pink are really tough and courageous enough to face the undying gender issues. It’s just color and it’s becoming a big deal when gender is involved. Let’s not just go with the flow every time we hear gender issues that are unjust and not right. It’s time to break the wall of gender inequality. But there are still a lot of gender issues that need to be noticed and we should not neglect it.

Born to Serve and Lead

The Student Council together with the Council of Leaders, had their first Student Leadership Training for this year at St. Scholastica's Convent, Baguio City last May 29- 31, 2011. I was so blessed because I became part of this leadership training for the 3rd time and learned deeply more about the different Benedictine Leadership.

The module of our leadership training was a little bit different from the past SLTs that we had and I enjoyed it so much because I realized a lot of things about myself and my school. St. Scholastica's College Manila is the second family where I belong now and I am proud that I am a Kulasa because after SLT, I realized the changes that happened to me. My social awareness and my critical thinking developed into a higher level because of the path I chose today.

I am different now because I want to prove to myself that I can do something great for the betterment of others and my country. "I want to make a difference",sounds cliche and overused but this phrase is what I believe in right now and I am preparing myself on the many challenges that I am about to face as a leader, as a student and as a person, and this will definitely help me to attain all the goals that I have in mind. Through the different leadership training and opportunities that St. Scho is giving me,I will always keep in mind the passion that I have since high school, which is serving and leading. 

Though the 3- day leadership training that we had in Baguio was more on enjoyment because we also spent time to check out the beauty of Baguio, we still didn't forget the purpose of our journey there. I think most of us are now ready to serve our fellow Scholasticans. 

We are all ready to face the school year ahead of us. We are all prepared for whatever circumstances a leaders should experience. We are all ready to stand and voice out concerns. After the Student Leadership Training, we're now united and going to work as one. We all have the same passion and one goal, that is to serve and lead.