Attached to Paper Session
Meeting Preference
Philippine Catholicism is characterized by a devotion to Mary, to the extent that she has taken over the Divine Feminine role for many Filipin@s (Filipino/as). While feminist scholarship have long pointed to Mary as a tool of oppression by a patriarchal church, scholars must also consider the reality on the ground which is that Mary has been a symbol of hope, particularly for Pinays (Filipinas) experiencing intersectional oppression. The problem becomes how one grapples with Mary as both tool of oppression and liberation for pinays. Being pinay is particularly characterised by an inferiority complex of being brown and which makes them feel inferior to "white" people. To imagine a brown pinay Catholicism through devotion to Mary seems unthinkable or outside of the pinay imagination until one considers the Virgin of Balintawak of the Indigenous Philippine Christian Church, Iglesia Filipina Independiente. This Mary is not only brown but is also no passive woman. She is a resistance fighter against colonialism, who brings up her own son, Jesus, to also be a resistance fighter.
This paper briefly lays out the intersectional oppression of pinays and the use of Mary in Catholicism to reinforce this oppression. It turns to the Virgin of Balintawak to suggest a brown Catholicism that can not only help pinays reembrace their brownness, but also help them decolonize and reindegenize from within Catholicism rather than away from it. Overall, the paper seeks to grapple with Filipin@ migrant Catholic Marian belief as a double-edged sword, a bolo, and to carve this sword from a weapon that perpetuates their oppression as brown women, to a symbol of their resistance against ongoing intersectional oppressions via the "white" Catholic Mary promoted in papal teaching.
References:
* Bearman, Steve and Marielle Amrhein. "Girls, Women, and Internalized Sexism". In EJR David. Internalized Oppression: The Psychology of Marginalized Groups. London: Springer, 2013.
* Enriquez, Virgilio. From Colonial to Liberation Psychology: The Philippine Experience. Manila: The University of the Philippines Press, 1992.
* Jugo, Jamina. "Inang Bayan, Inang Diyos: The Virgin Mary and Filipino Identity". In Cristina Lledo Gomez, Agnes M. Brazal, Ma. Marilou Ibita. 500 Years of Christianity and the Global Filipino/a: Postcolonial Perspectives. London: Pan Macmillan, 2024.
* Lledo Gomez, Cristina. "Bangon Na, Pinays Rise Up: Reclaiming Pinay Power Dismantled by a Christian Colonial Past and Present". In Lledo Gomez et.al. 500 Years of Christianity and the Global Filipino/a, 2024.
* Ocampo, Ambeth R. Virgin of Balintawak. Mandaluyong, Philippines: Anvil Publishing, 2014.
* Revollido, Eleuterio. "An Independent Catholic Nationalist People's Movement: The Iglesia Filipina Independiente". In Lledo Gomez et.al. 500 Years of Christianity and the Global Filipino/a, 2024.
Abstract for Online Program Book (maximum 150 words)
Being pinay (Filipina) is particularly characterised by an inferiority complex of being brown which makes them feel inferior to "white" people. To imagine a brown pinay Catholicism through devotion to Mary seems unthinkable or outside of the pinay imagination until one considers the Virgin of Balintawak of the Indigenous Philippine Christian Church, Iglesia Filipina Independiente. This paper briefly lays out the intersectional oppression of pinays and the use of Mary in Catholicism to reinforce this oppression. It turns to the Virgin of Balintawak to suggest a brown Catholicism that can not only help pinays reembrace their brownness, but also help them decolonize and reindegenize. Overall, the paper seeks to grapple with Filipin@ migrant Catholic Marian belief as a double-edged sword, a bolo, and to carve this sword from a weapon that perpetuates pinay oppression to a symbol of their resistance against their ongoing intersectional oppressions.