'Babae kasi': Insights on why women are from Mars too

WHILE browsing through my social media feed, I chanced upon a video of what appeared at first as a typical commentary on driving. The video was taken from inside a moving car, focused on the vehicle right in front which, for the purpose of clear storytelling, we shall refer to as Car 2. Snide remarks were made about the driving skills of the person manning Car 2. I would have moved on to the next video, had I not heard a comment that has become so typical that it very well could have been taken for a fact — "Babae siguro ang driver (The driver must be female)."

It is a remark that suggests neither a bad nor good connotation, but definitely not neutral. What lies beneath such a comment is an undeniable truth: we have grown accustomed to rudimentary classification of roles and strengths based on gender alone. In this day and age, when technology is at the heart of advancement, gender stereotypes remain prevalent. Principles under liberal thinking suggest that women's emancipation from gender discrimination is a good marker of modernity. However, as strides are made toward further progressivity and digitalization, gender bias is still evident today. And we, somehow, ought to be blamed.