PLETA, JANE C.

BSM 4TH YEAR

GENDER & SOCIETY

TOPIC: T-BIRD AT AKO

1. What are the common stigma on male, female, and homosexual?

 As verbalized by one of the attorney, God created man for a woman and woman for
a man. Homosexual especially lesbians are not superior to a man in terms of
strength and capacity – that it is impossible for a normal woman to choose a
homosexual instead of a man because there is not a single thing a woman can do
that a man cannot do and they are far better than this. And relationship between a
man/woman and a homosexual is abnormal – it is unacceptable.
 There are three common stigma I found in the movie. First, man/male is better and
superior in everything. Second, females and women are just next to a man – less
superior and not as better as them and females who are fair in skin is more beautiful
and desirable than a woman with darker skin. Third, being a lesbian or homosexual
was like being unnatural and abnormal – it is not acceptable and when you are
homosexual, it is so hard to gain sympathize from others when something happened
to you.
2. How did the movie break the stigma among male and female?
 Attorney Salazar has a long time suitor (Abuel) who continuously asking for her
hand in marriage, attorney Abuel is a man and also an attorney without any lose in
his cases same with attorney Salazar. They face each other in court to defend their
own client – the murder case due to self defense of Isabel that happens because the
man tried to rape her. The two meticulous attorneys defend their client in court and
the myth that man is always better than woman was proven to be wrong in some
ways. That a grown up woman can decide for herself, do what she believed is right
even being criticized without following the mere orders of others.
 Isabel and Attorney Salazar winning the murder case is a proof that a female and
male is equal. They both deserve justice and deserve to be heard inside the court.
 When Attorney Sylvia Salazar had a case with a lesbian, she tries to understand
why and how a woman choose a lesbian over a man. A lesbian is a female
homosexual and according to study, 90% of woman was born lesbian. When
attorney Salazar realizes that she is falling for the same gender as her (Isabel), and
have an identity crisis, that explains why she is not interested in feministic way of
clothing and not yet commits in a relationship with a guy. In the end, attorney
Salazar choose to be a woman rather than a T-bird.