INTRODUCTION TO UCSP

Chapter 1: Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics

Modern Socioeconomic Classes
• Socioeconomic classes changed when the Philippines gained
independence from Spain. The Americans introduced
democracy and did not impose any form of socioeconomic
classes.
• At present, a person’s position in the society is based mainly
on his or her family’s economic status.Social stratification, or
the division of society based on occupation and income,
wealth or power; is simpler at present than in the past.
Lesson 1: Defining Cultue, Society, and Politics

People play different roles in society depending

on one’s age and occupation. There are jobs that
require a specific gender to perform tasks while
other jobs are open to both men and women.
Gender
• Gender refers to social, cultural, and psychological
characteristics or traits related to males and females
based on certain social contexts.
• It is different from sex, which refers to the biological
characteristics that distinguish a male from a female.
• Thus, sex makes a person male or female, while
gender makes a person masculine or feminine.
Gender ROLES
• Gender roles refer to attitudes and behaviors that the
society expects a person to exhibit based on his/her sex.
• For example, in the traditional Philippine society, women
are expected to be plain housewives and take care of the
children, while the men are expected to be a professional
and provide the needs of his family.
• Another example is how society expects women to be more
emotional and sensitive while men should be strong and
capable of doing things that women cannot do.
Gender Roles in Pre-colonial Philippine Society

• During pre-colonial Philippines, males and

females enjoy the same rights and privileges.
There are different social functions that are
assigned to different members of the society.
However, there are functions that are specifically
given to males or females or both.
National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB)

- divided the population into high-

income, middle-income, and low-income
classes.
• The babaylan (Visayan) or catalonan (Tagalog) is
a shaman or priestess who performs various
religious and social functions. The babaylan can
either be a man or a woman, but the role is
often given to women.
• Aside from being a priestess, the babaylan is also
considered a healer, an adviser, and a seer.
 Gender Roles in the Philippine Society During
Colonial Period
•Gender roles during the colonial period had
changed drastically. Women were restrained
from other activities outside their homes,
while men were given more social functions.
These roles also changed as the Philippines
was occupied by new colonizers.
• Upon the coming of the Spaniards and the introduction of
Catholicism, the babaylan lost their role in the religious life of the
Indios. This role was taken over by Catholic priests.
• Women were also relegated to doing household chores and taking
care of children. More often than not, young women were not sent to
school; rather, they are trained to be good wives and mothers for
their future families. Some women were also forced to marry
someone they do not love for economic and political gain.
• During the American period, women became more
open. They were allowed to study and work in
whatever field they want. They also became
“liberated,” which is a term used by older people to
refer to Filipino women who have adopted American
values. Men and women became equal, in the sense
that it is acceptable for both genders to have jobs and
to be educated.
• Although men and women were able to
maintain their status in society during
the Japaneseperiod, women were usually
kept inside their houses to protect them
from abusive Japanese soldiers. Men also
became busy defending the country, with
most of them serving as soldiers.
Philippine society today is more open to allowing both
men and women to perform different tasks, not based
solely on gender, but on an individual’s capabilities and
strengths. For example, fields like engineering,
architecture, and medicine, which is often associated
with men, have long been open to women. Likewise,
there are also a lot of male teachers, nurses, and even
chefs and hairdressers.
•Gender is a set of characteristics that
pertains to a person’s masculinity or
femininity while biology determines sex. For
example, a man is male because he has
male sex organs. He, however, can be
considered feminine because the things he
likes are often associated with women.
• The Philippine society can be categorized into
various socioeconomic classes. During the
prehistoric times, our ancestors have developed
a society where people were assigned with
different social functions. However, as the
society changes, differences in one’s function in
the society became wider and more diverse.
Prior to the coming of the Spaniards, the community
is called a barangay. It is headed by a datu or raha.
Our ancestors were divided into three different
groups:
a. the maharlika,
b. the timawa, and
c. the alipin
• first social class
• composed of the leaders (datu) and
their families
• also called the group of
the maginoo, raha, or gat
• second or “middle” social class
• composed of all freemen living in the barangay
• consists of workers, warriors, merchants, and
others who are not under debt bondage
• have their own property like their own houses
and a piece of land to cultivate
 third class
serve another person or family as payment for debt
became an alipin when their family lose in a war with another family
are not bound to their master for life
can go back to their previous status as soon as they pay off their
debts, or if they marry amaharlika, who will then pay for their debt
has two kinds of alipin: the and the
has their own property, like a house or a piece of
land
often from the timawa class and
became alipin because of debt or as punishment
for a wrongdoing
can go back to being part of the timawa class once
they pay off their debt
 does not have the right to own any property
often came from a family of alipin or are
captives in war
can also be sold or exchanged for goods or other
alipin
Upon the coming of the Spaniards, they
changed the society and created a new set of
socioeconomic class. During this period, the
people were divided based on their
ancestry—peninsulares, insulares,mestizo,
and indio.
•Spaniards in the Philippines who were born
in Spain

•came from “peninsula,” meaning "came

directly from the Spanish peninsula"
 •Spaniards who were of Spanish descent
but were born in the Philippines

• came from “insular,” meaning

"from the islands"
• those of mixed ancestry
• usually children of Spanish and Chinese
couples or of Spanish and Indio couples
• have both economic and political power,
coming from their mixed heritage
 consists of the natives
the lowest class in the society
were stripped of their rights and freedom
and were forced to bow down to the Spanish
colonizers
•This kind of system lasted for hundreds of
years, until such time when
some insulares and mestizos were able to
gain some form of power. In the 19th
century, the so-called “middle class”
emerged—theprincipalia and the ilustrado.
• consists of native leaders in the
government and their families
• are often educated and served as
a gobernadorcillo (town mayor) or cabeza
de barangay(barangay leader)
 the children of the principalia who
usually studied in Europe
most of the popular artists and scholars
at that time, including Jose Rizal
Modern Socioeconomic Classes

• Socioeconomic classes changed when the Philippines gained

independence from Spain. The Americans introduced democracy and
did not impose any form of socioeconomic classes.
• At present, a person’s position in the society is based mainly on his or
her family’s economic status.Social stratification, or the division of
society based on occupation and income, wealth or power; is simpler
at present than in the past.
• The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) divided the
population into high-income, middle-income, and low-income classes.
High-income Class

• people earning an average of P200,000 a

month, or approximately P2.4 million a year
• the “rich” class and accounts for merely one
percent of the country’s total population
Middle-income Class

• people earning an average of P36,000 per

month
• consists of professionals and small-scale
entrepreneurs
Low-income Class

• people earning less than P10,000 a month

• consists of laborers and minimum wage
earners
Social Mobility

• the movement of people or families within or

between different levels in the society
• the opportunity to transfer from a lower
socioeconomic class to a higher one
• possible through education, or in some cases,
through marriage
Social stratification

• is the division of society based

on occupation and income,
wealth or power.
 Cultural Variations and Social Differences
(Ethnicity)
Ethnicity
refers to a group of people, also
called ethnic group, who have a common or
shared culture, language, history, religion, and
tradition.
Here, the people are divided into groups based
on different social factors.
Examples: Filipinos, Malays, Anglo-Saxons, and
Muslims.
RACE
• refers to a group of people who share the same physical
attributes, such as skin color, height, and facial features.
• People are grouped into different races based on their
physical appearance.
• Human beings are classified into three major
races: Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Negroid.
•
These classifications are based on the color of the skin, the shape of the
face, texture of the hair, shape of the eyes, and other prominent
physical features.

RACE
PHYSICAL FEATURES
Caucasoid Mongoloid Negroid
Skin color Fair Yellowish Dark
Hair Light colored; straight Straight; black Curly; black
or wavy
Eyes Round Almond-shaped Large round
Others High nose bridge Low to medium nose Low nose bridge
bridge
Origin Americas and Europe Asia Africa
• Two people belonging to the same race may be part of
different ethnic groups. For example, Asians belong to
the Mongoloid race but consists of different ethnic
groups like the Japanese, the Chinese, and the Malays.
They all share the same physical features but have
different culture, history, and language.
Ethnolinguistic Groups in the Philippines
• There are more than 180 ethnic or ethnolinguistic groups in the
Philippines, which are based on the language each group use.

There are eight major ethnolinguistic groups in the country:

1.Ilokano, 5. Bikolano
2.Kapampangan, 6. Ilonggo
3.Pangasinense, 7. Cebuano and
4.Tagalog, 8. Waray-waray.
Other smaller ethnolinguistic groups are the Ibanag, Ivatan, Sambal,
Subanon, Maguindanaoan, and Zambuangueño.
• There are also indigenous groups in the country
that may belong to the same ethnolingguistic
groups, but have a different culture, tradition, or
culture. Some of them are the Mangyans of
Mindoro, the Igorots of the Mountain Province,
and the Moros of Mindanao.
Issues About Race and Ethnicity
• Ethnicity and race are categories that divide people
based on their social affinity or physical similarity.
However, differences in ethnicity and race made some
people believe that one ethnic group is better or
superior than others. Thus, this belief creates
discrimination and prejudice against people from
minor or perceived to be “inferior” ethnicity or race.
There are different types of discrimination against
one’s ethnicity or race:
Racism is discrimination or prejudice based
on one’s race.
•In the 1970s, white Americans (Caucasians)
discriminated black Americans (Negroids),
who were descendants of immigrants from
African countries.
ETHNOCENTRISM
• Ethnocentrism is discrimination or prejudice based on one’s culture.
• Recently, Muslim extremists discriminate Christians and non-
Muslims in Muslim countries because of their religion.
• In the Philippines, Muslims experience prejudice and discrimination
in Christian-dominated regions like in Metro Manila. Because of the
ongoing conflict in Mindanao between the government and Islamic
militants, Christians tend to think that all Muslims are terrorists.
• On the other hand, some Christians and ethnic groups are
discriminated and prejudiced in Muslim-dominated areas.
Discrimination against one’s race may cause
crimes against it.
1. Genocide is the elimination of a group of
people from the same race, ethnic group,
religion or nation.
It is an extreme action against people from
other ethnicity or race.
Holocaust during the World War
II, done by the Nazis of Germany and
headed by Adolf Hitler, killed
millions of Jews all over Europe.
Ethnic cleansing

Ethnic cleansing is the harassment,

rape, or forced migration of an
ethnic group to vanish them from a
certain area or territory.
• This happens in certain areas in
Africa.