Feminism, what is it? Feminism is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities (Merriam Webster). Today, our country is facing lots of problems including gender inequality. Feminism has been a problem not only in the Philippines but all over the world. With this problem in mind, we can now know how feminism in the Philippines came to be before, during and after the Spanish occupation. During the olden times, when the Philippines were not yet conquered by any country, there was a society that had equality in all aspects of living. There was a possibility that they had the same opportunities and freedom that men had (Quindoza-Santiago 161). According to anthropologist Robert Fox, the “ancient” Filipino family had no sense of patriarchy. Men and women had equal duties and rights. “Thus, there was no clear division of labor based on gender” (Quindoza-Santiago 161). Also there was no problem with regards to how to provide and protect the family/tribe since people had their own duties and had to play their own roles as a member of their no matter what their gender was (Quindoza-Santiago 160). One example was that women were known to be the spiritual “connectors” or leaders when it came to praying to their God, and this could have been one of the reasons why women may have become leaders to their tribes. After a few decades, the Spaniards conquered the country for almost 300 years and this is where gender inequality started. When the Spaniards took