Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0002-4812-8065

Date of Award

8-31-2026

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

History

First Advisor

Roberta Wollons

Second Advisor

Heidi Gengenbach

Abstract

After more than 300 years of Spanish colonization of the Philippines, the United States’ acquisition of las Islas Filipinas at the end of the Spanish-American War introduced the Philippine Islands to yet another colonizer. Amidst a backdrop of insurgent resistance and the building of a U.S.-based education and government system under the guise of “benevolent assimilation,” elite Filipina women navigated a mélange of cultural values and the possibility of new public roles. Filipino “elites,” those with political or economic power at the upper echelons of Philippine society, played key collaborative roles for the U.S. colonial regime. Yet the actions and words of some elite women also provide evidence of resistance and self-determination. Among the opportunities available to them–despite the circumstances they did not choose–was a platform on the global stage that allowed elite Filipina women a “two-fold” mission: The opportunity to combat ill-informed stereotypes about Asians and Filipinos that were spread via the U.S. media during the early colonial period, and the opportunity to advocate for issues of importance to them, namely Filipino independence and their rights as women. Elite Filipina women who had a platform from which to speak to U.S. audiences, and who took advantage of the opportunity, at times used the language and history of colonialism, and shared values as “good” women–selfless mothers, devoted wives, and dutiful daughters–to make themselves and their messages more relatable and “palatable” before advancing and advocating for their aims. Doing so may be read in one sense as deferring to an imperial power but another interpretation can be that these instances were carefully studied opportunities to maximize impact. In their messages to Americans via newspaper profiles and speeches, the elite Filipina women profiled made the most of their chances on the international stage to shake up earlier stereotypes of Filipina women while ultimately seeking to benefit the Filipino people.

Comments

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