When I was 15 and fell in love the first time, the general rule was not to act on it. Wait for him to fall in love with you, they said. Don’t ever tell him your feelings, they said.
I told him anyway. And it could just have been the most empowering thing I’ve done in my life. The role women were imposed with is just unfair. There’s a concept of self preservation across cultures and as Filipinos, we are expected to mirror Maria Clara and wait for us to be wooed in the azotea by a handsome, young, dashing man.
Well, I live in the topmost floor of a high rise condominium, no one’s ever going to woo me from below.
Stories in Between 