Note From The Editor
One of the most remarkable things that I have learned about the history of my homeland, the Philippines, is that Filipino women used to hold very important leadership roles in the community: babaylan.
The babaylan assumed a multitude of roles, including warrior, healer and priestess. It contradicts the stereotype that Filipinas are timid and meek. The truth is that Filipinas have always had this tenacious spirit that not even centuries of Spanish, American and Japanese colonialism managed to crush. I would like to honor that with this passion project.
Throughout history, women all over the world have always fought to have equal rights with men. This fight had hit a climax in the 18th century when the women’s suffrage movement gained traction around the world.
When the 19th Amendment was passed in 1920, American women were finally granted the right to vote. However, this right did not extend to women of color. It was decades later when all women could finally vote freely.
But inequality still persists to this day, illustrated by pressing social issues in today’s society, including gender pay gap, the removal of women’s autonomy over their own bodies and the rise of incel ideology among many others.
Our goal is to inspire a movement celebrating women everywhere and to help gather more momentum as we keep fighting for women’s rights.
This is why the fight must go on.
This is why my friends and I have put together HerPWR—to help spread the message far and wide that women are beyond capable.
HerPWR is not just a passion project. Our goal is to inspire a movement celebrating women everywhere and to help gather more momentum as we keep fighting for women’s rights.
We hope that you join us in our journey by allowing us to share your stories of triumphs, heartaches, adventures and everything else in between. It would be our honor to amplify your voice as we believe that women should be silenced no more.
It is time to show our tenacity and grit.
Indeed, the future is female—this babaylan says so.
