The Internet has contributed to the image of degradation in the lives of Filipino women and caused the feminization of migration out of the Philippines, according to a lecture that was given by Fred Magdalena on Sept. 29, entitled "New Media, Old Media and Cross-Cultural Miscommunication in a Troubled Region."
The presentation focused on the negative and positive effects of old versus new media in the Philippines.
Magdalena said one of the negative impacts of the Internet has been the increasing popularity of the mail-order bride industry.
"The Internet has a shopping forum for Filipino women," Magdalena said. "There are a lot of Web sites, chat rooms and matchmaking establishments fostered on the Internet that encourage marriage between Filipino women and foreign husbands."
One of the most popular Web sites is actually run from Hawai'i, according to Magdalena.
More than 150,000 Filipino women migrated to the United States as mail-order brides over the past 10 years, according to statistics Magdalena said he obtained from the U.S. government. He also said that more than 13 percent of the visa applications that the Immigration and Naturalization Service processed in 2002 were for mail-order brides seeking permanent residence in the United States.
The large number of women being bought and sold like commodities has stigmatized Filipino women.
"The Internet lowered the status of women and lowered their image socially," Magdalena said.
Although the new medium has had negative effects on Filipino women, it has helped the country in other ways.
The Internet closed the gap of miscommunication that the old medium perpetuated between the Muslim and Christian communities of Mindanao, an area in the Philippines, according to Magdalena.
"The new media has allowed a forum for the exchange of ideas," Magdalena said. "The dialogue has helped ease the conflict."
In regard to which medium is better, Magdalena said that he thought they were both important.
With the old medium you cannot interrupt or get an immediate response; the new medium is more volatile because it can disappear in an instant.
Magdalena's speech was the second in a series of lectures entitled "Eying our Media-Made World," sponsored by Ka Leo O Hawai'i, the UH Society of Professional Journalists, the Center for Philippine Studies and the journalism and communication departments at UHM.
Johan Galtung, author and dean of International Studies, will present "Media and the Coming Decline and Fall of the U.S. Empire" Tuesday, Oct. 4, from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. at Kuykendall Auditorium, in conjunction with the lecture series. For more information about Galtung's presentation or a list of upcoming speakers in the "Eying our Media-Made World" lecture series, contact bkeever@hawaii.edu, or call 956-3781.
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