Cosmopolitan Philippines – May 2017

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“A modern Pinay

doesn’t just wait

for one guy to

sweep her off

her f ee t .”

SHE TAKES THE

REINS MORE.

Today, as women snatch up

more prime positions at

work, they take on bigger

financial roles in their

relationships, too.

Gretchen, 34, earns more

than her husband does and

is the de facto bread-

winner, while her hubby’s

quite happy doing the bulk

of domestic chores.

And the practice of

women taking their

husbands’ last name once

married? More Pinays are

starting to discover that,

hey, they don’t actually

have to. Camyl, 34, had a

practical reason for

keeping her last name: to

bypass the hassle of

changing documents.

Guess who suggested she

keep it? Her husband.

IF SHE IDENTIFIES AS

LGBTQ+, THIS IS A GOOD

TIME FOR HER.

While there’s still much to

be desired when it comes

to acceptance of LGBTQ+

identities, more women

now openly identify with

the beautiful colors of the

sexuality rainbow.

Nina, 21, feels she

wouldn’t have survived as

a bisexual two decades

ago, which is why she’s

glad to be one in this day

and age. “With the

feminist and equal rights

movements we have,

bisexual women are

starting to feel safe

enough to come out and be

honest about their

identities,” she says.

Thysz, 30, a

transgender woman,

credits mature friends and

an accepting family with

making her transition less

challenging. While she has

had brushes with bigotry,

she feels “privileged that

these are the exceptions

rather than the norm.”

Alla, 34, identifies as

queer. She recalls how she

admitted her relationship

with her female partner to

her late grandmother: “I

wrote her a letter. She

called me back and said,

‘Good morning.

Everything is all right.’”

SHE CAN DITCH THE GET

MARRIED-LIVE TOGETHER

-HAVE KIDS FORMULA.

Pinays have long been

pressured into finding a

good man, only after

which they could get

married, move in with

him, and have kids—all

before hitting 30. These

days, that sequence

doesn’t always hold up.

Nicole*, 31, moved in

with her man before he

put a ring on it. “We

needed to get to know each

other more to see if we

were the right fit and if we

were ready for marriage,”

she says. She’s happy to

report that since they

shacked up, they’ve

realized that “we are the

perfect fit and we are

getting married.”

And then there are

women who have decided

not to have kids. Gretchen

says she and her husband

“just aren’t up for that

challenge.” She believes

more Filipinas today are

choosing not to simply

because they—gasp!—

don’t want to. “It’s just

easier to break away from

tradition in this day and

age,” she says. “It’s easier

to say, ‘Hey, sorry not sorry.’”

*Names have been changed

96 Cosmopolitan • MAY 2017 WWW.COSMO.PH