THOMASIAN scholar Ferdinand Lopez said writers should use literature to “service” or empower oppressed women and gays.
“As a writer, I am challenged to produce texts such as poems or stories which are supposed to be serviceable to women and gays,” Lopez said during a discussion on gender at the Miguel de Benavides Library Conference Hall last Dec 1.
Lopez, who teaches literature in the University, said institutions follow an “oppressive patriarchal ideology” in law, culture, and religion.
Literature can be used to denounce these institutions’ domestic violence on women and gays, he said.
“[I]deology manifests itself in violence. Some institutions [try] to impose and instill discipline on the subjects,” Lopez said.
The seminar, titled “Our Gender Status: Domestic Violence Intersecting the Public Sphere,” was organized by senior philosophy students to discuss contemporary trends in popular culture, philosophy, law and gender studies. M. D. D. Dimapawi
